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.

Reading Notes: The Divine Archer, Part B

This section starts with with the fight between Rama, Sugriva, and Vali.  Rama, the Divine Archer, was the one that ended up killing Vali with an arrow.  I really liked the description in this scene because it painted a nice mental image.  Now that Rama has helped Sugriva, the search for Sita has begun!  Hanuman is able to find Sita and sort of spy on her in a way.  At a point, he is able to confront her, give her Rama's ring, and tell her that Rama is coming.  Unfortunately, Hanuman is caught and sentenced to death.  But, of course he does not go down without a fight and ends up torching the entire city of Lanka.  This makes everyone scared of Rama, even Ravana's giant brother.  This was funny to me because I remember reading before how he was in an eternal sleep, only waking up every so often to eat as much as he could.  Now he is begging for peace!  Rama eventually kills the beast and wins the entire battle.  Rama and Sita confront each other and Rama makes Sita prove her fidelity again! Just like in the other story! I still don't like this part.  He also still exiled her because of all the gossip other people were talking.  I wish he would just trust in his awesome wife!  Much later, the two meet again and Sita declares her fidelity once more.  But this time, instead of the two coming together again, Sita is taken by the Earth.  I guess she proved her point!

Sita proves her fidelity once more (Blogspot)

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

Reading Notes: The Divine Archer, Part A

I chose to read The Divine Archer by F.J. Gould this week.  Something about it just caught my attention!  Around page 8, I liked the description of Videha and of the boys walking through the town.  It was like the brothers were celebrities!  When Rama had to bend the bow of Shiva, I had a couple ideas run through my head for potential story topics.  I thought that I could come up with a different way in which Rama had to win Sita's heart.  I also thought the wedding scene around page 16 was beautiful so I also thought of that as something I might like to recreate.  I really did enjoy this version of the story so far.  I thought it was very well written.  I also appreciated the detailed reading guide.

 The Divine Archer (Blogspot)

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

Learning Challenge: Desk Exercises

I actually really liked this article from Small Business Trends.  I work three days a week so I gave a couple of these suggestions a shot. I especially liked the Active Arm Stretches and Shoulder and Neck Stretches.  I liked these because I felt an immediate release of tension.  I will definitely have to keep trying these out moving forward!

It works at any desk! (Pexels)

Comment Wall

Hey guys! I have made this comment wall for you all to give me your thoughts and feedback on my portfolio.  So lay it on me!  Go check out my website! 

Week 4 Story: Kumbha, One Hungry Beast!

The epic battle between Ravana and Rama was continuing on and Ravana was beginning to worry.  Rama seemed was doing anything and everything to get his precious Sita back.  Ravana could not just sit around and let this happen.  He did have something in his back pocket but he knew it would take a lot of work.  Ravana has a brother named Kumbhakarna.  For the sake of us all, we will call him Kumbha for short.  Ravana and Kumbha do not have much a relationship but that is for a very specific and unusual reason.  That reason being, Kumbha is always asleep.  And I mean ALWAYS. 

Here is a little back-story on Kumbha’s eternal nap.  Way back in the day, Kumbha was not such a great guy.  In fact, he was absolutely terrible.  This might have something to do with him being a demon.  But still…he was extra bad.  He went around basically eating every human being in sight and always causing such a ruckus!  Brahma, the creator god, eventually got a little fed up with Kumbha and cast a spell over him.  This spell put Kumbha into a deep sleep.  However, Kumbha did awaken every year for a brief period.  In this brief period, he would do absolutely nothing but eat.  I mean, he hasn’t eaten in a year so who can blame him!

Ravana decided that Kumbha’s alarm clock needed to go off a little earlier this year.  He and his allies did everything they possibly could to try wake up Kumbha.  They blared music and even had elephants walk all over him.  Nothing was working.  As a last resort, Ravana sent the most beautiful women over to wake him up and of course, this did work.  However, Kumbha was not happy to be woken up early.  You could say he “got up on the wrong side of the bed.”  But Ravana was prepared.  He had all kinds of food ready for him.  He had prepared swine, deer, cookies, pizza, wine, and even some humans! This did not satisfy Kumbha.  Ravana spoke of the battle against Rama and his apes.  Kumbha decided it might be worth it if he could devour some monkeys.  So Kumbha went off into battle and began devouring many of Rama’s allies.  Rama had to do something but nothing would bring Kumbha down.  Finally, Rama cast a bundle of flaming arrows into their air, severing Kumbha’s head.  The giant beast fell and would no longer cause any harm to the world again.

The epic battle between Ravana and Rama was continuing on and Ravana was beginning to worry.  Rama seemed was doing anything and everything to get his precious Sita back.  Ravana could not just sit around and let this happen.  He did have something in his back pocket but he knew it would take a lot of work.  Ravana has a brother named Kumbhakarna.  For the sake of us all, we will call him Kumbha for short.  Ravana and Kumbha do not have much a relationship but that is for a very specific and unusual reason.  That reason being, Kumbha is always asleep.  And I mean ALWAYS. 

Here is a little back-story on Kumbha’s eternal nap.  Way back in the day, Kumbha was not such a great guy.  In fact, he was absolutely terrible.  This might have something to do with him being a demon.  But still…he was extra bad.  He went around basically eating every human being in sight and always causing such a ruckus!  Brahma, the creator god, eventually got a little fed up with Kumbha and cast a spell over him.  This spell put Kumbha into a deep sleep.  However, Kumbha did awaken every year for a brief period.  In this brief period, he would do absolutely nothing but eat.  I mean, he hasn’t eaten in a year so who can blame him!

Ravana decided that Kumbha’s alarm clock needed to go off a little earlier this year.  He and his allies did everything they possibly could to try wake up Kumbha.  They blared music and even had elephants walk all over him.  Nothing was working.  As a last resort, Ravana sent the most beautiful women over to wake him up and of course, this did work.  However, Kumbha was not happy to be woken up early.  You could say he “got up on the wrong side of the bed.”  But Ravana was prepared.  He had all kinds of food ready for him.  He had prepared swine, deer, cookies, pizza, wine, and even some humans! This did not satisfy Kumbha.  Ravana spoke of the battle against Rama and his apes.  Kumbha decided it might be worth it if he could devour some monkeys.  So Kumbha went off into battle and began devouring many of Rama’s allies.  Rama had to do something but nothing would bring Kumbha down.  Finally, Rama cast a bundle of flaming arrows into their air, severing Kumbha’s head.  The giant beast fell and would no longer cause any harm to the world again.

"Sleepy Kumbha" (Blogspot)

Author's Note:

This is my take on the episode "Kumbhakarna" in Ramayana. This was an episode in the midst of the battle between Ravana and Rama.  Ravana decided that he need the help of his monstrous brother, Kumbhakarna.  However, Kumbhakarna has been cast into a sleep due to his evil ways many years ago.  Ravana is finally able to wake him up but he is extremely hungry.  He is given much to eat but it is not enough so he goes into battle to devour many of Rama's allies, the apes.  After much carnage, Rama is able to bring Kumbhakarna down with a flaming arrow.  I tried to take a more light-hearted spin on the story, throwing a few different elements in here and there.  But, I still kept the same story line.

Bibliography: "Kumbhakarna" from PDE Ramayana by Laura Gibbs. Link.

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part D

The Bridge
In this story Nala, an artisan, constructed a bridge for Rama to cross over into Lanka.  This is obviously a really significant moment because without the bridge, Rama might not have been able to cross over.  I think I could recreate this in a different way, incorporating a new way in which the bridge came about.

Kumbhakarna 

In a way, I thought this story was kind of funny.  All Kumbhakarna wants to do is eat and sleep. I can definitely relate.  I think it would be fun to do a modern-day spin off this episode.  It seems like it could be a fun time!

Sita and Rama

I was very surprised by this episode.  I think anyone would guess that Rama and Sita's first meeting after such a long battle would be nothing short of amazing.  But, that is not exactly what happened.  I must say that I am not really pleased with how the meeting went.  I would have been so happy to finally see my significant other after such a challenging period of time.

Rama and Sita meet again (Blogspot)

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Indian Epics: Images and PDE Epics. Link

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part C

Sugriva and Hanuman 

This was a very happy story to me.  Rama and Hanuman have both gone through many difficult times.  Finally they can come together and hopefully help each other out.  I am excited to hear more about their story later on.  Added bonus that Hanuman is a really cool monkey!

Vali's Death

I was reading about how this story is very controversial in the way that Rama killed Vali.  I think it would be interesting to rewrite it in a way that perhaps would be more honorable for Rama.  But, at the same time, controversy can be very interesting! 

Vibhishana

In this, the younger brother of Ravana urges him to return Sita. I really like this because it shows that anyone can turn and do the right thing.  Vibhishana eventually turns away to ally with Rama and I worry that this puts him in danger! But it also seems very respectable.

 

Vibhishana and Rama (Blogspot) 

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Indian Epics: Images and PDE Epics. Link

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part B

Rama and Bharata
This story was interesting because everyone just seemed so stubborn! It was also nice that the two brothers were once again reunited.  I can see myself taking a more satirical spin on this story.  Both brothers are fighting about who gets to live in the jungle for 14 years!

Anasuya
I really liked this.  I liked the how it rhymed and how it was set up.  It was a very sweet story that I can respect.  Sita told of sorrow and happiness.  I loved how much Anasuya appreciated this story and I loved all the small details.

Viradha
This was definitely a different kind of story.  I thought it was very neat.  There for a while, I was scared that Rama might not be able to defeat the beast! But I enjoyed how the story somewhat ended nicely for everybody involved.  That does not usually happen in battles!

Poor Viradha? (Blogspot)

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Indian Epics: Images and PDE Epics. Link.

Topic Research: Gods/Devas

Samudra Manthan
 I am really interested in this story because it worked for a lot of the topics I was interested in.  It is a creation story that involves several important gods and goddesses. The characters in the story come together to churn the ocean for the nectar of immortality. But many things go awry!

Lakshmi
 I also interested in the idea of focusing in on the goddess, Lakshmi.  She is the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune, and prosperity.  She actually is formed out of the ocean that is churned in the story I just mentioned.

Vasuki
Lastly, I would be interested to focus in on Vasuki.  He is one of the king serpents in Hindu mythology.  He is also an important character in Samudra Manthan.  He is interesting because it seems that he is often being pulled in many directions by different characters. 

Lakshmi (Wikimedia Commons)

Week 3 Story: Sita, the Theta

I have a slightly updated version of this story on my website.

It was a brutally hot August afternoon in Norman, Oklahoma.  Everyone was rustling around to and from classes.  Campus was chirping and students were in a hurry.  Really, everyone just wanted to get in the nice air conditioning, even if that meant spending an hour and a half in Zoology lecture.  Meanwhile, Rama was sitting in the Beta dining room with his new pledge brother.  His brother mentioned how he had not yet walked around to look at all the other fraternities and sororities (some might call this a “frat lap”).  So, with their pledge trainer’s consent, the two brothers ventured out on to Greek row.  They walked all around.  They made their way down to South Greek and looped back up to North Greek where their house was.  All of the lawns were filled with boys and girls.  This time of the year means the first round of dating parties are just around the corner.  For freshmen like Rama, this is a scary concept because he wants to go to all of these parties but he does not know any girls to invite him.  He had heard through the grapevine of a girl named Sita.  She was a new Theta that was looking for an eligible date for their upcoming date party.  Rama thought this might be his chance. Both Rama and Sita were legacies of their respective chapters and their houses were just down the street from each other.  Plus, they both had super weird names.  It was perfect!   Rama just had to get Sita to notice him.  Rama and his brother were almost back to their house.  They were passing the Theta lawn where Sita and her sisters were sunbathing.  Rama made an effort to get her attention by tripping right in front of her.  He looked up and the two of them locked eyes.  From that moment on, Rama and Sita were inseparable.  And most importantly, they each had dates locked in for the first round of date parties!

A Modern Day Castle: Beta Theta Pi (Wikimedia)

Author's Note:  My story is a based on the PDE Ramayana version of "Sita."  In the original, Rama and Lakshmana (his brother) were wandering the streets.  People all around were admiring the noble princes, thinking they would be rather suitable for young princess, Sita.  Both Sita and Rama were avatars of gods.  Later on, Sita was walking in a garden with her maids when one of them noticed the two young men.  She told Sita of their nobleness.  Rama overheard and lifted his head.  The two locked eyes and instantly fell in love.  They both then prayed for each other's hand.  My story is a modern, satirical twist on the story.  It takes place in Norman.  Instead of a prince and princess, Rama and Sita are new members of Greek life.  Instead of avatars of gods, they are legacies of their houses.

Bibliography. "Sita" from PDE Ramayana by Laura Gibbs. Web Source.

Feedback Strategies

I read the article, "What Kinds of Messages Help Kids Grow?" because it was something I thought I had heard about before.  The concept of saying more than just "good job" is not new to me.  I am majoring in Psychology and have heard this before.  It helps to add what you are praising a child on, like "good job on doing your chores."  It helps the child understand why they are receiving praise.  This can help them understand how to overcome setbacks as well.

I also read, "The Difference Between Praise and Feedback."  This was interesting to me.  It was similar to the other article in that simple praises alone do not necessarily do much.  It helps to seem interested about what the child is doing so that they can continue to learn how to be creative.  It helps them think it through.  Also, giving feedback rather than just praise can help children learn from any mistakes they may have previously made.

"Giving Feedback" (McConnell)

Reading Notes: Ramayana, Part A

I read the PDE version of Ramayana.  While I enjoyed listening to all the stories, I can see myself writing about one of the following later on this week.

Dasharatha's Sons: I didn't like the gruesomeness of the horse sacrifice so I would maybe want to change that.  Things can be sacred without being gruesome!

Thataka: This was Rama's first battle.  Thataka was misshapen and horrible.  I think I might want to make her beautiful so that it is harder for Rama to want to hurt her.  I also would maybe go more in detail about the celestial weapons he received.

Sita: I liked this story because it was very much "love at first sight."  I enjoyed all of the descriptive details.  I can see myself writing a story based off of this one.

Rama Wins Sita: I liked this story because of Rama having to win over Sita from the numerous other suitors from far and wide.  I can see myself turning this into a more modern version of "the boy wins the girl."  I think I am noticing a theme in liking stories about Rama and Sita.

 

 

Breaking the Bow of Shiva (Wikimedia Commons)

Bibliography:

Gibbs, Laura. Indian Epics: Images and PDE Epics. Link

Feedback Thoughts

I am someone that is pretty good at receiving feedback, even negative.  I have played sports my entire life and was given "constructive criticism" every single day.  But, I would be lying if I said it NEVER got to me.  I enjoyed the article, "5 Tips for Taking Feedback like a Champ." I especially liked the point about "reminding yourself of growth areas."  It reminds people that there is so much more to learn.  It also sets the reminder that nobody is perfect and mistakes are okay.  We can learn from them.  I also enjoyed the article, "14 Signs Your Perfectionism has Gotten Out of Control." I know that I am a perfectionist in certain aspects.  I always want to do a good job.  Some of the points like "you take everything personally" and "you're a big procrastinator" really hit home for me! While receiving feedback can be hard, I personally have a harder time giving it to people.  I am always worried about hurting peoples' feelings or making them feel like their work is not good enough.  So, that is something I will struggle with.

Sometimes I feel like this dog (StaticFlickr)

Topic Brainstorm

I have chosen Creation Stories as one of my potential story topics.  This was interesting to me because every belief system seems to have its own creation story.  Some are very similar and some are very different.  I have no prior knowledge of any popular creation stories in India.  I am very curious to see what I can find and learn about these stories.  I plan on just coming up with creative twists on the stories that have already been produced.  Here is a link to a story that I thought looked promising: Samudra-manthan.

It is also likely that I have Love stories as my main topic.  I really am a sucker for a good love story so I will probably enjoy recreating them! I do not have any prior knowledge on any Indian love stories.  I would plan on making these stories happy, rather than sad and twisted.  A good start would be this link: Kamadeva.

 What we normally think of when we think of love (Pixabay)

My third possibility is having The Gods/Devas as my topic. I have always been interested in other culture's worship habits.  America is primarily monotheistic so it is always interesting to read about places where it is very different.  Again, I will probably just try to come up with a creative way to retell these stories.  I imagine I would try to incorporate several gods, rather than just focusing in on one.  Here is a good link that I would probably start with: Deva (Hinduism).

Lastly, one of my topics could be on Nagas.
I have never heard of this before.  To be honest, I chose this one at random.  But, I am happy I did because it seems rather interesting and different from anything else I have read before.  I also feel like I could write a wide range of stories on this topic.  I look forward to doing more research but here is a good link to start with: Naga.