Indian Epics

Feedback can sometimes be hard to give and receive. Here are two articles that I read to help make giving feedback more helpful and useful. 1. Be a Mirror There are 5 qualities of feedback that help to create a growth mindset. Be specific.  Focus on what is being done. Focus on the process. Make sure the feedback is transferable, or applicable to what the reader needs.  Take yourself out of the feedback. 2. The Trouble with Amazing: Giving Praise that Matters Amazing doesn't carry any weight. It doesn't give you any further instructions. It's unspecific. It leaves you asking what was amazing, rather than knowing what you did that deserved praise. It doesn't praise the effort.  I like these reasons. However, I'm still a believer that sometimes any positive feedback is good feedback.  From Cult of Pedagogy

The topic I will be exploring is Hidmbi. Just to recap, here is my summary from last week's topic brainstorm : Hidimbi acts as bait for her rakshasha brother's potential meals. While trying to lure a man into her brother's trap, Hidimbi falls in love with him. Here I will elaborate on the story of how she has to make the hard choice of choosing loyalty to her brother over love for the man she wants to save. In a turn of events, her love will not accept her because she is a demon. He kills her brother and turns on Hidimbi. However, a god intervenes and forces the man to marry Hidimbi. He then leaves her after giving birth to his son. In my version of the story, Hidimbi will turn back into her demon form and kill the man out of revenge. This week, I will continue to research this topic. Hidimbi's son, Ghatotkacha, plays an important role in the story of the Pandava brothers in the Mahabharata.  This version of Hidimbi's story makes it seem like her husband i...

Sita peered through the trees of the jungle. She heard a rustle that made both curious and scared all at once. She took a careful step forward and looked through the brush. Amidst the trees she saw a beautiful animal. It was a deer. Its fur was golden and its eyes sparkled with a ferocity that envied the sun. Silver spots speckled its back and its antlers were great and tall like the trees in which it hid. Sita's heart desired the animal. Its beauty was unparalleled. She wished to feel its soft fur and rest against its calming presence. Sita approached Rama. "I have beheld a glorious deer in the glen. I wish to have it in companionship." Rama felt uneasy at his wife's request. He had heard of devious rakshasas who took the form of deer in order to trick unexacting travelers. He refused his wife's request, but Sita pleaded. Reluctantly, Rama gave in to his wife's wishes. He pulled his brother, Lakshmana, aside and asked, "Brother, keep an eye on Sita...

Reading A Setting: 2 Kingdom Koshala with King Dasharatha and son Rama Mithila with King Janaka and daughter Sita In the beginning King D struggles to have a son He sacrifices a horse and is promised 4 sons Meanwhile in the heavens, Ravana, the king of the rakshasas is running rampant. However, the gods do not have the ability to kill him. He must be killed by a human or monkey. The gods beg Vishnu, the Preserver, to help them. Vishnu agrees and descends in human form as the baby Rama, son of King D. Now that King D's sons are grown, a prophet asks for the help of Rama. Two demons, Maricha and Subahu, are destroying his sacred fires and sacrifices. This request saddens King D because he fears for Rama's life. He agrees, but also sends his other son, Lakshmana. The two brothers fight the mother of the rakshasas in a dark, gloomy forest by cutting off her nose and her arms. She becomes invisible, but Rama uses the power of sound to sink an arrow that kills her The...