So far my experiences in this class have been very
enjoyable. It provides me with a creative outlet and is a nice break from all
of my tough science courses. One of the things that this class focuses on is
writing. I think the best posts I have written so far were Viradha, Riddles of
The Lake, and Exile in Varata’s court. I like each of these stories because I
enjoyed writing them and think each plot is very interesting. I thought it
would be difficult to write these stories at the beginning of the year but it
is actually an enjoyable time. The reading in this class has been interesting
to me because I am learning about a part of Indian culture that I have been
curious about since I was a little kid. I liked reading the Ramayana the most
and Arjuna is my favorite character. The online interactions in the class are
helpful in developing my writing skills because I get a lot of constructive
criticism from my classmates and can also give constructive criticism to my
classmates. I basically try to work on this class when I am not studying for my
science classes. My favorite place to study for this class is in my room. I
have not been doing Growth Mindset or Curation as much as I have wanted to
because of time constraints.
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Storytelling Week 7: Exile in Varata's Court
The Pandevas entered there last year of exile. The disguised
themselves as workers in various professions and lived in King Varata’s court.
They realized that if someone had found them in possession of celestial weapons
it would raise suspicions. They all searched the city for a safe and secure
place to hide their weapons.
After a short search, Arjuna came across an old shami tree
in the cremation grounds. He reasoned that no one would ever think that
anything of value would be hidden in in the cremation grounds. He met up with
his brothers and told them of his idea. They all agreed and made their way to
the cremation grounds and hid their weapons in the shami tree.
364 days passed and the Pandevas were enjoying there time in
King Varata’s Court. On this day one of King Varata’s most trusted advisors
passed away. The town loved this man because he was hardworking and brought a
lot of prosper to the city. The cremation was to be held at 12:00pm on this day
and many would attend his funeral. The Pandeva brothers chose not to attend
because tomorrow would be the end of their exile and they needed to prepare for
their departure.
In this city there was a lot of crime. There was a gang of
thieves named the Aparadha brothers. They dominated the major crime in the city
from drug deals to bank robberies. The 5 Aparadha brothers planned to attend
the cremation because they knew the majority of the town would be in
attendance. They planned to pickpocket citizens and make a quick fortune.
The Aparadha brothers made their way towards the cremation
grounds at 12:00pm. They all split up and made a ton of money off the citizens.
The oldest brother, Viraj decided that he would search for items of high value
such as jewelry. He came across a huge man with a beautiful gold necklace with
many jewels embedded within it. He could not resist and grabbed the necklace
from the man and started running. In his hasty escape he accidentally ran in to
a shami tree. The huge man laughed as he pounded Viraj’s face with his fists.
“That’ll teach you to not to steal jewelry you rotten
theif,” as the huge man landed one last punch on Viraj’s bloody face. He
grabbed his necklace and went back to paying his respects to the advisor in
Virata’s court. The Aparadha brothers came to the aid of their older brother.
They all felt bad that his efforts were in vain. He then shot them with smile.
He explained that as he ran into the tree he noticed 5 shiny objects fall out
of it. He then presented the Aparadha brothers with the celestial weapons. “With
these we will be able to rule the city,” he stated with joy.
The next day the Pandeva brothers made there way toward the
shami tree. They were all shocked to find out that there weapons had been
stolen. Each of the brothers were extremely sad and disappointed that their
hard earned weapons were taken away from them. “Worry not my brothers. The
weapon does not make the warrior. We have the skills that no man can ever steal
from us,” Arjuna said proudly.
The Pandeva brothers all made there way to a local weapon
shop and bought regular weapons. They then heard screams across the city. Upon
firther inspection they saw the Aparadha brothers reigning terror on the city
with their celestial weapons. “THEY STOLE OUR WEAPONS,” Bhima screamed in anger
as he charged towards them. The rest of the Pandeva brothers followed.
An intense battle took place. The Pandeva brothers had to
use all the battle knowledge that was taught to them to compete in this battle.
Finally the Pandeva brothers came out victorious. The city cheered as the
Pandeva brothers claimed victory and got their weapons back. Arjuna smiled
proudly at his brothers and told them again that nothing could stop them. King
Varata then approached the heroes and thanked them for defeating the most
wanted criminal of the city. He then asked them of their names.
“We are the Pandeva brothers,” they all said as they escaped
the scene to make their return.
This is an image of the Pandeva brothers in disguise.
Author’s Note: In the original story the Pandeva brothers
were in disguise in King Varata’s court. They hid all of their celestial
weapons in the shami tree for one year while they awaited the end of their
exile. I wanted to make a story where a group of thieves would steal their
celestial weapons. I then wanted the Pandeva brothers to be the super heroes of
this story and defeat the gang thieves in battle. I hope you enjoy the story.
Bibliography: C.A. Kincaid, The Indian Heroes, 1921.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Reading Diary B: The Indian Heroes
I am reading the rest
of shorter version of the Mahabharata. The title of this book is “The Indian
Heroes” and it is by C. A. Kincaid. One idea I came up with while reading was
during the Pandevas year in disguise. They are all in King Varata’s kingdom and
have different disguises. To make their diguises more convincing they ditch their
weapons in a well-hidden shami tree in the cremation ground. What if someone
had found the weapons and stole them? Then the Pandevas would have to go on a
hunt to find the theif. Another story I did not explore more in the first pass
through the Mahabharata was when Yudhishthira had to go down to hell to stay
with his family. In the Mahabharata he is always the one being tested. He stays
loyal to his family and recues them to heaven. It would be cool to write a
story on his journey to hell.
Here is an image of Yuhdhishthira displaying loyalty to his dog.
Reading Diary A: The Indian Heroes
Today I am reading a shorter version of the Mahabharata. The
title of this book is “The Indian Heroes” and it is by C. A. Kincaid. So far I
am really enjoying this version of the book. I like it because sometimes I
would get lost in the sea of characters in the longer versions. This version is
helping me piece together the longer version I read earlier together a little
better. I am now getting a better understanding of the book. Some of the
stories I did not get to explore a little more in my first pass through the
Mahabharata are the story when Yudhishthira gambled away all of his belongings.
I can’t believe that he would do this so willingly. It seems like a common quality
among a lot of characters in these epics is pride. They will never refuse a
challenge no matter how risky it is. Another instance where pride is the
downfall of someone is when Bhima defeats King Jarasandha in a wrestling match. King Jarasandha could have
easily refused to fight and kept his kingdom but he had to risk everything. This
would be an interesting aspect of the Mahabharata to explore. A story that I
noticed that was different was the riddles of the lake story. In this version a
snake actually takes Bhima hostage and Yudhishthira has to answer riddles to
free him. This would also be an interesting story to rewrite because a lot of
detail was not provided.
This is an image of Bhima beating Jarasandha in a wrestling match.
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