Reading Diary A [Narayan's Ramayana]

I read from R. K. Narayan's The Ramayana.

These were some very interesting pages of the Ramayana. There were battles and deaths. There were abductions and disguises. This part of the story felt like a truly epic Indian Epic. I am a visual learner, so I adored the multiple descriptions of different scenes. The moments where Rama is contemplating his future course of action is a great example of this. The way the clouds are described make it easy to picture.

Ravana kidnapping Sita

Also, the part where Sita threw down her jewelry so they could have a way to find her was rather brilliant. Even when they found Sita among all the ladies, she had thought ahead to keep a small piece of jewelry so they knew that it was really her. These actions demonstrate that Sita kept a level head through everything. It really is no wonder why the god Vishnu incarnate would love this woman. 

Rama demonstrates that he loves Sita so much. When they doubt they will be able to find her, Rama assures them they will know and describes Sita's feet in such loving detail. He has paid attention to her. I feel like there is probably a good marriage lesson in here somewhere. However, that is something for a different class and a different conversation.

Potential Topics

1. EPIC COUPLES AND LOVE STORIES: I enjoy a great loves story and I bet there are some great ones in these epics. I already like the story of Rama and Sita. It could be interesting to combine couples from each of the epics.
   RESEARCH: I have learned about the Ramayana and its background. I also have learned about the beginning of Rama and Sita’s story. If I chose this topic, I would probably pick three of the couples I find most interesting. I also started research on the couple, Ahalya and Gautama. My research from the Wikipedia page said that Rama releasing Gautama from the stone is an example of the saving grace of God. This is an interesting aspect. I might want to look into the allegory aspect of the stories.
   
   
2. ANIMALS: I am very interested in this topic because I love animals. I work at a pet hospital, so this topic is almost guaranteed to keep me interested and focused for the whole semester. I do not know a lot about the animals so far in these stories. However, I am definitely looking forward to their appearances in the stories.
   RESEARCH: I started to read about Hanuman from the Ramayana on Wikipedia. He looks like a monkey man creature. The breakdown of his name, however, means “disfigured man”. There is one explanation that Indra, the god of the deities, struck him in the face when he was a child. That is kind of a sad beginning to a life.
   
   
3. WOMEN CHARACTERS: I am all for girl power. It could be really fun to explore the depth of the women characters in the Ramayana. Sita has a lot of information and possibilities in her story. I could go a couple different ways with just her story. However, I think it could be interesting to go into the stories of other women in the Ramayana.
   RESEARCH: To look into this topic more, I read about Draupadi from Wikipedia. She was described as the most beautiful women of her time. It went into more detail about a game of dice. I think I have actually heard a little bit about this story before. The game reaches a certain point were Draupadi learns she is a stake in the game. I cannot imagine her feelings as she found out and this could be an interesting aspect of a storybook project to explore.

(Hanuman: The Disfigured Man)

1. KARMA: This is a tempting topic. Almost everyone has heard of karma. It would be very interesting to use my semester to explore the origins of this idea and the original meaning of karma.
   RESEARCH: The Wikipedia article states that the actual meaning of the word is “action, work or deed”. Good deeds and thoughts allow for good karma to occur later in life and bad deeds lead to bad karma. This is very interesting to me. However, I do not have any ideas on how to turn this into a Storybrook.

Week 2 Storytelling: What Happened to the Weather?

Lily was enjoying the cooler weather. It had been a scorcher of a summer. She had looked forward to the cool breeze of winter for a long time now.

She had spent the day cleaning her house with the last bit of warm weather. It was a good choice because as soon as darkness began to close in on the day, a gentle breeze brought a refreshing crispness to the air.

Her husband had already gone to bed. She was sitting in the soft, cushy chair by the window while looking at the stars that had begun to peek out. All was right with the world.

Suddenly an oppressive heat hit her. "What is this?" Lily wondered to herself. Any hope of winter seemed to have been erased from the air. It was almost unbearable. As it began to increasingly heat up to what felt like the middle of summer, Lily became alarmed.

She stepped outside to see if it gave her any clues. As she gazed into the distance, an enormous gust of wind nearly blew her over. It began to pour rain like the heavens themselves had opened.

Ravana's Monsoon

Lily was now becoming terrified.

She sprinted inside, grabbed a towel and began to dry out her hair while she ran towards her husband who was unsurprisingly still sleeping. "Hugo! Hugo! Wake up!"

It seemed like the sun itself had heard her. The darkness disappeared and the sun was suddenly in the sky. Hugo stirred. He turned to see Lily standing in the door with her mouth open.

"What is it? Oh, am I late for work? How did I sleep in so late? Lily, are you okay?"

Lily just stood in the doorway. "You...what...weather...sun..."

"Lily, what happened? Are you okay? Why is it so hot outside?"
 
Suddenly, the sun disappeared. The moon was back in the sky. It was like nothing had ever had happened.

Lily was still silent and Hugo was way more confused than ever.

In another part of the world, Ravana was pining over Sita. His frustration was driving the seasons back and forth and causing confusion among every resident of the earth.


Author's Note: In the original story, Ravana, who is the lord of the demons, essentially throws a temper tantrum when he realizes he does not have Sita as his own wife. He does not like it when the weather was cold and he hated when it was warm. He wanted it to be daytime and then he wanted it to be night again. A monsoon even arrived in the tumultuous changing weather patterns. Personally, I thought it was hilarious and unexpected change in the pattern of the story. It definitely added a comedic note to the story where it was getting kind of serious. I was trying to imagine what someone would have thought to see these drastic changes occurring. In order to communicate that confusion and utter chaos, I wanted to write about what someone was going through somewhere else while these seasons were switching back and forth. I hope the reader can feel how strange it must have been while Ravana threw a fit. It definitely made me laugh while I wrote the retelling of these few paragraphs. The original story is from R. K. Narayan's The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (2006)

Reading Diary B [Narayan's Ramayana]

The second part of my reading covered some rather interesting ground. I read from Narayan's Ramayana.

One of my favorite parts to this selection was where Ravana was essentially throwing a tantrum over Sita. He was not satisfied with the weather during his frustrations. He kept insisting that it change. The winter turned to summer. A monsoon came. Night turned into day. I thought it was a hilarious touch describing the confusion of people and animals. Maybe it is a good idea for the gods to have an anger management class. It could solve a lot of problems.

On another note, perhaps Ravana has taken up residence in Oklahoma. This could explain the random weather patterns.

The other interesting story was where Rama went after the golden deer for Sita. He was hesitant to go after the deer because he was fearing for her safety. But he loved her so much that he wanted to make her happy. So, he kept her under the care of his brother while he went to get the deer.

Then he realized his mistake. It was a trap and he had fallen for it. The deer called out for help in Rama's voice to trick Sita into making Rama's brother go check on him. The brother knew it was a trick. However, Sita must have been extremely persuasive because she managed to get both brothers to do what she wished.

The concern of the brothers was correct, though. Ravana moved in when Sita was left alone. I like where this chapter ended because it kind of feels like a cliffhanger.

Ravana: lord of the demons

Reading Diary A [Narayan's Ramayana]

Lord Rama and Sita

I read R. K. Narayan's The Ramayana.

I feel like most people are going to say that they loved Rama going to string the bow for Sita, but I do not care. It was my favorite part of the pages I read. Even though it seemed impossible for Rama to succeed in stringing the bow, he decided to do it anyway. He was so successful that he actually broke Shiva's bow by touching the two ends together.

How could a girl not love the guy who manages this for her.

Even then, Sita was not aware that the feat had been accomplished. She had to be told. I think this says a lot. Sita was not languishing by the bow waiting on someone to string it for her, Although, it could easily be pointed out that she was tortured by her memory of Rama on the street. Ah, but that is beside my point of remembering this story.

The other thing I noticed was how the text is dramatic. Maybe there was something that did not translate easily, but I realized many of the character were ready to take drastic measures.

For instance, when Sita is told that there is a man who passed the test, she stands up and states that if it is not the man on the road, she will kill herself.

However, it is Rama, so we do not see if she would actually carry through on this.

It was an interesting fifty pages and I am looking forward to how the story plays out.

  

Week 1 Curation : Preparation

Preparation. Organization. Scheduling.

If you want a successful semester, these words become the three pillars of your mindset.ion

In order to prepare for this class, I have been gathering useful tools for building up my resources before we really hit the heart of the semester.

Since I am now a junior, I have edited and refined my information gathering skills.

Pinterest is the backbone which I supplement with posts and websites from my daily reading. Posts and websites are gathered into a folder I keep on my computer's favorites bar. This way it stays in front of my face as I work on my computer. When I am on Pinterest, I build a specific board that I save things to or I just download it to my phone.

Pinterest can change the way you do college!

Technology is ever-evolving. I think adapting study methods with new technology is essential if students in this generation wish to succeed.

My Thoughts About Growth Mindset

First of all, I love TEDtalks.  I think most people don't think about the benefit of pushing themselves out of their comfort zones. There is so much to be learned from the many minds that are featured on that website.

Second, Carol Dweck is brilliant. She has identified one of the greatest issues that is present in this generation. We have built a world of entitlement. Everyone deserves everything that they ever desired. So, when a student does not get an A, their world is over.

Then again, there are the type A perfectionists that are distraught over an imperfect grade. I know, because I am one of them. I passed classes with ease in high school. I had a 4.0 and I took pride in my grades.

Once I got to college, I discovered that it wasn't going to be easy anymore. This was the world of growth and new opportunities. Over this past year, I really learned the benefits of the Growth Mindset. I could take an easy class and protect my GPA. Or I could take the classes I was actually interested in and risk a lower grade point average.

In short, I am a big advocate of the Growth Mindset, even though I didn't know it until now.

German Proverb