Blink: Ramayana, (part three of three)

nonfiction by Emily Northey

Yuddha Kanda

The Yuddha Kanda describes how a floating bridge is built to Lanka and Rama crosses it to save his wife.  He fights and finally kills Ravana and saves Sita from her prison.  To test her purity, he asks her to perform a trial by fire, which she willingly jumps into and comes out of unburned and whole.  Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya—Rama’s exile is now over—and he regains the throne.

Blink: Ramayana, (part two of three)

nonfiction by Emily Northey

In the fourth book of the Ramayana, the Kishkindha Kanda, Rama and his brother go to the monkey kingdom, Kishkindha, where they call upon the monkeys for aid in finding Sita.  One of the monkeys, Hanuman, finds out that Sita had been taken to a land called Lanka (believed to be modern Sri Lanka).  Hanuman takes a gigantic leap across the water, as depicted in the Sundara Kanda, and finds Sita.  She refuses to go back with him as she does not want to be touched by any male except her husband.  Hanuman agrees and then attacks Ravana’s palace before returning to Rama.

Blink: Ramayana, (part one of three)

nonfiction by Emily Northey

A Note from the Author

The Ramayana is a famous and ancient Sanskrit epic written by the Hindu sage Valmiki, during the 4th century, B.C.E.  The text depicts different societal roles—king, wife, brother, servant, etc.—and the ideal relationships expected to exist between them.  The Ramayana follows the story of Rama, the hero and prince of Ayodhya and an incarnation of Vishnu, as he struggles to reclaim his kidnapped wife, Sita (an incarnation of Lakshmi, Vishnu’s consort), from Ravana, the demon.  The Ramayana is comprised of 7 books (kandas), each following chronologically the story of Rama and Sita’s journey.

BCN Subway

by Rob Rotell

I step onto the moving walkway in the spacious underground channel between tracks at Diagonal Station, and I lean against the glass shield, and relax. I’m tired, my eyes are red; I’ve just spent the last two hours walking in the dark, looking for a metro station after a late night movie at Yelmo Icaria Cinema. It’s past midnight, Friday going into Saturday, and the drunks, the drugged, and nicely dressed are out, crowding the subway stations, yelling in their languages, frotteuring and ignoring.

Scrape

a memoir by William Hoffacker

 On a clear night, at the end of a long car ride alone, I’m pulling headfirst into the space in front of my parents’ small suburban house when this jolt shakes my sleek new Honda, coupled with a slam-and-scrape that awakens my senses, dulled by the winding miles of I-80, with a rush of adrenaline. I panic at the thought of what’s been hit, what have I done, as my hands tighten around the steering wheel, ten o’clock two o’clock, and jerk it into a sharp left. The metallic crunch dies away, and I slam on the brakes before I can damage God knows what else.

Tanvi

nonfiction by Emily Northey

In my travels, I found a wonderful friendship with my Hindi teacher, Bhavani, and her young daughter, Tanvi.  This piece is dedicated to both of them in thanks for the joy and love we have shared.

A Letter to Anya, October 2009

nonfiction by Lauren Bailey
    

Anya, the temperature is dropping, and we’re not doing very well. At night we eat dinner in the cafeteria, and our friends watch every bite you put into your mouth. We smoke cigarettes on the patio beforehand, the uncomfortable outdoor furniture embedding diamond patterns into our arms and legs. Most nights, your eyes fill with tears. You tell me that our friends are all so obvious, that when we sit down to eat, they don’t even try to hide the fact that they’re watching you. I can tell, as you talk around exhales of smoke, that you don’t think I watch you. I can tell that you think I’m safe.