There's more to a woman's birth and existence than mere beauty and charm. She isn't a gift to be opened, neither a sinner in love.
Ahalya must realise it and free herself from the shackles of patriarchy.
| AAPI Heritage Month Contest WINNER |
The APIRomance and APIFantasy are hosting, along with many wonderful profiles, the AAPI Heritage month contest to recognise diverse voices.
They have a selection of amazing prompts. It was SUPER HARD (yes, really) to choose one. There were prompts for both story and poetry. Finally, I got this:
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The fairytale (sort of) I have chosen is the tale of Ahalya. I have based it on the earliest version possible, and not the later adaptations. According to the earliest version, Ahalya knowingly got intimate with Indra and was cursed by her husband Gautama.
Three elements that I am changing here:
1. Gautama is NOT a good person in my retelling. Reading the earliest version where he was her foster father made me conclude so and choose this path.
2. Indra is portrayed as a sinful man too who leaves his wife. However, here I have shown him as unmarried. Point to be noted: Indra is a title and not a name.
3. Ahalya and Mahendra won't be having a tragic ending like the real story.
I highly recommend you guys to check out the prompts because it's going to get your creative juices flowing. Head on to the profile and see it. I am also giving the link here:
