Famous Last Words: Week 13

As the semester is winding down, things are kind of in a resting state. It’s kind of like the calm before the storm (finals). I know this calm feeling isn't going to last very long though because finals are looming in the near future and I am not looking forward to that. At this point, I’m just ready to finish off the semester and enjoy my summer and I can’t enjoy my summer unless I do well on all my finals and finish the semester strong. Hopefully all goes well and smooth these next few weeks!

This class has definitely been an intriguing class. I’ve learned a lot more from reading these stories and other people’s blogs than I thought I would. As the semester went on and the class progressed, I found myself looking forward to reading other people’s blogs because some people write so well and their stories just jump out at you and come to life! I think my best writing for this week was my storytelling assignment. I was pretty happy with the outcome of that after I proofread it and submitted it. Another reason I like this class is because it helps me keep my writing skills polished, which is never a bad thing. Writing has always came easy to me, but practice always makes perfect, or at least near perfect!

I really liked that this week’s project commenting assignment was actually voting for our favorite projects. There were so many to choose from but I already had my favorites that I would choose to go back and comment on for the extra credit commenting assignments. Overall, I’ve had a great experience in this class and I’m glad I wait listed myself for a whole semester before actually taking this class. It was definitely worth the wait in my opinion!

The calm before the storm (final exams); Flickr

Portfolio Index

Story #1: Dasaratha's Death

Story #2: Hanuman

Story #3: Sita's Innocence 

Story #4: Arjuna the Archer

Story #5: Bhishma's Sendoff

Week 13 Storytelling: Bhishma's Sendoff

“How can I do this?” thought Arjuna to himself. “I regard Bhishma as a grandfather to me and I would never be able to live it down if I killed him!” he cried to Krishna.

“Fine,” said Krishna with a heavy voice. “I shall do it myself.”

Krishna retrieved his discus and prepared to end Bhishma’s life with one quick throw. It would be quick and painless. Arjuna yelled out and stopped Krishna from doing so. He did not want to be the reason Krishna broke his oath to not use a single weapon during the war.

“I will do it,” said Arjuna.

Krishna nodded his head and motioned to the direction of Bhishma. Arjuna faced towards Bhishma and slowly pulled out his bow and a handful of arrows. This was going to be Arjuna’s legacy. It was finally time to leave his mark and prove to the world that he was the best. He fought with a good heart and knew that this was the right decision. He closed his eyes and cleared his head. A feeling of calmness washed over Arjuna. It was now or never.

Arjuna let the arrows fly and one by one they each struck Bhishma, ripping through his body which caused a jolt of remorse and guilt through Arjuna’s conscience for each arrow. Bhishma was an old man, but he was an exceptionally great warrior. His battle skills had impressed everyone to the point that when Bhishma fell, the war ceased for the moment to give everyone an opportunity to pay their respects to this great man. Arjuna looked up as the heavens opened directly above them and flowers rained down onto the battlefield. This was the gods paying their respects to Bhishma, a token of appreciation for his bravery.

As Bhishma slowly slid off the mighty chariot, the arrows protruding from his body pierced the ground which made a makeshift bed. Arjuna had aimed the arrows perfectly to make a bed for Bhishma to lie on. The rest of the men on the field nodded in appreciation for what Arjuna had done. Whispers went through the men as they heard talk of how Bhishma could choose the exact moment of his death, time and place. This was true and Bhishma was not going to die until the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. This was his personal choice, reasons unknown for why he chose that particular day.

“Water,” mumbled Bhishma.

Arjuna shot an arrow at the ground, which caused a fountain of water to shoot into Bhishma’s mouth. It is said that it was Ganga herself who supplied the water to her son. Krishna stepped down from his chariot and walked over to where Bhishma lay. He could see that Bhishma was in pain and was struggling to keep himself calm and relaxed. Krishna bestowed upon him a deep, calming, peaceful sleep that freed Bhishma of the pain.  This was the perfect way to end Bhishma’s long, valiant stand against the Pandava army. He knew the Pandavas were the better people in the end to come out of the war victorious, but he also knew that he was the biggest obstacle in their path to winning the war. He fought faithfully for the Kaurava army, even though he knew what he was fighting against, and was arguably the best commander of the army. He would be a legend after he passed on and that’s what kept him calm.

It’s funny how this moment had brought the two sides to a peaceful halt, as if they had finally gotten along. This was not going to last long, as the impending war that was soon to return loomed in the near future like a dark cloud hanging low in the sky.

Author’s Note: I chose to write about this part of the story because it’s such an important moment in the Mahabharata. Bhishma is a well-respected character and his death was a big deal. Arjuna is also my favorite character in out of all the Indian Epics characters. There were probably so many feelings involved with all the characters in this moment that I couldn’t explain them all. I tried as best I could in this story because I thought it would be an interesting idea to imagine. I think Arjuna was affected the most by this event.

I didn't really change much from the original version. I basically just told the story from Arjuna's point of view. In this section, Krishna proceeds to kill Bhishma but Arjuna stops him because Krishna made a vow not to use any weapons. When Bhishma is finally killed by Arjuna, the whole world celebrates his successful and respected life.

I chose this image because it shows Bhishma lying on his bed of arrows while all the other men sat around him paying their respects. It was the only time during the war that both sides were united together and I thought that was a memorable part of the Mahabharata. 

Bibliography: Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata.

Everyone paying their respects to Bhishma; Wikimedia Commons

Week 13 Reading Diary B: Bhishma's Grand Death

In this section of the reading the war officially begins between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. Bhishma leads Duryodhana’s army while Dhristadumnya leads the Pandava army. The part that really stood out to me was how Bhishma’s downfall took place. From the very beginning, Arjuna is hesitant to fight Bhishma because he regards him as a grandfather. Although Bhishma was an old man, he was still very powerful and awed everyone on the battlefield. To defeat Bhishma, Arjuna seeks the help of Sikhandin to take down Bhishma. Bhishma is shot and wounded with so many arrows that when he falls down out of his chariot, his body doesn’t even touch the ground. As soon as Bhishma falls, all the fighting and bloodshed stops immediately and flowers sprinkle down upon everyone from heaven. A pillow is made for Bhishma’s head and he is given water to drink. The cool thing is that Bhishma has the power to choose the exact time and place of his death so he decided to lie on his bed of arrows until the shortest day of the year arrives. To relieve Bhishma of the terrible pain he must be feeling, Krishna puts him in a deep sleep.

I thought this scene was so graceful and intense at the same time. The respect Bhishma draws from everyone is mind blowing. I don’t think anyone has had a death like this in any of the epics I have read so far in this class. It is definitely one of my favorite scenes from the Mahabharata. 

Bhishma on his bed of arrows; Wikipedia

Week 13 Reading Diary A: The War is Brewing

During a part of their exile, the Pandavas chase a deer deep into the depths of a forest. Once in the forest, Yudhishthira sends his brothers, one after the other, to get water for them at the lake. For some reason, none of them return and Yudhishthira grows to become very worried. When he arrives at the lake, he finds the dead bodies of his brothers. An unknown voice speaks to him and tells him that he must answer all of the questions if he wants his brothers to return alive. Yudhishthira answers all the questions and then learns that this is a test given to him by his father Dharma who is a divine being. Yama revives the dead Pandava brothers.

I found this scene to be very interesting because it seems super intense. I wonder what was going through Yudhishthira’s mind when he realized that his brothers had died. If it were me, I would feel so bad because it would've been my fault that they died. Yudhishthira was the one who sent his own brothers to fetch the water instead of going himself.

I’m also glad that Arjuna decides to choose having Krishna on his side during the battle over Krishna’s humongous army. Duryodhana is ecstatic when he learns that he will be getting Krishna’s army because it is the best army in the world. I would've made the same decision if I were in Arjuna’s position because Krishna is such a strong character. He’d easily win the war!

Arjuna meets Krishna; Wikipedia

Week 12 Storytelling: Mankanaka

Mankanaka was a very odd fellow who did some pretty questionable things. One action of his that was very questionable was that he had chosen to live in the forest alone, in hopes of finding his “inner peace”, as if that was ever going to happen! He had also decided that he would never eat anything except the greenest, freshest, most luscious looking grass. It had been twelve years since Mankanaka had isolated himself in the forest and he had yet to eat anything else.

The deer were getting highly fed up with Mankanaka because he was basically either THEIR grass. How absurd was it that a human was eating deer food?! And besides, they had been here before Mankanaka had even been born. This was no place for silly little humans to be clowning around. So the deer got together and decided they were going to do something about Mankanaka. They had heard that if humans ate grass for long enough, their blood would turn into grass juice. Mankanaka, of course, was oblivious to this rumor and the deer figured that if he saw himself oozing out green grass juice instead of normal red blood, he would stop either their grass. It seemed like a brilliant plan to the deer at the time, but little did they know they were about to cause mayhem…

As night fell and Mankanaka fell asleep to the sound of crickets chirping and the wind blowing the leaves on the towering trees, a deer slowly crept up to Mankanaka to finally put this plan into action. It was all or nothing now, although the deer had probably the easiest job you could think of. All he had to do was bite Mankanaka hard enough to draw blood, or in this case grass juice, and he was done! The deer slowly lowered his head down to Mankanaka’s arm, looked around to see if the coast was clear, and then proceeded chomped down on his arm. Green grass juice spurted out of Mankanaka’s arm as the deer galloped off into the distance. Mankanaka woke up howling in pain and looked at his arm, which was throbbing as if it had just been amputated.

What he saw should have scared Mankanaka, but he was a strange fellow of course. When he realized that his blood had become grass juice, Mankanaka started grinning from ear to ear, as happy as can be! This was so cool to him! Instead of bleeding red, he was now oozing out green and this made him so excited that Mankanaka started to dance. He danced and danced so much that the whole world started dancing with him. All of the dancing commotion was creating problems in the ocean from the rumbling and stomping of everyone’s feet. Large tsunamis and whirlpools were formed from the chaos and wreaked havoc all across the world. The deer looked on in shock, appalled at what they had done.

The gods could take this no longer so they sent a messenger to Mankanaka telling him that the gods had requested that he stop dancing and destroying the world. Mankanaka had been so excited and happy, that he had not realized what a mess he had caused. He quit dancing and vowed to the gods that he would never eat grass again and cause this sort of mayhem ever again. After this incident, Mankanaka decided to go back home to his family and surprise them. He was done with the forest life and was ready to live out his own dreams!

Author’s Note: I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to write about this week but I finally ended up deciding to write about the story of Mankanaka. I found this section to be pretty comical and entertaining and figured I could add my own twist to it and make it more interesting. I found the whole concept of his blood turning to grass juice to be pretty funny. Leave it to these old epics to have the wackiest stuff you can think of!

I chose this image because it's how I pictured the forest that Mankanaka was in to be. It's so green and fertile, anyone would be tempted to eat the grass here. Okay, not really but I wanted the portrayal of this forest to pop out to the reader from the image selection and I think this picture does that pretty well.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata. 

The dazzling green forest; Wikipedia 

Week 12 Reading Diary B: Savitri

For the second half of this week’s reading assignment, I found the story of Savitri to be particularly intriguing. I find it impressive that she took matter in her own hands to find a man suitable for herself and rode a golden chariot to find the man that she would want to marry. Approaching a man in a golden chariot would probably make a very good impression in my opinion!

While looking for her dream husband, Savitri runs into Satyavan in the forest. Satyavan is the son of a blind king living in exile. He only had only one year to live but Savitri decides this is the man she wants to marry even though he would be dying very soon. Soon enough, Satyavan passes away and Yama comes to claim his soul. Before he leaves, Savitri asks Yama if she can follow Yama. Impressed, Yama grants Savitri an assortment of wishes. Her wishes include curing the blindness of her father-in-law, restoring her father-in-law’s kingdom, giving her own father a hundred sons, and having a hundred sons with her husband. For this last request to occur, Yama tells Savitri that she would have to give up half of her living days and give them to Satyavan so he can come back to life and have kids with her. Savitri agrees without hesitation and Satyavan comes back to life and lives happily with Savitri and their hundred kids until their days are over.

I really enjoyed this story because it showed how much Savitri cared for her family.

Savitri and Satyavan; Wikipedia

Week 12 Reading Diary A: The Game of Dice

I found this section of Buck’s Mahabharata to be somewhat depressing because Yudhishthira loses pretty much everything in his game of dice against Duryodhana and Shakuni. If I were losing that badly in a gambling game, I would quit while I still had possession of my belongings! I’m surprised Yudhishthira doesn’t stop before it gets that bad. Luckily, Krishna comes the rescue and saves Draupadi when she is getting harassed by Duryodhana and Duhshasana. Dhritarashtra also intervenes shortly after Krishna and proceeds to return Draupadi, the rest of the Pandava brothers, and their wealth and material possessions back to Yudhishthira per Draupadi’s request. Duryodhana, enraged that Dhritarashtra has returned everything back to the Pandavas, proposes one more roll of the dice. The loser in this last throw would be thrown into exile in the forest. Unfortunately, Yudhishthira loses ones again and he and Pandavas, along with Draupadi, head to the forest to fulfill their promise of living in exile.

I think it is ridiculous how after losing everything and luckily getting everything back, that Yudhishthira still agrees to roll the dice one more time to see who would go into exile. Obviously luck wasn’t on his side, and he should’ve had better judgment in deciding whether to play again and risk everything or not. I guess the Pandavas exile though, progresses the story of the Mahabharata and leads to Arjuna’s adventures in Indra’s heaven, Amaravati.

I really enjoyed this section of the Mahabharata and can’t wait to read the second half of the reading assignment for this week!

The game of dice; Wikipedia 

Famous Last Words: Week 11

I’ve finally came to realize that this has probably been my busiest semester yet. I feel like as soon as I finish an assignment for one class, I have another pile of assignments already waiting for me in another class. I guess that’s what I get for enrolling it seventeen credit hours this semester…It’s been a good experience though. I feel like I can definitely handle stress better than I could before and that I’ve learned a lot this semester. My semester isn’t getting any easier anytime soon because I have three exams this upcoming week. So I’m basically going to be a living zombie at the library all week. My exams are in Physics, O-Chem 2, and Understanding Music. Two out of those three classes are going to be miserable. Can you guess which two?

I’m enjoying the Mahabharata this week because I think it’s at an interesting part of the story line. I think my best writing of the week was the storytelling assignment for this week. I really enjoy reading about Arjuna because is my favorite character in the Mahabharata so I’m glad I had the opportunity to write my own version of a story about him. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

This week when I was doing the project comments, I came across an awesome storybook by another student in the Indian Epics class. It was based on the animal avatars of Vishnu, but this person represented the avatars by planets in space. I thought it was a brilliant idea and got really into the stories. They were very well written and did a great job in keeping my interest. I definitely recommend this storybook to anyone who wants to read a good one.

Hopefully my week ends up going smoother than I’m anticipating it to be!

My favorite character, Arjuna; Wikipedia

Week 11 Storytelling: Arjuna the Archer

Arjuna took a deep breath and stood up when his name was called. He went by the name of Karan since he was disguised as a Brahmin after he and his brothers had escaped the trap fire set by Duryodhana. Arjuna slowly walked up to where the magnificent bow lay, nervous but confident at the same time. This bow was the talk of legends! No one had managed to string the bow yet, let alone shoot it at a moving target. If he could do it, HE’D be the talk of legends AND he’d win Draupadi, the daughter of King Drupada.

All day, Arjuna had watched countless men walk up to the bow confident as can be and struggle to even pick it up! Only a few had been able to actually pick it up and attempt to string it and no one had successfully strung the bow yet. Arjuna placed his hand on the bow and a strange sensation washed over his body. It felt as if he and the bow were meant to be, that this bow had a special connection with him. With this feeling surging through him, Arjuna knew he could win the competition. He easily picked up the bow and proceeded to string it. The string was taut and hard to stretch out to its full length. It took all of Arjuna’s strength to pull the string long enough to reach both ends of the bow to hook it on. He finally managed to do it and the string snapped into place with a nice click! The crowd stared on in amazement and wondered how such a normal Brahmin like himself had managed to do something that had yet to be accomplished.

Now came the easy part for Arjuna as he had never doubted his ability to shoot down his target. He thought back to his training with Drona and let that be his motivation to succeed. The tricky part was aiming correctly because the objective of this test was to shoot the spinning target by looking at the reflection of it through a puddle of water. Arjuna stood up feeling powerful as ever and the crowd looked on in awe, as if they could feel the power emanating from him. He aimed his bow upwards toward the target and looked downward into the puddle to stabilize his aim. Once ready, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and shot the arrow.

He opened his eyes to the crowd gasping in awe and cheering for him. He had done it! King Drupada walked up to him with his beautiful daughter following right behind him.

“What a show you have put on!” he roared with a huge smile on his face. “You are fit to be the husband of my daughter now. Do you accept?” he asked.

Arjuna said yes and the crowd cheered and whistled for the two! From this day on, Arjuna was known as the mighty archer and his tale lives on forever!

Author’s Note: I chose to write about this scene because Arjuna is one of my favorite characters when it comes to Indian Epics. I thought this scene accurately portrayed Arjuna’s excellence in archery and I just wanted to tell it in my own words. The ease with which Arjuna accomplished this major feat should be noted because everyone who attempted prior to Arjuna failed miserably. This section is also the reason how Draupadi ends up marrying the Pandavas.

I told this story more from a scene I had seen in a television series that was a rendition of the Mahabharata. I thought it was more interesting than the book in my opinion although they were similar. I kind of see it as Arjuna’s starting tale to glory and fame! He’s known for his skills in archery and war and this is a good portrayal of those characteristics that he possesses in my opinion.

I chose this image for my story because I thought it was a very intriguing portrayal of Draupadi’s swamyavara. The fish spinning on that wheel was how the target was portrayed in the television rendition that I saw. It doesn’t show the puddle of water however, that Arjuna uses to aim at the target.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata.

Arjuna wins Draupadi; Wikimedia Commons

Week 11 Reading Diary B: The Pandavas

This section of Buck’s Mahabharata is mainly focused on the Pandavas, who are basically forced out of their house in Varanavata because Duryodhana and Duhshasana order the minister, Purochana, to devise a fire trap to kill the Pandavas. After hearing of these plans, the Pandavas construct a tunnel that allows them to escape the house. They also leave six corpses to try and fool Duryodhana and disguise themselves as Brahmins. I thought this part of the reading was pretty intense because they were basically about to be ambushed by a fire. Luckily, they made it out!

I enjoyed reading the part about Draupadi’s swamyavara. I find it an entertaining section of the reading because Arjuna is my favorite character and because he wows everyone watching with his talents. The audience is so surprised because he is disguised as just a wandering Brahmin at the time. I have watched the Mahabharata and this scene in the show is very intense because it is supposed to be very difficult to string the bow and hit the moving target. This is definitely one of my favorite parts of the Mahabharata. After winning this competition, Arjuna wins Draupadi and she ends up marrying all five of the Pandava brothers. I still don’t understand why she marries all five of the brothers.

This section was definitely a good read because so much stuff is going on. I want to read more about Krishna and Arjuna’s friendship so I hope that Buck touches on that a little more than Narayan did.

Arjuna at Draupadi's swamyavara; Wikipedia

Week 11 Reading Diary A: Starting Buck's Mahabharata

I liked the idea of the Mahabharata being told by another character as a story in Buck’s version of the Mahabharata. Vyasa asks his companion, Vaishampayana, to recite the Mahabharata to Janamejaya. I still find it crazy that it takes Shantanu seven children to finally question Ganga about her drowning their children. I would expect a king like him to take control of the situation at hand and figure out Ganga’s reasoning for her questionable actions. Shantanu finally does so when their eighth child is born, which Ganga gives to him after he begs her to let the child live. He names this child Bhishma.

I found the story of Satyavati to be kind of comical because the way she is born is so unorthodox. At this point though, I’m not surprised because a lot of things that have been happening in the Mahabharata are so random and crazy. Satyavati is born in the belly of a fish that became impregnated when a hawk carrying the semen of the King of Chedi accidently drops the semen into a river. A fisherman comes across this fish and takes the baby girl as a child of his own. Shantanu and Satyavati have a child named Vichitravirya.

Reading Narayan’s version of the Mahabharata first helps me when I read Buck’s version because I am already familiar with most of the characters so it’s easier to keep track of who’s who and what’s actually going on. So far, I think I like Buck’s version better but I’ll decide for sure once I’ve read more of this version! 

Shantanu tries to woo Satyavati; Wikipedia

Week 10 Reading Diary B: The War

First off, I’m still trying to keep all the characters and their names straight in my head because there are just so many! It’s sort of difficult to keep track of who is who and which character does what! I thought this section of the book was pretty intense and eventful, obviously because it focuses mainly on the war.

The main thing that stuck out to me in this section of the Mahabharata was the part when Bhima kills Duhshasana and then proceeds to drink his blood after mutilating his body. I thought it was a pretty dark and vivid scene and it wasn’t something I was expecting to read at all. It was interesting to say the least!

I also found it ironic how the Pandavas end up on opposite sides of their guru Drona in the war. That makes the war scene even more interesting because everything the Pandavas know was taught to them by Drona so you would think that Drona has the advantage over them. I was surprised that he was depicted dying by sheer trickery on Krishna’s part although it does make sense that Drona would despair over the “death” of his son. A lot of the deaths in the war were unexpected and random in my opinion.

It was sort of funny how Krishna dies since it’s so random and unexpected. He dies because a hunter thinks the soles of Krishna’s feet are two birds. I didn’t really understand why Gandhari cursed Krishna because he did technically help the Pandava’s win the war against Duryodhana. 

Karna confronts Arjuna in Kurukshetra War; Wikipedia

Famous Last Words: Week 9

So far, this has been one of the busiest semesters I have ever had. The seventeen credit hours are finally catching up to me...needless to say, I've been slacking a bit when it comes to this class. I'm still on track to get an A because I started off this course strong, but I need to make sure I keep up with ALL of the weekly assignments from here on out so I can finish the class before dead week if possible! That's my goal so I can focus on studying for my difficult courses when the time comes.

I’m enjoying the course as it goes on! I’m glad we finally started the Mahabharata because Arjuna is one of my favorite characters when it comes to Indian Epics. He’s pretty interesting to read about and I’m looking forward to finishing up the Mahabharata as we wrap up the course! As I mentioned earlier, my goal is to end the class a couple weeks early with an A so I can focus on studying for finals those last two weeks. I’ll have to pick up the slack these next few weeks if I want to get that done, but it should be manageable!

Other than class and working at CASP, I’ve been keeping up with The Walking Dead and I cannot wait for Season 5 of Game of Thrones to premiere next month! Those are probably my two favorite shows at the moment. I have also been keeping up with the Cricket World Cup as India advances to the semi-finals! I don’t follow cricket regularly but I always try and find time to support India when the World Cup rolls around because it’s such a big deal. We’re only two games away from winning the whole thing! Hopefully it ends up happening because that would be a huge accomplishment. People in India are ready to go nuts if we win the CWC!

CWC 2015; Web Source

Google Timer Tech Tip

I think the Google Timer would be a good way in managing the time you spend on the computer or for doing anything in general. The way I manage time is by blocking out certain times of the day where I just focus on school work. During those times, I put my phone on silent and put away anything that will distract me. Then I study in short intervals and take even shorter breaks in between so I don't get burnt out. This helps me control and take advantage of the time I have available.

Right now, I don't use a timer to manage my time. I just check the time on my phone or laptop and go from there to see how I'm doing.

Week 9 Reading Diary B:

In this section of Narayan’s Mahabharata, I found the game of dice to be an interesting read. I’m not even really sure how to play dice, but it seems like that game was the game to play back then. I found Duryodhana’s jealousy and hate towards the Pandavas to be quite comical actually. He’s like the annoying little villain who never gives up on getting rid of the protagonist. I don’t get why Yudhishthira doesn’t just quit the first game of dice when he realizes how bad he’s losing instead of losing all his possessions. I mean, he loses his wife, Draupadi, his clothes, and even his brothers! Luckily, Krishna comes to Draupadi’s rescue when Duryodhana forcefully tries to undress her. He somehow makes another sari appear on Sita when the original is removed.

Luckily, Dhritarashtra gives Draupadi three wishes that he vows to grant. She uses the first two wishes to set Yudhishthira free, as well as her other four husbands. She refuses to request a third wish so Dhritarashtra gives the Pandavas’ possessions back to them and lets them return to Indraprastha without any further trouble. I really don’t understand why he let them go so easy after the trouble of building the assembly hall and setting up the game of dice with the Pandavas. Although the second game of dice would go in Duryodhana’s favor as well, it’s weird that he let them go so easy. The second game of dice results in the Pandavas being exiled for thirteen years; twelve years in poverty and one in disguise.

The game of dice; Wikipedia

Week 9 Reading Diary A: Intro to the Mahabharata

The main thing that caught my attention in Narayan’s Mahabharata was the fact that there’s an abundance of new characters introduced very quickly. I was kind of overwhelmed trying to keep names associated with their characters but I think as I keep reading I’ll be able to sort it out and keep it straight in my head.

I was immediately curious at the beginning of the book when it was mentioned that Ganga would only marry Shantanu, the king of Hastinapura, if he never questioned her actions. That seemed very sketchy and odd to me because everyone questions everything. When Ganga starts throwing the babies in the river I was shocked and then curious to know her reasoning behind doing so. It’s surprising how it took Shantanu seven drowned babies to finally question Ganga’s motive behind doing do. Ganga then explains that she is actually the river Ganga reincarnated as a human to give birth to eight gods, called the Vasus. The Vasus are being punished by being reincarnated as humans for stealing a cow. Ganga explains that she is just returning the gods to the heavens by drowning the babies.

As the book goes on, character such as the Pandavas, are introduced. The Pandavas are the sons of Pandu, who eventually dies along with one of his wives. Pandu’s other wife, Kunti, is left to raise the five sons. The names of the five Pandavas are Yudhishthira, Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva. I’m excited to finally be reading about Arjuna because I have always been intrigued by his character. The Pandavas all marry Draupadi, whom Arjuna wins over in a competition.

Draupadi and the Pandavas; Wikipedia

Week 7 Storytelling: Sita's Innocence

Rama, covered in blood and sweat, slowly walked over to where his beloved Sita lie in wait. Rama had just defeated the mighty demon Ravana, all to rescue Sita away from his clutches. You would think that after such an epic battle, Rama would just want to hug Sita and ask her if she was okay, but no. Rama just walked up to Sita and looked her up and down, as if she was tainted by something. Sita looked back at Rama with a confused look on her face.

“What is wrong, my love?” she asked Rama in a worried voice.

Rama seemed to be acting very odd towards her and she did not like it one bit. She looked him in the eyes, searching for an answer. She could figure out nothing from his blank expression. Rama still just stood there, looking at her carefully as if he was observing a specimen in the lab.

“How can I be so sure that you and Ravana didn’t….,” Rama began to say but he couldn't even finish speaking.

Sita felt like a dagger had pierced her heart. Her insides were screaming in disbelief. Her heart shattered at the thought that Rama didn’t trust her anymore. Still, Sita kept her calm and replied confidently.

“I have not done anything that will jeopardize our love for each other. I was simply a hostage in a demon’s territory. A demon who was infatuated by my beauty. I only love you, Rama, and I would dare not to mess around with another man or let another man take advantage of me!” exclaimed Sita.

Rama still did not seem convinced. He paced back and forth, mulling over the situation in his head. He knew Sita loved him and that she would never do anything or let anything like that happen to her. But then again, Ravana was the type of demon to force himself upon others without a second thought. His stomach turned as an image flashed before his eyes. His knees started to feel weak so he sat down, disgusted with himself. Sita was not that type of woman. Still…he was not assured. At that moment, the fire god, Agni, appeared next to Sita.

“If you are innocent, my child, step into the flames. Nothing will happen to you if you tell the truth,” roared Agni.

Sita glanced over at Rama, immersed in his own inner battle with himself. She knew she had to convince him that nothing had happened. Without any hesitation, Sita walked up into the flames and was immediately engulfed in a fiery whirl of red and orange. She didn’t even seem fazed about walking into a roaring trial by fire. Rama snapped out of his thoughts and watched, his jaws clenched, hoping that Sita was right. As the flames died down, Sita was still standing where Agni had been, unharmed by the scorching fire. Rama ran up to Sita and embraced her, joyous at the fact that she was still pure and faithful to him.

Sita's trial by fire to prove her innocence; Web Source 

Author's Note: I thought this was an interesting part of the Ramayana, partly because I didn't expect Rama to question Sita's innocence. When reading this part in the book, I expected Rama to be happy to see Sita and embrace her right away. Obviously, that’s not what occurred. I thought it would be a good story to retell because I wanted to depict both character's thoughts and feelings to an extent. This also occurs immediately after the death of Ravana so it adds an extra element of intensity to the setting. Buck tells this story one way, while Narayan tells it another way. My way ended up being very different from either of them because I added so much of Rama and Sita's inner thoughts.

I didn’t really change the story much. I just added extra details to convey Rama’s and Sita’s thoughts and feelings of the situation at hand. I wish I could’ve thought of a better way to describe Agni. I just couldn’t find the right words to portray my image of him.

I chose the picture because it gave a visual representation of Sita's trial by fire. She seems so calm in the picture, as if she has nothing to worry about. Even if I wasn’t guilty, I would still be a tiny bit nervous of stepping into a fire. Her unwavering love and loyalty to Rama helped her brave the trial without a doubt of being burnt. She left the fire unscathed and regained Rama's trust.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 

Week 7 Reading Diary B: Rama is Coronated

On his way back to Ayodhya aboard the Pushpaka chariot, Rama stops at Kishkindha and the Bharadwaja’s hermitage. As they travel, Rama shows Sita where he met Hanuman for the first time and where Jatayu’s body was cremated. As his fourteen years of exile nears an end, Rama sends Hanuman ahead to Ayodhya to announce that Rama is on his way to resume his rightful position as king and relieve Bharatha of the duty. When Hanuman reaches Bharatha and informs him of the good news, Bharatha breaks down and weeps tears of absolute joy!

Not long after Hanuman’s announcement, Rama arrives back in Ayodhya and the celebrations begin! Bharatha ties Rama’s sandals back to his feet as a symbol of his return. Coronation preparation is in full swing as everyone is busy getting ready for the ceremony. Sugriva sends Hanuman to retrieve water from all the rivers in the world as a gift to Rama while in return, Rama gives an abundance of presents to Sugriva for all the assistance he has given him in the last fourteen years. Hanuman also receives a present, this one from Sita, as a token of her appreciation. She gifts him her very own pearl necklace which he graciously accepts.

After the coronation is complete and all is well in Ayodhya, Sugriva and Vibhishana return back to their homes and resume their normal lives. Rama also sends the Pushpaka chariot back to Vaishravana on Mount Kailasa. After that, all is well for about ten thousand years.

Rama returns to coronation festivities in Ayodhya; Wikipedia

Week 7 Reading Diary A: Ravana's Downfall

This week’s reading was really interesting because it marked the death of Ravana and Rama’s return to his rightful throne. The reading starts out with Jambavan, Hanuman, and Sugriva slaying the demons of Lanka with apparent ease. The demon magicians, Lightning Tongue and Thunder Tooth are killed by Hanuman and Sugriva, while Jambavan is a ruthless force to be reckoned with! Ravana, sensing that the time is near for battle, prepares himself under the stars. He dances and causes a great wind storm! Kala (time) comes and scolds Ravana for being a fool but Ravana just smirks at her and dismisses her threats.

The time for the final battle has arrived and Rama and Ravana are facing off in an epic battle. Rama succeeds in cutting off Ravana’s heads but they just keep growing back. The two use an array of weapons, mantras, and astras to fight each other. Ravana’s mace knocks Matali, his chariot’s driver, off the chariot but Rama revives him. Ravana then turns himself into Indra, which leaves Rama in a state or shock/paralysis, but Matali comes to the rescue and is able to see through the disguise. Rama takes advantage of this and slays Ravana with his bow and arrow.

I thought the battle scene in this version had a lot more detail than the first version we read in class. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the scene because it was vivid and I could definitely imagine it all happening in my head. The death of Ravana is kind of like the end, but also a new beginning because now Rama can go peacefully back to Ayodhya and rule as King when his fourteen years of exile are up.

Rama battles Ravana; Wikipedia

Famous Last Words: Week 6

This week was, once again, pretty crazy. No exams, but I had a couple of quizzes in a couple classes and I had to go to a concert for one of my classes and write a report over it. The concert was pretty interesting at first but then it got kind of boring because the concert was so long. I also lost my OU ID earlier this week and I can’t find it for the life of me so I guess I’ll be getting another replacement ID. This class went pretty smooth this week. I didn’t have any trouble managing any of the assignments or getting them done. I think my best writing this week was the storytelling assignment. I enjoyed writing more about Hanuman and expanding on another one of his stories. I also added a story to my portfolio so I had to write a little bit more to reach the minimum word count and I felt like that story was pretty good as well.

I read some other interesting stories this week as well. Both of the people in my blog commenting group wrote about Hanuman’s experience as a cat so that was pretty interesting. They both had different perspectives on what Hanuman experienced as a cat so it was a cool to compare and contrast the two. My other classes are going pretty well…besides physics. It’s probably the hardest class I have taken yet. I enjoyed organic chemistry and microbiology more than this class…I guess I’m just not a physics person like my roommate is. My calculus and other science classes are going pretty smoothly so that’s good. Work is also pretty smooth although the kids that I work with have been super hyper all week.

All in all, I can’t really complain about the week because I’ve definitely had worse. At least I can say I got to relax this weekend without having to worry too much about classes.

Except for the busyness, this semester has been smooth sailing so far; Wikipedia

Week 6 Storytelling: Hanuman Wreaks Havoc

“Alas, I have found her at last!” exclaimed Hanuman triumphantly. “Now I can return to Rama and prepare for what is to come next.”

Hanuman had just found Sita in the ashoka grove, safe and sound as can be when being held hostage by a demon. He assured her that she will be rescued soon and that Rama will be on his way to save her in the very near future. Ecstatic that he had succeeded in finding Sita, Hanuman decided to have a little fun before heading back to Rama to give him the good news. What could he possibly do though? As Hanuman scanned the city of Lanka, a huge grin slowly crept up onto his face.

“Until we meet again!” he said to Sita as he ran off towards the middle of town, feeling reckless and mischievous as can be.

He jumps into the air and flies towards what looks like Ravana’s lavish home with a smirk on his face.

“This is for all the unnecessary trouble you’re causing us!” Hanuman exclaims as he uproots Ravana’s neatly trimmed lawn.

He rips down all the trees and pulls out all the beautiful flowers, making Ravana’s once beautiful garden into a full blown wreckage site! Due to all the commotion that Hanuman is causing, the animals are spooked and proceed to stampede out into the city. Elephants are pummeling homes and crushing fences, while the quicker and faster animals, such as the horses, are creating chaos by galloping in between the resident of Lanka, knocking them over and stampeding them.

Ravana hears the ruckus outside and is furious! He sends his royal bodyguard to take care of Hanuman. The bodyguard charges at Hanuman but is way too slow. Hanuman sees him coming and dodges the guard’s attack. In one swift, counteracting motion, Hanuman lashes his tail out and strangles the royal bodyguard to his unfortunate death.

“Too easy,” Hanuman says to himself with a chuckle.

Hanuman decides that he has caused enough trouble and proceeds to head back to Rama when he suddenly sees a massive temple in his peripheral vision.

“One more thing I need to do,” Hanuman says.

He flies over to the temple and smashes it to bits, ramming it with all his strength. At this point, Ravana is desperate for help so he can save his beloved Lanka. He goes to Indrajit for assistance who eventually uses the spell of Shiva’s noose to capture Hanuman. With Hanuman in Ravana’s clutches, what is Rama to do now???

Hanuman creates chaos in Lanka; Wikimedia

Author's Note: I took the part of the Ramayana where Hanuman runs wild and creates chaos in Lanka and added my own twist to it. I didn't necessarily change much or anything but I did expand on it.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 

Week 6 Reading Diary B: War Is Brewing

Hanuman returns to Rama with his news of Sita. Upon hearing this news, Rama and his allies head south towards the ocean, in hope of finding a way to cross to get to Lanka. Rama gets frustrated, as he cannot find a reasonable way to get across the ocean with all his allies. He grows angry at the ocean and curses it. In response, Samudra, the water king, rises up from out of the water and explains to Rama that the monkey, Nala, is able to make rocks float in water. Rama is enthused, as this solves his main problem of having to cross the ocean! With the help of Nala and his useful skill, and the help of the squirrels and other animals, a bridge to Lanka is built in no time!

Rama, his allies, and the other animals proceed to cross the bridge and come to Trikuta Hill. There, they spot Shuka, a hawk who is spying on their activities on behalf of Ravana. Angada seizes Shuka and tried to strangle him but Sugriva stops him from doing so in the nick of time! Sugriva send Shuka back to Ravana with a grave message and Ravana retaliates by sending two more demon spies that go by the names of Sardula and Sarana, respectively. They appear in the form of monkeys, but again, they are detected as traitors, this time by Vibhishana. He captures them and brings them to Rama but Sarana vanishes into thin air. Rama send Sardula back to Ravana with another message. War is nearing.

Building the bridge to Lanka; Wikipedia

Week 6 Reading Diary A: Hanuman's Journey to Lanka

After Sita’s abduction, Hanuman takes it upon himself to find the whereabouts of Sita. Sampati, Jatayu’s brother, explains to Hanuman that he has seen Ravana flying high in the sky, towards the city of Lanka. Hanuman is the only one capable of making the hundred league journey across the ocean to Lanka, which he does. Along the way, Hanuman catches a rest when the mountain Mainaka rises up from out of hiding. Mainaka had been hiding under the ocean in fear of Indra. As Hanuman gets closer and closer to Lanka, a female rakshasi, named Sinhika, appears from out of the water and ingests Hanuman! Hanuman is going to have none of this nonsense, as he easily crushes her heart and escapes from her ear. I thought this part of the story was super interesting because it had not been mentioned in the other version of the Ramayana.

Finally, after what seems like forever, Hanuman arrives at Lanka. To keep himself void of detection, he changes himself into the shape of a cat so he can move around freely without any trouble. Lanka appears in front of Hanuman and kicks him, which he returns swiftly with a punch. Lanka then realizes that Hanuman’s arrival is part of a curse that has yet to be fulfilled. Hanuman searches everywhere for Sita but cannot find her. As he is about to give up, his father, Vayu, the wind god, directs him to Sita’s whereabouts in the ashoka grove. At last, he has found Sita!!

Hanuman's journey across the ocean to Lanka; Web Source

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Week 5 Storytelling: Hanuman

Hanuman swung through the trees, on the hunt for something delicious to eat. His father was the mighty Vayu, the wind god, of the world. His mother was named Anjana, but she had abandoned Hanuman shortly after his birth, when he was still a baby monkey. In the absence of his mother, Hanuman had no one to teach him the things he was supposed to eat and the things he was to avoid eating since his father was so busy throughout the day making wind for people in need. Hanuman didn’t really know the difference between dangerous and safe as a young monkey. All he knew was that sometimes there was tasty fruit hanging from the branches of the trees, ready to be picked off and eaten.

This day, it was taking especially long for Hanuman to find food. The longer he swung through the trees, the more tired and careless he became. This proved to be harmful because Hanuman accidentally swung from one tree and grabbed the branch of another tree that was very thin and weak. The branch snapped in half instantly and down went Hanuman…

As Hanuman woke up in a daze, his head and body aching from the impact he made on the ground, he noticed an orange circle through the canopy of leaves above him. It looked oddly like a mango to him. Hanuman grew more excited by the second, thinking he had finally found food! What he thought was a mango was actually the sun out in the distance, ready to set. Hanuman reached out for the “mango,” licking his chops, eager to eat, when Vayu stopped him from burning himself in the nick of time!

“Don’t touch that!” Vayu roared, causing Hanuman to falter and tumble to the ground.

Hanuman looked up at his father with a confused expression on his face because he still thought the sun was a mango.

“That’s not a mango, you clown. That is the sun and you will burn yourself if you touch it,” said Vayu.

Vayu, worried about Hanuman after this incident, quit his job as the God of the wind and decided to pay more attention to Hanuman. After all, raising baby Hanuman was Vayu’s job since Anjana had abandoned them. This, though, caused a problem within the world. Without wind, there would be no air, and with no air there would be no oxygen, and without oxygen, there would be no life! What a dilemma this had caused! So Vayu went to Brahma, the creator of the universe and asked for advice. Brahma, in turn, granted Hanuman the gift of eternal life. Surya, the god of the sun, gave Hanuman an unlimited supply of mangoes so he would never go hungry again. This way, Hanuman doesn’t have to risk hurting himself while looking for food. This allows Vayu to resume his job because he doesn’t have to worry about baby Hanuman hurting himself. All is right again in the world once again and everyone lives happily ever after.

Author's Note: I just took the story of Hanuman and expanded on it a little bit. I thought it would be a good idea to describe the story of how Hanuman thought the sun was a mango in more detail. I imagined him being a clueless, innocent little monkey who didn’t even know the basics of finding food. Vayu, being the wind god, doesn't have much time to look after Hanuman so he doesn't get very much guidance. He always gets into some kind of trouble and has to learn from his countless mistakes.

The picture I used for this story assignment was pretty much perfect because it depicts basically my whole story into that one picture. It's Hanuman reaching for a mango (which is actually the sun in the distant sky). I don't think I could have found a better picture for this story.

I chose to write this story because I thought it would be a funny story to write. I knew by adding in some choice vocabulary and depicting Hanuman as an innocent baby monkey, I could get a lighthearted, comical story. At the same time, I wanted to show how Hanuman uses his mistakes as learning experiences and how his father still teaches him even though he's pretty busy. I liked how it turned out overall.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 

Hanuman mistakes the sun for a mango; Wikipedia

Week 5 Reading Diary B: Sita's Abduction

In this section of the Ramayana, Ravana tried to concoct a plan that will help him abduct Sita away from Rama. He wants to do this because Panchavati tells him that Sita is more beautiful than all his wives. It is something he must have! The plan is for Maricha to turn into a magnificent, golden deer which would hopefully distract Rama. At Sita’s insistence, Rama chases the deer and kills it. Maricha (the deer) lets out a horrible cry of help of Rama’s voice, which fools Sita. She sends Lakshmana into the forest to find Rama, and to make sure he is okay.

At this point, Ravana’s plan has worked marvelously. He has succeeded in luring Rama and Lakshamana away from Sita so he can complete the abduction. He disguises himself as an old man and fools Sita once again. He quickly reveals himself and carries Sita off in his chariot against Sita’s will. He cannot rape her because he is cursed to have his head blown off if he does. He must convince Sita to willingly sleep with him.

Before Ravana can go very far, Jatayu appears and valiantly tries to fight off Ravana. Unfortunately, he is no match and has his wings cut off. He lies there wounded as Ravana speeds off with Sita to Lanka. Rama and Lakshmana arrive just in the nick of time to hear from Jatayu that Sita has been abducted be Ravana and that they were heading South. Off go Ravana and Lakshmana to retrieve Sita.

Ravana abducts Sita and kills Jatayu; Wikimedia

Week 5 Reading Diary A: Rama's Exile

In this section of the Ramayana, Dasaratha has just died due to his foolish decision in fulfilling Kaikeyi’s request to exile Rama for fourteen years. Bharata hears this news through messengers sent from Ayodhya. He cannot believe what his mother has done so he ventures into the forest with a massive crew to find Rama and tell him of the bad news. They run into Guha, who directs them to the sage Bharadwaja, who then directs Bharatha and his crew, including the queens, to Chitrakuta. Once Bharatha find Rama there, he tells Rama about the death of their father and insists that Rama come back to be King. Still, Rama refuses to return until the end of his fourteen year exile and insists that Bharatha rule as King in his stead until he returns from exile. Bharata reluctantly agrees to rule in Rama’s stead and takes his sandals as a memento of Rama’s return.

I found this whole section to be very interesting because Bharatha clearly does not want to be the King of Ayodhya. In my opinion, if I was in Bharatha’s place, I would be sad to know that Rama was exiled, but at the same time, I would be somewhat ecstatic that I was going to be the new King! I don’t really understand why the sage Bharadwaja blesses Kaikeyi because she is the sole reason why this mess happened in the first place. She should feel guilty for ultimately causing the death of Dasaratha instead of receiving blessings for her deed.

Rama leaves in exile for 14 years; Wikimedia

Famous Last Words: Week 4

So this week was, once again, another hectic week. I had two exams, which I think I did really well in. All I can do now is wait until the grades are posted. I also had a quiz which wasn't too hard either. All in all, I think I did pretty well this week considering all that I had to do. Next week isn't getting any easier though since I have two more exams coming up...After this upcoming week though, I'll finally be able to relax a little bit. It’ll be a much needed break after this hectic first month back. I wouldn't have it any other way though because I like keeping myself busy. I would rather be busy than be bored doing nothing.

This class is actually going pretty well now. I've come up with a routine that works pretty well and I haven't missed any assignments or anything since I've been following the routine. I really enjoyed writing this week's storytelling post. I think it's my best one yet, although it's only the second one I have written so far. I think I am going to be doing the portfolio as my project for this class because I feel like I could have more fun with it. The storybook assignment seems interesting too but I'm still not sure exactly how I want to do it so I'm just going to do the portfolio!

Other than that, work has been going pretty good. I’ve finally memorized all the kids’ names and they actually listen to me now when I tell them to do something so I’m making progress! I think I might be getting sick, but I really can’t afford for that to happen because of class so I’ve been taking medicine and resting in advance just to prevent it from getting bad. 

My upcoming week...; Web Source