Week 5 Story: The Fate of Dhyan
(The Travelers and the Purse by Milo Winter
The updated version of the story is here on my Portfolio!
A student, Dhyan, was in his last year of college. He was about to graduate. However, his journey was not easy. Dhyan's parents worked tirelessly to pay for his college expenses. His parents cooked him food, folded his laundry, and ran his errands. As Dhyan was the first in his family to go to college, his parents solely wanted their only son to achieve great things.
At his graduation, Dhyan's parents came to congratulate him after the ceremony. The parents were overjoyed and proud of what their son had accomplished. However, Dhyan barely acknowledged his parents.
"All my hard work finally paid off! Without my friends, I couldn't have graduated!" After Dhyan proudly said this, his parents were surprised that he did not thank them. They were the ones who made it possible for him to go to college in the first place.
His father replied, "We helped you as well. Be thankful for your parents. Together, we achieved this goal."
Dhyan simply rolled his eyes and walked towards his friends. He believed that he alone achieved this goal, because he worked for the grade not his parents.
As life went on, Dhyan barely spoke with his parents and lived a separate life from them. He did not share his fortunes with his parents. While they worked multiple jobs, Dhyan was carefree. His carefree personality affected his work too. He made rash decisions as time went on, and, ultimately, he was in deep financial trouble.
His friends could not help him and chose not to interfere with his personal matters. Having no other option, he turned to his parents. His parents were initially surprised at his unexpected visit. Dhyan never came home anymore. After Dhyan explained what trouble he was in, his parents had no reaction.
The mother replied, "As you are the one who graduated college by yourself, you can figure out your own problems." It not no longer "we," but only "you."
Author's Note: This week's story is based on the fable The Travelers and the Purse, which is from The Aesop for Children. In the original story, there are two travelers who found a purse. One of the travelers claimed that he found the purse by himself. Hearing this, the other traveler explained that "they" found the purse together; however, the first traveler disagrees. Later on, a mob chases after one of the travelers. Since the greedy traveler did not share the good fortune with the other traveler, the other traveler did not want to be a part of his misfortune. With this theme in mind, I choose to apply it in a real life scenario. I named the main character Dhyan to insert some irony. Since Dhyan means reflection and knowledge, I wanted the character to be the opposite of those traits. Dhyan in this story is not wise, but rather naive. I also added fast moving scenes and realistic details to make it more illustrative and longer than the original story. In addition, I attempted to explore the relationship between the parents and the son. At first it was a loving, caring relationship, but became tense and disconnected at the end. Readers can see how one decision - being ungrateful towards his parents - affected his future. This further enforced the theme: if we do not share our good fortunes with others, one cannot expect them to share your misfortunes.
Bibliography:
The Aesop for Children illustrated by Milo Winter (1919)
Hi Avani! I really enjoyed how you took the original story and applied to a more modern setting! I am interested in the origin of Dhyan as a name. It is a name that I have not heard before, but your choice as the name of the character makes sense due its irony. I do wonder what some of the rash decisions Dhyan made to get into his financial trouble as it would help to really understand the type of person Dhyan really is. I also think it would be interesting to write more from Dhyan's perspective, so we can really see why he has developed such a singular mindset. If I were pretending to be him, perhaps there is some deep-rooted issue between him and his parents that made him act the way he does. Or his parents wronged him some way. Those are some other ways I would explore the story! Overall, great story!
ReplyDeleteHi Avani! What a wonderful story! I think this is too often the case with many kids; we don't realize how much our parents sacrifice to help us succeed. I really enjoyed how you retold the story with a completely different plot, while still staying true to the lesson learned. I look forward to reading the rest of your stories!
ReplyDeleteHoly guacamole Avani this story hit home! I really like how you used a college context and a college kid to tell this story. It really made me think about my life and what I could accomplish if it was not for my parents. The ending reminded me to be thankful for what I have and my parents who have unconditionally supported me all these years!
ReplyDeleteGreat story!