This was the first time Hanuman had ever dressed out of normal Indian
attire. Today he had dressed like any other normal businessman
with a very expensive black suit on. He even hired a tutor on how
to properly tie a knot in a real tie but after a few seconds of
frustration he threw it off and demanded a clip-on tie instead.
To Hanuman, this moment was the scariest moment he has faced since he
was fighting beside Rama. Today he spoke directly to the
population of the United States.
He was able to be given this chance due to the speeches that he had
been given across the nation, which had caught the eye of President
Obama. The newly elected president had asked him to give a speech
to the United States of America on loyalty because of the war across
seas. There had been much unrest against the government, but also
against the troops themselves. So the American government had
asked this influential speaker, who has touched so many lives already,
to try and calm the civilians down as they transition slowly from being
involved in a long war to shortening the campaign. The biggest
thing Obama had requested of Hanuman was to console the people of the
nation and so they would not give up on their soldiers, or their
families.
After finishing a presidential speech, Obama politely announced Hanuman
as an honored guest and speaker. Hanuman walked out and stood
behind the presidential podium and spoke, "Hello United States of
America. My name is Hanuman and I have traveled from India to
speak all across your beloved country. We all are aware of the
hard times we face across the seas, and here in our own homes.
Lately, we have all been swept up with the global economy being thrown
up and down and it has started to put us all on edge. On top of
that, you have been fighting a war that seems to have no end in sight
- but please do not lose hope."
"I have been in your shoes, and I have been in the shoes of your
soldiers living in an area unfamiliar to them and far away from
home. As a soldier during my prime years, I was given the task to
find the queen and return her back to her king. I had two months
to find her, but at the two month mark I had ended up at a dead end
with nothing but an ocean ahead of me, and behind me was the direction
I had come from. My soldiers that I led on this expedition all
lost
hope. They had traveled for two months with little rest and gave
up on their task at hand. Their lack of will to continue affected
me and my other general and we gave up as well. It only took one
person to stay strong and that person reminded me of who I was, why I
was chosen by the king and how giving up was not an option.
Millions of soldiers gave up but that one soldier stood strong.
He believed
in me and in our mission which provided me with a renewed vigor that I
swam
across a thirty mile gap between
Sri
Lanka and India."
"This one soldier wasn't just any normal
soldier though: he was a king of nation of strong men, and one of
my dearest friends. His name was King Jambavan and was known for
his discpiline and strenght which not only was shown in his own
character but every single troop that he commanded under him.
This man looked like he could make an ocean tremble but knew that
even with his strength he could not pass the test of crossing the
ocean. Jambavan also agreed to help find the queen and was tied
to the same duty and loyalty I was. To hear a man that was
sturdier than a mountain, healthier than an ox say to me 'Hanuman, You
are the only one who is fit to cross the ocean and carry the message of
hope to the queen,' really meant something to me. I could not let
my king and queen down, nor could I disappoint my friend. So I
crossed the ocean, and found the queen."
"I mention this because there are a lot of American soldiers across the
seas fighting for what they believe is right. Now I know some
of you are in complete disagreement about the war overseas, and some of
you are for it. I want to tell you all that no matter if you are
for or against it, you must always believe in your loved ones.
What is important is that your neighbor,
your brother, mother, father, sister, and maybe even a complete
stranger over there is facing a challenge that can cost them
everything and the only strength they have to go on is you
yourselves, the people of America. Your loyalty to them and your
belief in them is what
makes them able to get up in the morning and continue to fight for what
they think is right. We all
want them to come home safe, and to a clean 'Welcome home'
doormat. Please keep in mind that it is your STRENGTH and your
LOYALTY to them that keeps them surviving and not giving up.
Thank
you for your time, America, and God bless America."
Author's Note:
I chose the story of Hanuman and his army
thinking they had lost the war because they had failed to find Sita,
but Jumbavan kept Hanuman from losing all
faith in the war and in himself. This caused him to leap across
the ocean, and find Sita. In my story I felt the audience would
discredit Hanuman if he said he had leapt
the thirty mile stretch of water. I took the advice of others and
created a better image of Jambavan and how Jambavan inspired Hanuman. The
imagery was designed to to show of how strong Jambavan was and how unlikely it
would be for a person of that strength to not be able to complete a
challenge.
I really wanted to write about this topic because of all the
controversy that goes with it. I feel a lot of people just want
us to pull out and come home, but I know soldiers that hate that idea
because their job is not complete. Plus, I made sure to mention
that Jambavan was a king and that one king
is helping out another king. I used this as a hidden reference to
how nations in our world today help each other out as well. Now I
didn't go into much detail as to the reason why Jambavan was helping, because that
is not what my story is about. It's about achieving and
accomplishing your goal . There is no such thing as "We almost
made it," or "well, our time is up, let's go home!" If this was
the case, then Sita would still be in Ravana's hands if Hanuman gave up
at that point.
Bibliography
Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana: A Shortened
Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic.
