Growth Mindset: Pinterest Mindset Cats

I explored Pinterest to find some awesome growth mindset cats.  Here are some of my favorites:

Jumping Cat (Blogspot)

I liked this one because it has great message.  Basically, if you want to be great, you have to be willing to put yourself out there.  How will you ever know what you are capable of if you never try??

Hardworking Cat! (Blogspot)

I originally liked this meme because the picture was just pretty funny to me.  But then I read the message and thought it was pretty good.   If you want good results, you really have to try!

Tech Tip: Canvas Calendar

I have already been somewhat utilizing Canvas calendar before even doing this assignment.  I think it definitely helps me stay on top of my assignments.  It is especially helpful when I use it for all of my classes.  Plus, I like all the colors! :)

Reading Notes: Tales of Yudhishthira

I decided to do some extra reading for extra credit.  I chose to read "Tales of Yudhishthira."  It is a comic with really excellent reading guides! I liked the beginning story of the brothers at the lake.  Here are my notes:

The story begins with the Pandavas in the forest.  A brahmin goes to them for help because one of his shami sticks got stuck in the antlers of a deer.  Yudhishthira and his brothers agree to help but the deer vanishes.  Then they search for water, as they are very thirsty.  They reach a lake that says they must answer some questions before drinking. Nakula ignores this and drinks.  As does Sahadeva.  Unfortunately, they both perish.  Arjuna finds the bodies, gets angry, and also takes a drink and dies.  Bhima arrives and follows the same pattern.  Finally, Yudhishthira arrives and sees all of his brothers are dead.  A yaksha appears and offers to bring a brother back for answering a riddle correctly  Yudhishthira blows the yaksha away so he revives all four brothers.

Lake (Wikipedia)

Bibliography:

"Tales of Yudhishthira" by Laura Gibbs. Link.

Learning Challenge: Learn about Sleep!

The article I read confirmed to me that sacrificing sleep to studying can be detrimental.  This is a common theme for students, especially those in college.  But it honestly is more important to get enough sleep, rather than pulling an all-nighter to study.

I learned that sleep can actually boost language acquisition skills in younger children.  That is something I did not know but thought was pretty cool!

I am now curious to see what other positive effects enhanced sleep can have on all different age levels.  I will probably do some of my own research to find out!

 

Sleeping Cat (Pexels)

 

Reading Notes: Seven Secrets of Vishnu, Part B

This is part B of the "Seven Secrets of Vishnu."

Matsya's Secret: Only humans can empathize and exploit.

The sacred mark of Vishnu is always on the forehead to represent the difference between humans and animals, the brain.  The larger brain is the spiritual manifestation of reality.  Only the fit can survive, physically and intellectually.  One fans for oneself.  Animals do not judge.  Man interferes with nature and this is because of empathy.  This allows to create society where there are no jungle rules.  The strong protect the weak instead of attacking them.  We become human when we rise above jungle law.  Society is a place where some are more safe than others.  Some are favored.  Often, the needs of culture are put above the needs of nature.  Eventually, nature will fight back.

Matsya (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

"Seven Secrets of Vishnu" by Devdutt Pattanaik. Link.

Reading Notes: Seven Secrets of Vishnu, Part A

For my reading options this week, I chose "Pattanaik's Seven Secrets of Vishnu" because I haven't really utilized many video options yet!

Mohini's Secret - Spiritual growth need not exclude material growth

Mohini is the female form of Vishnu.  She was able to seduce sages and demons.  Vishnu is usually viewed as male.  In metaphysics, there are two realities, material and spiritual.  Material reality can be perceived through the senses and is represented by female form.  But spiritual reality cannot be and is represented through male form.  Mohini is female in form but male in essence.  She is spiritual reality wrapped in material reality. Realities are interdependent.  This is compared to a human couple or Lakshmi and Vishnu.  Lakshmi and Vishnu cannot exist without each other.

 

Mohini (Wikimedia Commons) 

Bibliography:

"Seven Secrets of Vishnu" by Devdutt Pattanaik. Link.

Growth Mindset: Crazy Cats!

I decided to do a Growth Mindset challenge for extra credit this week.  Of course I chose the challenge with random cats.

Here is the first picture that stuck out to me:

Mastery Cat (Blogspot)

I liked this picture for a couple reasons.  The first is that I think the quote is totally true.  You cannot really become really good at something unless you put in the effort.  Plus, mastery doesn't just come overnight.  You have to put in constant effort.  Lastly, I just thought the picture of the cat was really funny! It definitely made me laugh!

Here is the second picture I liked:

 

Cat with burgers (Blogspot) 

This meme also really stuck out to me! We should all be willing to take some risks every now and then.  I mean, that is how we find new things that possibly intrigue us.  Risk can also give us opportunities that we may have never gotten before.  Also, I think we should all be more like this cat and pursue cheeseburgers when we want.  Because sometimes, cheeseburgers can really be the goal!

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Reading Guide

I decided to do extra reading for some extra credit this week.  I chose to read this reading guide for Mahabharata and I really enjoyed it.  It gave such a nice summary and it was also in the form of a really cool comic!

I starts with the rivalry of the the Pandavas and Kauravas.  It then goes into the years the Pandavas have to spend in exile.  The next portion of the comic has to do with the Great War and ends with Yudhishthira being crowned as king.

 

The Comic! (blogspot)

Bibliography:
"Guide: Mahabharata" by Laura Gibbs. Link.

Tech Tip: Canvas Profile

I decided to make my canvas avatar a picture of my dog Shay.  I chose this picture because it makes me happy and I think she is just really cute! I didn't change my name because I don't have a nickname that I go by.

Week 12 Storytelling: Guilty Secret Santa

I have an updated version of this story on my website. Check it out here!

It was late November and all of the kids were returning to school after a nice Thanksgiving break.  This was an especially exciting time in Miss Jay’s 5^th grade class because the first day back from Thanksgiving break meant decorating for Christmas.  The kids would decorate the Christmas tree with handmade ornaments.  They would each hang stockings about their cubbies.  Students would make paper snowflakes and hang them around the room.  Within a couple hours, Miss Jay’s class was definitely flowing with the Christmas spirit.

Not only was the day spent decorating, but also Miss Jay would have each student draw a name out of a bowl.  Each student was then responsible for getting a gift for the person whose name was on the tiny slip of paper.  This was Miss Jay’s favorite Christmas activity, Secret Santa. 

Week after week, more gifts would pile under the tree.  The children’s’ excitement grew more and more.  It was finally the last week of school before Christmas break.  On Friday, everyone would be able to open their gifts and find out who their Secret Santa was.  Two days before the giant reveal, Miss Jay walked into her classroom and was shocked.  Her room was completely destroyed.  Snowflakes were ripped, stockings were torn down, and even some of the ornaments were broken.  It was a disaster.

The children started to funnel in.  They saw the giant mess and one very angry Miss Jay.  They were stunned.

“WHO DID THIS?” exclaimed Miss Jay.

There was no response.  Miss Jay asked again, “someone better tell me right now who destroyed my room!”

And again, there was no response. “Fine,” said Miss Jay. “If no one will fess up, you will all be punished and Secret Santa will be cancelled.”

A huge sigh fell over the entire room.  The kids were so upset because this was something they were really looking forward to.  But, there was one student named Jeremy.  Jeremy was loved by all and was even seen as a leader by most of the other students.  Jeremy knew what happened but he did not want to speak out in front of the entire class.  He also didn’t want to speak to Miss Jay when she was so furious.

The day was finally over and students were making their way out to the carpool line.  Jeremy approached Miss Jay and said, “I know what happened to your room, Miss Jay.  I didn’t want to say it earlier because I didn’t want to embarrass the person who did it.”

Miss Jay replied, “So what happened then?”

 “I heard Kaitlyn go up Anthony and tell him she drew his name for Secret Santa but wasn’t going to get him anything because she thought he was weird.  I could tell he was really sad by this.  Then I got here really early this morning to go get help with my math homework and I saw Anthony destroying the room.  I called his name to talk to him but then he ran away.  He shouldn’t have done that but I feel really bad for him because Kaitlyn was so mean,” Jeremy continued.

“Thank you for your honesty Jeremy.  I will fix this and talk to Kaitlyn,” Miss Jay responded.

Friday came around and Miss Jay had decided to continue with the Secret Santa.  She talked to Kaitlyn separately and told her it was not very nice of her to say those things to Anthony.  It turned out that she actually just had a crush on him!  So she agreed to get him a present.  Everyone opened their presents and found out who had drawn their name.  It was such a happy time for everyone.

 "Secret Santa" (Pixabay)

Authors Note:

I wrote this story based off "The Guilty Dogs" from Twenty Jataka Tales.  In the original story, all of the city dogs were blamed for something the palace dogs did.  They city dogs were sentenced to die.  One brave dog made his way to the king to question him on his punishment.  He was very charming and ended up showing the king that it was not the city dogs that committed the bad deed.  My story was definitely much different because I really just wanted to focus in on the theme of an entire group getting punished for the actions of the few.  I also definitely have Christmas fever so I wanted to throw a Christmas theme in there. :)

Bibliography:

"The Guilty Dogs" from Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat Khan  Link.

Reading Notes: Rama and the Monkeys, Part B

These are my reading notes on the second part of "Rama and the Monkeys."

This began with "The Council of the Evil Beings."  Lanka was completely ruined and Ravana was furious.  He wanted revenge.  He gathered his "Evil Beings" and they talked of Hanuman never escaping should he return to their city.  They schemed of getting rid of all the monkey tribes and Rama.  They talked like it would be no big deal to them at all.  They gathered their weapons and starting boasting incessantly. Ravana's younger brother quieted them, telling them that they must be wise.  He claimed that Rama and Hanuman might not be so easy to conquer and that they should think about sending Sita back.

 

Ravana's younger brother (Wikimedia Commons)

 

Bibliography:
"Rama and the Monkeys" by Geraldine Hodgson. Link.

Reading Notes: Rama and the Monkeys, Part A

I have chosen this for one of my "free readings" because I have really taken a liking to these stories modified for children.

 I really like Chapter 1.  It explained the birth of Rama and the creation of the monkeys.  I especially liked where it was explaining the power of the monkeys.  They could basically do whatever they wanted.  They could tear up trees and break the earth by kicking.  They were even more powerful than the great elephants.  It went on to talk about the greatest of the monkeys, Vali.  It was important that he even was recognized by a name.  There were so many that it was hard to keep up.  It then recognized Sugriva, Agni, Nala, and Nila.  Lastly, the great Hanuman was introduced.  These monkeys were leaders and eventually would help Rama in his great battle. 

While I did enjoy reading this, I question how easy it might be for children to read.  It almost seemed a little too advanced for children, at least children that a re very young.

 

An interesting picture I found of Hanuman (Wikipedia)

Bibliography:
"Rama and the Monkeys" by Geraldine Hodgson. Link.

Reading Notes: Twenty Jataka Tales, Part B

These are my reading notes for Part B of "Twenty Jataka Tales." My favorite store was "The Goblin Town."  A great ship crashed onto a beautiful island.  Women came to them, saying that their men had left on a ship long ago and have never returned.  They offered to care for these new travelers.  They charmed the men for a very long time.  One night, a man woke up to strange voices.  He got up and looked around to see that the women had turned to goblins in the night.  He had to tell his fellow travelers immediately. Only some believed him and agreed to escape.  But they were bound by magic chains.  A white horse came down from the sky and saved those that wanted to escape.  Those who did not believe that this was a goblin town stayed.

The White Horse (Pixabay)

Bibliography:

"Twenty Jakata Tales" by Noor Inayat Khan. Link.

Reading Notes: Twenty Jataka Tales, Part A

I chose to read "Twenty Jataka Tales" which is another book retold for children.  I read one of these books last week and really enjoyed it so I decided to do it again!

I liked the story of "The Guilty Dogs."  The palace dogs had chewed up the the straps of the king's chariot and the king ordered every dog in the city to be killed.  But the chief of all the dogs would not let this happen to the innocent.  He was so full of love that the guards did not touch him.  He went to speak to the king and prove that the city dogs were innocent.  The king believed him and promised food and care to the city dogs for the rest of their lives.  I probably would like to retell a story like this because it is about dogs and I love dogs!

A Sweet Dog (Max Pixel)

Bibliography:

"Twenty Jakata Tales" by Noor Inayat Khan. Link.

Week 10 Story: Bad JuJu from a Jewel

Check out the updated version of this story on my portfolio! 

  Once there was a man named Satrajit.  He was a good and noble man that was a very faithful follower of the sun god, Surya.  In fact, he spent any extra time he had praying to and worshipping Surya.  One day, Satrajit was taking a walk along the beach when suddenly a great wave of light passed.  Satrajit was in awe when he quickly realized that it was Surya descending down upon him.  Satrajit was so excited that he could barely speak. 

He managed to say, “Oh great Surya! What an honor it is to be in your physical presence.  I have prayed for this moment for my entire life.  But, I cannot make out your features because your light shines so bright.  Please give me the chance to really see you!”

“Silly me,” said Surya, “I wear this necklace and it intensifies my light.  Let me take it off so that my light is dimmed.”  Surya took off the necklace and continued, “Noble Satrajit, I have come because I need your help.  I know that you are a faithful follower of mine so surely you can perform this task.”

Satrajit responded, “I am so humbled that you have selected me to perform your duty.  But what could the great sun god possibly want from someone like me?”

“I know that you are good.  Unfortunately, I have been informed that some of my ‘followers’ are wicked.  They go around doing horrendous things all while claiming they were of my command.  I need you to identify these evil-doers and get rid of them” Surya spoke back.

Satrajit responded weakly, “I am glad to do what you ask, but how exactly am I supposed to do away with these wicked men?”

“I am glad you asked,” replied Surya.  He handed Satrajit the necklace and went on, “See this necklace?  Not only does it intensify my light, but it also brings good things to a good man and bad things to a bad man.  An evil man will see you with this gem and find a way to steal it from you.  Once he gets it, the gem will do the rest of the work.  All I need you to do is wear this gem around Dwarka.”

Satrajit spoke back, “I think that I can do that! I hope I can make you proud.”

Satrajit put the jewel around his neck and went back to town.  Right off the bat, men in the town noticed the powerful jewel.  Each time Satrajit went to bed, he took off the necklace and placed it on his bedside table.  Every morning he would wake up and it would be gone.  He would then proceed to find the necklace and the unlucky man that received bad fortune.  One man was found torn to pieces by a lion.  A bear killed another.  Each day he would find another man dead because of the necklace.  These men were liars, cheaters, thieves, and murderers. 

After 10 days of this, Satrajit was growing weary with all the death he had been surrounded by.  Surya appeared once more, announcing that Satrajit’s duties were finished.  Surya offered the jewel to Satrajit as “thank you” for his obedience.  Satrajit was hesitant because he knew envious men would look to steal it.  So, Surya placed a spell on the jewel that no man with evil intentions could come within 100 feet of the jewel.  Satrajit was safe and the jewel brought him good luck for many years.

The Jewel (Pixabay)

Author's Note: Satrajit received that jewel from the sun god in the original story, but was not given a mission.  Instead, he grew worried that the jewel would be taken from him so he passed it on to his brother.  His brother was killed by a lion, who was then killed by the Bear King.  The Bear King gave the jewel to his son.  Satrajit's brother had never returned and rumors were formed.  Krishna and his men went to find what happened to him.  Krishna made it to the Bear King's cave and saw the jewel.  He and the Bear King fought until Krishna eventually won and returned home.  I decided to just focus on the jewel and change up the story by having the sun god give Satrajit a mission.

Bibiography: "The Syamantaka Jewel" by C.A. Kincaid. Link.

Reading Notes: Babbitt. Jataka Tales, Part B

These are my reading notes for Part B of The Jataka tales retold for children.

I thought the story, "The Elephant Girly-Face," was an interesting one.  A good and kind elephant named Girly-Face would never have hurt a fly.  But, one night he overheard some robbers saying that they must not be afraid to kill.  They will go into the house and kill anyone that awakens.  Girly-Face overheard this and thought it is how he should act.  So the next day he killed two of his keepers.  The king was surprised to hear this and decided the elephant had probably heard some bad talk.  So, the kind sent some men over to talk about how hurting and killing people is wrong.  Girly-Face overheard this and decided it is how he must act again.

I also liked, "The Ox Who Never Envied the Pig."  There were two brother oxes.  The younger brother noticed how a pig had been eating a lot of really good food lately.  HE complained to his older brother that it is unfair that the pig gets to eat all that and he and his brother do all the work while only eating straw and grass.  The older brother told him not to be jealous and that the big was being fattened to be slaughtered.  Sure enough the pig was killed to be eaten and the younger brother was suddenly happy to be working hard and eating his boring food!

"Girly-Face" (Max Pixel)

 
Bibliography:
Jataka Tales by Ellen Babbitt. Link.

Reading Notes: Babbitt. Jataka Tales. Part A

For my reading this week, I chose to read "Jataka Tales" by Babbitt.

I especially liked the story of "How the Turtle Save his own Life."  Basically, the children though the turtle was a demon and it was to be killed.  After several gruesome options, someone offered the idea of throwing it into the lake.  The turtle responded with extreme fear to this and was able to trick the men into actually choosing that as his "punishment."

I also liked "The Ox Who Won The Forfeit."  The ox was very strong and the man wanted to show him off and win some money.  The ox was to pull a hundred wagons.  But when he made the bet, he whipped his ox and called him names so the ox did not budge.  When they got home, the ox explained that the owner had never treated him like that before.  The owner apologized deeply.  The ox agreed to go back the next day to win his money back and then some.  They went and the owner praised the ox as he pulled the wagons.  The owner and the ox went home happy.

 Strong Ox (Wikipedia)

Bibliography:
Jataka Tales by Ellen Babbitt. Link.

Week 9 Story Planning: The Syamantaka Jewel

This week I will be planning the story I want to write for next week.  I am interested in writing a story based off of The Syamantaka Jewel.  I really enjoyed reading this story and I think I could make a fun version of my own.  I decided to end the story upon Krishna's return to Dwarka. I have taken some more detailed notes to help me with my writing.

The story starts with the sun god, Surya, descending down upon Satrajit.  Satrajit was blinded by light until Surya took off the Syamantaka jewel.  Surya told Satrajit to ask him for a blessing to which Satrajit asked for the jewel, not knowing what it was capable of.  Surya granted him the great jewel.  
This jewel was stored away and was capable of giving Satrajit eight wagons of gold and keeping harm from Dwarka.  Eventually Satrajit became worried that Krishna might take the jewel from him because he is more worthy.  So, he passed it along to his brother, Prasena.  This jewel brings good things to one that is good and brave.  On the flip side, the jewel brings death to an evil or cowardly man.


Prasena went to hunt one day and a lion tore him to pieces.  The lion took the jewel to his den.  Jambavat, King of the Bears, saw the jewel shining and rushed down to the lion’s den and killed him with a blow from his paw.  Jambavat took the jewel and gave it to his sun, Sukumara.

The people in Dwarka started to wonder why Prasena had not come back.  They schemed that Krishna killed Prasena and kept the jewel for himself.  Kirshna heard these rumors and decided to find out what really happened.  He found the spot where the lion killed Prasena but would not return until he found the gem.  He followed the tracks and found the dead lion.  He then followed the Bear King’s footprints, which led to his throne.  


The cave was lit up with the jewel.  Sukumara was playing with it alongside his nurse.  The nurse saw Krishna and called for help.  Jambavat arose and charged at Krishna.  The two began to fight.  This lasted for the rest of the day, plus 21 days after that.  Krishna’s men had been waiting outside all this time and worried that Krishna had died.  They were too scared to enter and returned back to Dwarka, saying that Krishna was dead.  They had just finished his funeral when suddenly the sky lit up.  It was Krishna with the jewel.


Krishna explained that the bear ended up begging for mercy and Krishna spared him for the jewel and took his sister, Jambavati, to marry.  HE told the entire story and gave the jewel back to Satrajit.  Satrajit offered his daughter, Satyabhama, as another wife to Krishna.

Krishna Marries Jambavati (The British Museum)

Bibiography:
"The Syamantaka Jewel" by C.A. Kincaid. Link.

Reading Notes: Shri Krishna of Dwarka, Part B

These are my reading notes over Part B of "Shri Krishna of Dwarka"by C.A. Kincaid. 

This section starts with the Sun god descending from the sky in front of Satrajit.  This is the story I have chosen to write my notes on because I enjoyed it and might want to recreate it.  Satrajit asked for Syamantaka necklace from the Sun god and he indeed received it.  This jewel pretty much kept away all bad things from Dwarka.  Satrajit became worried the Krishna would end up taking the jewel so he gave it to his brother, Prasena.  This gem brought happiness to a good man that possessed it but death to an evil man that possessed it.  Prasena was not necessarily the nicest guy.  Prasena eventually suffered a horrendous death by a lion.  The lion took the jewel and also suffered death.

"Sun God" (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

"Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories" by C.A. Kincaid. Link.

Reading Notes: Shri Krishna of Dwarka, Part A

For my reading this week, I decided to read "Overview: Kincaid. Shri Krishna of Dwarka." I decided to read this because it was fast-paced and I enjoyed the set up of it.

The first half I read was about Krishna's childhood adventures.  The birth story was interesting because Krishna was born out of Vishnu's black hair.  Krishna was very special and powerful from the very beginning.  The story about Putana was very disturbing to me.  She breastfed babies with poison milk and any child that was fed by her died.  But she stood no chance against Krishna, who literally sucked the life out of her!  It was funny to read about how naughty Krishna was as a child.  He even had to help his mother punish him. I then read through the boyhood and youth of Krishna.  I especially liked reading through the miracle at Mount Govardhan.  As he got older, Krishna would eventually defeat King Kansa, which was the main reason he was born.  He would then go on to found the city of Dwarka and marry Raivata.

Krishna (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

"Shri Krishna of Dwarka and Other Stories" by C.A. Kincaid. Link.

Week 8 Progress

Looking back, I actually am content with the progress I have made so far.  I really do enjoy getting to plan out stories and then actually write them.  I have done a couple extra credit assignments but I would like to start doing some more.  As far as making change, I would just like to start working ahead more.  But overall, I am happy with the quality of my work.

Success (Pexels)

Week 8 Comments and Feeback

I think the quality of the feedback I have received so far has been pretty decent.  It has been more encouraging than anything.  I get the most out of feedback when it is more specific.  I have gotten a couple of broad comments that I do not know what to do with.  Sometimes, I also get feedback that really just seems to be a difference in opinion from my own.  This makes me think that I should also probably work on giving more specific feedback because I often find myself saying things like, "I noticed a few grammar and spelling mistakes."  But, if I show them exactly what was wrong, that could be more helpful.  I do think the blog comments allow me to get to know people better as they get to know me.  So, I do enjoy this part.  Looking forward, I wold just like more specificity both ways.

 

Feedback Cat (cheezburger) 

I think this image expresses an important aspect of feedback.  You need to know why you are making a mistake, not just that there is one.  I think it helps you learn how to be a better writer if you know the reason behind your mistakes.

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Looking back, I think the method I am taking for the reading and writing assignments is really working for me.  I really enjoyed reading through Ramayana so I would say that has been my favorite so far.  The reading notes have been helpful and I think that I have been able to produce some pretty decent stories.  I was originally worried I wouldn't be creative enough but it has gone surprisingly well.  I have really been able to write in my own voice and show my personality through my writing.  I would say that has been my biggest accomplishment thus far.

 My favorite picture so far (Max Pixel)

Of courses this has to be my favorite picture so far.  I mean, just look at it! I just thought it was really cute and I also liked my idea for the story behind it.

Looking forward, I would just like to keep progressing as I have.  If I could change anything, it would be to work a little further ahead instead of waiting to do the assignment until the day it is due.  It is just hard with all my other classes but if I could figure out a way to make it work, that would be great.

Week 7 Story: Envy

The most current version of this story is on my website! Check it out!

 Before getting into the story, the reason why everything is about to go down should be known.  For starters, the Pandavas (AKA the sons of King Pandu, are super successful and cool.  There was this other guy named Duryodhana who was the first of the many sons of King Dhritarashtra, who just so happened to be King Pandu’s brother.  This meant that Duryodhana was a prince and also a cousin of the Panadavas.  He was not such a big fan of the Pandavas, mainly because they were more successful and more powerful than him.  Basically, he let his jealousy build for a really long time.  Finally, he decided he needed to get rid of the Pandavas if he ever wanted to be in power.

For starters, we are going to start calling Prince Duryodhana by “Dury” because it is easier and makes him sound less scary.  Though Dury is very angry and envious, he is also very weak and cowardly.  He asked this wicked guard named Purochana for some advice.  He devised an elaborate plan of building a lac palace filled with nothing but oil-soaked wood furniture.  They would then invite the Pandavas over and basically torch the place.  Though this would definitely get rid of the brother, Dury did not think he would be able to live with the guilt of killing them.  After all, they were pretty cool and nice guys.  So, it seemed that Dury had to come up with his own plan.  

Dury recalled this really weird witch named Daay he had met a festival once.  Though he did not necessarily want to deal with her because she was so strange, he thought that she could definitely help.  She lived in a small little hut deep within a forest.  Dury grabbed Purochana and they made their way into the forest.

They finally made it to the hut and knocked on the door.  Of course, it just crept open.  Dury called out, “Daay? Daay are you here?”  There was no answer so they made their way to the back of the house.  The saw Daay sitting with her back to the door, mixing potions.  Dury touched her shoulder and she screamed! She about threw her entire cauldron at him!  She calmed down when she saw it was just the prince.  Dury explained his situation and Daay grimaced.  She had an idea.  She suggested that Dury transform the brothers into animals, any animal he would like.  She said he could invite them over for dinner and mix the potion into their wine.  Dury liked this plan for a couple reasons.  First, Dury had always wanted a pet dog.  Second, this couldn’t be that cruel because could a dog’s life be so bad?  Dury was convinced and the plan was in motion.

Dury invited all the Pandavas over for supper, including Queen Kunti.  The Pandavas thought this was out of nowhere but agreed because Dury said something about “family bonding.”  Before they left, Vidura, (half-brother of Pandu and Dhritarashtra) warned them to be careful because he knew of Dury’s jealousy.  The brothers thanked him and made their way over to the palace.  They arrived to a beautiful supper and they all sat around a grand table.  Dury seemed to be acting weird but the Pandavas didn’t think much of it because they thought he was weird anyway.  The servers then brought out the wine.  Bhima, one of the Pandavas, thought it was strange that the glasses had already been poured and their wine looked a little different from Dury’s.  Knowing he was immune to all poison and potions, he said, “watch this” and began chugging all the wine around the table.  He got to the last glass and decided he should test if there really was something wrong with the wine.  He went to Dury and forced him to drink it.  Within seconds, Dury transformed into a small, fluffy, white dog.  Bhima’s suspicions were correct. 

The Pandavas went on being the powerful and successful brothers they had always been.  Though he had tried to go against them, they decided to let Dury live.  But, they let him live as a dog.  Dury had been right, being a dog really was not that bad.  Especially being a royal dog that lives in a palace.

 Dury as a dog! (Max Pixel)

Author's Note:
This story was based off "House of Fire" by the PDE version of Mahabharata.  In the original, Prince Duryodhana planned to deal with his jealousy of the Pandavas by burning them in lac palace with oil-soaked furniture.  The brother learned of his plan and were able to build a tunnel to escape.  The palace was set on fire, but beggars had been in the palace that night.  They died and everyone thought it was the Pandavas.  I wanted to produce a lighter version in which the Pandavas seemed really cool and Duryodhana seemed really weak.  I still wanted to keep he same general outline, but just change up the way he deals with his jealousy.

Bibliography:

House of Fire from PDE Mahabharata by Laura Gibbs. Link.

Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part D

 That last part of Mahabharata was Amba seeking her revenge on Bhishma.  I really liked this story and all the details.  This might be one that I recreate myself.  Bhishma is defeated and Drona takes over.  He wants Yudhishthira prisoner but Arjuna promises to defend his brother.  There is a battle in which many die and Abhimanyu is one of them.  This is very hard for Arjuna so he decides to take revenge.  Bhima also loses his son.  I really enjoyed the episode where the Pandavas take down Drona.  I liked all the elements of trickery and might recreate this later in the week.  There is a lot of revenge in this last part.  Bhimas seeks revenge against Duhshana for how he treated Draupadi. Arjuna's and Karna's confrontation will be the high point of this battle, but it is not the end.  Ashwatthaman is very upset about the death of Drona so he seeks revenge on the Pandavas, planning to kill them in their sleep.

Drona (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

"Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition" by Laura Gibbs. Link.

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part C

These are my reading notes for Part C of Mahabharata.

It starts off the the exile of the Pandavas.  Draupadi and Bhima are very upset and want revenge on Duryodhana.  They accuse Yudhishthira of being weak because he thinks they should not act on their emotions.  Arjuna goes out on an adventure to gather weapons for when their exile is over and the Pandavas must face Duryodhana.  After some time, the Pandavas traveled to the Himalayas and eventually were reunited with Arjuna.  Hanuman was eventually brought into the story and I really enjoyed that because I remembered reading of him in Ramayana.  I really enjoyed the story where Duryodhana was humiliated and I can see myself retelling that.  I also can see myself retelling when Draupadi is taken.  It reminded me of Ramayana when Sita was taken!

The Pandavas (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

"Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition" by Laura Gibbs. Link.

Week 6 Story Planning: House of Fire

I am doing something a little bit different this week.  Instead of telling a story, I am going to do a planning post for next week's story.  I have done a little bit of research on House of Fire from the PDE version of Mahabharata. 

Reading through the story again, I decided that I should go back to the previous episode, Jealousy, to make sure I understood why Prince Duryodhana wanted to get rid of the Pandavas.  Duryodhana told his father, King Dhritarashtra, that the Pandavas planned to take his kingdom from him.  The king had no reason not to believe his son so now Duryodhana could unfold his plan of building a palace filled with oil-soaked wood furniture.  The palace was built and Duryodhana went to convince Queen Kunti and her sons to come visit.  They agreed and the prince even got a crooked guard, Purochana, to come help him with his plan.  Vidura, half-brother of Pandu and Dhritarashtra, knew something was off from the start.  He suspected Duryodhana was up to something and immediately warned Yudhishthira.

Queen Kunti and her sons traveled to the newly built palace.  Yudhishthira remembered the words of Vidura and then came to see all the furniture soaked in oil and the ceiling built of wood.  All of this would surely burn without a doubt!  Yudhishthira warned his brothers and mother.  Vidura had a plan in mind to help the family escape when needed.  He sent a miner dig a tunnel from the floor of the palace out to the forest.  The night he finished digging, the princes and their mother went down into the tunnel and walked out into the forest it led to.  But, Prince Bhima decided that the evil guard, Purochana should not be let off the hook.  He went back to the palace and set flames to the guardhouse where Purochana perished. 

That night, beggars had come to the palace searching for sympathy.  The Pandavas had taken them in and given them food, wine, and somewhere to sleep.  As they were sleeping, the fire from the guardhouse had spread to the palace and the beggars had passed.  The next morning, the people of Varanavata saw the disaster and the remains of the beggars.  They thought that Queen Kunti and the Pandavas had died in the fire.  Everyone was in such sorrow for the noble family, except for Prince Duryodhana and his father.  They rejoiced.  Little did they know, Queen Kunti and her sons had
actually escaped!

After the more taking more detail notes on the story, I did some more research via Wikipedia.  I found an article titled, "Lakshagraha."  I learned that Lakshagraha translates to "The House of Lacquer" and it serves as a chapter in Mahabharata.  It mentioned how building the house was not only a plan of Duryodhanah but also his evil uncle, Shakuni.  I did not remember seeing anything about this in the PDE version of the story!  It also talked about how Purochana was an architect which I thought was an interesting tidbit.  The article wrote that Queen Kunti and her sons were invited to attend a fair being held at the palace, as well as staying their for some time.  The Pandavas lived in the house for a year and the tunnel was built in about 6 months.  Bhima and Purochana were also planning to kill each other from the start.  Purochana wanted to set the place to fire while everyone was asleep but Bhima never slept.  So, Purochana asked his wife and her sons for help.  They were to poison the food given to the Pandavas.  Bhima felt that something was wrong and ate all of the food, knowing that he had already been exposed to this poison as a child.  The Pandavas were sleeping but Purochana assumed them to be dead.  He was rejoicing and the Pandavas saw this as an opportunity to set the house on fire and the wicked perished.  Everyone assumed the Pandavas had died and only Vidura knew this was not true.  This story was slightly different and certain details were left out in the PDE version.

The Noble Pandavas (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

House of Fire from PDE Mahabharata by Laura Gibbs. Link.

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part A

 I chose to read the PDE version of Mahabharata because it was very easy to access and of course...it's free! 

Vyasa's birth was very interesting.  His mother being born from a female fish was not a run-of-the-mill birth story.  I enjoyed reading about how Devavrata came into being.  It is made known from the start how powerful he would be so it made me interested to read more.  I liked how he took the name, Bhishma, which means "terrible oath."  I don't think that is what most people would like their name to be translated to! One story that particularly caught my attention was the story of Amba.  A woman that has been rejected will do almost anything for revenge.  I think that this could definitely be one that I have fun recreating.

A Vengeful Amba (Wikimedia)

Bibliography:

"Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition" by Laura Gibbs. Link.

 

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part B

These are my notes from Part B of the PDE version of Mahabharata.  Part B started with the episode, the House of Fire.  I enjoyed reading this story because of the plot twist at the end.  Everyone including Prince Duryodhana, thought that Queen Kunti and the Pandavas died in the fire, but they actually escaped! This made me excited to read what happens next.  While in hiding, there was a night where two rakshasas, a brother/sister pair, were looking for something to devour.  The sister, Hidimbi, came across Bhima and fell in love with him immediately.  I thought it was interesting that Bhima was not accepted her advances.  The other rakshasa, her brother, was getting impatient and came to find her.  He was very upset to see that she had not slain Bhima.  The rakshasa and Bhima wrestled for a while until Bhima finally won.  Hidimbi was love struck and begged Kunti to have Bhima married her.  Eventually she got her wish and the couple actually ended up very happy together!  I thought the part in the story where the Pandava brothers all shared one wife was rather weird, but still interesting! Usually it is the other way around.  I imagine that this situation could cause some issues.

The very powerful, Bhima (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

"Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition" by Laura Gibbs. Link.

Week 5 Story: Ravana Tries to Steal Sita

Fast forward to sophomore year, everyone is coming back to Norman after spending the summer back at home.  Rama and Sita have been officially dating for several months.  Of course the couple had to spend the appropriate amount of time in the “talking” stage.  After about 2 months, Rama decided that time had come to make this girl his official girlfriend.  They were happy as ever and things were going great.  They were so excited to begin their school year together as a couple.  So many people had told them that they shouldn’t date so early in college.  But they did not think that there was any way it could go wrong.

There was a new guy in town and his name was Ravana.  So many weird names for 2017, I know.  Ravana was a Lambda so in a way, he was Rama’s rival.  Ravana was tall, good-looking, funny, smart, and of course, he was in one of Sita’s classes.  Ravana was a huge flirt and he noticed Sita right off the bat.  Sita would tell Rama about how Ravana would always look at her in class and try to talk to her.  Rama would get a little jealous but he knew that his precious Sita would never reciprocate.

Homecoming was approaching and Sita decided she wanted to try out for Theta’s dance.  Of course, she made it.  And of course, Theta was paired with Lambda.  Upon seeing that Sita had made it on the homecoming dance, Ravana decided he would try out too.  He made it on the team and made sure that he and Sita were paired up for the parts of the dance that involved couple dancing.  Long nights were spent practicing for Homecoming.  In a way, Rama had felt that Ravana had stolen Sita from him.  He had to get her back.  Rama decided to confront Ravana and tell him to back off.  Ravana explained that it was “simply a dance.”  Rama spoke of how flirtatious Ravana had been.  Ravana brushed it off acting like it was no big deal.  The days went on and Sita didn’t accept any of Ravana’s advances.  Ravana was starting to feel bad because he knew he was not doing the right thing.  He decided to drop out of Homecoming because he actually did respect Rama confronting him.  From then on out, he never spoke to Sita again and Rama no longer had to worry.

 Ravana Stealing Sita (Wikimedia)

 

Author's Note:
My story is a play off of the Divine Archer.  I pulled the episode where Ravana steals Sita away.  In the original, Ravana tries to be tricky and seduce her but she refuses.  He takes her anyway.  Rama definitely had to go through a lot more to get her back in the original story.  My take is definitely a lot different.  I set the tone at OU again and made the story a lot more lighthearted.  I just wanted to to a light twist!

Bibliography:
The Divine Archer by F.J. Gould. Link to the reading online.