Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana Part B

 Bharata returned back home and discovered what his mother had done, and he is sad that he no longer has his brother or father. He then vowed to not be king and to bring Rama home so he could be king. Once Bharata found Rama he told him to come home and to become king, but Rama refused because he must obey his late father. This is because Rama believes that what makes a person good is their deeds, and that by ignoring his late father's orders he would be betraying him. I do not agree with Rama's decision though, because once the king died he no longer had power, and Bharata, being the new king, should have the power to right the old king's wrongs. Rama then continues to go deeper into the forest and along the way he meets various sages and battles against the demons. Rama then met a Rakshasi who is Ravana's sister and jokingly suggested she try and seduce his brother. The Rakshasi was angry so she attacked the brothers, but she then ran away. She then went to her brother who said he would take care of Rama and his brother with an army of 14,000 Rakashasa. However, Khara's army was defeated. Ravana then decided to talk with Maricha to decide what he could do, and he was told to leave Rama alone. However, Ravana decided to kidnap Sita. Once kidnapped Ravana tried to get her to become his queen but she stayed strong. Jatayu the vulture then tells Rama what happened and Rama and his brother set out for the ape king.

Jatayu

Bibliography: M Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder, Public Domain Edition of The Ramayana, link

Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana Part A

 Dasharatha had no sons from his wives, so he made sought to make a sacrifice. This can act as the plot device for starting the story he then had four children from his three wives. Ravana is the king of the demons and he is invincible except he can be defeated by apes and humans, so Vishnu became the king's son, Rama so that he can then defeat Ravana. Rama was given celestial weapons after battling demons for the first time, and he was able to summon these weapons by thinking about them. I liked in the chapter Ahalya how it was written as a poem. Vishwamitra acts as Rama's mentor. Rama was able to bend the bow and won Sita from her father. Dasharatha then chose Rama to be king but Kaikeyi was persuaded by Manthara, who hates Rama, to use her favors to stop Rama from being king. Rama then went into exile with Sita and Lakshmana. Dasharatha  then dies a sad death due to his bad karma.

 Bending the bow

Bibliography: M Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder, Public Doman Edition of the Ramayana, link

Feedback Thoughts

In this bog post I am going to be discussing constructive feedback. Constructive feedback is extremely important in anything you do, because it's how you improve. I will now discuss two articles that I recently read about ways to take criticism and how to improve yourself in the things you do.

The first article I read was Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt in Creative Work. I thought this article was good, because it had a lot of good tips. I thought this was also a good article, because self-doubt is something that almost everyone has especially when doing creative work. I also found myself relating with the author's own experience. For example, they discussed how they tried to make their work perfect and that's something I often find myself struggling with as well.

The second article I read was How to Tame Your Inner Critic: A Simple Habit to Rewire Your Brain. I liked this article, because it talked about how to deal with making mistakes. Instead of thinking you are a failure when you mess up the author instead introduces the idea of forgiving yourself for your mistakes and continuing on. Additionally, I like how the author talks about how mistakes aren't bad, but they lead to growth.

Beach

Storybook Topic Brainstorm

My first inspiration for a storybook idea is from Vali: The Downfall of  an Arrogant King. I have chosen this as a possible story. I am thinking about possibly writing about a king or a leader who gained power, and was a good ruler/leader, but through a series of events they begin to become bad until their eventual death or redemption as I have not yet decided how I would want this story to end.

The next possible storybook topic I my choose is possibly describing battles. This inspiration came from one of the project suggestions, and I thought it might be a cool one to do, because I would focus on a essentially a single event. What I mean is that instead of focusing on the politics and actions that led to the battle I would just focus solely on the battle similar to the movie Dunkirk. 

I am also thinking about making a story about my first storytelling blogpost. I kind of want to continue the story that I wrote, because I left it at somewhat of a cliff hanger. I could explore what happened after Dave rescued Einstein, and I could explore the events that happened that led Dave to mistrust Einstein. I think it could be a lot of fun, because even though it would be inspired by the epics I read, it would still be primarily  my own creation.

The final storybook topic I may write about is my idea of the retelling Indian history. I was inspired from the Wikipedia article that talked about Indian military history. I think there is a lot of potential in this, because I could retell battles or Indian history from the viewpoints of past kings or even the people living in India. Additionally, this could be a cool topic since India didn't use to be a unified country, so there will be plenty of topics to discuss.

Indian warfare

Week 2 Story: Rescuing Einstein

 It was a calm night when John Serpent was in view of the extraction zone. This was where he was supposed to meet the contact, a defecting scientist from the enemy militant group Gearhead. Normally John would have left this kind of task to someone else, but the defecting agent was someone special. John was to meet the the primary man responsible for the almost complete destruction of his squad nine years ago - Hue Einstein. And although one of the surviving members of the squad Zak Mills had tried to talk him out of allowing Hue back into the squad, stating that Hue couldn't be trusted, John acted against his better judgement and decided to help Hue defect.

As John sat thinking about the past he saw a figure approaching. It was Hue. Suddenly, all the pain from the events nine years ago came flooding back, but John held his composure. Hue was the first to speak, "You look different John ." Not wanting to make small talk John replied "It's time to go." John then put a black bag over Hue's head and searched him for tracking devices in order to make sure Hue still wasn't in contact with Gearhead. 

John then led Hue three miles to where the truck that would take them back to base was waiting. Before entering the truck Hue spoke up "I know you don't trust me John , but I want to clear my name from what happened nine years ago. I want to prove that I didn't betray the squad." John was silent,  but he hoped the scientist's words were truthful. On the trip back to base John thought back on all the good Hue had done as a member of their squad, and somewhat sadly he also knew that even if Hue hadn't been the one to betray them things would never be the same. And another thought still sat at the back of his head. What if Zak was right and Hue couldn't be trusted?

Author's notes: This story is based on "The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart" in which the crocodile tries to trick the monkey into climbing onto his head so he can bring the monkey's heart to his wife so she can eat it. My take on the story is about two old comrades who are reunited after one of them allegedly betrayed the squad. This story, however, is not so black and white as it is never revealed if Hue did betray the squad, and it ends with John possibly remaking the same mistake.

Bibliography. "The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart" from Eastern Stories and Legends by Maries L. Shedlock source

Hue Einstein

Reading Notes: Week 2 Anthology

The monkey and crocodile stories

• Told from the point of view of the crocodile and the monkey and then from the point of view of the Buddha
• The plot device driving the story both times is the wife of the crocodile wants to eat the heart of the monkey
• In the first story the monkey is somewhat fooled by the crocodile, because he rides on the crocodile to get to the island with better food. As a result, the monkey has to fool the crocodile to get out of the bad situation he put himself in
• In the second story the monkey has to fool the crocodile to get back to the island he normally stays on
• In both stories the monkey outwits the crocodile and the crocodile gives up

A crocodile waits for a monkey

Week 2 Reading Overview

 I have chosen to read the public domain edition of the Ramayan, because I like the idea of reading a book that was written by different authors. This way I can see how different people write differently and gain inspiration for my own storytelling by reading many different styles.

The first comic book that got my attention is Tales of Arjuna. This is because I like how it has a variety of different stories that do not necessary depend on the events of past stories. This is particularly interesting to me, because I know that each story will be unique. Also I thought the story about sacrificing ghee to Agni was somewhat comical.  The second comic book that got my attention is Parashurama, because it is a story that seems like it has a lot of action and drama. Additionally, it seems like the stakes are high, so I know I will really enjoy it.

The first video I really liked was Curating Krishna in the Garden of Assam. This video interested me, because I love going to museums to see and learn about different cultures. For example, when I go to museums I always try to read about every painting or artifact I see. The second video I liked was Ships of Ancient India, because it tells a concise yet informative history of India's trade relations and how they traded. I especially liked it too, because I am interested in history and learning about what people did in the past.

Sacrifice to Agni