Act!
The rain made you feel tired.
Remind the rain you are alive.
Guy sat on the bench outside of the barbershop on the south side of
town. He looked peaceful. The sort of peace that is so hard for a man
to find, and hold onto. A young woman was walking by the shop, and Guy
decided to say hello to her because he liked her.
“Hello, Evelyn!”
Guy said enthusiastically.
Evelyn turned
and gave him a beautiful smile, beautiful and weak. It was obvious that
she was trying to appear fine when she was not.
“Why don’t you
sit with me for a while?” Guy called as she started past him.
“Oh I couldn't.
My sister is watching the children for a moment and I don’t have much
time to get down to the store, and I…” she looked around for support
from someone that was not there.
“Ah, come sit
for a moment and tell me how the children are,” Guy said sliding to one
side of the bench.
Evelyn found
herself compelled to sit with him. And she was so tired. The two looked
like an odd pair on the bench just then. One was a woman who looked
like she had reached her limit of exhaustion. The other was a man who
looked
as if he had never been tired or furrowed his brow in angst.
“The children
are doing well, Guy, Olivia has begun to speak. And Abby is starting to
learn
to read,” she tried to sound energetic.
“It looks as if
it might rain,” Guy said to her.
Evelyn looked up
at the sky quizzically, and said, “Yes, I suppose it does.”
“Do you remember
the story of Rama and Sita I told you about?” Guy asked.
Evelyn rolled
her eyes. “Yes, I remember. It was a beautiful story, Guy, but I really
must get going.”
Guy began before she could even
leave. And he wrapped her up in his peaceful voice and powerful words,
“The rainy season washed over
the world after Sita was stolen from Rama. Rama could not go
looking for his beautiful wife. And as the rain washed over the world,
Rama was left with nothing but his own thoughts and fears. It is a
dangerous thing to be left with just oneself. And Rama felt so alone.
He thought the rain would wash away the trail that led to his beloved.
He feared he could not defeat the powerful demons who had stole his
darling. And his brother, Lakshmana, sensed it was the critical time to
comfort his brother, lest all hope be lost. And so Lakshmana sat with
him one day, stopping him from all the things he did to keep himself
busy. And he said to him, ‘Brother why are you so low? Do you fear that
we will never find Sita? Or do you fear that you will not be able to
conquer the demons who have stole her? Take comfort, because all of our
friends will help us and we will find her again.’ But Lakshmana could
see this was not enough for Rama, because Rama knew the facts. No, it
was Rama’s spirit that was being soaked by the rain. And so
Lakshmana looked at him and spoke honestly. ‘Brother, you are Rama, the
lord of earth. You are a great warrior and you love your wife purely
and truly. You cannot sit here and let your mind become weak with fear
and contemplation. Instead, know that you will achieve. Prepare
yourself
to act! Your strength alone will carry you through the longest of
nights and you will shine bright in every day! Rama is not a man of
heavy thought and worry. He is a man of righteous action and positive
reflection!’ Lakshmana’s words rang true in Rama’s heart. And he
preserved through the rainy season and fought for his love.”
Evelyn sat there
quietly smiling at Guy. She slowly rose from her seat and touched his
face.
“Thank you,
Guy.”
Guy looked at
her with his eyebrows raised, “For what, beautiful mother?”
“For telling a
tired woman exactly what she needed to hear.”
Evelyn strolled
away with a smile on her face that she was not forcing.
Authors note: I retold this story
with a lot of freedom. It is not an exact retelling of either version
of the Ramayana that we read. But it was one of my favorite parts in
both books. In Narayan’s version Lakshmana was simply comforting. In
Buck’s version, many of Rama’s friends criticized him for getting
down and commanded him to find his warrior spirit again. I loved this
moment because it focused on such a positive attitude. This was a
lesson in life urguing us to ignore the negative possibilities or bad
facts and
move forward. I thought it was a powerful moment in Rama’s life. He
never lost sight of his mission again. And for a man who was supposed
to lead the world, he had to never waiver in order to bring peace to
everyone. I choose to not create too much development on the character
Evelyn or her response to the story because I wanted the reader to
imagine her situation. Sometimes the greatest empathy we can feel is
when we imagine the circumstances of the character ourselves. It is
clear
that she is hurt and tired. And it is clear the kind words of the guru
are what she needed to hear so that she can not focus on the rain and
know
that she is capable of overcoming all the problems placed before her.
Image Information: This image was taken from a website with a montage
of beautiful street photos. I liked the way it looked. The pictures
were
taken in Tehran.
Bibliography: This story was taken from the Indian epic, The Ramayana.
Street Corner Guru
Introduction
Be Somebody
Forged by Fire
The Next Day