The Story: Inspired from Indian Mythology : Accepted and published in NSN USA- Fall Publication 2018Hanuman- the Chosen One! Long, long ago, the demon king Ravana abducted Lady Sita, in her husband Lord Rama’s absence. Ravana flew through the skies to island. A vulture bird named Jatayu heard Sita’s cries, and rushed to save her. Ravana cut off its wings and Jatayu tumbled to the ground. Ravana flew the princess to his kingdom, Lanka. Rama, heartbroken, began to search for Sita. He came upon Jatayu who pointed the direction Ravana had flown only to die in Rama’s arms. He took help of his good friend Sugreev, King of the Monkey People. Sugreev sent his huge battalions of monkey soldiers to all parts of the Indian sub-continent in search of the abducted princess.One such battalion, led by Jambavan, with senior officers Angad and Hanuman, was sent to the southern part of the country. Jambavan, the bear king, was Sugreev’s old and wise minister; Angad was Sugreev’s nephew and crown prince of Kishikinda; and Hanuman was the son of Vayu ‘God of Winds.’ They walked and walked in search of Sita, but could not find her. They crossed ferocious jungles and wild plains. They crossed rivers and lakes. They climbed the great, rocky- mountains, but all in vain for Sita was still elusive. The troops continued their search until they reached the end of the land. Before them, now was the huge, wide Indian Ocean. They wondered what to do next while lamenting and calling to one another. “Because of Ravana, Rama lost Sita, and brave bird Jatayu lost his life. And now, we cannot find Sita.”They did not know that near to where they stood, lay the old and weak vulture king Sampati, the elder brother of Jatayu. When he heard his brother’s name, Sampati cried to the monkey people to come to him. The battalion rushed to his side and shared everything. Sampati, despite his age had strong vision. He looked across the sea and saw that Sita was in Lanka. The battalion was very happy to know about Sita and felt joyful. One monkey soldier asked, “How will we cross this massive ocean to reach Lanka? We are all so small.”Determined, Prince Angad walked up to the soldiers to address them, “My dear soldiers! We are the Monkey Army that cut across ferocious jungles, crossed unruly rivers and cruel mountains. This is just another ocean. C’mon! Let us make an effort to cross this hurdle. We are the mighty ones.”Angad’s words motivated them, they thumped their chests and cried out! “We will not fail!” One by one, each of the monkey soldiers leapt as high as they could, as far as they could, but to everyone’s dismay none could leap high enough to match the might of the ocean. In anguish they screamed their disappointment to the heavens. Dejected, the monkey soldiers wanted to give up their lives right there.However, in that battalion, the knowledgeable bear-king Jambavan observed everything. He noticed while everyone attempted to cross the ocean, there was one soldier, who had made no such effort. He sat on one side, totally lost in his own world, unaware of what was happening around him. And that soldier was Hanuman.Jambavan smiled. It was time to remind Hanuman of his forgotten powers, his abilities. Hanuman was blessed with many powers as a child and therefore he used to create a lot of mischief too. Once, he tried to eat up Lord Sun, thinking it was a fruit. Lord Indra had to then come to Lord Sun’s rescue. One day, when Hanuman tried to disturb a sage while he was meditating, the sage became so angry that he cursed him - “You will forget about your special powers from now on, until that day when someone reminds you for a really good cause”. The time had come. Jambavan walked up to Hanuman. “Hanuman! Rise and shine. Lead us in this mission.”Hanuman, completely startled, rose from the ground. “You want me to lead in this mission? But how can I? I do not have the power or the strength. I am just a monkey soldier.”Jambavan added, “Hanuman. You are the chosen one! You are the son of Lord of the Winds. You have the power within you to scare even the Lord Sun. If anyone can lead us in this mission, it is you, Hanuman.”As Jambavan reminded Hanuman of his latent powers, something started happening to Hanuman; his body stirred within and began to swell. Hanuman grew bigger and bigger. In a matter of seconds, the tiny monkey soldier was transformed into a mighty giant. The sight mesmerized his fellow soldiers. Hanuman was so beautiful that everyone jumped with joy. They now knew Rama’s purpose would be achieved - Sita would be found.Hanuman realized his true potential. Raising himself up, he leapt into the sky. His powerful take-off caused the ground to shake, the oceans to tremble. He flew towards Lanka, to rescue Sita.And the rest, as they say, is history.