Week Story 5: Sita's exile

                                                                    Image Details: Sita, Source: Wikimedia

It was a foggy Friday morning. Lakshmana and I had to leave early in the morning so that the tabloids wouldn’t see us sneaking out of the house. He came into my room last night and told me that I had to leave with Lakshmana in the morning to go meet some constituents that could help him in the election.

“Why me? Why not send Hanuman?” I looked at Rama intently. He never sent me anywhere by myself and especially after the rumors about the affair; we decided it would be better if I didn’t make any public appearances for some time. Rama ran his fingers through his hair, “I need Hanuman here, Sita. He needs to rally up the rest of our followers for the speech. Besides, the people adore you. Maybe not right now, but you need to show them that you are stronger than this.”

He looked up at me and I could see tears in his eyes. I never saw him cry, even when his father told him to stop campaigning and leave Ayodha for thirteen years. As a tear rolled down his cheek, I realized that I was being foolish. I can’t forget my duties just because of a few people believed that I was being unfaithful. I needed to prove to them that they were wrong, that I could never do that to Rama.

I reached for Rama’s hand and held it. “I’ll do it,” I said. He looked at me and I could see the burden was on his chest had lightened. “When do I need to leave?” I asked.  Rama released my hand. “Tomorrow morning. I’ll have Lakshmana drive you there. If the press sees you leaving early in the morning, they’ll have a field day trying to find out where you are and who you’re with.”

I couldn’t help, but feel slightly shocked in Rama’s tone. After I was rescued, Rama asked me to give a public announcement to the people about what happened during my captivity. “How can you ask me to do this, Rama?” I was furious at him. “Do you know how embarrassing this is for me?” Rama, who was talking to Hanuman, turned around to face me. His face looked weary from a lack of sleep and anxiety. “I don’t have a choice Sita. This is the only way to stop the rumors about you and Ravana.”

Ravana. That name sent chills down my spine. I could never forget what I had endured when I was with him. I lived with fear that I would have to live with him forever. “Rama, the only person I care about is you. Other than you, I don’t care if anyone else believes me.”

By the look on the face I could see that he was touched. He reached out for my hand and held it. “I know how you feel and I already feel terrible for having to ask you do this. However, I’m also a leader and I need to keep peace between the people.” It took a bit of convincing from both Rama and Hanuman, but I finally agreed to do it. Still, it shocked me that Rama still talked about the incident with Ravana with such ease. I didn’t know whether he was trying to make it seem normal or if he was hiding something from me.

I woke up early the next morning, but I couldn’t see Rama anywhere. After I got ready and walked downstairs, I saw Lakshmana waiting by the car and he was talking to one of the servants who was putting the luggage in the trunk of the car. I walked toward Lakshmana, “Why are they packing so many bags?” I pointed towards the line of suitcases that stood against the door. “What’s going of Lakshmana? What is everyone hiding from me?” I knew he couldn’t lie to him, he wouldn’t. Lakshmana drew in a deep breath. “Nothing, Rama just thought it might be a good idea that you could spend a couple of days touring the countryside.”

“Are you sure?” I asked him. He looked up at me and smiled. “What else could there be?” I didn’t know why, but his smile gave me some comfort and hope. “Where is Rama? I haven’t seen him at all this morning. I thought he would be here to say good-bye.” Lakshmana averted his eyes, but he kept a steady tone, “You know Rama, he hates good-byes. Anyway, he is in a meeting with some of the townspeople.” I nodded my head and climbed into the car. Lakshmana hopped into the front seat and told the driver to begin driving. I turned my head around and watched the mansion grow smaller and smaller as we drove away.

About an hour in to the car ride, Lakshmana asked the driver to stop the car. We were somewhere in the country. I noticed the small cottage out of the corner of my eye. The driver began to place the luggage against the stone wall. I looked around my surroundings; there was a small pond near the cottage and huge banyan trees surrounding the cottage. It was beautiful, but why did Lakshmana bring me here? “Lakshmana, what are we doing here?” I turned to face him and could see tears rolling against his cheek. He walked over to me “I’m sorry; I didn’t want it to be like this. Rama has sent you away.” I looked at Lakshmana, “What did you just say?”

I was shook with disbelief. No, he can’t do this. Not to me. Lakshmana continued, “The rumors keep on coming and the people have asked that Rama leave you. So, you’ll be living here and we’ll be sending you money every month, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

I shook my head, “For how long? When can I come back?” Lakshmana looked at me intently, I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer, “Sita, you’ve been exiled. You can never come back home. Rama and I can’t come and see you again.” Before I could say anything, he walked over to the car, “Please forgive me, Sita.” He shut the door and drove away before I could say anything. I walked up to the cottage and sat on the highest step.

Tears began pooling at the end of my eyes and I wiped them away. I could never forgive him for this. How could I? After everything I have done for them, this how they pay me back. I pushed the hair away that crept up on my face, “Never Rama, I can never forgive you for this.”

Author's Note: The story was inspired by Sita's exile in the Ramayana as well as the comic book about Luv and Kush. It's a very sad story about how Sita was exiled to the wilderness due to rumors about her relationship with Ravana during her captivity. I changed the setting of the story so that it would seem current, but kept the names of the characters the same. I wanted the audience to see Sita's innocence, loyalty, and nativity throughout the story as well as how she begins to change herself at the end of the story when she realizes that she had been exiled by her husband.

Bibliography: Amar Chitra Katha, The Sons of Rama: Luv and Kush- The Invincible Twins Vol 503.