Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part B

I really enjoyed this reading, more than any of the others we have had this semester. The dice game was something that I was very intrigued by. I really like gambling and seeing it in an epic was kind of surprising but I liked the story. Shakuni playing dice at Duryodhana's place and Yudhishthira loses everything he owns. I think this story is something that could be altered in many different ways to write my story later this week. One thing I may change is the names of the characters because the originals are very confusing and hard to read. I am excited that that something I can relate to has been included in the epics and I think centering a story around this will be fun.

Bibliography: Mahabharata by R. K. Narayan (Link)

Shakuni playing dice game (Source)

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part A

I found this reading very interesting and I think I am going to like this epic more than the Ramayana. There were a ton of characters introduced and that may be kind of hard to keep straight. One part of this story that had me very interested was Bhima killing a rakshasa and then the sister of the rakshasa falling in love with Bhima. Everyone is surprised that Bhima won. I think that will be something I could turn into a great story and there are a lot of different ways that story could go.

Bibliography: Mahabharata by R. K. Narayan (Link)

A painting from the Mahabharata (Source)

Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blues, Part B

I was glad to watch the second part of this animated version of the Ramayana, I really enjoyed it. The part of the second half that really caught my attention was when Dave broke up with Nina by email. I thought that was kind of funny considering the first version of the story that we read. I think this aspect of the story is something that I could center my plot around for my storytelling assignment. I may also tie that to someone being pregnant like Sita is in the story. Maybe Dave breaks up with Nina over email only to find out later that she is pregnant and that can cause all sorts of problems so who knows where the story may go from there.

Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley (Link)

Sita's fire ordeal (Source)

Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blues, Part A

I really enjoyed this short film. The acting out of the story was very creative and really kept me interested. The way that the film talked about the story and then acted it out helped me remember everything we have read and appreciate it more as it was acted out. This short film made the story more comical rather than the serious version we read over the past few weeks, which I enjoyed. The film made me focus more on King Dashartha's family. I think I could write a story about his three wives ad four sons similar to the Ramayana but with my own twist. I really enjoyed this film and I am interested to see what I come up with for my story this week.

Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley (Link)

Monkey Man (Source)

Reading Notes: Ramayana, Part D

The battle between Rama and Ravana really grabbed my attention in this reading. I found this part very interesting, more interesting than the previous parts. I think I may use this battle as the basis for my storytelling assignment. In my week 2 project brainstorm, one of the potential topics I selected was epic battles so this could really help me with that. There are a lot of possibilities that I could expand on in my story. Maybe making it a huge battle with Rama and Ravana each leading a side. I really enjoyed this reading.

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana (Link)

Battle Scene (Source)

Reading Notes: Ramayana, Part C

The third part of the Ramayana opens up within some new characters as well as some old. I like that the king is still a character in this part. I thought it was really cool that Hanuman can turn into different things. That opens a ton of opportunity for what I could write about. The killing of Vali really stuck out to me. It seemed like there was a lot of build up and then when Vali is hit with the arrow and they just talk about why he is being killed and Vali was understanding I was kind of confused. I like that Vali understood that his actions got him killed and I think I could develop part of my story around a similar idea.

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayan (Link)

Rama and Hanuman fighting Ravana (Source)

Feedback Thoughts

I believe that feedback is extremely important is nearly every facet of life. Everything from school or work to sports and more can be improved through proper use of feedback. The first article I read was 5 Tips for Taking Feedback Like a Champ, which talked a lot about how to receive feedback in the best possible way. It essentially said that the best way to make all feedback positive is to try and not take it personally, but instead use feedback as fuel to improve. The second article I read was Be a Mirror. This article talked about the Growth Mindset that we read about earlier this semester. The whole idea of the article is to offer feedback as neutrally as possible, with no judgment. I completely agree with that idea and I think the best feedback is that which fosters the Growth Mindset and improvement in whatever you are doing

Feedback (Pixabay) 

.

Topic Brainstorm

Weapons of the Gods: (Link)

I think it will be very interesting to focus of the supernatural weapons used in the epics we read in this class. I do not really have any prior knowledge of anything within this topic base so I am intrigued to learn more about it. I think I could tell the stories of the major battles each weapon was used in or maybe how they were created. Just from the little bit of research I did right now, Indra's thunderbolt seems like something I would be interested in telling a story about.  

Indra, The Thunder God: (Link)

In doing research about the weapons of the gods, I came across this story and am interested. I was thinking that I might like to focus my project on a god so I am including Indra in my four topics. I have never heard of or read anything about Indra before now. I think I could write about Indra's thunderbolt and how it works and maybe give a new background to its creation. 

Animal Characters of the Ramayana: (Link) (Link)

I think animal characters will be very interesting to research and write about. The on prior knowledge I have about animal characters comes from the readings we have done so far in this class. I read a story about alligators and monkeys and I was very entertained by it. I am particularly interested in Jambavan, the king of the bears. I'm sure there is a lot I can write about with him. Also, Jatayu, one of the great birds sounds interesting because I think I could expand on, like the story of him flying too close to the sun and his brother saving him. 

Epic Battles: (Link)

Epics battles seems like a topic with endless opportunities to write about and expand on. As the description says, I think I'd like to focus on specific battlefield scenes instead of the large scale the the epics use. I think it would also be very interesting to go into the kshatriya caste and write about the culture of the 'warrior' caste. Also it could be fun to learn more about the caste system since I honestly know very little. 

Kshatriya (Source)

Week 3 Story: The Jealous Brother

The city of Ayobhya lies on the river Sarayu in the kingdom of Koshala. The ruler of these lands is Dasharatha, who is king. Dasharatha has little family, no children of his own to take his place as king. He does have 4 incarnate sons born to his wives through special rice from the gods: Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. As Dasharatha ages he must decide which of these incarnate sons will be his successor. 

On his death bed, Dasharatha names the order of his sons to become king. He names Rama to be the next king, followed by Lakshmana, Shatughna, and finally Bharata. Rama is honored to be chosen as Dasharatha's successor and is crowned the day Dasharatha dies. At the coronation, Lakshamana and Shatughna support the decision and support Rama as king, but Bharata is furious. "How could Dasharatha put me last in order? Does he not believe i am fit to rule?! I'll show him."

Bharata hatches a plan to get himself into the thrown and be ruler of the kingdom of Koshala. He starts with getting Lakshamana and Shatughna out of succession. He tells them of the ancient legend about a ten-headed monster who lives in the waters of the Ayodhya, and how it is their duty as successors to the kind to deafeat the monster. The two agree and the set off with Bharata to fight the monster. Upon reaching the river, the ten headed monster emerges from the river. Lakshamana and Shatughna race into action and begin fighting the monsters, but Bharata sneaks back into the jungle, out of harms way. Lakshamana and Shatughna are killed in the fight and Bharata goes back to the city to alert the citizens. 

As he walks into the city, Bharata comes up with a plan to get rid of Rama as well, and thus taking the thrown for himself. He begins telling everyone of the deaths of Lakshamana and Shatughna. Once everyone knows that the two successors are dead, Bharata begins to spread a rumor that Rama tricked the two into fighting the monster, kowning they would die. He said that Rama tried to trick him into going as well but Bharata was too smart. Bharata told everyone Rama wanted them dead so that he wouldn't have to share Dasharatha's wealth with them. 

The rumor spread and eventually everyone believed it to be true. Rama was sent into exile an the thrown was passed down to Bharata. Bharata had gotten what he wanted more than anything else in life, but was consumed with guilt for what he had done to get there. After a few years of ruling the kingdom, Bharata could no longer handle the guilt and took his own life, but with no children, there was no direct successor to the thrown. Before he dies, Bharata admitted to framing Rama and getting him exiled. After Bharata's death, Rama was able to return from exile and take his rightful place as king of Koshala.

The End. 

Rama being exiled (Wiki Commons)

Author's Note:

This week I read Narayan's Ramayana. I found it interesting that in the story Bharata was angry about being named king because you don't often seen characters being angry about getting more power. I decided to flip the story and make Bharata power hungry and villainous. 

Bibliography:  Narayan's Ramayana (Link)

Reading Notes: The Ramayana, Part B

I find it interesting that Bharata is angry about becoming king. In my story I am thinking about switching that around and making Bharata's desire to be king the main plot. Instead of Bharata trying to get Rama to return from exile maybe he will set Rama up to get in trouble and be exiled so that he can be closer to becoming king. Also maybe Bharata will have something to do with Dasharatha's death so that he can become king. After Bharata makes his way to king I might make him be a sort of dictator and see where the story goes from there. Maybe some kind of overthrow and Bharata gets exiled and Rama comes back or Dasharatha's death was fake?

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana (Link)

Rama as King (Wikimedia Commons)

Reading Notes: The Ramayana, Part A

The setting of the story seems similar to one of the stories I read last week, which may help develop the setting when writing later this week. Reading about the issue with Dasharatha having no children gives me some ideas for my story, like adding an unknown son or something along those lines. Also, the parallel story about the ten headed rakshasa is very interesting. I was thinking about switching that around in my story and saying that there is a monster that humans cannot defeat and they are trying to get help from the gods.

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana (Link)

Ramayana (Flickr)