Purochana's (fiery)
Crib
Announcer: On this season finale of InTV Cribs...(clips play of
Purochana
walking through a small house) we will take a memorable tour of the
"Blessed Home" near the Ganges river. Don't miss it NEXT, on InTV!
(Music
of lutes and drums plays, while "Cribs" flashes on the screen,
and opening credits roll. The show begins by zooming into a view of the
small, plain house sitting by itself at Varanavata . It is a
wooden
house, with a bamboo and straw roof topping it. The river can be
seen
a few yards away, through some trees rustling in the breeze. An
elderly man is in the doorway, looking around suspiciously.)
Purochana:
Welcome, welcome! I am pleased you all are here. Do come
inside, please!
(The
camera follows him inside. We can see a small room with one bed
set up
to the right of the main entrance. The house is made of entirely
wood boards, and
they are strikingly
bare. Every surface seems to be splintery, except for the small
bed. Purochana nods to the doorway.)
Purochana:
Well this is a perfect place to start. This is my room. You
see, I
built this house knowing the festival of Shiva was approaching.
When I
found out the Pandavas were coming to the festival, I just knew they
would agree to stay in the house I built. To protect them from
anything or anyone strange, there is only the one door. That
would be
the one in front that we came through a moment ago. (He begins to
look
through the small windows.) I'm very anxious for their return
from the
festival because they should be back any moment. Please come see
more of
the
house.
(The
camera backs out of his room and follows the small,
dark hallway around to another bedroom. This bedroom appears to
be
much larger, and has five beds in it, lined up against the wall.
The
walls in this room are bare as well.)
Purochana:
This is the Pandavas'
room. I designed it to be a bit more spacious than my room, since
there are five of the brothers. They have been great guests
here. (He
sits for a moment on one of the beds and looks around the room.)
I
call this the "Blessed Home" because anyone who stays here will find
his way to heaven. I mean, not immediately...just...later... (His
thoughts trail off. When his thoughts return to the present, he
stands
up abruptly.) Um, alright, how about we see another room? Follow
me.
(The
camera again follows him through the hallway. Purochana walks
swiftly and trips ever so slightly over a raised bit of wood on the
floor.)
Purochana:
Why, I don't remember... (Again he does not finish his entire thought
and begins to scratch his head in deep thought.)
(The
camera is now in a small room, with only a table and chairs.
Every surface is wood, and bare. Purochana sits in one of the
chairs, still in deep thought. He shakes his head quickly and
then seems to remember he is a host.)
Purochana:
Pardon me, I did not sleep well last night. I must have been
excited
for you all to come (He laughs rather nervously). In fact, I have
not
slept well any of the thirteen nights since the Pandavas
arrived... (he
quickly adds)
I
worry about their safety . I would invite
you to
sit down, but I suspect the brothers will be back soon, and I have
plenty to do upon their arrival. I hope you have enjoyed the
tour, but
it must end here. (He begins to walk through the hall, back to
the one
door.) Alright, off with you now. Enjoy the festival!
(Purochana
stands just outside the front door and looks around while he
absentmindedly waves. The
camera backs away from the house and the scene is sped up with effects.
Music plays again as a few of the scenes from the wooden house flash by
to the beat of the music, and credits start rolling off to one side.)
Announcer:
That's it for this season of InTV Cribs, hope to see you back next time
with more fabulous tours!
(Then, softer music plays, and a black screen with writing appears.)
"In memory of Purochana and the Pandavas, whose bodies were found in
this burned down house only hours after the tour."
While
I had quite a time deciding what to write
my final story about, I was happy with my choice to write about the
inflammable house. It was part of a turning point in the
Mahabharata,
so I felt it was a great thing to include in my storybook.
From
the beginning I knew I wanted to have Purochana giving the tour, and I
knew I wanted him to be very jumpy, and seem as though he had a lot on
his mind. Perhaps he was struggling internally as to whether or
not he
was actually going to set the house on fire. When writing this
story,
I thought it would be fun if I made it seem like he really liked the
Pandavas, and had grown to know them over the course of their
stay.
After all, he does not set fire to the house. It is actually
Bhima who starts the fire because the Pandavas are aware of the plot
against them.
Coming
up with content was a bit of a struggle. This was not a grand
palace
(for which I had to cut content out), nor did I feel like I knew the
character enough to really spend a lot of time on him as I did with
Rama's house. It was a wooden house, built with the intention of
burning it, so I knew it was going to be very bare inside. The
most
fun I had was when I wrote about Purochana tripping over the entrance
to the tunnel (the raised board in the hallway that Purochana tripped
over). The Pandavas had the tunnel made for them and escaped the
house, while Purochana was killed in the fire.
Bibliography:
Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata.
Narayan,
R. K.
(1978). The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian
Epic.
Image Information:
Sunset on river - flickr
Flames - flickr
