The Burning of Lanka
Source: Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914)
Lanka in Flames (Source: Wikimedia)
I liked the tale of Hanuman burning the city of Lanka down with the fire that was lit by the rakshasas themselves, making them their own downfall. I think it could be re-told in a different way, in a modern setting. Rather than have a fire be lit on Hanuman's tail, I would have the villains plant a computer virus on a person's computer. Maybe the person would even be an android or something, and the virus was planted directly in them, in an attempt to disable them or deal them harm. For special reasons, perhaps prior preparation or special design, the virus does not affect "Hanuman", instead lying dormant in his downloads. He takes the virus and uses it against his enemies, running around the base of operations they have locked him in, downloading the virus onto their machines and destroying them.
After infecting the base with the virus, he would grow fearful that his actions would cause the virus to spread across all networks that were connected to the base, but learns that the base as been cut-off. Relieved that he has not released a terrible computer virus onto the web, he escapes from the base and returns home.
This spin on the tale would be interesting I think, and would cast the story in a completely different genre, which is always refreshing. I could even have a character playing the role of Sita that hacks into "Hanuman's" device (or himself if he's an android) and disable the virus, preventing it from affecting him. This would mimic how Sita prays for the fire to not damage him, but remain flammable to those around him. I just watched Blade Runner 2049 recently, and so I've been thinking of that kind of world that this would be set in, hence where I got the inspiration for the part of Hanuman being played by an android.
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