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Finally, the monotony of social studies came to an end, the bell rang and all the kids ran out of class to the playground for recess. Immediately, everyone grouped up into their friend groups and began to either play on the monkey bars, play basketball, or play hopscotch. All of the groups but two. Rama's and Ravana's crew both posted up in their respective corners of the playground and did their best to look cool. Rama was the king of fourth grade and was determined to get his girlfriend back from the school bully Ravana. Ravana thought he was better than everyone else because he was older and bigger, but that was only because he failed first grade twice.
Rama's younger brother Lakshmana was eager to win his brother's favor,as well as escape his shadow. When the inevitable fight broke out, he knew he was going to have to do something big if he wanted to make his own name known. Lakshmana's moment came when Ravana's biggest baddest buddy, Meghanada, started strutting in his direction.
"Hey dummy, I am going to kick your big ugly butt," Lakshman called out.
"No way, stinky head, you couldn't beat up a baby," Meghanada replied.
With such powerful insults thrown a playground duel to end all playground duels was in the making. Lakshmana knew he was in for one heck of a fight. Rumor had it, Meghanada was in possession of the three sacred weapons, passed down from the middle schoolers themselves- a laser pointer, a slingshot, and the stickiest of all the sticky hands.
All the children in the school yard gathered to watch the epic battle that would ensue. Quickly the two fighters became surrounded by a crowd, eager for the sight of the first tear to drop. Both of them circled around sizing up their opponent, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Suddenly, Meghanada leaped forward, both hands a whirlwind of slaps and scratches. Lakshmana recovered from this initial attack and did his best to get some good slaps in. For a moment, Lakshmana thought he was going to be able to win but instead he found himself being thrown down on the ground. Meghanada loomed over him with a cocky grin. All of a sudden Meghanada began to raise his hands over his head. Then Meghanada raised up his right leg as Lakshmana could do nothing but look up in horror. Meghanada was winding up for nothing other than a devastating crane kick.
With no defense against such a move, Lakshmana knew he was beaten. Suddenly, Rama stepped out of the crowd and with a mighty slap turned Meghanada into a crying baby on the ground. Standing over the blubbering baby, Rama turned to the crowd with his blue steel gaze.
Addressing the crowd, Rama said, "Fight's over, go back to playing." Rama helped his poor brother back to his feet and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulders. Together they went back to their turf by the swings, Rama knew this would not be the end of their dealings with Ravana and his crew.
Author's Note: I based my story on the fight between Rama's brother Lakshmana and Ravana's son Meghanada. What I really liked about this story was that despite how big and epic it seemed, it was glossed over very quickly in the source material. I wanted to give these two titans of the battlefield the attention they were due, even though in a humorous way. I told the story as a schoolyard fight between elementary students rather than between mighty warriors. This was the most contrasting setting that I could think of . In the story the two meet on the battlefield to fight to the death. They have an epic fight between two skilled and equally matched opponents. They are both well respected and revered by their armies. They have a long, drawn out fight but in the end Lakshmana is killed, and has to be revived back to life. Rama has to step in and help end the fight. In the end Lakshmana is able to kill Meghanada by beheading. I thought it would be funny and interesting to tell such an epic and powerful battlefield as a silly playground slap fight. I made changes to details such as Meghanada's celestial weapons. In the original the weapons are the Brahmanda astra, Pashupatastra and Vaishnavastra, each capable of wiping out creation. Despite the huge change in setting, characters, and dialogue, I actually kept the major points and plot of the original story intact. I tried to tell the story as humorous and lighthearted as I could, despite the seriousness of the source material.
Image Information
The Prince Indrajit or Meghnad
F.J. Gould, The Divine Archer, Blogspot Reading Guide
Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India, (1899). Chapter 66. Lakshmana and Indrajit
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