One day in a quiet village, there was a quiet young woman named Satyavati.
Satyavati liked to keep to herself, but she always had an eye for the baker's boy, Shantanu.
Shantanu, was the son of the town's bakers and it was his destiny to take over his parent's baking business after they died. At the moment they were grooming him and teaching him how the business worked. His parents were also getting him ready for marriage, for Shantanu was already to be wed to the daughter of the cheese makers, but Shantanu wasn't in love with that girl and he only wanted to marry someone he was in love with.
This was a problem because Brishma was already being groomed as well by his parent's to take over, when and if Shantanu decided he didn't want to take over the bakery business. Brishma's parents assumed because of Shantanu's disdain for arranged marriages that he would forfeit his right to the bakery business so Brishma could take over and be the sole baker for everyone in town and marry the cheese daughter.
One day, Shantanu was walking around and delivering all the bread orders when he saw the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes upon. She was just sitting at the well painting a picture when their eyes met. It was Satyavati, and as soon as their eyes met they both knew that it was love at first sight and that they couldn't be without one another for another moment. They raced to each other and began talking, and the more they talked the more they realized how perfect they were for one another.
That night Shantanu went to his parent's and told him of his day and of Satyavati and how he planned to marry her and not the cheese girl. As expected, Shantanu's parents did not take the news well at all. They demanded an explanation and yelled at him about how their family business would go to Brishma.
Now Shantanu's parents didn't know, but he and Brishma were good friends. So when Shantanu told Brishma of his love for Satyavati, but how he didn't want to lose his parents or the family business, Brishma decided he would refuse to be the new baker. Shantanu couldn't believe it, he could actually have it all! Brishma and Shantanu decided they could work together for the bakery business to succeed, and Brishma all along had wanted to marry the cheese girl so it all worked out.
The bakery continued to thrive with Shantanu and Brishma at the helm with the help of Brishma's wife supplying all the cheese, and Shantanu was as content as he could be with his life. He and Satyavati went on to have kids and then one day they could take over the family business if they wanted to.
Author's Note: In the original story Shantanu falls in love with a woman who is a fisherman's daughter named Satyavati. He wants to marry her, but her father objects because Bhishma has already been designated as Shantanu's successor. Bhishma therefore renounces his claim to the throne to help his father, and he also renounces the possibility of having children of his own. Satyavati and Shantanu go on to have two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Chitrangada becomes king, but he dies soon after. After his death, Bhishma rules as regent for the young Vichitravirya. I decided to make the story more of a fairy tale and have it end with a happier ending where everyone gets what they want. I have no idea why I decided to make it about a baker son, besides the fact that I love bread, but I think it made for interesting family dynamic.
Bibliography:
Title: The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic
Author: R. K. Narayan
Year: 1978
Satyavati liked to keep to herself, but she always had an eye for the baker's boy, Shantanu.
Shantanu, was the son of the town's bakers and it was his destiny to take over his parent's baking business after they died. At the moment they were grooming him and teaching him how the business worked. His parents were also getting him ready for marriage, for Shantanu was already to be wed to the daughter of the cheese makers, but Shantanu wasn't in love with that girl and he only wanted to marry someone he was in love with.
This was a problem because Brishma was already being groomed as well by his parent's to take over, when and if Shantanu decided he didn't want to take over the bakery business. Brishma's parents assumed because of Shantanu's disdain for arranged marriages that he would forfeit his right to the bakery business so Brishma could take over and be the sole baker for everyone in town and marry the cheese daughter.
One day, Shantanu was walking around and delivering all the bread orders when he saw the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes upon. She was just sitting at the well painting a picture when their eyes met. It was Satyavati, and as soon as their eyes met they both knew that it was love at first sight and that they couldn't be without one another for another moment. They raced to each other and began talking, and the more they talked the more they realized how perfect they were for one another.
That night Shantanu went to his parent's and told him of his day and of Satyavati and how he planned to marry her and not the cheese girl. As expected, Shantanu's parents did not take the news well at all. They demanded an explanation and yelled at him about how their family business would go to Brishma.
Now Shantanu's parents didn't know, but he and Brishma were good friends. So when Shantanu told Brishma of his love for Satyavati, but how he didn't want to lose his parents or the family business, Brishma decided he would refuse to be the new baker. Shantanu couldn't believe it, he could actually have it all! Brishma and Shantanu decided they could work together for the bakery business to succeed, and Brishma all along had wanted to marry the cheese girl so it all worked out.
The bakery continued to thrive with Shantanu and Brishma at the helm with the help of Brishma's wife supplying all the cheese, and Shantanu was as content as he could be with his life. He and Satyavati went on to have kids and then one day they could take over the family business if they wanted to.
Cheese Platter - Web Source
Author's Note: In the original story Shantanu falls in love with a woman who is a fisherman's daughter named Satyavati. He wants to marry her, but her father objects because Bhishma has already been designated as Shantanu's successor. Bhishma therefore renounces his claim to the throne to help his father, and he also renounces the possibility of having children of his own. Satyavati and Shantanu go on to have two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. Chitrangada becomes king, but he dies soon after. After his death, Bhishma rules as regent for the young Vichitravirya. I decided to make the story more of a fairy tale and have it end with a happier ending where everyone gets what they want. I have no idea why I decided to make it about a baker son, besides the fact that I love bread, but I think it made for interesting family dynamic.
Bibliography:
Title: The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic
Author: R. K. Narayan
Year: 1978
The subject matter was definitely a difficult one to adapt into a short story like this because of how many characters were involved and how they all related to each other. That being said I think you did a really good job simplifying the story and adapting it to a different subject matter. I would be very curious to find out what made you think of a cheese factory as your subject though. Sounds like someone may have been a bit hungry while they were writing this.
ReplyDeleteHi, Chelsee!
ReplyDeleteI really like these irony plots that you wrote. I was worried at first that Shantanu would actually ended up marring the girl that he wasn’t in love with because of his family’s business. The plot changes when he met Satyavati. I am glad that Brishma understood Shantanu and was willing to help him with the bakery business and marry the love of his love. Finally, everything went well and everything were solved. I like this happy ending!
I enjoyed reading your story.
Hi, Chelsee!
ReplyDeleteYou wrote a delicious story here. First, I like you making this all about bread and cheese, mostly because those two things sound really good right now. Second, the more relevant and important thing I like is the happy ending in this story. While Bhishma's choice in the original story may have been a noble one, it began a destructive sequence of events. Here everything seems to work out just fine, and hopefully that means nothing terrible like the war in the Mahabharata happens. Great story!