Telling Stories at Hogwarts

I had the most interesting conversation about the statue of Sita the other day with my dear friend Dean Thomas. We are both currently fourth-year students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is a discussion that became uncommon in my home due to the sensitivity behind the story. We were not forbidden from talking about it but it was frowned upon to share our own opinions. People have criticized my father and his father because of their take on the story. Many Indian people believe the classic story behind the statue but I have a great ancestor who was there who know the real story…

“So, Padma, tell me more about this so-called story behind the statue, since you say you know more than the stories and professor say. It's hard to believe anything different than what Professor Tialleur was saying in our Wizards Through History class,” said Dean one day while we were sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room.

“I do not appreciate the unbelieving tone behind that statement but I will tell you nonetheless,” I reluctantly answered because I knew he would challenge any response I gave. He was notorious for being overly critical of people's opinions. This is one of my dearest friends but he can be somewhat self-obsessed sometimes, thinking that no one is right but himself. “Well, here is how the traditional stories went. Rama had to send Sita away because of the so-called bad reputation that she was bestowing upon his name after his exile. He told people he wanted the statue so that he could stop missing her and kept it in her room at his palace. Although creepy, this was his way of having her as company without actually dealing with the criticism of people who did not approve of her. My family, however, believes something totally different. Even though it was only her body in the room, he still felt comfort from her. We believe that Rama had Sita killed. I know people to claim to have known the whereabouts of Sita after she left Rama. However, my ancestor Vasu Roshan told people that he was there the day the statue was made. Vasu was the top of the line of many ancestors who worked for the royal palace. They have been sharing this story with their children all the way until my father shared it with Parvati and myself. Vasu knows that it was not just gold inside of the statue but it was Sita. Rama turned her into a statue because he did not want anyone else to have her but he also did not want to kill her and have her buried in the ground.”

“That is probably one of the coolest stories I have ever heard,” replied Dean. This was not the reaction I expected from him. “Do you know what happened to the statue after Rama was gone? Did he want to take it with him so no one would ever know his secret? How many other people saw this happen?”

“Slow down with all the questions! According to Vasu, a theory passed down for many generations, the statue still remains in the exact location Rama made it. My father says he also saw it. He told us that Sita still stands in the same place. See, he did not make the statue by himself. The only people who were present in the room were Rama, Sita, Vasu, another servant and Suman the magic lion. Suman is the one who had the power to turn Sita into a statue without harming her but I guess the requirement was that she would never move from that place due to the amount of magic that went into making her. When he made her into a statue, he essentially froze and then killed her. They knew she probably would have been killed out in exile but this was Rama's way of having her close. It is a pretty disgusting thing to do, if you ask me. Even though the palace has been destroyed and many natural disasters have hit the area, the statue still stands, looking over India.” I was very happy that he did not criticize me for this story and was shocked that Dean did not challenge me at all!

Image Information: Taken from Superior Pics. Padma and Dean are on the left and they are the characters communicating in my story. Picture from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Author's Note: For this story I made Padma Patil the storyteller. She is an Indian student from the Harry Potter novels. I had her telling the story of what happened to Sita's statue to another student named Dean Thomas, who is also from Harry Potter. I chose Dean and Padma because they are both minor characters from Harry Potter and are both in the same house in the books. I also wanted to do this to add a little bit of character to a less known character from the books. While somewhat gross, I made up an ending that the statue was actually Sita. The reason I am calling it gross is because I am having Rama keep a technically dead body in his room and keep him company, even though she is a dead body. I think of it as a creepy idea instead of romantic or sweet. He is not keeping her to save her from exile but killing her his way and keeping her perfectly frozen body for his own benefit. I was inspired to do this while thinking of the movie House of Wax because in that movie actual people are turned into wax figures. I thought this would be a funny change in the story and somewhat different from the epics. I included a magic lion because while reading the Ramayana, I always find the most random magical characters. I figured that a magical lion would not be far-fetched at all and would be a good addition to the story. Before I told her made-up story I included what is actually from the books regarding Rama’s decision to make a statue of Sita.

Bibliography:

• Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.