Week 9 Story: Wake Up Kumbhakarna
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| (Image Information: Sleeping Brother of Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Wikipedia Commons) |
Author's Note: This story is about Ravana's brother Kumbhakarna. Kumbhakarna was tricked by the gods and became cursed to sleep for long periods/six months at a time. We all have trouble waking up sometimes, but I wondered what Kumbhakarna's perspective was. It must be extra difficult to wake up after six months of slumber! So this is a short glimpse of his perspective.
"His eyes were red with anger, and he cried, “Why have I been awakened before my time?”
Kumbhakarna is not doing well.
It takes a toll on someone to be cursed by the gods to sleep for six months at a time. What's worse, is that when Kumbhakarna finally manages to wake up, he feels like absolute shit and spends a whole day trying to recover. Every time he wakes up his throat is parched and he is starving. The ironic part, the part that really drives the whole curse bit in, is that he only wakes up for one day. Really, it's clever of the gods to come up with such a hilarious idea.
So he's bitter. Anyone would be.
The hard part though, is that he spends his waking days thinking "Is this a dream?" He spends so much of his life asleep, it becomes truly hard to distinguish real life from dreamland. Of course, the gods had to sprinkle in the extra aspect of having intense, vivid dreams for the entire six month period. He is exhausted, all the time. It's all ironic, he seems doomed to live a life of irony. He thinks, on those single days, "Isn't it appropriate that in my dream I lost my life and now by being "awake" I'm losing it again?"
This wretched thought might not make sense to regular, non-cursed people, but the ideas haunt Kumbhakarna. In his dreams, there is always a constant sensation of loss, in the back of his mind, permeating all other dream activities. It must be his subconscious sending resentful, angry thoughts. Yet, on his day of awakening, he finds himself filled with confusion, and that same sense of loss, only stronger, brighter, louder. He doesn't know what's real anymore. He no longer remembers the people of his life before the curse. His dreamland is his main world. He does not want to wake up anymore. There is no point because he cannot remember the good parts of the living world. All he associates it with is hunger, thirst, pain, exhaustion, anger, sadness, and confusion.
Hey Ann Marie, I love your blog and this post (especially the image that you picked for this story). Personally, even though you did not include a lot of dialogues, I love your style of narration and think that you should stick to it. I like the fact that you made an effort to explain Kumbhakarna's dreams. It would be interesting to see you elaborate on this subject and write an alternate ending to Kumbhakarna!
ReplyDeleteAnn Marie, this story was hilarious and eloquently written as it summed up exactly what so many of us go through after we have been tired and slept for an extended period of time. I love the commentary and detail you placed on the character of Kumbhakarna and am looking forward to seeing what is next in store for him!
ReplyDeleteHey Ann Marie, I really enjoyed reading your twist on the life of Ravana's brother Kumbhakarna. It is super important to dig deep and imagine what the perspectives of those who are neglected in the plotline are, and I think you did just that! Not only did you touch key topics, but also added a lot of humor, which I loved.
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