Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part C

I thought it would be interesting to do another casting, but this time for the characters in the Mahabharata. Specifically, I wanted to focus on the parts where the Pandavas and Draupadi were in the woods in exile because this way I could keep a level of continuity and there would be plenty of material to work with.

41. Life in the Forest by Donald A. Mackenzie

• Draupadi: The first individual character mentioned, but has a minor role in this piece. I've decided to cast her as Teresynthia, the peach, in order to be consistent with my other blog post: Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Epified, Part E.
• Yudhishthira: I thought that perhaps King Kiwi would be a good choice as a casting for Yudhishthira. Both are kings (well, I guess he isn't at the moment), though King Kiwi is arguably wiser as he wouldn't have lost his kingdom in a gambling spree. He does a number of things in this part of the Mahabharata, such as praying to the sun god and wallowing at his misfortune, both of which King Kiwi has also done, though not exactly.
• Random brahmin: random cantaloupe would be a good option. They're kind of my go-to fruit when I need obscure characters that appear and then disappear a sentence later.
• Surya, sun god: I think the pineapple god, Pineapple God (Yes, totally original), would be a good option for Surya, for obvious reasons honestly. Pineapple God had a part in only a few of the old tales, but they were significant ones whenever he was involved. Surya gives the Pandavas a copper pot "which was ever filled with food for the brethren," which I think raises an interesting philosophical question I would have to address in a story about this part: What food would fruit eat? Maybe I will figure something else out instead of a copper pot that Pineapple God can give King Kiwi.

42. Krishna's Visit by Donald A. Mackenzie

• Krishna: I wanted Arjun to maintain his position as Dave, so even though Krishna would be a good analog for Dave in my opinion, I'm opting for Charles, the bottle gourd, instead. Not much is known about Charles from previous renditions, so I thought he would be a perfect character for Krishna. This way, he can be like a blank notebook for me to write whatever I want about him.
• Draupadi: For continuity's sake, Carl, the cheese curl, would be a good choice for Draupadi. As per last time, it's mostly for the intense friendship between Carl and Dave, who I wanted to cast as Arjun. One small problem I have with Draupadi being cast as Carl would be her grief. She's not happy at all that they are living in the forest when she was so used to many luxuries, which doesn't fit Carl too well in my opinion. Maybe I will figure something else out?
• Yudhishthira: As above, King Kiwi is my choice casting option, literally just for continuity.  In this part, he comforts Draupadi (Carl) during her grief at no longer having so many luxuries. Living in the forest was hard for her.
• Bhima: Bhima has a small part here as the brother of Yudhishthira (King Kiwi). Here, he tries to convince King Kiwi to attack Duryodhan. So, I thought a fruit that preferred battle would be a good choice so I would cast him as Barry, a Tomato. Originally, Barry actually orchestrates a war between the Great Kiwi Kingdom, the Plum Conglomerate, and the Apricot Ascendancy, which, if you read my story on my portfolio, I omitted the GKR's involvement, so it became dubbed the Pluot War. So, I thought Barry would be a good choice here.

A photo of bottle gourds, which Charles is based on. Source: Wikimedia