Indian Epics Blog

Using the randomizer I found a couple of cats that I really liked either because they were cute, funny, relatable, or all of the above! The first one was adorable and very accurate. I've found the more I write the better I get at it, especially when it comes to my personal statements. The second meme made me laugh. I've always been a goal setter and while it can be sad to miss your goal it's good to even get close to reaching it because there is always next time! Cat Meme 1 Cat Meme 2

Why Sleeping May Be More Important Than Studying I have always valued sleep. I've never been the kind of person who pulled all-nighters because I knew how important sleep was to me physically, mentally, and emotionally. Knowing how important sleep is already I thought it would be interesting to learn even more. Even though I knew how important sleep already was I couldn't believe how much of an impact sleep can really have - if you don't sleep you don't process and store what you're trying to learn, especially with language acquisition skills. I'm definitely going to try some of the sleep tactics they suggested in the article and seeing how else sleep can benefit me if I stop looking at screens about an hour before bed. Sleeping at School 

Out of these tales, the one that stuck out the most to me was the one entitled "Goblin Town". I would change the ship crash to maybe a plane crash (sort of LOST sense). Where all these beautiful people lived and they enchanted the crash survivors, but at night one by one the survivors would be take by these goblins (being the beautiful people). The survivors would have to band together to figure out how to escape off the island or at least from the goblins. The Cast of LOST Title:  Twenty Jataka Tales Author: Noor Inayat (Khan) Illustrator: H. Willebeek Le Mair Year: 1939

I have already read two different versions on the Guilty Dogs tale and I found it so interesting that two people came up with two completely different versions. Reading the original I see why so many people were drawn to the story. It was definitely my favorite out of all the ones I read. I would love to retell it and put my own spin on it. Maybe with a Thanksgiving theme since it's next week and have someone eat all of the favorite dessert but no one knows who did it so someone else get's the blame even though they didn't do it. It definitely was my favorite tale out of the part A. I can't wait to see what part B holds. Thanksgiving Meal  Title: Twenty Jataka Tales Author: Noor Inayat (Khan) Illustrator: H. Willebeek Le Mair Year: 1939

The article I chose to read and learn about was: Being Busy Is Killing Our Ability to Think Creatively . It was interesting to learn that being busy is just an information overload and inhibits our ability to be creative. I would think that being busy makes people more creative because they're always thinking and going. I did know that creativity required thinking and quiet because how else do you get your creative juice flowing. I'm curious to explore for myself if taking time to help hit the reset button so I can get my creative juices flowing would help me with my storytelling. Next time I tell a story I want to spend about 30 minutes just thinking about how exactly I'm going to change the story and make it my own instead of jumping right on into writing it. Creative Meme

I added the Weather widget to my side bar. I think it's a nice little feature in case anyone is curious what the weather is. Here's a link to the directions to add a weather widget .

The fight between Rama and Ravana was fun to read and I think it would be fun to retell. Maybe make Lanka, the sage, a little angel on Rama's shoulder to help him win the battle. Possibly give Rama a golden bow that can defeat Ravana if he is shot in the heart of something cliche like that. Battles are always fun to retell.  Havana's heads flying off as Rama shoots them Bibliography: PDE Ramayana

In part C, I really liked the where they were in Ravana's Court. Ravana trying to decide whether or not to return Sita was really interesting. It would be interesting to turn this into a court case where Rama is the plaintiff and Ravana is the judge and his advisors are the ones defending him keeping Sita and going to war against Rama. Rama is arguing to get Sita back with no war. I think it would be fun to change it like that. Ravana Bibliography: PDE Ramayana

I haven't done a growth mindset all semester so I figured I should go ahead and do one :) Here are my three favorite cat memes from Pinterest! The reason I like the first on is because I definitely relate to the study hard and then take a break. I do it all the time and seeing a cute kitten napping is just adorable. The second one really spoke to me about getting my homework and grad school applications done in a timely manner. It's been difficult balancing everything and still having a life. (I go out of town almost every week so I have to finish everything by Thursday, typically.)  However, I think I've done a good job at making sure when I'm working I'm actually working and being effective. The last one relates back to my grad applications. I've had multiple revisions on my personal statement, but it's been good for me to receive feedback so that I can make my statement the best it can be. Meme 1 Meme 2 Meme 3

King Dasharatha and his wife had been waiting patiently for so long to finally have an heir to their kingdom. Finally, after years of trying King Dasharatha decided to go in to town and talk with the local seer. Now, this was frowned upon by everyone in the kingdom because the seer was not to be trusted. She lied frequently and took everyone's money. However, Dasharatha was desperate and he was looking for any possible answer to gain an heir and a son. That night Dasharatha made his way to the seer. He cloaked himself with robes and snuck out of the castle so none of his guards would see him. He also didn't tell his wife where he was going. He didn't want her to think less of his for going to speak with the seer. As soon as King Dasharatha walked into the seers hut she sensed him. "Hello, King Dasharatha. I was wondering when you were going to come see me." Shocked, King Dasharatha said, "How did you know I would come see you? Have you heard about my ...

I really liked reading about Bharata's return. I can't imagine coming home to learn that my brother had been exiled and that my father was dead. I think it would be fun to tell the story from Bharata's point of view so we can see what is going through his head during the whole ordeal. Bharata Sets off to find Rama Bibliography: PDE Ramayana

Even though I have previously read a different version of the Ramayana, I enjoyed this one. I really liked the part about   Dasharatha's sons. I think I would change the story to where instead of making a horse sacrifice to be given children I would have a vision of one of the god's appear before him, like Vishnu, and tell him to patient and trust the process and he would be rewarded tenfold. I don't want an innocent animal to die. This retelling reminds me of Abraham sacrificing his son, but he ends up not needing to because God sees how much Abraham trusts him. Dasharatha's Horse Bibliography: PDE Ramayana 

There were these two little boys who had grown up on the same street ever since they were born. They were best friends, always hanging out and playing together. Their names were Mike and Will. Neither Mike or Will were happy unless they were together. One day Mike went to go knock on Will's door to see if he wanted to play soccer with him. No one answered the door, which was odd because Will or his parents were always home. Then he looked around back for a car and sure enough there wasn't a car. Mike started to freak out because if Will was going to go somewhere he definitely would have told Mike. Because Mike had been watching a lot of scary movies, since it was October of course, he decided Will and his family had obviously been kidnapped. Mike knew the entry code to get into Will's house so he decided to go inside and see if he could figure out what happened so he could let the police know. Mike hastily entered the code and  ran up to Will's room, but he wasn...

I really enjoyed the story about the dog and the elephant. It's fun to see unlikely animals become friends. If I were to retell this story I could change them to different animals or turn them to humans. I really enjoyed reading the rest of the stories, but the elephant and the dog one was definitely my favorite. The wise goat and the wolf was another great story. It was cunning and fun to read. I'm not sure how I might retell it just yet, but I think it would be fun to try. Title: More Jataka Tales Author: Ellen C. Babbitt Illustrator: Ellsworth Young Year: 1922 The Elephant and the Dog Reunited

After reading Part A at first, I couldn't see myself retelling any of the stories, but I went back and spent a little more time reading them and I enjoyed the Rose-Bud story where the four princes saw the same tree just at different times, but none of them ever thought it was pretty. It would be interesting to change it from a tree to maybe a garden or something else and the people who go look at it don't think it's worth anything except the last person who sees it fully grown and it's potential. More Jataka Tales Title: More Jataka Tales Author: Ellen C. Babbitt Illustrator: Ellsworth Young Year: 1922

One day, a boy named Giles. Giles grew up with a big family and had a lot of brothers and sisters, but he was the youngest. All of his siblings were so different. Some were quiet, others were kind, and some were down right mean. Giles did not know what kind of person he was yet and he wanted to figure it out. He was around his siblings all the time so always over heard their conversations and saw what they were doing. So everyday after school he decided to start imitating one of his siblings so he could figure out if he was quiet, kind, mean, or anything else like his siblings. On the first day, he overheard he eldest sibling Britney talking to her friend about how being mean helped her get what she wanted. So the next day Giles decided to be mean. He started yelling at his parents and telling them what he wanted instead of asking. At first his parents thought he might just be having a hard day, but as the day went on he just kept being mean. They decided to wait until the next d...

The elephant girly-face was a very interesting story to read and I think it would be a fun one to retell, but instead of an elephant I would make him a human being where he hears about how he should act and then does so accordingly. Cover of the Jatakas Tales Title: Jataka Tales Author: Ellen C. Babbitt Illustrator: Ellsworth Young Year: 1912

I really liked the story about how the turtle saved himself. It would be fun to change the turtle to a different animal or do retell the story from the turtle's perspective. I thought the story about the ox had a really good moral of the story. I would like to retell it, but I'm not sure exactly what I would do with it just yet. Those were the only two stories that spoke out to me. Man telling the King to throw the Turtle in the lake.  Title: Jataka Tales Author: Ellen C. Babbitt Illustrator: Ellsworth Young Year: 1912

It was a hot summer's day. As the sun rose high in the sky the competitors took their place. Today was the day and by the end one of them have Draupadi's hand in marriage.  All in all, there were four competitors. These five men came from all over, each from a different kingdom. They all wanted to win Draupadi's hand in marriage in order to unite their kingdom with her father's. Also, it did not hurt that Draupadi was the most beautiful woman in all the land. The men had to compete in an activity of Draupadi's choosing. Since Draupadi is a woman who enjoys strength so she obviously chooses archery. First off, Bhima goes.  He completely misses the mark. Totally embarrassed, but thankful he had one more try he goes again. The second time he hits the outer rim of the mark, but at least this time he hit the target. Inside his head he was hoping that the other contestants did as poorly as he did.  After Bhima goes, next up to the target is Karna. He was born as a c...

The Year of Disguise part in the second part of the Mahabharata was so entertaining. I love that each of the brothers disguise themselves as something/someone else. I could have a lot of fun having them pretending to be different things, maybe a far off prince, a joker, maid, cook, there is so just so many options! After their year of disguise, I wouldn't include a rape or anything I would have them overthrow the kingdom and taking it as theirs. I would probably have the five brothers rule together and have them live happily ever after.  The Pandevas in Disguise Title: The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata - The Princes of Elephant City Author: C. A. Kincaid Year: 1921

I like how there is a challenge for suiters to win the hand in marriage and that could be interesting to look into. Instead of having all five of the Pandavas brother's marry Drupada's daughter, I would only have Arjuna marry her since he is the one who won the contest. The part where Arjuna marries a sea nymph is cool and I like that he has to defeat an alligator which free's them from their cursed form. I could retell this part but have the sisters be something other than an alligator or maybe have them be mermaids instead of sea nymphs. I really liked this version of the Mahabharata more than the original.  The Little Mermaid and Her Sisters Title: The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata - The Princes of Elephant City Author: C. A. Kincaid Year: 1921

I am extremely happy with my progress so far. At the beginning of the semester I worked about a week ahead and it was nice because then I didn't have to worry about due dates, then I got sick and thankfully I didn't have to work on this class since I was a week ahead. I try to finish all of the assignments early so I can focus on getting ahead, just a little bit each week. This is why I'm working ahead now. My routine stays the same about each week, sometimes if I'm not feeling like doing work that day I don't and make time to do it the next. There isn't anything I want to change going forward. I'm doing well and not waiting until the last minute on anything. :) Motivation Meme

I really like all the feedback and comments I'm getting. They make me feel good about the content I'm posting and they're helpful as far as constructive criticism. I think I'm leaving good comments, probably not the most constructive, but I typically enjoy everything I read and don't have a lot of negative things to say about their stories unless it's a difficulty in understanding. I feel like all the blog comments are good because they're connecting all of us together between stories and our interactions. We're all getting to know one another through our stories and it's really fun. I think looking forward I'm gonna try to focus on giving more constructive feedback rather than just praises. I chose the image below because I thought it was really cute and it's true. Feedback Cat Meme

So far in the seven weeks I've been reading stories and retelling them in my own way it has been an interesting time. At first I was worried about how I would be able to come up with anything because I don't think of myself at creative at all. Granted, a lot of my posts have been easy and not super creative but they have still been fun for me to do. I've done fairytales and simple things like that but I have had fun with the creative process. I'm proud of what I have done so far and I can't wait to see what else I can do. Especially with the storybook process. My favorite reading has been the Ramayana, even though Rama really pissed me off at some points it was really intriguing. I think my biggest accomplishment has been just getting out of my comfort zone with writing and really trying to make my stories as good as they can be. Looking forward, I'm just gonna keep trying to get out of my comfort zone and start coming up with different kinds of stories. ...

On a gloomy afternoon, five brothers are wandering around, lost, in a forest.  Earlier that morning the brothers decided to go on a hike, but instead of walking the planned trail that was laid out for them by the forest rangers, they decided to blaze their own trail and just go wherever their sense of direction took them.  It turned out that the forest was much more vast than any of the brothers realized, and before they knew it they were very much lost. The map they brought with them was not any help because besides the trails already mapped out, it just showed a bunch of green so they  were unable to discern their location from the map.  Thankfully, the brothers were all experienced hikers so you would think they would have come prepared with plenty of food, water, and other equipment to build a fire just in case anything bad were to happen while they were out hiking. Normally they would have brought all of those essential item...

In the last part of the Mahabharata there wasn't anything that spoke to me to retell. I'm not big into war or battles where everyone is trying to kill each other so it is hard to connect with any of the stories. So I plan on retelling a story from Part C this week.  Brishma on Bed of Arrows Title: The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic Author: R. K. Narayan Year: 1978

I really liked the small part about the story of the lake. It reminded me of ghosts of Christmas past. I think it would be fun to retell this story, but have the brothers have to answer the questions going over a bridge or something similar and have them all take their exile somewhere different and crazy. There wasn't anything else I really connected to in the rest of part C.  Deathly Hallows Story Title: The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic Author: R. K. Narayan Year: 1978

One day in a quiet village, there was a quiet young woman named   Satyavati. Satyavati liked to keep to herself, but she always had an eye for the baker's boy, Shantanu. Shantanu, was the son of the town's bakers and it was his destiny to take over his parent's baking business after they died. At the moment they were grooming him and teaching him how the business worked. His parents were also getting him ready for marriage, for Shantanu was already to be wed to the daughter of the cheese makers, but Shantanu wasn't in love with that girl and he only wanted to marry someone he was in love with. This was a problem because Brishma was already being groomed as well by his parent's to take over, when and if Shantanu decided he didn't want to take over the bakery business. Brishma's parents assumed because of Shantanu's disdain for arranged marriages that he would forfeit his right to the bakery business so Brishma could take over and be the sole baker f...

I really enjoyed reading the section of the dice game. I think it would be fun to retell that part and change the stakes/the reason why they're playing. Maybe not gamble a person since that seems very inhumane. I could retell about Arjuna going to the mountains and then being in exile as a eunuch. I could make it some big adventure and how he comes back with all of these weapons. Statue of Arjuna  Title: The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic Author: R. K. Narayan Year: 1978

The Mahabharata was very different from the Ramayana. I didn't enjoy reading this as much as I did the other one. The part of the story where a child was sent off in a basket and raised by another woman reminded me of the Moses' story. However, during this part of the Mahabharata there wasn't any part that I really felt like I wanted to retell. It was much more graphic and nothing I felt connected to with all the wives and killing. The only part I could maybe retell Shantanu and Satyavati  story and make it where Shantanu was supposed to marry someone else but her heart is in love with someone else. I'm looking forward to part B, and I'm hoping that part will have a section of the story I really like which I can retell. Shanatanu - Web Source Title: The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic Author: R. K. Narayan Year: 1978

One morning, a very pregnant woman named Sita woke up and started her day just like every other day, but today would be the day that she would give birth to her four boys. After she woke up, she went about her day like normal, she went to yoga class and then went to work. At work she started having contractions but decided they were far enough apart that she didn't need to worry.  A couple hours later, her contractions started getting closer together - about 7 minutes apart - so she called her husband, Dasaratha, and they decided it was time to go to the hospital! After today they were going to be parents, they were so excited! Once her labor begun, the sky turned dark which was awfully peculiar since it was only 3:00 pm so it should've been totally bright outside and in that moment and her first son was born, Bharata. Even though she was tired, she still had three more boys. As her second son was about to be born, it started to get really windy and rain started pouring. ...

Most of section B is about Sita's capture and rescue, which I have retold as well so I don't want to retell it in a different way. I could possibly retell the section about Sita's twins and the horse sacrifice, along with Rama and his sons being reunited. I really like that they're lost and don't know who their father is and then finally it's a big reveal. That could be very fun to recreate into a modern day thing where the dad didn't know about the sons and they go on a search to find out who their father is and they have a mentor who helps them along the way, that would be Valmiki.  Rama's Sons  Title: The Divine Archer Author: F. J. Gould Year: 1911

I like how the story started off with the births. It would be cool to make the births of all four sons a really interesting experience. I could have the way they are born in different ways, with different events occurring during each birth and for Rama it would be a really out of the world birth because he is an avatar of a god so it has to be worthwhile. Along with that, all the four sons who get married on the same day, it could be a fast-forward story where we start off with their births and then go to their weddings and the same things occur as they're saying their vows or something along those lines. The exile is something I have already retold so I wouldn't really want to do that again, but I appreciated this versions take on it.  Four Brothers at a Wedding - Web Source Title: The Divine Archer Author: F. J. Gould Year: 1911

Click here to go to my newest in my storybook :) This storybook will focus on the Doctor from the BBC Show Doctor Who.  All 13 Regenerations of the Doctor

Once upon a time there was a princess, her name was Sita. She was to be married to the prince from the neighboring kingdom, Prince Rama.  They have grown up together and have been in love since they were little so they were very excited about the marriage ceremony.  It was the night before the ceremony, and Sita was sitting outside on her balcony looking at the stars when a demon, Ravana, appeared. He confessed his love for her and she freaked out. Ravana, witnessing her freak out, decided he couldn't live without her and kidnapped her.  The next morning when Rama found out what happened he went out to go rescue her. During his adventure he ran into a man named Sugriva, who's family had been exiled from his kingdom. After hearing of Rama's loss, he agreed to help him find Sita because he knows the pain and feeling of loss.  As Rama and Sugriva went on their way through a forest, looking for Sita, Sugriva found Sita's jewelry ...

Ravana is very much a trickster, which can play well into my fairytale idea of retelling Sita's capture and Rama's rescue of her. Their battle would be a good climax to this story, because it shows how Rama finally defeats Ravana. And after he defeats Ravana, I would incorporate the wish that Rama was granted, but I would change it to something else that he wishes for. Probably have him wish for his exile to be over or for him and Sita to live happily ever after. In the end he becomes king and Sita is his queen so I could have the fairytale end with a happy wedding like in Cinderella.  Cinderella Wedding - Web Source.   Title: The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic Author: Kamban / R. K. Narayan Year: 1972

This section picks up where B left off, Sita being captured by Ravana. I like that he came to her disguised as a hermit, it reminded me of when the evil queen came to snow white to get her to eat the poisoned apple. I think it would be really fun to make this into a sort of fairytale story, since Ravana can transfigure himself into different creatures. I could have him transform into a dragon and have Rama slay the "dragon" in order to get Sita back. Surgiva could be his trusted ally after finding Sita's jewelry. It could turn into an epic adventure where they cross an ocean, among other things in order to finally get to Sita. I really like this idea of a fairytale retelling of Rama saving Sita. Prince Charming Slaying a Dragon - Web Source.  Title: The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic Author: Kamban / R. K. Narayan Year: 1972

Giving feedback is very important to help people learn from their mistakes. From my leadership class we learned how the best way to give feedback depending on your relationship with the person and their experience. For this class its best to give mainly positive feedback since I won't know any of the other students and because, I'm assuming for most of us have never retold stories or blogged before. And from reading articles online, I've learned that positive feedback is good I just need to make sure it's constructive and goal-oriented. The specific article , discusses the importance of transparent feedback as well because it allows the person being criticized to understand exactly what it is they need to work on to improve the next time. I feel like that idea falls along the lines of the feedforward idea since we'll be giving feedback on student's ever-evolving projects so it's important to help them make the project the best it can be through positive feed...

Continuing with my Doctor Who storybook idea I'll be exploring other Indian Epic stories that the Doctor could get himself entangled in. First, I found the Sons of Rama: Luv and Kush - The Invincible Twins and thought it would be a fun story. I could have the two twins and monkey become his companion for a time where they defeat Rama's brother Shatrughna when he attempts to recapture the sacred horse. Mahiravana - A Magician Outwitted is another story I could have a fun time retelling and watching the bad magician be defeated by the Doctor instead of Hanuman. For the third story I found to retell is Dasharatha: The Story of Rama's Father . This story is another variation of Narayan's Ramanana where Rama is exiled. I think it would be interesting to have the Doctor in on his exile and the many encounters they could run in to. Lastly, I really enjoyed reading Abhimanyu - Star Crossed Prince , being Arjuna's son and watching the Doctor try and help him when his battl...