Introduction

The women of the Indian Epics are long-suffering, patient souls who usually prize the happiness of the men in their lives over their own. This storybook sets out to explore the question: What would happen if these women lost their patience, refused to suffer for someone unjustly, and took hold of their independence?

We start with Sita, giving her power to respond to the obstacles of life and love quite differently than she did in the epic, the Ramayana.

Next we invite Queen Draupadi to exercise her right to herself, from the Mahabharata.

Lastly, we create a new narrative for the demon, Shoorpanakha, who must not have earned many fans from the original writings. While the epics treasure purity and submission in their women, my retellings will include a bit more fire from our favorite ladies – and I am not referencing the fire god who came to vouch for Sita, nor the fire that Draupadi was born from.

Here we see Sita, sitting alone in a coffee shop, enjoying a late-night cappuccino and reading a book of her choosing. She is reading about starting her own business, maybe taking her once-neglected and ignored ideas to the next level.

In that same coffee shop, Draupadi is studying for a final exam. It is her first semester of college, and she's older than most of the students in her class, but she feels good about choosing to studying to go to law school.

Finally, we see Shoorpanakha (Shory, for short), hiding her demon skin under a thick layer of Covergirl makeup, but assimilating into human life well, even without her nose!

We will explore the turning points for these women and many others, looking into moment that they decided enough was enough, it is time for a change. Their epiphanies spring from vastly different places, and they will never know one another or the struggles of the others. Still the retelling of their stories will send their make-believe lives in an entirely new direction, one I think they would like.