The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

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Hanuman discreetly flew from tree to tree, through the Ashok Vatika, hidden in the thick branches, searching eagerly for Sita, the maiden whom he had arrived to save. Sadly, luck was not on his side, for the Ashok Vatika was full of trees and it was very hard to search through the filter of thick leaves and branches. "If only there was a little Maa Sita-tracker," Hanuman grumbled, resting atop the branch of an old willow tree. "That would have been much, much easier, now wouldn't it have?"

Hanuman hummed, looking back across the Indian Ocean, which was glaring brightly with the flares of the sun. He wondered what Prabhu Shri Ram, Bhrata Lakshman, and the rest of them, Yuvraj Angad, Jambavan, Nal and Neel, what were they doing? Were they anxiously waiting for him? Hanuman would have very much liked to shout that there was no need to be anxious, for he could defeat the most fierce of demons with the blessings of Prabhu Shri Ram. But alas, he felt that if he shouted to them, it would be the same as shouting to the rest of Lanka, and that wasn't exactly discreet, now was it?

Hanuman jumped again to another tree, and looked at the fruits, blanching as his stomach rumbled. Why was he so hungry? Hadn't he eaten just a few hours ago? Hanuman rubbed his stomach. "No, no. Stop. It would be wrong to indulge yourself when Maa Sita is still lamenting, wherever she is in this big garden." Hanuman muttered to himself as he turned around in circles (hoping that dizziness would distract him from hunger). "Temptation surrounds me like the devil."

-----O-----

Meanwhile, Ram was busy collecting water from a nearby river and remembering better times, when he knew that he would be able to walk back to Sita in the cottage, where he knew that he would be able to see her smile again. When he knew there was hope, stored in the body of his young wife. And with that, Ram walked back with the pot, only to face a simmering angry Lakshman with arms crossed across his chest, eyes blazing and jaw clenched. Ram hesitated, coming to a halt.

"W-What's wrong Lakshman?" Ram laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head sheepishly, knowing exactly what was wrong. Ah well. It wasn't terrible to play dumb. "Ha-ha. Ha..." he trailed off when Lakshman snatched the pot away and set it on the cave floor. "Hey! Some of the water fell! Now that was very, very bad, Lakshman! You shouldn't be so careless! There has to be a time when you are gentle."

He winced as Lakshman opened his mouth wide. "SIT DOWN BHAIYYA!" Ram did as he was told. "I told you, I am here to serve you." Lakshman wisely did not mention Sita, which he knew would make Ram descend into a new bout of forlorn reminiscing. "If I cannot serve you, then what is the point of me being here? You went to collect a pot of water! I'M supposed to do that, not you! How many times, bhaiyya, must I tell you that I want to do this stuff! It's no chore for me!" Lakshman took a deep breath. "And the vanars don't even know where Sita bhabhi is yet-and bhaiyya-"
But Ram interrupted, smiling broadly and standing up, shaking Lakshman's shoulders. "Oh, but they have! I can feel it, beating in my heart! Hanuman has found my Sita at last."
-----O-----

And Hanuman very much had. After hours of searching through the trees of the Ashok Vatika (for there were a lot of them, it wasn't Ravan's biggest garden by a small amount), Hanuman had finally found the lady that Prabhu Shri Ram pined for, the lady that Raja Sugriv made it his duty to locate and retrieve, the lady that Ravan lusted after so much that he had abducted her, the daughter of Raja Janak, the sister of Urmila, Mandavi, and Shrutakirti, and the objective of Hanuman's search. Or, more simply, Maa Sita.

She sat under a tree, the only mortal lady in Lanka. Her orange vanvasi sari, untorn and untouched, was wrapped around her thin frame. Her cheeks sunk in a little from lack of food and steadily increasing worry. Her hands were clasped together so tightly that her knuckles turned white and her eyes were closed shut, her mouth murmuring inaudible details. And yet, through all the hardship, Sita still radiated the calm serenity, the approachable friendliness, and the overwhelming generosity, that had first drawn Ram to her. It could be no one else.