Kooni's Story

Today, I received the dreadful news that Rama is being crowned King. I overheard King Dasharatha discussing this with his court as I was running errands for my dear Queen. How could this happen? How could Dasharatha overlook the son of Kaikeyi, his most beloved wife? Why does he prefer him to all of his other sons? I personally do not understand why everyone thinks Rama is so wonderful. In my experience, he is cruel, deceitful, and untrustworthy. Just like his father. Maybe that is why the King loves him so much. Both of them lead with the facade that they are so kind and auspicious, but their hearts are those of a serpents.

I remember when Rama was little, he would taunt me about my hunchback. You know, I used to not have this wretched deformity. Actually, I used to be quite handsome before my terrible fall…not that anyone would know it to look at me now. Now all anyone ever sees when they look at me is the horrible hump on my back. I look as if my creator wished for me to be a camel instead of a woman. My appearance is my greatest insecurity. I remember Rama was so kind to everyone in the castle when he was little, except for me. As soon as everyone turned their back, he would taunt me relentlessly for my hunchback. He made fun of my deformity and threw balls of clay at me. One time he even shot a toy arrow at my side. His words brought all of my insecurities to the surface. I have resented him for this for many years now. Not even the lowliest of people deserve the treatment I received from that young man. Now that he is older, I thought he might show some remorse for his treatment of me when he was young, but there is none as far as I can tell.

This is why I simply cannot let him become the next king. Especially not at the expense of my Queen, Kaikeyi. She is so dear to me. Her heart is much too young and much too kind to see the cruel people that her husband and stepson are. I do not trust King Dasharatha to uphold his promises to her after he makes Rama king. I cannot bear to see her suffer any sort of cruel fate.

That is why I have devised a plan to get rid of Rama forever. This afternoon, when the Queen summons me, I shall seek to place thoughts of doubt and malice in her beautiful mind. I shall convince her that when Rama becomes King, she shall be forgotten by her beloved King and dismissed to a life of servitude. Then, I shall remind her of the two boons owed to her by Dasharatha for when she saved his life. I shall suggest that she use her first boon to make Bharata King, and her second to banish Rama into exile for fourteen years. Surely that will be long enough for the whole country to forget Rama’s name! Then, I shall never again have to see that face that ceaselessly taunts my memory. Rama’s karma has finally come to him.