Kaikeyi's
Sweet
Surprise
Luis
had arrived twenty minutes early and was sitting in the waiting
room. After waiting for thirty minutes, Luis was extremely
annoyed.
This was one reason he did not like going to the doctor, because the
wait was ridiculous. For Luis, his time was precious, too!
Sal
was getting ready for her next patient, Luis. She knew he was
early,
but she still wanted to catch her breath. She wanted to meditate
first,
because he always drove her crazy. He was just too egotistical
for
her, but she still wanted to help him.
Luis finally walked into Sal's office and sat down on the big, red
couch. He was still a bit annoyed and it showed.
"Hello, Luis! How are you today?"
"Well, it could be better!"
"Okay...so, what would you like to discuss during this session?"
"My brother is upset, because my father did not update his will to
include him! A few years ago, my father planned to update his
will, but they got into a big argument! He decided not to include him
until he apologized, but that never happened. My brother never
spoke with him again, and did not visit him when he was on his death
bed!"
"What are your plans? Do you wish to share your inheritance with your
only brother?"
"One
part of me wants to keep all of it, and another part of me wants to
give my brother some of it. If I do keep it all, then I
lose my
only
brother. Another part of me says that I deserve this, and why
should I
share the money?"
"Do you really think losing your only brother
is worth it? Over money??? Think about that for a little while
longer,
because I want you to tell me more about the part of you that wants to
give your brother some of the inheritance."
"That is my good side! Yes, I do somewhat think he is entitled to his
share. I mean after all, he is my brother and my father's son. I
don't
mind giving him my father's AIG stock, just because they are crooks!"
"Luis, I want to tell you a story!"
"Sure, why not?"
"I want to tell you about a lady named Kaikeyi. Kaikeyi married a
man
named Dasaratha who was wealthy, and you could compare him to a Donald
Trump without the wave haircut!"
"Well, I could be like a mini-Trump, if I received all of my father's
inheritance! Of course, that would be without the hair!"
Sal continued with the story, "Later, she had two sons by
Dasaratha.
Kaikeyi knew that one of her sons, either Rama or Bharatha, would
inherit the
family business, but she wanted her favorite son, Bharatha, to be the
one to inherit it. The
problem was that Bharatha was the younger of the two, and he wanted no
part in the family business. The other problem was that Rama was
Dasaratha's favorite son and the elder of the two. Therefore,
Rama was
entitled to the majority of the inheritance. When Kaikeyi was
nine years old, she found Dasaratha's body after he had been shot in
the chest by a robber. She called 911 and she actually saved his
life. After he got well, he had told her that she could ask him for any
two things, and he would do as she wished. So, the first wish
that she asked her husband for was to have Bharata inherit
what Dasaratha originally intended for Rama, and her second wish was to
have Rama work for the church in South America for fourteen years."
"Wow! Kaikeyi was a genius! That sounds like something I would do! I am
sure Dasaratha was really mad at her!"
"He could not take back his word and was so upset that he had a heart
attack."
"No! Did he survive?"
"Unfortunately, he did not! The boys were so upset, too! They made
their mother feel so guilty that she committed suicide one week after
Dasaratha's death."
"Wow! What a tragedy! Not only do Rama and Bharatha lose their
father, but then they lose their mother. This story truly hit
home for me! It was hard enough for me to lose my father, but I
cannot imagine losing my mother at the same time! I do not want
anything to happen to my family over this inheritance! Plus, if I kept
all the money, I might feel so guilty that I, too, might commit suicide
like Kaikeyi did. What if my brother hires a hit-man to kill me,
so he can get the money instead? Karma does work in mysterious ways, so
who knows what could happen! No doubt, I will definitely give my
brother
half of my father's inheritance, without question! I do not want to
make the same mistake as Kaikeyi! Plus, my family is much more
important than any amount of money! I love my brother and I could not
live without him in my life. I could let my evil side prevail, but I
will do no such thing! I have the power to do good deeds, too, and that
is the path I shall take!
"I am glad to hear of your decision, and time is up! Please, remember
Karma: all your actions will have consequences. So, try to stay
out of trouble!"
"Thanks, Sal! I always feel better when I leave here. I will see you in
two weeks."
Author's Note:
Luis is
the present-day reincarnation of
Kaikeyi. As
you already know, he did have some of Kaikeyi's selfish ways, so that
continued to the modern-day version. In the end, Luis had a
change of
heart and decided to give his brother half of the inheritance. I
did
this because I did not want my story to have such a tragic ending as
the one I created for Kaikeyi. I changed the story of Kaikeyi in
a few
ways, so that Luis would relate more to her situation. First, I
changed Rama to be one of Kaikeyi's sons, instead of her stepson. This
would create another
level of shock that was different from the original sources I used
(Narayan and
Buck). Second, Dasaratha was not a king, but a very wealthy
man. I
thought it would be funny to compare Luis's father to Donald Trump,
just because most people know who he is. Again, I wanted people
to be able to relate to Luis, and today not many people can say their
father is a king.
Finally, I had Kaikeyi commit suicide. I wanted Kaikeyi to feel
so
much guilt that she took her own life, and thus provide a lesson of
Karma for Luis. In the original, Kaikeyi does not commit suicide
and instead, at the end of the epic, she is forgiven for her selfish
actions. I wanted Luis to realize that if he cheated his
brother out of his inheritance, he would pay grave consequences.
Bibliography:
Image Source: Holding Hands. Website: Photo
Bucket.
Buck, William (1976). Ramayana:
King Rama's Way.
Narayan, R.K. (1972). The
Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epics.