When
Ekalavya was born, his parents, Annabel and Samu, were overwhelmed with
happiness for their new son. This happiness was short lived because ten minutes
after birth the doctors had to take Ekalavya into surgery. When the doctor came
back to the new parents, he told them that their son was going to be okay but he
would have to live the rest of his life with only one leg. Annabel and Samu
were just happy that Ekalavya was alive.
Annabel and Samu raised Ekalavya just like any
other child. He got no special attention from his parents for his physical
handicap. In fact, he did not even think of himself as physically handicapped until he went to school. Some of his classmates made fun of him for needing a crutch and being deformed and others
treated him with extra care. His teacher made him sit out during dodge ball
because she thought it would put him in danger. He was very confused by his
experience at school because he had never been treated like that at home or
even with his cousins but at school he was an outcast.
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| Ekalavya going swimming Wikimedia |
In
middle school, Ekalavya met the Pandava brothers. The Pandava brothers were
strong, athletic, and popular. These five brothers were the first people in
school that did not treat him differently than they would anyone else and
Ekalavya enjoyed their friendship. The boys would play sports or go swimming
and Ekalavya felt normal again.
When the Pandava brothers got to high school, they decided to take karate classes
to make themselves more disciplined and strong. Since the brothers and Ekalavya
did everything together, they invited him to class one day and Ekalavya
absolutely loved it. He observed the strength and agility of the instructors was
more than he had even seen. The friends took karate classes for three years,
all the way up to senior year. The Pandava brothers had become almost experts
in the sport but Ekalavya had to work every day to modify every move so that he
could accomplish the same level of talent.
One day
the Pandava brothers decided to move to a more advanced studio. Ekalavya wanted
to join his friends but was worried about the studio's competitive tryouts. He
practiced during every free minute he got and on the day of the tryouts he was
confident. Karate students came from all around the country to have the
opportunity to be taught by the famous Drona, one of the most highly sought
after karate instructors. When Ekalavya
hopped into the building, he immediately got strange looks from everyone around him. He heard the laughs from the other competitors but tried to
ignore them.
After
each of the five Pandava brothers had their turn on the stage, the crowd cheered
and a judge came up and gave them a letter of acceptance to the elite studio. When
it was Ekalavya's turn, his heart pounded but he tuned out the skeptical stares
and put forth his best performance. He
felt great about his performance and he was proud of the work he had put in. The skeptical
stares were replaced with expressions of shock when Drona himself came on
stage to hand Ekalavya his letter of acceptance. Ekalavya had never been more
proud of himself.
Author's Note:
For this week's storytelling post I decided to base it off of a character that is not a main character from the reading. I got all of the names from The Mahabharata but I changed the background of each of the characters as well as the setting of the story. My inspiration of this post was the Karate Kid because I watched that on TV the other day. In The Mahabharata, Ekalavya is an outcast due to his family's origin and he is not physically handicapped until the end when his thumb is removed but I wanted to give the story a twist so I made him an outcast by physical handicap from the beginning. I also kept true to Drona being the highly sought after teacher/instructor. Overall, In the original story Drona rejected Ekalavya but then Ekalavya trained to a statue that looked like Drona. Ekalavya became very good. He came back to Drona to show off his skills. Drona is impressed but in order to keep his image he demands Ekalavya to take off his thumb in punishment of going against his word. I completely changed Drona to make it a happier story. I went against the original story by making The Pandava brothers and Ekalavya friends from the start and my reason for this was to make the story more upbeat than the original. The Pandava brothers do not have individual names because I wanted to make them seem like a unit or a well oiled machine. I did this to take the focus off of them and keep it on Ekalavya. As for Ekalavya's parents I made up their names because I am a little confused as to who actually are Ekalavya's parents in the original story. I wanted to keep the main character's mindset always positive.
All accounts of The Mahabharata are found in The Public Domain found below
Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition
All accounts of The Mahabharata are found in The Public Domain found below
Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition
I LOVE your story Sara! I hate that Ekalavya had to deal with students treating him as an outcast, but I think you gave an accurate description of what would happen. Kids can be so mean, even if they don't mean to. Especially if someone is a little different than them. I love the happy ending and really felt Ekalavya's joy when he received his acceptance letter.
ReplyDeleteThe way you described Ekalavya and his transition to school made it seem like a rel-life story to me. I was also really worried that he wouldn’t be able to keep up with his other brothers. It’s always fun to set up the main character of the story to be the underdog. And also very nice when he accomplishes his goals in the end.
ReplyDeleteSara, this was a really enjoyable story to read as it leaves a good feeling in your heart about Ekaylavya. In the beginning it is sad to hear about his birth disability however the end of the story makes up for a sad start. I was happy that the Pandavas brothers took him to be a friend even though he had a disability. They did not judge him or even treat him any differently. I love how we see Ekalavya progress and build confidence throughout the story. It is also nice to have someone to root for throughout the story. And in the end he accomplishes his goal and is presented the award by Drona. This was an enjoyable read and I liked the way you described the characters and setting throughout the story. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to reading more of your stories that make your portfolio!
ReplyDeleteSara, I found this story to be a great read. The details of Ekalavya going to school made me really sympathize for what she was going through. I personally have suffered from bullying so I really understood what Ekalavya is going through. It is very tough. However, the ending was awesome! Great story!
ReplyDeleteSara, what a great story! I wanted to continue reading to find out what was Ekalavya's next journey going to be. I think you did well in reciprocating the outcast characteristic into a physical disability. I also liked how you kept the brothers as a unit, it made more sense that way. Finding support without asking is a blessing in disguise. The brothers in your story helped him so much without even realizing it. Not going to lie but I did get scared in the beginning when the newborn baby had to be taken for surgery. Almost tempted to skim through the rest of the story. I think you represented the struggles of being considered as an outcast well, even though his family never really treated him as one. Your story was fun to read and I hope to read more from you in the future! Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteSara, you were my free choice project this week. I chose to read your story because you gave Eklavya his own narrative. In the versions of the Mahabharata that I've read I was disappointed to see his fate. That is why I was super excited to see how you depicted this character. I think you did a great job of writing a positive, upbeat story for such a minor character. I totally got the Karate Kid influence once I looked back at your post. I think you could add additional detail to the final scene at tryouts to really show Eklavya as the triumphant underdog.
ReplyDeleteI like the picture you already have in your post. Maybe you could add another image or two to create the tryout scene that a reader could visualize and react to. Overall, this was an excellent story, and I look forward to reading more from you later.
Hope this was helpful!
Sara, I liked the blurb that you included for this story. It drew me in and I wanted to read more and be inspired. I really liked the moral that you chose for this story. I think it's great that you showed that hard work and determination pays off in the end. It's cool that the main character was able to find good friends who did not judge him. I think many people don't grow into their full potential because of judgements from others but if you just believe in yourself, you would be really surprised at what all you can come to accomplish. I think more people should be supportive of that too so I think that your story really showed how hope and a strong will wins at the end. I liked how you kept the story positive and gave a happy ending. Everyone likes a happy ending!
ReplyDeleteSara, I had no clue what to expect for a portfolio as I have only seen storybook's thus far and I was so impressed! I ended up looking at both of your stories and although I enjoyed Rama's Victory thoroughly, I have to say that Ekalavya + Determination was my favorite! The picture you used was perfect and brought up so many emotions for me. I can't imagine having only one leg and still being so determined – those kind of stories have always inspired me. Playing with the emotions of your readers is important to really capture their attention and you did this seamlessly – even just on your cover page! To be honest, I wish that your blog was a storybook so that I could continue reading about your intriguing characters: Annabel, Samu, and Ekalavya. Think about making your next story a continuation of these characters or just including them somehow.
ReplyDeleteSara, what a great story you have written! I loved the message behind it. I chose to look at this story because your short summary of it on your portfolio page really drew me in. When I was reading the story, I was smiling because I loved how Ekalavya never felt different even though he had only one leg. I also liked how you incorporated the characters of the Mahabharata into it without being too obvious about it. You did a great job of changing up Drona's character and making him more caring and kind. When I was reading the end, for some reason I felt like Ekalavya wasn't going to make the intense karate studio tryouts. With that said, I was really happy with your ending. You wrote a really nice, upbeat, and heartfelt story about a disabled man. Great job and I look forward to reading more of you work!
ReplyDeleteHi Sara!
ReplyDeleteI chose to read two of your portfolio stories this week because I remember really liking your stories this semester. I wanted to get a chance to read them all. You have done a nifty job of making the stories more upbeat and more identifiable for most of the audience. Today I read Rama's Victory and Ekalavya + Determination. I really liked this one about overcoming what other people think you are capable of doing as well as working hard to overcome your disadvantages. We all have strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes our weakness can become a great strength, which is what happens when Dropa fully supports your lead character's victory.
The author's note is kinda intimidating to read because visually it is chunky. It may help the reader visually to make the one note have some paragraphs. I do not see anything in the story that I would change. It is awesome, short and sweet and to the point! Good luck to you in all you do in the future!
Hello Sara,
ReplyDeleteI read your portfolio story about Arjuna the other week, so this week I chose to read this one. I enjoyed how inspiring this story is. I think its good to read stories that are uplifting and remind you to be positive like this one. This story reminds me about an article I read about a woman who lost her leg in the Boston bombings, but still is an avid runner despite her circumstances. I think the picture also helps provide a very powerful mental image or story in my head. I enjoyed reading this. I think there were many different paths you could have taken (including making the story a bit more darker or something), but you chose the best path, in my opinion. Thank you for sharing this story! I loved reading it.