Epics of India

This story (and others!) can now also be found on my website: Rehashed Histories . (moon at night, from Pexels ) Savanad gazed out of his window. The moon was a pale orb in the sky, casting a haunting glow on the forest below. Oh how he longed to be free from this place! "Why could I not have been born a man!" he thought. Sighing, he turned away from the window and read again the letter on his table. The jagged, barely legible scrawl said one simple thing: "Gather to kill Rama." He shuddered as he read it, for there was only one among them with such longhand - the rakshasa Khara. Savanad was torn. As a rakshasa himself, he was duty-bound to answer the summons. But in his heart, he had no such desire. Despite his fellow people feasting on man, Savanad instead longed to live among men, for he had seen with what variety a skilled cook could prepare any ingredient set before him. He had glimpsed the exquisite beauties of the women, and yearned to have o...

From the Public Domain Edition of the Ramayana , by Valmiki. Notes/thoughts taken in real time, as I was reading through. (Avatar Aang, sketched by DontSpeakSilent on Sketchport ) Good man, Bharata. It's always satisfying to see justice delivered, especially when it also portrays not just revenge. It is a good way to make the character really likable. How can you dislike someone who, despite burning with righteous anger, doesn't let the anger go to his head and go on an execution spree, but instead, knowing his place, chooses to do what's right? Though he technically could just assume the throne because he technically had the right, he chose instead to right the wrongs that his mother committed. A good character building strategy to make that character liked by the reader. I'm also impressed by Rama's loyalty to his father, King Dasharatha. Even with the news that the king is dead, and the urging of the king's counselor to take the throne, he instead ...

From the Public Domain Edition of the Ramayana , by Valmiki. Note: these comments were taken in real time, as I was reading through. (Asgard, conceptual; taken from Flickr ) The introductory descriptions of King Dasharatha and Koshala (Kosala?) reminded me of Asgard, especially as depicted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Towering palaces, decorated temples, just a scene that inspires awe. And sitting on top of it all, a king. In the MCU, and in Norse mythology in general, this was Odin. After the Ashwamedha, it describes a grand oblation that several of the major Hindu gods attend. It seems like Indian mythology is quite influential and has pervaded other modern cultures, especially in Japanese culture, to my surprise. For example, Indra is depicted as the elder brother of Asura, both of whom are sons of a great sage in the manga, Naruto. The two are bitter rivals, and their rivalry, passed down through the generations, could be seen as a type of the rivalry the gods...

How to Praise Your Child I work with kids a lot through my church and it's so easy to slip into the "easy" praise, that is, rewarding the child for the end result, rather than the process. For example, one child brings me her drawing of a dog. There may be no way that I could have told you it was a dog, but I say, "Wow! That's a great drawing!" This will result in her putting in less and less effort as she realizes that anything she does will result in a positive result - praise from the teacher. I like how the article focuses on helping the child reflect on themselves, their effort, and their ability, rather than external praise from whoever. This gives them a self-motivation that will result in a better product, no matter what they are doing. As Calvin famously put it... ( Calvin and Hobbes, Jan. 27, 1994 ) 7 Questions to Ask After Feedback We're good at criticizing others, but what if we are criticized ourselves? I appreciate good feedback,...

Hanuman: Apparently, Hanuman is one of the most memorable characters from the Ramayana, and from the Week 2 Reading Overview, I can definitely see why. He carried a mountain! Because he couldn't find an herb for it! As I said in my Week 2 Reading Notes post, I'm excited to find out more about this guy. More about Hanuman here . Or on Wikipedia . Sita: Sita is a major character in the Ramayana, but from what I've read of her, she seems naive and a bit bratty, but fiercely loyal. At this point, however, I've only read the story about the golden deer. Maybe as the story progresses, she matures? I know she kind of redeems herself with the walking on fire ordeal but what other shenanigans will she get into? More about Sita here . Or on Wikipedia . Yoga: "Yoga Fire! Yoga Flame!" Since I was a child, I was fascinated by the video game Street Fighter's portrayal of this stretchy, teleporting yogi. Maybe I envisioned that, if I practiced yoga for long en...

Ashamed at having his dignity stripped, the crocodile crawled back to his swamp. His mate, expecting a fine meal that night, was vastly disappointed. How she had longed for the heart of that monkey! In a fit of anger, she left him, for how could he, if he could not catch a mere monkey, provide for their soon to be child? And so she left, seeking a more capable mate. The crocodile wept bitterly. He began a dark spiral of introspection in which he evaluated himself and found himself to be lacking. Full of self-doubt and not wanting to face humiliation again, he refrained from going out to hunt any prey at all. After a few months, he was unrecognizable - a shell of his former self. His deep green scales, once a testament to his mighty hunting prowess, were now a sickly pall covering the coffin of his flesh. His ears, once covered my many layers of skin, now protruded out at oblong angles and the taut skin around his face sagged. The other animals, seeing the state of the crocodile, gr...

The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart from Eastern Stories and Legends by Marie L. Shedlock. The Crocodile in the River, from Vanarinda Jataka, in The Jataka: Volume 1 translated by Robert Chalmers. Both of these stories are similar; they involve a crocodile being outwitted by a monkey, who is one of the incarnations of the Buddha in a past life. It seems like the crocodile is always portrayed as...exceedingly unintelligent, to put it lightly. He believes the monkey speaks to a rock regularly, and that his heart is hidden up in a tree because it would fall out with all his swinging. I think I've tried something similar on one of my 5-year old cousins. And even he didn't fall for it. However, it's not entirely the crocodile's fault. The spurring on of his wife reminds me of the Biblical story of Adam and Eve. Because of her persuasion, the crocodile does something he didn't wish to do, just as Adam partook of the wrong fruit because of persuasion ...

  There's a band I really like called Goose House. Here's one of their covers of a song by Mongol800. The original has a funky, rocky kind of feel to it (which I really like) but I like Goose House's version almost as much, if not more. Their harmonies, combined with the gentle acoustic...It has that "long summer days" feeling that has a certain kind of nostalgia to it. Like I'm a kid again without a care in the world, playing while mom makes lunch in another room. Ah, to go back to those days. Anyways, hope you enjoy this cover!

The real focus of the class begins here, on Week 2. I chose to read the PDE Ramayana. I feel the older style fits better for such a story and the various authors' tones makes it seem as if it were being told around a campfire or something. A classic retelling from the styles of different authors, it's almost as I were going around from town to town in India and hearing the same story from different tellers. Plus, it's free.  Going in as a complete beginner to Indian literature and stories, in order to get some kind of background, some comic books and videos were provided for our perusal. Here are a couple of each I found interesting and my thoughts on them. Comic Books: Ancestors of Rama: A Noble Inheritance Rama is a central figure in the Ramayana, but I know nothing about him, so I thought it would be good to get an idea of where he came from. Thus, I stumbled upon this comic book, which goes back to Rama's great-great-grandfather (four generations!) a...

(simple clock, taken from Pixabay ) Time management is a big deal, not only in college but in moving on into the professional world. A 3 month project cannot be magically condensed down into a night, no matter how hard you try. The consequences of doing that in college may just be a bad grade, but out there, especially in the engineering sector, lives could be put at risk! There's a saying a like and try to live by: "If it's not in your schedule, it doesn't exist." So, to mitigate potential procrastination, I've added a set hour block according to my schedule. Of course, there's always some flexibility needed; schedules don't always pan out the way I want them to. But it's good to at least develop some kind of consistency. I also downloaded this extension in my browser that displays a to-do list when I open a new tab. That way, before I can get to browsing the net, I'm reminded of what I need to do. I appreciate the article on building a...

(cafe tabletop, from Maxpixel.net ) This is the first, and probably will be the only, class where the majority of the assignments are through blogging. I greatly prefer this over turning in papers. It is a little more informal and a lot more interactive than traditional papers, and I think it fits the style of an online class much better. My first thought after visiting the Class Wiki was "overwhelming." There was a lot of information, but as I went through it a dissected it link by link, it turned out to be not too bad. I've only yet scratched the surface.  Until the next post, Smith

(Bill Russell, taken from  wikimedia ) Online classes have been...hit-and-miss for me. I like the flexibility and how fast you can finish the classes. Sometimes, they are set up really nicely and the professor is clear on when assignments are due, what assignments are due, what their grading policies are, etc. Other times, not so much. I think some professors forget that students are also taking other classes and assume the students are free to study for their class at any time (because it's online)...Happily, I can say that this is one of the former. The assignments are detailed and well explained, and the due dates, though flexible, are clear. I like the extra credit assignments ! The Wikipedia Trails one sounds interesting, similar to another game called "The Wiki Game," but without a clear destination. I'm looking forward to that one. I think the most interesting start-finish combination I have had from "The Wiki Game" was barbiturate (nervous ...

(A+ grade, taken from here ) "Are we raising kids who are obsessed with getting A's?...Their biggest goal is getting the next A, or the next test score?" Wow, what a question. This is definitely prevalent in today's academic environment. Students are so occupied with results that they disregard any sort of problem-solving processes. This in turn, results in a very negative trend - a short term, "quick fix," pseudo-high from a burst of dopamine that is a reward for, for example, looking up an answer online. As they continue to do so, a vicious cycle appears - a quick and easy answer (and praise for it) sets up a "comfort zone," as Carol Dweck calls it , of which students are afraid to venture out of because of the endangerment to their ego. As much as I am ashamed to admit it, I am also guilty of this. There's a definite cultural shift in this age - where you have the world in the palm of your hand - from learning things to looking up th...

My name is Smith. I know your first question: "What?? That's your first name?" 99.3% of people I've met have had this exact same conversation with me. I believe this is how the story goes: I was born in Bangkok, Thailand in July 1997. My mother is a native Thai, and my father is from Burma (which I believe is now called Myanmar). They had set their minds and their hearts to go the US eventually to make sure their kids had a good education and a better opportunity at a good life. Thus, to make sure I fit in, they looked up the most common English names. Unfortunately, the one they found happened to be a last name. And so, to this day, I have never met another man named Smith. Here's a picture of my parents, taken on a trip back to Thailand last summer. They're pretty cool people: (Surat Thani, Thailand) Fun fact, though: Martin van Buren's (the eighth US president's) youngest son was named Smith! So indirectly, I guess I'm pretty famous, tho...

Wow, there are so many creative ways to depict classic Indian stories! Turning them into "Storybooks," in which characters from these Indian stories are included in a modern retelling makes them more interesting and easier to understand, like your professor making a concept easier to understand by giving an anecdote. These are three Storybooks from previous students of Epics of India that I really enjoyed: The House to a Wife of Many What a haunting tale. The introduction set the story up in a way that really immersed you, almost as if you were talking to a friend that was recounting a story they went through. I almost believed that it was a real story being told. The format of the story - through entries from a diary rather than through narration - did an excellent job in establishing a timeline, but it sounded like the main character, who was reading the diary, had a very similar tone of voice/vocabulary as Betsy, who was from the late 19th century. That was a little...

Cape Town, South Africa:  I visited Cape Town two summers ago, and the beautiful landscapes captivated me. From white sand beaches, to soaring mountains, to wild grasslands, South Africa has it all. If I had the opportunity, I wouldn't hesitate to go back! It's only an ocean away...The following three pictures (taken by me), capture only 10% (or less) of the amazing scenery you can find there:   (Camps Bay Beach, Cape Town)  (Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, Cape Town) (some of my group playing frisbee on the beach)

Hey there classmates (and all that have an interest in Epics of India). I hope you enjoy this journey as we go through it together.