Storytelling Week 12: Greed Makes the World Go 'Round

Gold: Flickr

There are many forces that rule this earth. 

Look around you… do you see all the people who are making excuses and  using their religions for hating and killing each other?  Do you see the greed that surrounds this world?  Do you see the people who waste, while others have to go without?  This is not how it was meant to be. 

The earth was created with an order- a very specific order that was designed to hold its shape… but humans are apparently pretty good at messing things up. 

I am here today to explain to you one of the balances that humans have messed up the most.  This imbalance is the root of many of the problems that exist in our world today.  When the balance between Saraswati and Lakshmi is thrown off it is not easily restored, but that is what humanity will have to do one day. 

Traditionally, Saraswati is the representative of peace, while Lakshmi is the representative of wealth.  They should be held in a balance in life, but people tend to focus only on Lakshmi.  The story says that Saraswati and Lakshmi cannot be kept together at the same time because  humans tend to focus on Lakshmi’s wealth.  Saraswati gets jealous of this attention and she tends to leave, resulting in a focus on just  wealth,  and a feeling of restlessness.  This is the root of the idea that “money cannot buy happiness”.  No matter what you do, if you are only focused on Lakshmi, you will lose sight of Saraswati and you will not be truly happy because there will be no peace. 

Although this one imbalance may seem small, it has big impacts in life.  It not only changes the way you live and your outlook on life, but it affects other balanced relationships in the world.  The story goes that Lakshmi does not like to be alone, so when Saraswati leaves, her not-so-desirable twin Alakshmi shows up to keep her company.  This is problematic because Alakshmi leaves humanity with even more undesirable things in life because she represents all the things that Lakshmi does not- everything that is unwanted. 

For this reason, everyone must eventually make the journey to finding who they are.  Humans will only find happiness and peace when they stop focusing on wealth and money.   

There is no good.  There is no evil.  There is only balance. 

To find that balance, humanity will have to find themselves and find their true importance in life.  The balance will be restored only when people stop the greed and learn to focus on others.  When the balance is restored, you will know.  World hunger will end, people will stop suffering from disease because pharmaceutical companies will work together, everyone will be cared for and loved, there will be no anger or jealousy, all stray animals will have a home, and there will be no war. 

If this seems too idealistic to be true, it is because you are human, and you too have the same outlook on life.  You too are caught in the imbalance of Saraswati and Lakshmi, but fear not, for one day you will be enlightened. 

Author’s note:  This story was based on Pattanaik’s Seven Secrets of Vishnu:  Link to Videos, specifically sections C and D.  In this part of the video series, there was a strong focus on the balance between Lakshmi , Saraswati, and Alakshmi.  I really enjoyed learning about it and it seemed to make a lot of sense to me.  I decided I wanted to write about how it related to the world, but not from a human perspective.  I tried to make the speaker mysterious so that the reader can put in their own idea of who the author is, but I also tried to identify them as someone with great power like a god. 

Week 12 Reading Notes: The Seven Secrets of Vishnu part D

Tivikrama's secret:  Ignorance breeds insecurity and arrogance. 

Vishnu:  Wikipedia

Saraswati= peace Lakshmi= wealth
It is interesting to see the relationships that revolve around Lakshmi.  Because she is jealous of Lakshmi's attention, Saraswati always leaves when Lakshmi shows up.  Lakshmi then uses Alakshmi for company. 

"The journey from what I have to what I am"
It could be really cool to write a story based around greed and it could have this idea as the moral.  Someone could have a lot of material things and lose them and discover the true wealth in knowing who they truly are. 

Devas- insecure and complacent
Asauras- generous

Evil means "the absence of God" but in this religion that doesn't make sense.  They say that everything on earth is a "manifestation of the divine" and thus it cannot be evil. 

This video also explains that evil actions are the actions that happen without a reason or explanation.  This also makes no sense in Hinduism because Karma is a force that causes everything to have a reason. 

It could be really cool to do a religion based story and talk about the forces behind everything in the world and just kind of combine pieces of all religions in it, but it would take a lot of research and I don't want to offend anyone. 

Source:  Pattanaik's Seven Secrets of Vishnu:  Link to Part D video

Week 12 Reading Notes: Pattanaik's Seven Secrets of Vishnu

Kurma- "Wealth eludes the insecure"

Kurma- Wikimedia Commons

Source of Videos:  Pattanaik's Seven Secrets of Vishnu Link to Videos

Mining, hunting, fishing, harvesting- generate wealth but they are violent

It could be interesting to write something about using the world's resources for monetary gain and harming the earth.  It would be an easy moral or underlying message to add to any type of story. 

Spiritual morality- unaware of immortality

This could be interesting to incorporate in a story.  It could be about someone who does not believe in any sort of afterlife and their intense fear of dying as a result. 

The importance of food, especially milk and butter. 

It could be cool to do some research about why milk and butter are so important and write a story that revolves around food items.  It would add in a little bit of my own interests from the pre nutrition part of my degree. 

Vishnu and Lakshmi's relationship is interesting because she is powerful without him yet she chooses to rub his legs and sit at his feet.  He is important but so is she and they are always found together.  Alakshmi is the opposite and she goes with Lakshmi but she rises from the milk as a poison.  I really like these three characters for a story because they have interesting relationships. 

Desirable vs undesirable in nature. 

Week 11 Story planning: A few different ideas

Right vs Wrong: Pixabay

I have a few different ideas this week for story planning.  My story will be based off of Pattanaik's Seven Secrets of Vishnu Link to Videos. 

I liked the idea of Vishnu and Mohini because they are two sides of one god.  It would make a cool story to have them be two personalities from one person.  I could also write up a story about them being twins.  I could use their characteristics and turn them into special talents or superpowers and create a story based off of that. 

Another idea I really liked was based on the story about the man and the fish.  He saved the fish from the water and let it grow big where it was safe, but the story points out that although he saved one creature he did an injustice to another.  This rule of Vishnu is interesting to me because it talks a lot about how humans are the only animals that can empathize and can make moral decisions, and that is what makes us different from other animals.  In this story I could create a place where animals make moral decisions or I could try to envision a world in which humans do not empathize or use their moral compass.  It would depend on which way I took this story, but it could be a scary story, or something with a moral.  If I base it around animals it could be kind of cute and it could be about baby animals trying to figure out the difference between right and wrong. 

I also thought it could be a cool idea to create a story about the balance between Dharma and Adharma.  The two forces are opposite of each other and one basically represents peace between humans and nature and sharing for all, while the other represents greed and destruction.  The two forces could be personified and they could fight which would be interesting to write about.  It could also be kind of comical if I personified them as twins and one is an evil twin.  They would have to run around cleaning up each other’s messes. 

Week 11 Reading Notes: Seven Secrets of Vishnu: Part B

Fish:  Wikipedia

Matsya's secret:  "Only humans can empathize and exploit" 

Mark of Vishnu is on the forehead and it emphasizes imagination which separates us from other animals. 

Manu is swimming and a fish comes up to him and asks him to save him from a larger fish and promises in return to save Manu one day.  This could make an interesting prompt for a story post. 

The idea that there are no rules in survival is interesting as well.  The video talks about how animals do not judge what they are doing but they do whatever it takes to survive.  Humans do not do this because we have moral judgement and we choose what is right and what is wrong.  We do not abandon the injured or take advantage of the sick or injured or those who are not paying attention like animals do.  Animals will attack at any point to eat even if the other animal is giving birth.  It does not matter because it is for survival.  This could make a cool story if I wrote about animals with a moral compass or humans without a moral compass.  It is weird to imagine a world where nobody has a sense of judgement of right and wrong.  (Territory and Property) (empathy, greed)

Dharma vs Adharma

Nature is destroyed because of human greed. 

A king tries to save a dove from a hawk.  If the hawk cannot eat it is bad but the hawk cannot eat the dove or a different dove or a rat or serpent because someone will have a bad end in either decision. 

There are always exclusions somewhere= the root of this rule. 

Source:  Pattanaik's Seven Secrets of Vishnu part B Link to Videos

Week 11 Reading Notes: Seven Secrets of Vishnu: Part A

Vishnu:  Wikimedia Commons

Mohini is the female version of Vishnu.  She enchants to bring attention to spiritual reality.  Material and Spiritual reality are interesting concepts that I have never seen before.  It could be interesting to write something about Mohini and her powers to draw attention to spiritual reality.  Maybe she and Vishnu could be twins instead of being male and female versions of the same god. 

Although women are represented by material reality it is not because of a patriarchal society.  It is because women "give form" to life when they have children and men do not.  For this reason women are associated with material reality.

Material reality- red, spiritual reality- white, Vishnu- infinity

Unborn child does not think or feel while it sleeps

Maya- mental material reality and Brahma uses Maya to judge Phrakrhatii

In this section of the videos it talks a lot about the state of the child in the womb and how that relates to the gods.  The unborn child is in an undisturbed sleep and he or she does not know about what is going on around them.  It is compared to a god sleeping on water undisturbed. 

"Without Maya man would be at the mercy of nature, but with Maya man can dominate nature"  This is an interesting idea that could make some sort of story.  Maya could be a magic power or something like that. 

Source:  Pattanaik's Seven Secrets of Vishnu Link to Videos

Storytelling Week 10: The King Who Couldn't Stop Gambling

Once upon a time in a fairly small kingdom there lived a king named Max who just couldn’t stop gambling.  His kingdom would have been massive but he just kept betting on things and losing.  Sometimes he won though, which kept his kingdom afloat.  His subjects were pretty used to it, because a lot of crazy things happened as a result of his gambling. 

One day the king went out to his gambling spot and began his usual wagering with other people.  King Max was making all kinds of bets, and mostly losing them that day.  Eventually another king came along to bet with King Max, which was interesting because he usually didn’t get to bet with other kings.  The new king introduced himself as King Ben and he proceeded to describe a predicament that his kingdom was in.  They had a bunch of land, but it wouldn’t grow anything except mushrooms.  All of his subjects were so sick of eating the fungi and they needed a source of food with real nutritional value.  He wagered a bet to King Max and said that if he won he wanted all of the flower pots in the small kingdom and he wanted them filled with rich dirt that he could grow new crops in.  King Max agreed to the bet, as he always did, and they rolled the dice.  King Max lost the bet, and thus all the townspeople had to give up their flowerpots. 

Flower Pot- Pixabay

The next day King Max went to the gambling spot once again.  This time he met with a prince who was there on behalf of his town that had so many cows that they could not feed them all.  It had turned into quite the predicament for the small village, and he wagered with the king to take all of the cows off of his land.  The dice were rolled, and King Max lost once again.  This time, instead of losing something, his town gained thousands of cows, and there ended up being more cows than people in the village when they were done moving them all there.  This was the only way that King Max ever won anything in betting.  He lost almost every bet, but sometimes when people desperately needed to get rid of things, they bet them away, and King Max would take them back to his village. 

The townspeople were used to the craziness that came with being the subjects of the horrible gambler King Max, so they were prepared for almost anything.  The cows were a bit of a surprise, but these people were resourceful and they figured out just what to do.  They went to the town where king Ben lived and they offered him manure for his land to help it grow more good food.  In exchange they said they wanted their flower pots back and they wanted some mushrooms.  King Ben’s problems were solved so he quickly agreed to this solution.  The townspeople then returned to their village and began a thriving milk business where many people would come to buy supplies that came from cows.  The little village soon overcame king Max’s bad luck in gambling by making a good fortune for themselves from what they had available, and the village grew and grew into a thriving kingdom… with a king that still would not stop gambling!

AUTHOR’S NOTE:  This story was based on a part of the Mahabharata Epified Link to Reading Guide and Videos.  I liked the theme of gambling in the story and I thought it would be interesting to twist it and create a new story from it.  I kept the idea of a king doing the gambling so that it would be a person of power, but I changed pretty much everything else in the story so that it was something new. 

Week 10 Reading Notes: The Mahabharata Epified Part F

Notes- goodfreephotos

The Pandavas and Draupadi are gambled away by one of the brothers in the gambling match.  Draupadi is especially devastated by the event.  They take their clothes, but Draupadi's clothes don't come off because the material keeps multiplying.  Bheen pledges to get revenge for Draupadi's embarrassment.  The brothers vow to kill their capturers. 

It seems like there are a lot of themes of gambling in these two sections of the story so I think I might use that as a theme in my story that I write this week.  Maybe I will keep the Pandavas in the story or maybe I will remove the idea from the story and write about a different setting. 

Krishna is an interesting character.  He says that if he was present at the gambling match he would have stopped it from happening/ stop it from going wrong.  However, supposedly Draupadi prayed to Krishna in order to receive the miracle that kept her clothes from coming off when they tried to humiliate her.  I want to learn more about Krishna, so maybe I will watch the epified videos about him for my next reading notes for week eleven. 

The part of the story that involves Shiva and the crown is interesting.  He and Arjun fight and the crown shatters, but it is put back together by some form of miracle and then Arjun realizes who he is fighting. 

Source:  The Mahabharata Epified Part F

Week 10 Reading Notes: The Mahabharata Epified part E

I still like Arjun's story and I think it is interesting that he had to get blessings from his first wife in order to marry the second.  I could easily write a story about the relationship between the two wives.  They could resent each other at first and then become best friends and get into trouble running around being girls.  The idea is interesting because the first wife did not have any friends besides her five husbands from what I have seen. 

The idea of the unborn child who listened to the stories is interesting as well.  There could easily be some kind of twist on this story.  It was interesting that when they told the story in the Mahabharata they made the young boy absorb the story but not the end because the mother fell asleep. 

It is also really interesting that the Pandavs cannot lose.  They will always win in everything, so this could make an interesting story because the idea could be put in a bunch of different settings.  They could be holding a match so that people come to try to defeat them, they could be facing monsters, or they could be just fighting other bad people. 

The gambling part of the story is interesting as well.  I could use this to create a story of two kings that gamble with their kingdoms.  It could be funny if the townspeople in the kingdom were used to it and just got kind of mad about it but they didn't really care that much.  Weird things could happen in the town as a result of the gambling.  For example, if the king gambled and won a bunch of cows they would all have to live somewhere so they would show up overnight.  Maybe another day all of the flower pots are gone because the king gambled them away.  It could be interesting to write from the townspeople's perspectives. 

Reading:  Pixabay

Source:  The Mahabharata Epified Part E

Week 9 Storytelling: In the Mind of Arjun

Heart- Pixabay

I never asked for this.  Having like a million brothers has never been easy for me.  Sure, I made my way through everything growing up and it was great to have a bunch of built in friends, but now we are all supposed to marry the same woman?? That just seems crazy to me.  I'm not the only one who thinks that it is weird, either.  The whole town thinks it is so weird that my brothers and I are all marrying one woman.  We have been warned by many about the story of the two brothers who both fell in love with the same woman.  They ended up fighting with each other so much over her that their family was ruined.  I do not want that fate for my brothers and I- and neither do they.  We have decided to take turns with our new wife year by year.  The first year with go to the eldest and then the next and so on. 

The plan went well for a couple of years, but I seem to be the only one who is still not comfortable with the idea.  That's why when the chance to get out of everything came today, I took it.  There was an old man who was living in the forest.  He didn't have much, but some jerk came and stole what little he did.  He came to me and asked for help, but I realized I left my weapon in the room I was not allowed to enter- the room where our wife (well, right now my brother's wife) stayed.  I was not allowed to enter the room when my brother was away because it was seen as breaking the rules that we made, but I had to help this guy.  He had only one great possession, but it was something that could never be replaced!  I decided it would probably be a win-win if I helped him.  I ran and got my weapon from the room- thus changing the course of my life for the next 12 years.  I helped the man from the forest reclaim his items and I returned to tell my brothers what I had done and to tell them I was going to live in the forest.  They weren't happy about it but a promise is a promise so I left that afternoon. 

When I returned to the forest I ran into the man that I helped and he said that we could work together for survival.  He brought me back to a group of sages with whom I lived for the first couple of years.  It wasn't bad, but it still wasn't the life I was looking for.  Living with the group of sages was pretty much just like living with my brothers.  I had to share everything- well not a wife this time, but still! I decided to start exploring a little more every day in search of some way to make my life the best it could be. 

One day it finally happened.  I was searching the forest for all of life's answers when I ran into the most beautiful woman.  I knew I shouldn't marry her because I was technically already married to the wife I shared with my five brothers but I couldn't help myself.  I fell so in love with her that I decided to stay in the forest for the rest of my life.  Although I am no longer living a life in a palace as a prince with my brothers, I am so much happier here.  Instead of having many riches and a few shared relationships, I am rich in relationships and poor in the things that don't matter to me.  Perhaps one day I will go back to visit my family, but I will never return to that life because I have finally found what I was looking for.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  For this story, I used the Mahabharata Epified- Link to Reading Guide as a source for inspiration.  I liked the part of the story about Arjun and his exile to the forest, so I decided to write the story from his perspective.  I twisted the story a little bit and added in the feelings of resentment toward his brothers because he had to share everything.  I also changed the ending because I felt that he should marry the woman in the woods instead of returning home. 

Week 9 Reading Notes: The Mahabhrata Part D

Mandala: Pixabay

Draupadi has grown up to be very beautiful and many princes want to compete in a contest to win her.  The Pandavas are going to try to compete as well.  The quest was to string a bow and shoot a fish in a bowl filled with oil.  None could lift the bow except for Arjun who completed the challenge. All of the five brothers marry Draupadi. 

The Pandavas have to leave the kingdom so one of their brothers is not called to rule because it would cause war and chaos.  They move to a forest that doesn't have anything useful in it.  There is a big forest with bad creatures in it.  They clear it with forest fires and they build an amazing city in it and give their residents mansions. 

The Pandavas are warned of a story of two brothers who fight over the love of a woman.  They decide that to avoid conflict, they will each have a year of marriage with Draupadi that is uninterrupted by the others.  Arjun is exiled when he interrupts one of his brothers when it is not his year because he needs to get his weapon.  Arjun lives in the forest for 12 years and meets a woman whom he marries while he is in the forest.  He has a son with her and then leaves. 

I think I want to write my story this week over Arjun's feelings over his situations with his brothers and wives. 

Source:  Epified Reading Guide and Videos Part D 

Week 9 Reading Notes: The Mahabharata Epified Part C

Karna was found in the river and his armor and ear rings grew as he grew.  He cannot follow his dreams because his parents will be dishonored if he does.  Then he encounters someone who can help him learn a way to fulfill his dreams.  Bashran agrees to teach him how to fight.  But Bashran believes Karna lied to him about a Scorpion sting and he sends him away with a curse.  When Karna needs his powers most he will be unable to use them. 

Karna doesn't know his lineage and so he cannot compete even though he is well trained.  He wants to challenge the Pandavas and he is declared king of a small area so he can compete. 

Two boys are friends and one offers half his kingdom to the other.  They joke about it but one day when one man is poor he goes to the other and is humiliated.  He plans to burn the king and his family in a flammable  palace.  The Pandavas move into the palace and they realize that it is a trap to kill them.  They created a tunnel from the bottom of the palace and the Pandavas and Kunthi escaped into the forest when the fire was set. 

The Asur is a large monster who lived in a cave.  He attacked and ate people from the city because he was very hungry.  He now has to be offered a huge cart full of food from a family each week.  But every week he eats the person who delivers the food as well.  Bheem agrees to take food to deliver to the Asur. 

Video Film:  Pixabay

Source:  The Mahabharata Epified:  Part C Reading Guide

Week 8 Growth Mindset

Growth:  Pixabay

I have a love/hate relationship with Growth Mindset.  I like the idea and I think it is especially helpful for little kids, but since I never used it growing up, I find it hard to use on myself.  I definitely think I have grown up using some of the characteristics of the program but I still get frustrated sometimes when I am doing something difficult- who doesn't? 

I think I do a lot of the things on the chart in the directions here, but there are some things I don't do very well and need to improve on.  I usually try to do my best work which is above the bare minimum.  I am usually pretty self motivated because I know where the goal is but it can be harder for me when the goal is not in sight.  I am bad about staying in my comfort zone and I need to work on that by trying new things.  I am also bad about focusing on grades- I always want to keep my grades up and I am unhappy with my grades when they aren't good even when I am learning.  However I think that when you are learning the grades are high as a result.  I am not comfortable with change and that is something that I need to work on in school and in life.  If I can try more new things little by  little perhaps I will get used to new things.  I think I have taken a long term view and set good goals for myself and I am working hard on reaching them.  I could work on taking more risks and being more confident, especially when I am writing stories.  I could also work on trying to do harder things and expecting to work hard on them.  I like to do my work and get it done so I have a hard time choosing to do something that is more difficult than it needs to be.  I am usually pretty good about working ahead and not leaving things to the last minute so I don't think I really need to work on that.  I get excited about school when it is a subject that interests me and I am really hoping I get into the dietetics program I applied for because it will be full of subject matter I am truly interested in.  This class has helped me to learn to be open to all feedback, not just positive feedback.  I have also learned that I can learn from my peers and from my mistakes.  I have also learned that I can make a lot of progress in a little amount of time, but I still need to learn to ask more questions. 

Overall, growth mindset is a little bit mixed up for me.  I feel like I have accomplished some of the things that are good for me from this technique, and there are others that I could definitely work on. 

Week 8 Reflections: Halfway done!

The Halfway Point!:  Geograph.org

It has gone fast but here we are- halfway through the semester!! When we wrote our first stories for this class I felt like I was going to be really uncomfortable writing creatively and posting it for everyone to see, but it has actually been fun so far!  I have enjoyed doing the readings for this class and twisting the stories into something new.  Some of my stories in the beginning didn't have very big twists- especially the first one.  I have gotten better at that through the semester and I found out how I like to write stories.  A lot of times I enjoy keeping the characters the same and putting them in a new setting.  I keep the original names so that it is not so confusing for the reader!  I have found that it can be interesting to write for fun and to run a blog. 

I have definitely learned a lot about tech stuff as well!  I never knew that blogging could be so easy and fun.  I was able to learn how to do lots of things on Blogger as well as start a Google Site.  I think these skills will help me in the future for sure!

My favorite reading so far has been the Ramayana.  I thought it was pretty easy to follow and I enjoyed watching Sita Sings the Blues.  I felt like I got my best stories from the inspiration of the Ramayana.  For the rest of the semester I think I will finish up watching the Mahabhrata Epified and then I would like to either read more versions of the Ramayana, find a new book, or read some huge chunks of the stories I chose for my storybook project that I have not read yet. 

I am happy with a lot of my progress writing this semester.  It was difficult in the beginning but it is getting easier. I am happy with how my storybook is turning out but I need to do more planning to make sure the stories I add all fit together well.  I think it will turn out pretty well.  I definitely aspire to write more like some of the people in their class.  I wish I could easily write funny stories that flow well.  Some of my classmates are fantastic writers.  It has been a fun semester so far and I hope to work hard and finish the class up early if possible so I can prepare to graduate!

Week 7 Story Planning: The Mahabharata Epified Plans

Space:  Pixabay

Source:  Epified Mahabharata Link to Video

For my next story I want to focus on the rivalry between the five brothers and the one hundred brothers.  I think I want rewrite their backstories with a twist.  It is interesting to me that the 100 brothers were described as demonic and they have a father who is blind and a mother who gave up her sight.  I want to explore why they are presented in an evil way- was it because they were not watched very well as children?  Is it because their father was greedy in wanting to inherit the throne? 

Additionally I would like to explore the backstory of the five brothers.  Are they presented as good just because their fathers were all gods?  What kind of special powers do they have because they were born from gods. It would be fun to develop each character and find out what each one can specialize in. 

This story could be interesting from sci-fi perspective.  The two sets of brothers could be from different planets.  The five brothers could easily be human or they could be descendants of gods from five other planets.  The 100 brothers could all be from the same planet and it could be a dark moon or it could be a planet with an evil god ruling it. 

The family tree in this version of the Mahabharata is much easier to understand, and now that I am following the storyline a little bit better I would like to incorporate this into my story.  I could also incorporate the mothers in the story and they could be from different planets or they could be from some of the same ones.  It would be easy to line up the different heirs to the throne and their families as rulers of different planets in an intergalactic space battle.  I mostly want to focus on the 100 brothers but I think this could be a cool twist. 

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata Epified part B

The Mahabharata Family Chaos:  Wikimedia

Pandu- cursed by a hermit
Kunti- summons gods to have children
Madri- Pandu's second wife

1st son: Udishtil- stays calm always even in battle
2nd son:  Bheen- is strong and fast like the wind- was tied and pushed into the lake and attacked my snakes
3rd son:  Arjun- will become a great archer

Madri has 4th and 5th sons.  Nahkul and Zeedhev

100 sons born to the blind brother and his wife- they came from a lump of flesh put into vats of oil and they are demonic.  There are bad omens. 

This section of the story helped me to understand the family tree of the Mahabharata much better.  I have made some notes here- although the names are probably spelled badly.  I think it could be interesting to talk about the 100 sons.  That was part of the story that I did not understand when I read the book but it is intriguing.  The birth story of these sons could be twisted in many different ways.  One idea I had while watching the video is that they could be similar to aliens.  This would  make the battle interesting between all of the cousins at the end of the book. 

I think there could be a good moral in the story as well because the parents are blind.  The story could say something about how you act when nobody is watching or it could represent that the love of a mother and father is blind in many cases.  The 100 sons could have easily gotten away with anything they wanted to if they were quiet about it because their father was blind and their mother gave up her sight.  Would it have been better if she had not tried to be honorable and given up her sight?  Would her sons be more honorable if she had kept her sight and held them accountable for their actions?  Is the pride and greed of their blind father  to blame for their demonic actions? 

Source:  The Mahabharata Epified:  Link to Videos

Reading notes: The Mahabharata Epic Video Part A

The King in the River:  Wikimedia

This week, I chose to watch the Epified version of the Mahabharata.  So far I have found it much easier to understand the story because the animations help me to remember names a little bit better.  The family tree in this book is really long and complicated, nonetheless. 

I noticed more specific details about the family in the beginning.  There are a lot of similarities between Rama and Devavrata because they both just want to honor their fathers and make sure that they are happy.  Devavrata is an interesting character because he holds his vow of celibacy even after the fisherman's daughter's sons have a chance to inherit the throne.  It would make sense to me that he would go back on his vow after they all had a chance to be heirs, but he is an honorable character. 

I like the switch that they did with Devavrata and his half brother so that there could be a new heir to the throne.  It is interesting that everyone- the queens and mothers and all the people in the castle- went along with this idea. 

It could be interesting to do a story around Devavrata and his father Shantanu and his mother Ganga.  I find her story intriguing that she is a river goddess who came to earth just to have eight children.  Why did she let the last one (Devavrata) live?  I could open up this idea to make a unique story as well. 

Source:  Epified Mahabharata Videos:  Link to Videos

Week 6 Story: The Woman With 5 Husbands

We Can Do It:  Wikipedia

Seriously all of my husbands in this life and my past lives have taken me for granted.  They think every woman is weak and absolutely "needs" to be rescued on a regular basis.  In reality, none of them would know what to do without me. I make sure everything works out smoothly for them and they never have a clue.  I've been pretty challenged lately- trying to keep up after five husbands.  Let me explain how I got into this predicament. 

My name is Holly and I have lived a few different lives- though I can only tell you about this one and my most recent past life because that's all I remember.  Basically in my last life, I was promised in marriage to this really gross ugly old lazy man who didn't even make sure I had enough food or clothes.  I was a respectable girl though and I didn't want to bring shame on my family, so I lived with it.  I put up with all of the filth and lack of food and pretty much anything you would want for a decent life.  So anyway at the end of this life, right when the old guy is about to kick the bucket he turns to me and completely transforms into this really attractive rich young guy.  I was like "seriously???".  He told me that this was his true form all along but that for some reason he had to test my honor and whatnot.  He asked what I wanted now that I knew he was an honorable man.  I told him I wanted to be loved by him as if he were five men.  Well- that was a bad choice of words on my part- this stupid guy took what I said literally and now here I am in my next life- literally married to five men. 

It's not all bad- they can be pretty endearing sometimes and all the attention I get is great- but they make SO. MANY. MESSES.  Literally and figuratively.  I have to clean up their messes in the house all the time- but they are also always getting into battles with their weird family members and then I have to go make sure they succeed or else we all look bad.  The latest one had to do with their cousin who is actually a king.  They started a big battle with him about something or other and then I had to go to work.  I went to their castle and met with the queen- she really enjoys having another girl around to talk to so she totally trusted me.  I started setting little things off around the castle generally making people have small quarrels, getting a little bit sick from something I slipped into their food- etc.  I even tried to get some secrets out of the king but he was a really creepy guy and tried to take my clothes.  I'm pretty close with the gods though so they had my back- as much as he pulled on my clothes, more and more material just kept appearing.  Eventually the queen figured out what happened and she got super mad at him but she agreed to let me stay another 13 days.  At the end of that period, my guys all came to attack at the same time.  They did pretty well in the battle since I had started problems in the castle before they got there. 

It can be a bit exhausting trying to keep up with everything but they're my husbands and I love them.  I can't say I want this reincarnation to go on forever but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.  And hey- someone has got to be around to take care of these five crazy guys. 

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  I was inspired to write this story by Nayaran's Mahabharata.  The story was based on a huge family and the five brothers were exiled to the forest.  I thought the parts about the woman they were all married to was interesting and I wanted to write a story that revolved around her and some of her parts in the story.  She did not have a lot of parts in the original book, but I used the basic plot of her life, her backstory, and the miracle with the cloth form the book, and I modified them. 

Source:  Narayan's Mahabharata:  Link to Reading Guide

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata part D

Source:  Narayan's Mahabharata Link to Reading Guide

Arrow:  Pixabay

The last section of the Mahabharata was mostly focused on a big battle.  I liked some specific parts of this section of the book for my story, but I think I will use the battle scene as a whole in my version of the story. 

One specific detail I thought was interesting was the man who was a god incarnated who could choose when he died.  He chose to die on a bed of arrows and one arrow was shot into the ground to give him a spring of water when he said he was thirsty.  He said that when he died, the battle should end then and there. 

I think I have decided what I will make my story like from this week's readings.  I want to make the role of the woman with 5 husbands larger.  My story will tell about her past life, how she got into this predicament in this life, and what she does now.  I think that she should be a strong character.  I want her to be a character that can and does take care of herself, even though her five husbands always insist on rescuing her.  I think she will secretly be the reason that they succeed in their battles, because she is working behind the scenes to make sure they succeed. 

I am not sure yet what theme I will go with for this story, but this plot seems like it will work well.  I will use several of the small details from the other sections of the book and I will try to incorporate them all into a story narrated by her. 

Reading Notes: Nayaran's Mahabharata Part C

Water in the desert:  Pexels

While reading part C of Nayaran's Mahabharata, I came across a few more interesting details that could work well in my story.  I am not sure which ones I will use or how I will fit them together yet but here is what interested me from this section:

I liked the part about the five brothers being exiled to a forest life.  When they were very thirsty and they came across the small pond, four out of the five were too impatient to treat it with respect.  The spirit that was overseeing the pond killed them instantly from drinking the water, but when the fifth brother came along the story took a twist.  He talked to the owner of the lake and he answered all of his questions.  It was a trying task, but from the respect that he showed for the lake, he was able to revive one brother- then when he chose his half-brother to honor his second mother, he was rewarded with the lives of all of his brothers being returned.  This part of the story seems to have a strong moral message and it could be interesting to use in a story. 

Another part that was interesting in the story was when the wife of the five brothers was staying in a castle with other royals.  She was supposedly very beautiful and the queen was worried that she would cause the men to go astray.  She told the queen that her five husbands would come after anyone who wronged her.  I am curious to see why she needed to stay at the castle another 13 days longer.  Perhaps this will help my story. 

Source:  Narayan's Mahabharata:  Link to Reading Guide

Story Planning week 5: The Mahabharata with a Twist

Five Brothers as Superheroes:  Flickr

This week I decided to go with story planning because I am having a harder time following the Mahabharata.  I have had a few ideas from my notes that I want to expand upon.  I want to focus on a small part of the story and turn it into a larger story. 

I really liked the part of the book that described the five brothers.  I could start a story that revolves around them and their adventures.  I found the part where they all married the same girl interesting because in the Ramayana, the men had multiple wives but not vice-versa.  This was an interesting twist, and I thought it could be interesting to highlight that in my story. 

When I googled "five brothers" for my image on this post, this superhero image came up.  I thought it could be an interesting twist if all of the five brothers were superheroes and they were all fighting to save the same damsel in distress.  This could also incorporate the part about the miracle where someone was trying to take her clothes, but they just kept reappearing. 

Perhaps in this idea some of the brothers are heroes and some are villains.  It could be funny to see them fighting back and forth over her, and maybe I could give her a really sassy attitude to where she doesn't even want to be saved in the first place. 

I may not go with the superhero idea, but instead just a modern day idea that focuses on the dress miracle.  Maybe this girl was a nerd and she went to prom and someone pulled the stereotypical drop-a-bucket-of-something-gross-on-the-nerd-girl move.  This girl could find out that she has a secret talent for making magic dresses that always appear when you need them.  She could open a store and help lots of other girls who are picked on and nobody would know what was going on. 

These are a few of my ideas so far, but hopefully the second half of the book will add to them.  I hope I can get a good story out of the Mahabharata.  I was pretty proud of some of my stories from the Ramayana, so hopefully this one will turn out good too!

Source:  Nayaran's Mahabharata:  Link to Reading Guide

Reading Notes: Nayaran's Mahabharata Part B

Source:  Nayaran's Mahabharata: Link to Reading Guide

Colorful Material:  Wikimedia

For part B of the reading, I again had a hard time following the family tree of the Mahabharata.  There are so many different characters in this book in comparison to the Ramayana.  For this reason, I still think that my story will be focused on a smaller part of the large story and I will omit names this time.  I will probably story plan this week and write my story after I finish the entire book. 

In this second of the book, I enjoyed reading about the girl that experienced a miracle when people were trying to take her clothing.  I think it is interesting that the clothes stayed on her and more material just kept coming off.  This could be a really interesting beginning to a story. 

From this section, I was also intrigued by how the five brothers treated their shared wife.  In the beginning it seemed like it was all going to be okay, but now they are questioning her honor and people are treating her badly.  This whole situation could make for an interesting story as well with the right twists. 

Reading Notes: Nayaran's Mahabharata part A

River Rocks:  Pexels

So far I have found it difficult to read the Mahabharata (and spell it correctly!).  I am having a hard time getting confused with all of the names involved, so I think I will do in a different direction for my story posts than I did with the Ramayana.  In those stories, I used the names and the plot and I changed the story and time and place up to make it interesting. 

For this book, I think I will focus on smaller pieces of the story that interest me.  I really liked the first part of the book, where the man is married to the woman who demands to do as she wishes.  I found it interesting that he let her drown seven of their children before he spoke up.  I also liked the aspect of trickery in this part of the story, because she was actually a god all along and she was fulfilling what she was meant to do. 

The part of the story with the five brothers also interests me.  It is weird that they all won the same princess as a wife, but I like the backstory that she was treated badly in another life and the man said that she would be loved as if by five men.  I think it could be used in a story with some sort of romantic plot very easily. 

Source:  Nayaran's Mahabharata Reading Guide

Feedback Focus: Tactics That Help Me

Note-taking:  Pixabay

During class this week, we tried several different ways of taking notes to give good feedback.  I was able to experience each new type of note taking and learn new ways to focus.  In order of helpfulness to me, these tactics were setting a time, copy-and-delete, and reading out loud. 

I started with the reading out loud strategy.  This strategy did not really help me because I have always had a problem with comprehending what I am reading when I read aloud.  I understood the stories better when I was reading them in my head, because instead of focusing on pronouncing the words, I could visualize the story in my head.  I did not care for this strategy, and I will probably not use it to give feedback to my classmates.  I also found it a little awkward to read out loud to nobody. 

My second strategy was copy-and-delete.   I feel that this strategy would work well with longer stories or when I am trying to make a very substantial comment.  With this strategy, I had a hard time finding something to comment on in some paragraphs, and in others there was too much.  When I combined my notes from each paragraph, my comment appeared a little disjointed as well.  I like this strategy because it keeps me on track and makes me notice the little details.  I will probably use this strategy on longer stories that I am giving feedback on. 

Finally, my favorite strategy that I learned was to set a timer.  I really liked this strategy because it kept me focused for a full 20 minutes.  When I set a timer, I found that I did not get distracted as much by things going on around me or by my phone.  I like this strategy because I can read the story in my head, and then reread it, or just reread the interesting parts.  I will definitely use this strategy when I do the majority of my project feedback comments for my classmates. 

Week 4 Story: Rama's Regret

Sita in the 1920's Wiki

He was the stereotypical tall dark and handsome... and I fell in love with him.  It ended up being the stupidest choice of my entire life.  He turned out to be the biggest jerk you could ever imagine.  Wanna hear the story?  Here goes...

I was living in a big city, pursuing my dreams as a flapper girl dancer at the local Speakeasy.  It wasn't the most honorable life, but I kept my values and I loved the glamour of the lifestyle... and hey it was an easy job that was new and empowering to women my age.  I met a lot of guys... but Rama... he was different from the first time I met him.  I fell madly in love with him, following him everywhere, and slowly losing myself.  I always considered myself a strong and independent woman, but when I was with Rama I found myself depending on him for everything.  I was so in love with him that my life starting revolving around whatever he wanted. 

We were together for quite a while, but he never talked about us getting married.  I didn't want to give up my glamorous lifestyle and he disapproved of it secretly.  I found this out the day that I told him I was pregnant with his child.  He didn't believe me.  He told me he loved me but we could never be together because he didn't trust me because of my job.  He was quite an affluent man, and he didn't want to ruin his reputation by marrying me.  So he told me to leave. 

I had nowhere to go because I had become so dependent on Rama.  I would soon lose my job due to my pregnancy, and it was definitely frowned upon to be in my situation during this time.  I took all the money I had and bought a small apartment in a sketchy part of town.  I kept my job for as long as I could, and saved everything up in my apartment, because it wasn't much and I didn't care for banks. 

I had the babies... twins and moved on with my life.  I started out as a secretary for an up and coming business and my life slowly started to turn around.  I worked my way up the chain and now I am making more money than Rama ever did, I fell in love even harder than before, got married, and I have been raising my boys happily with my new husband...but that's not the end of the story just yet. 

The other day Rama decided to try to find me.  As it turns out, he lost all of his fortune in the great depression.  He has been miserable ever since, never being able to regain his money or status even when the economy recovered.  He contacted me to try to convince me that he had made a mistake and wanted me back.  When I said no, he went for custody of the boys... which was obviously shot down immediately by the courts since I have a stable family, have raised the boys since the beginning, and I make more money than he ever will again. 

Maybe I should feel bad for this miserable man, but I don't.  He had no compassion for me when I was carrying his children, so he can go enjoy what's left of his unhappy life.  As for me, I'm the happiest woman in the world.  I'm Sita, the queen of the big city, the girl who overcame the selfishness of Rama, and the woman who regained her strength and independence. 



AUTHOR'S NOTE:  This story was based upon Nina Paley's version of the Ramayana: Sita Sings the Blues, which can be found here.  I twisted the story to be about the relationship between Rama and Sita, and I made Sita into a stronger character.  I wanted her to have the victory in the end since Rama treated her so badly.  The setting and time were changed from India in BC times to the 1920s in the United States. 

Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blues Part B

Rama turns his back on Sita Flickr

In part B of Sita sings the blues, a new part of the Ramayana was presented to me, which I did not read in Narayan's Ramayana.  In this part of the story, Sita and Rama return to the castle and Rama becomes king.  Shortly after, Sita tells Rama that she is pregnant and Rama again begins to doubt her character.  He tells his servant to take her to the forest and leave her there.  She has twins in the forest and they are raised to love, worship, and respect Rama.  Rama returns years later and wants to take the boys back to his castle as his sons to rule, but he makes Sita prove her faithfulness to him yet again.  This results in Sita's death (at least it is implied in this movie) and Rama feels some guilt. 

I have enjoyed reading the Ramayana and experiencing it through film, until this last section.  I want to believe that Sita is a strong woman and she is not dependent on Rama's love.  The move ends with Rama rubbing Sita's feet and Sita winking, so I think that Nina wanted the story to end with the woman in power as well, but I want it to be less implied in my version of the story. 

For my storytelling this week, I will write about Rama and Sita's love story in the 1920s.  Sita will be a flapper girl and the story will unfold so that Rama again questions Sita's character, but this time, Sita will control the power and Rama will realize his mistakes in treating Sita badly. 

Source:  Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues:  Video and Viewing Guide

Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blues Part A

 

Sita Sings the Blues Flickr

This week, instead of reading, I watched the movie Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley: here is a link to the reading guide and YouTube Video. 

This story follows really closely with Nayaran's Ramayana, but it is a lot more artistic.  The music that Sita sings reminds me a lot of the 1920's and I think I may want to use that as a theme for my writing.  I also like that the story focuses more on the love between Rama and Sita rather than the fighting and battle like in the other Ramayana I read.  It is also interesting how Nina intertwined the story of her personal relationship with the story of Rama and Sita and with India.  I am curious about how that part of this movie will end and I am looking forward to watching part two. 

My story this week will most likely focus on the relationship between Rama and Sita, but I will move the time to the 1920s and maybe Sita can be a flapper girl or some kind of show girl.  I am not yet sure of the setting for my story, but I am pretty sure I want to write about Rama and Sita's relationship this time and cut out the battle parts.  Hopefully I will inspired with a good setting and more parts to the story in the second half of the movie!

Storytelling: Rama in New York part 2

"Rama... seriously where are you...?"

I literally cannot take this much longer.  I've been trapped in this stupid stinky warehouse for like eight days.  I could easily free myself from this little enclosure, but it would be a lot easier if my stupid boyfriend Rama would just hurry his butt up and get here to help me out.  I just need a distraction, and someone strong, but there is nothing here to help me. 

So this is basically what happened: Rama had a brother who got into drugs, killed their rich CEO father to pay a debt, framed Rama- who then went to jail, and then Rama framed a girl who came to see him (the sister of the drug dealer that his brother owed a debt to) and then he was released.  Unfortunately, now the big scary guy that is brother owed money, Ravana, has kidnapped me and he thinks he is gonna keep me here forever until I say I will do whatever he wants- which is NOT gonna happen.  I'm a smart girl, and I can find my way out of here- however, what I have in smarts I lack in strength, so I still need Rama's help.  He will be here any minute though.  When I got kidnapped I dropped jewelry from my piercings on the ground and I am sure he will find the trail and easily find me- then the real fun will begin. 

Jewelry Online Design

Wait... what was that noise??

"Sita!!"

What?? Where was that coming from?? It was his voice but I couldn't see him! "Rama?? Where are you??" I harshly whispered. 

"I'm up here!" He yelled from the ceiling- he had snuck in through a small hole in an air duct and he was crawling on the beams in the high ceiling.  "I'm going to go after Ravana- here use this knife to free yourself and we will get out of here" He said, dropping me a small pocket knife I could use to cut the ties around my feet. 

Rama crawled through the beams to the next room where Ravana was, and I could see through the crack in the door what was happening.  Rama was way outnumbered- there were like 7 big guys besides just Ravana.  But Rama had the advantage- he was a good shot and they still didn't know that he was there.  Unfortunately Rama is a boy and he is not the brightest- he jumped down into the middle of the circle and went directly for Ravana.  All of Ravana's henchmen grabbed at Rama and before he knew it he was no longer winning. 

I knew I had to do something- so I looked around the room for things to use.  I found some pretty heavy old pieces of machinery that I could use to throw at the guys holding Rama back.  I did, and fortunately it hit them both hard enough and in the right spot, and they passed out.  Rama took this advantage and pulled out his gun.  Like I said- he was a good shot, so he hit Ravana right away, but it took several shots to take him down.  We were going to quickly take care of the henchmen and get out of there- but as soon as Ravana was dead, they all surrendered.  Turns out that Ravana had kidnapped the majority of them, or they had owed him debts and they were happy to see him gone. 

Eventually Ravana's sister got herself out of jail in the same way that Rama did- she made a plea deal for information on some other big drug guy in New York City.  We made sure we didn't see her again- we moved across town and changed our names.  We haven't really been bothered lately by anyone and it has been pretty nice.  Rama's remaining brother, Lakshmana, has taken over his father's old company, and he has so much money he doesn't know what to do with it all- so he takes care of us and we provide him with safety from the bad people in NYC.  It worked out pretty well overall- we are all happy and I am just SO glad that we got out safe from the threat of Ravana.  I'm sure Rama and I will run into more challenges- but there's nothing we can't handle!

AUTHOR'S NOTE:  This story is based on the second half of Nayaran's Ramayana (Link to Reading Guide).  The names have been kept the same, and some of the plot ideas, but the story has been twisted to a New York City setting.  My version of the story has two parts- the first part can be found under week 2 storytelling on my blog.