Indian Epics

Writer's Write Blog Open Yourself Up to the Possibilities of Story The author talks about how one prompt can be the basis for a million different stories Girl gets on a bus... And the story could be about a bomb, Rosa Parks, etc.  “Writers have no real area of expertise. They are merely generalists with a highly inflamed sense of punctuation.” ―  Lorrie Moore As an aspiring author, this short article was inspiring and a great reminder that all a story needs to be great is creativity and someone to chase down the prompt Harnessing the Power of Time in Your Storytelling The author uses an (annoyingly long) run-on sentence to describe his interpretation of time (capital T).  Time is powerful because it is relevant Article brings u an interesting idea that words, themselves, are time “The novel is time’s child. The novelist can never do otherwise than work with time, and nothing in his novel can escape it,” writes  Eudora Welty  in her fascinating essay on the

Promila felt as if her heart had shattered into a million cold, glass shards. The glass pierced her body and spread through her veins. She cried out in agony, "My love. My whole life has been torn from me!" She looked upon her precious Indrajit, laid upon the funeral pyre. She wished to join him in his burial fire-- to be his wife in the afterlife. She craved to be eternally beside her beloved with her entire soul. A small whisper in her mind told her no. "You must avenge his death. Blood has betrayed blood. Now blood must be spilt," the voice whispered. Promila knew her task. She approached the wrapped body of Indrajit. She softly took her hand from her mouth and placed it on Indrajit's forehead. A symbolic kiss of parting. "Go in peace, my love. I will restore your glory and find you in the heavens." Indrajit's sword rested at his feet. She lifted the famed weapon and brandished it in front of the mourning crowd. "Bibhisan will pay

Sita: The King-Farmer is called "Rishi" which is also the name of the narrator of my storybook, so that's cool He finds a baby girl in a pitcher and adopts her Kind of neat because he gives her the power to pass on his name The King then has three more daughters by his queen, Sita is the most beautiful Sita and Rama make eye contact and it is love at first sight Sita's sisters marry Rama's brother in a record breaking four-way wedding Sita's father tells Rama to "guard his treasure well and never forsake her" King Janaka has a sinking feeling that Sita will not be happy  This is an interesting tidbit that isn't included in the previous readings of Sita and Rama's love story Sita was the center of Rama's life. The author says they had one life and one soul Fast forward to Ravana disguising himself as a yogi and tricking/stealing Sita Sita is terrified and begs to be let go The normal events happen and Sita is exiled

In a great and splendid palace, belonging to mighty king, there lived two palace dogs. They were the king’s beloved companions. In the presence of their master, they were loving and obedient. When the master was not around, their character reversed and they became mischievous, pestilent things.  One night, a thunderstorm broke across the sky. The bright flashes of lightning and loud cracks of thunder filled the palace dogs with a wild passion. They broke from their collars and leashes and ran into the night. They ran throughout the royal gardens, taking special care to roll and stomp in the largest mud puddles. They bit off roses from their bush and muddied all of the fountains. In their furious frolic, they arrived at the idea to storm the throne room. The dogs ran teeth gnashing, paws muddied, and mind frenzied through the palace into the majestic court room of the king. They rolled on the rugs, tore down the tapestries, and chewed on the arm of the throne. When the room was prope

For this week's story lab, I created a twine. The purpose of the Twine is to answer buzzfeed-esque questions to determine what kind of Fall soup you are. Obviously, the answers are really sarcastic. I though Twine was not that user friendly and it wouldn't let me save the file. However, it was still fun to create. Twine: Find Out What Fall Soup You Are Fall Soup

What is at least one thing that the article CONFIRMED for you that you knew already Sleeping is extremely important for college success. This includes both quantity and quality of sleep. What is at least one NEW thing that you learned that you did not know before? All nighters only help if you have to memorize a lot of content. It doesn't help you learn complex material. What is the one thing you are now CURIOUS to explore (i.e. something you want to try in your life, something you want to research and learn more about, etc.) and what are you going to do in order to act on that curiosity? I want to learn more about the the specific effect that sleep has on your GPA. I'm going to explore a few of the links in this article Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/13/well/an-underappreciated-key-to-college-success-sleep.html Sleeping Baby

My favorite motto is "You make your own merit!". It just reminds me that I am in charge of my progress and the outcome of my life. I write this in my agenda so that I know I can manage my tough weeks! Motto Graphic

The Divine Brothers The seven wives of a farmer's seven sons take a bath together They discuss their wishes The youngest of the seven doesn't have a family aside from her husband's Lahana (the youngest) wishes for koi to eat, she finds them, but they are not koi, they are serpents She keeps them as pets and feeds them When the serpents return to their house, they ask their mom to adopt the youngest sister A serpent son of the goddess kills Lahana The goddess resurrects Lahana but sends her home Lahana obeys the goddess twice and is rewarded by being adopted by the king Snatched From Death A king has a daughter and she is allowed to choose her own husband She falls in love with the son of a hermit Turns out he is cursed to die within a year of his marriage The princess desires that she would rather have him for a year than not at all He dies and the god of the underworld comes to take his soul The princess will not let him go without going with him

Imagine an office. This office is just like all other offices. It has dull gray carpet, dozens of neatly aligned cubicles, and yellow fluorescent overhead lights. In one of the cubicles, sits Ms. Alecia Turtle. She is a middle aged woman who seems to always walk with a permanent hunch. She wears dark olive green glasses. Ms. Turtle leans over her computer, hurriedly typing away. Her tongue pokes out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrates. Cindy! You would not believe what I just heard!  Her nails are painted green. The movements of her fingers are dramatically exaggerated as she clacks away at her keyboard. Jim heard that Britney said that Ron and his wife are getting divorced. Can you believe it!? She smugly sends the IM to her coworker. A ding sounds across the office. There is quietly audible typing. Ms. Turtle's computer flashes: New Message -- From Cindy Squirrel.  Ms. Turtle hungrily opened the message. Poor Ron. I know Mr. Goose is really cracking down on of

Reading A 1. The first Jataka is similar to the earlier one we read about a crocodile wanting to eat a monkey's heart. One difference is that in this story, it is a crocodile mother and son instead of a wife and husband. As in the first story, the monkey tricks the crocodile. 2. This is a retelling of when the turtle tricks the king and his court to be thrown into the water. 3. The third Jataka is about two merchants. One is fair and another is greedy. The needy merchant tires to swindle an old women for her golden bowl, but his efforts are thwarted by his own arrogance and the honesty of another merchant. 4. This is another retelling of the Jataka tale about the turtle who is carried by the geese, but plummets to his death because he cannot keep his mouth shut. 5. This is a story of an ox and his owner that teaches the value of treating one another with respect. 6. In this tale, a band of travelers discard of their water because they think they are nearly out of the desert.

Recently, I have been struggling to finish all of my work for this class on time. Largely, this is due to the fact that my schedule is so flexible this semester that I have been procrastinating horribly. This is a good opportunity to review my schedule. In the future: I should try to have Reading A and my storybook written on Monday. I hate taking reading notes, so lately I have been skipping Reading B. On Wednesday, I should focus on writing/editing my project story and doing the extra credit necessary to make up for skipping Reading B. On Friday, I need to do blog commenting and project feedback. Hopefully this new schedule will help me stay on track. Losing track of time

Meme I like this meme because it shows the value of teamwork.  Growth Mindset Meme I like this meme because it is about the idea that patience and taking time to gain valuable experience is necessary before you can get your "dream job".  Growth Mindset Meme I like this meme because it shows that the more experiences you gain, the more your perspective evolves and allows you to gain new insights.

For this week's story lab I explored the blog, Advice to Writers. The homepage opens to a quote from TS Eliot. Immediately intrigued, I know I am going to like this blog. The quote is actually a joke and I'm left feeling disappointed. I decide to jump to an quote entitled, "Writing is Hard Work, Not Magic." This quote is attributed to Suze Orman and is about defining the motivation behind why you are writing. I like that. Someday I want to be an author. Before I write my novel, whatever it will be about, I need to decide the message and meaning behind the intent of the book. Neil Postman poses the question, "What Could Be Stranger than Writing?" Anthropologists call literary works a conversation that is both simultaneously held with no one and with everyone. I think that that is very poetic. "Words Are to Be Taken Seriously," declares a quote in large red type. Toni Cade Bambara explains that words set things in motion and conjure images and

There is a tyrant king names Kansa and a prophecy to destroy him The 8th child of the king's sister and his best friend will kill the tyrant king So Kansa casts the two into the dungeons of his palace and kills all of their children Their child, Krishna, is a version of Vishnu The father of Krishna sneaks out and replaces Krishna with a cowherd's daughter The cowherds rejoice that their daughter has now become a son (this is sexist) The king knew he had been foiled and sent out messengers to kill all newborn babies He sends demons Krishna kills the demon sent to kill him with one touch Krishna kills another demon Krishna kills another demon, this one took the form of a hurricane Krishna is a mischievous child so his father ties a long rope around him to keep track of him He accidentally tears down two trees, releasing the spirits trapped in their trunks Krishna is loved by all Krishna comes across a cave that has swallowed all of the cows and his friends

If you asked Yudi, the night was still young. Rhythmic, thumping music filled the room around him. It was carried along with the hushed and hurried voices of the other players. He sat at a grandiose oak table covered in a rich green velvet. At his table were six other men dressed in their best suits and ties. A few puffed on cigars; others swirled their glasses of scotch. All of them eyed Yudi. "I'll meet that bet." Yudi sneered as he met each of the other players' gazes. "And I'll raise you $1000." The table erupted. Three of the players slammed down their hands and yelled at Yudi. "You're bluffing. You have to be kidding." A chorus of disbelief broke out. Finally, a slender and haughty young man raised his scotch glass and simply declared, "Enough." The table fell silent once more. This man was Dura and he was the fiercest poker player that had every set foot in the lounge. Dura and Yudi glared at each other across the ta

To me, a genius is someone who asks the right questions, works hard, acknowledges their weaknesses and works to overcome them. They're creative, kind, and self-aware. Here is a graphic I made on Photoshop:

The first story is very clear and easy to understand Duryodhana is jealous of the Pandavas I didn't realize Draupadi has emerged from a sacrificial fire Story varies slightly from the first version I read Story of Hidimbi is always told differently Draupadi becomes the wife of all of the Pandavas Arjuna is exiled and goes on many adventures Bhima kills Jarasandha in the wrestling match by tearing him in half and then frees the captive kings. Yudhishthira is fond of gambling, but unskilled, while Shakuni is a skilled gambler. Yudhishthira will not be able to refuse a challenge to play.  King Dhritarashtra grants Draupadi a boon. She asks that he free Yudhishthira. He grants her another boon, and she asks for the freedom of Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula, and Sahadeva. Dhritarashtra also returns all that Yudhishthira lost in the gambling match, which outrages Duryodhana Again, Yudhishthira cannot refuse, and again he loses, so the Pandavas must go into exile in the forest. Did no

1. So far I am proud of my writing for this class. I really enjoy this outlet to be creative and grow in my writing abilities. I do not have a great weekly schedule right now because I just started a new job and its thrown my whole schedule out of whack. I've been using the Growth Mindset extra credit options and the Learning by H.E.A.R.T extra credit options. Not only have they been a great way to make up points. but I've learned a lot and even found a new blog I like: Writers Write. I really enjoy creating and tailoring both my blog and my project website. 2. For the second half of the semester (are we really half-way through?) I want to be more organized and motivated. I love this. Web Source.

1. Overall, I would say the feedback I am receiving has been both positive and helpful. I prefer the blog comments because they are more conversational. They are a great way to hear how other students in the class share the same interests as you. 2. I think I have been giving great feedback... but I'm biased. 3. As tedious as blog commenting is, it is very cool to see the wide array of personalities in this class. 4. Looking forward, I need to continue to try to provide helpful and positive feedback. Web Source

Overall, this class has been going well. I have found the reading more challenging this semester. I think it is a combination of both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata being so long and the public versions so disjointed. I have enjoyed writing stories about these characters. This semester, I've taken more advantage of the extra credit opportunities. So far, I really like my project. It is so fun to tell a story in a way it has never been done. I've enjoyed being creative with the use of GIFs as the background of my stories. I think my biggest accomplishment was my story Sita Sings Pop. It was really fun to write and came out really well (at least in my {very biased} opinion). I also really enjoyed the video that inspired this story, Sita Sings the Blues. I hate taking reading notes. In the future, I just need to keep track of due dates and not fall behind. Image from the Mahabharata. Wikipedia .

I'm excited for this challenge! Over the next week, I'm going to document one thing that makes me happy each day. I write in my agenda every day. So I think this will be the best way to keep track of small happy things each day! Next Thursday, I'll come back to this blog post and write about each day of the week! Friday- I worked at LOFT. A birthday party of older women came in and they were so sweet and fun to help shop! Saturday- I went to one of my favorite brunch places, Neighborhood Jam. They have great food and they make an  incredible  London Fog. The use a lavender syrup and a lemon peel to top it all off. It's a fantastic drink that makes me very happy. Sunday- Sundays are my favorite days. I go to the early service at Victory Family church. Then I make myself some sunny-side up eggs and toast on sourdough. And then I usually study the rest of the day. Monday- I had work again and then had a really productive day! Productivity makes me happy. Tuesday- I h

I wanted to learn some more about Growth Mindset, specifically motivation! Motivation has been something I've been struggling with now that I'm a senior. I've come down with a bad case of senioritis. The article I read was " How to turn on the part of your brain that controls motivation " There is a cluster of neurons that influence motivation in the middle of the brain in a region called the ventral tegmental area You can use an fMRI to see the activity in your brain The fMRI showed that 'pumping yourself up' lighted up the area in the brain Ultimately this article wasn't very helpful. I was hoping it would have the secret to motivation, but it just had an interesting experiment. A Brain. Web Source

Urvashi, Urva for short, knew that she was beautiful. She was made to be! She was a divine creation, born of the sea and crafted by the gods. Her skin was that of the softest clouds. Her hair sparkled like sun rays. She had eyes that rivaled the beauty of lotus flowers. Her beauty was unparalleled to any woman on earth... ... but in Swarga, Indra's celestial city, she looked exactly like the hundreds of other aspara women mass produced in the Heavenly Brides Inc. factory. Asparas were Swarga's number one export. They were practically the entire basis for the thriving economy of the city. Heroes, gods, and gandharvas from across the heavens made their way to Swarga to claim their faultless brides. Urva's model was the latest and most desired. Urva spent her days prancing around the city, flaunting her looks and trying to attract the attention of potential suitors. She was quite good at pursing her lips and widening her eyes to fain interest as her prospective husbands r

Yudhisthira prays to the sun god Surya He gave them a copper pot that filled with food to feed the Pandavas and the holy brethren of the forest Arjuna goes to the mountains Shiva gives Arjuna divine weapons Arjuna goes with his father, Indra, to his celestial kingdom A nymph, called an aspara, falls in love with Arjuna. When she is rejected, she curses Arjuna Bhima meets Hanuman Karna swears to kill Arjuna Indra gives Karna a dart in exchange for his armor and earrings Indra is worried about Arjuna and Karna's inevitable fight Draupadi is stolen At this point she has to be like 40.. so she must still be looking great Bhima takes her back tho Yudhisthira answers a bunch of riddles at a pond The voice at that pond is Dharma, Yudi's father & god of wisdom The brothers and Draupadi are disguised in their 13th year of exile and serve in the court of a king Prince Kichaka tries to rape Draupadi And ummmm excuse me... she flees BLEEDING to the king

Why We Ask You to Buy us a Coffee “You really need to learn to accept a gift with grace,” he said. “A gift doesn’t come with any conditions or an implied reciprocation.” Create Power Paragraphs for Stronger Storytelling Sentence Spotlight " The  dominant   sentence  is the first and most important in any paragraph" " The  flow sentences  tease out the adventure promised by the dominant sentence" " The  linking sentence  ends a paragraph" "The  call-out sentence  is paragraph in its own right." 10 Things William Faulkner Had to Say About Writing I'm a big William Faulkner fan. As I Lay Dying is one of may favorite books. I've copied a few  distinct phrases from his list of 10. I found them to be inspiring.  The act of writing shows movement, activity, life. I think it best to use as little dialect as possible because it confuses people who are not familiar with it. That nobody should let the character speak comple

Ganesha agreed to become the tribe of the Mahabharata, but only if his pencil never stopped moving The story of Vyssa's birth is ~wacky Devavrata (Bhishma) Ganga, his goddess mother, gives him 1/8 of the power of each of the 8 V asus The king falls in love with Ganga but she makes him promise to do whatever she wants if she is to marry her, she agrees She "kills" 7 of her babies (reincarnated Vasus) When she tries the kill the 8th the king stops her and she leaves him  She returns to give the king a son, Devavrata The king wants to marry Vyssa's mother but cannot But Devavrata promises not to marry or have a son if Satyatvati is given to his father as his bride King Shantanu and Satyatvati have 2 sons The first is an arrogant ruler and dies in battle The second is young when he takes the throne Bhishma wins 3 maidens for his brother ( the young king) at a contest Amba, the oldest of the maidens, loves another man so she is permitted to leave Amba

Sita looked into the eyes of the beloved Rama of her younger years. Her twin sons joined their father as she faced him.  She opened her mouth to speak, "First I was afraid. I was petrified. Kept thinking I could never live without you by  my side.  But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong.  And I grew strong 1 ." Rama moved  forward to defend his case.  Sita held up her hand and glared at him.  " I would go through all this pain. Take a bullet straight through my brain. Yes I would die for you, baby. But you won't do the same 2 ." Rama dismissed Sita.  "Sita, I could not risk my subjects not respecting me for keeping you as my wife." "R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Find out what it means to me 3 ." With an indignant glare and a roll of her hips, she threw her hands into the air and called to Mother Nature, "Mama, life had just begun. But now I've gone and thrown it all away. Mama! Oooooo 4 !"   Sita fell

For this week's reading, I decided to watch Sita Sings the Blues. I love movies and the animation looks fun. I'm excited to see the story of the Ramayana through a different perspective. To begin, I can already tell that I appreciate Nina Paley's sense of style and humor. Her opening credits give attention to "Your money" and "Your name".  I love the bright colors and abrupt actions When I think of Indian culture I think of beautiful patterns and colors The cosmic intro gives an homage to Rama and Sita's heavenly background The animation changes abruptly when it switches to San Fran, CA This film provides context by tying it to Ayodha The mismatched video style reflects the various writing styles of the online version I read Perhaps this is symbolic of the oral tradition of the Ramayana Mentions Sita's different names I like the commentary included because it shows how multi-faceted the story is and how many translations/versions

My Wikipedia Trail began with Ravana . He is the king of demons in the epic Ramayana. He plays a dynamic character in this tale, I wanted to learn more about him. From this article, I moved on to Kaikesi, she is a princess and also the mother of Ravana. She plotted with her parents to seduce a powerful demon in the hope of producing unstoppable demonic offspring. Obviously this worked, and she gave birth to Ravana and three other children. From this page, I went to the page for Pratima Kazmi.  She is the Indian actress who played Kaikesi in an Indian soap opera about the Ramayana. She is known to play villainous women due her deep voice and direct way of speaking. From here, I landed on a page for her most famous movie, Waisa Bri Hota Hai . This movie is about a man who is spiraling following the murder of his brother. One night, he witnesses a gang shooting and saves the victim. This ends him the middle of a gang war in India. Pratima Kazmi as KaiKesi.