Indian Epics Spring 21

The Monkeys and Bears build the bridge to Lanka. By Anonymous, Made in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India - Philadelphia Art Museum, Public Domain The family, a mother, father, and son, was walking around their home village one day when a palm squirrel was noticed by the son. The squirrel looked to be eating a nut, and there was another chittering about around a tree. "Why do the squirrels have stripes across their backs?" The young boy asked his parents, looking at the squirrels in wonder. "That is a very good question, my son," the father answered with a smile. "There is a story that will tell you the answer. Would you like to hear it?" "Yes please!" The boy exclaimed. The mother and father smiled at each other and the family of three sat down under the shade of a tree, the son leaning his head on his mother's shoulder as he got ready to listen to the story. "Long ago, the deva Vishnu was born as a man named Rama," the father began. ...

Sita Wow, that was a bit of a disappointing ending. After all Rama and Sita had been through, he literally fought a war for her, only to exile her again just because of gossip. I really really did not like that. I just felt like all they had to do was something to prove her faithfulness in front of everyone, just like with the fire before. Something that wouldn't literally take her into the ground, never to be seen again. I think if I retold anything from this part, it would be changing what happens when Rama finds out about the gossip. I would want him to make a very public announcement about how Sita was faithful to him, and find some way to prove it to the citizens so they could trust their king and queen again. And then Sita could give birth to her children, and many more than just the twins, with her husband there to raise them. And I'd probably have to come up with new names for them. Bibliography:  Laura Gibbs, Tiny Tales from the Ramayana, Stories 180-200.

striped Indian palm squirrel Going into this weeks reading I thought for sure Sita would get rescued in Part C. So I was surprised to find myself at the end of this part and them still fighting the war. But I really liked it, I like that it has taken a lot of effort on behalf of not just Rama but so many people to get Sita back. My favorite part of this reading was the story about building the bridge, especially the squirrel helping! The part that said the India squirrel's striped are because Rama touched the squirrel got me interested so I did some Googling and was pleased to find that that really is the legend! And then I went deeper and saw that there really is a "bridge" to present-day Sri Lanka. Of course it wasn't built by anyone, let alone monkeys, but it's always really nice when myths have realities in them. If I do a retelling based on anything in Part C, I think it would be the bridge building and the squirrel. I was actually thinking that I would tell ...

Root for Each Other, from the Feedback padlet on Canvas For this week's feedback assignment, I read the following articles:  Why Do So Many Managers Avoid Giving Praise? : I thought this article was interesting, and I was surprised at how many managers said they don't give any positive feedback. As someone who works really well when I have both positive and negative feedback, I know I would suffer in that kind of a situation. I've had different kinds of managers in my different jobs. I've had ones that only gave feedback when I asked, ones that gave mostly positive feedback, and then ones that gave a really good mixture of both. Thankfully, I haven't had anyone who only gives me negative feedback. I think a mixture is so important in any kind of work environment, as well as in school and even within our relationships. I have utilized this in my relationships, for instance if my husband had done something that hurt me or I just didn't want him to do again, I try ...

Statue of Durga Soumyasch at en.wikipedia Idea 1: My first idea is to write my storybook about the Hindu goddess Durga. Durga is one of several goddesses that are said to be one but have several forms or reincarnations. According to the Durga wikipedia page , Durga is "the principal Hindu goddess of war, strength and protection." The most famous legend about Durga is her defeat of the demon Mahishasura. In fact, to defeat the demon is why she was created by the other gods. She has eight or so arms, and a weapon in each. I would love to retell Durga's origin story and how she came to defeat Mahishasura, as well as what she did next, i.e. how she found a purpose after defeating the demon she was created to kill. Idea 2: My second idea is to do a modern retelling of Rama and Sita's story. In the Ramayana, Rama and Sita have a sort of 'love at first sight,' and are married once Rama lifts and strings the bow of Shiva. Sita then goes to live with Rama in his king...

Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Divakaruni They say love finds you when you least expect it, or when you're not looking for it. For Sita, it was the opposite. Hundreds of men came to her father's palace each year, trying to marry her. The catch was that her father, Janaka, would only allow a man to marry her if he could lift and string a bow that used to belong to Shiva. So far, the only person known to be able to lift it was Sita herself. Janaka believed this was the only way to find Sita a worthy husband. *** The day started out like any other, and I was praying in the temple to the goddess, asking for a worthy husband. It felt like thousands of men had tried to lift and string the bow in order to marry me, and I was just ready to finally be done with all of it and find love. When I finished my prayers, I took the arm of my friend and we began to stroll through the gardens. These had always been my favorite place at the palace. They were so peaceful, being in them gave me th...

Jatayu and Ravana I just finished reading part B of the Tiny Tales Ramayana! There was a lot of adventure and interesting things in this part. When I decide my retelling, if I did anything from part B it would be the kidnapping of Sita. That was the most gripping part for me, but it also had me shaking my head at the decisions she made. First it all started when Ravana's sister Shurpanakha wanted to marry Rama, and then tried to attack Sita. Lakshmana went at her with his sword and ended up mutilating her face. She ran away, and her cousins Khara and Dushana tried to avenge her by fighting Rama and his brother. The two brothers defeated Khara, Dushana and their army of rakshasas. Word about this got back to Ravana, who decided he would punish who had done by taking their wife, in this case Sita. So Ravana went to Maricha and made him agree to lure Rama away from Sita by taking the form of a golden deer. While Rama was away, Ravana would take Sita for himself. Maricha agreed o...

Marriage of Rama Bharata Lakshmana and Shatrughna After reading the first 50 stories of the tiny tales book, I was definitely most intrigued by the story of Rama and Sita. I might like to retell their meeting and marriage in my story this week. Here are some notes that will help me remember + inspire me. Rama first learns of Sita through Vishvamitra telling him about the bow and the test that must be passed in order to marry her. I do wonder if Rama actually wants to marry her or just wants to prove that he can lift and string the bow.  Sita is not Janaka's biological daughter, but he obviously treasures her like she is. I thought the origin stories were all a little odd, a baby coming from the ground. But the first origin story was my favorite, I liked the idea that Sita really was just a gift to Janaka from the gods. I liked the story about Sita learning to cook, and I think it points to a really sweet relationship with her mother. I'd like to know more about that/maybe use t...

photo by Helen Haden at Flickr For this weeks feedback assignment, I decided to read these two articles, and here are my thoughts on both:  A fixed mindset could be holding you back — here's how to change it : This article really resonated with me, especially after learning more about Growth Mindset so I was able to understand where the ideas in this article were coming from. I just started a new job this week and our boss constantly talks about how when we make mistakes she wants it to be a learning experience instead of her getting angry and being negative. I hadn't even thought about it until reading this article, but my boss and my workplace subscribe to a growth mindset! That's so exciting for me. I also thought it was interesting how this article used doctors as an example. I could never be a doctor, I just can't imagine how I would feel if I ever made a mistake that cost someone their life. But at the same time I'm so grateful for doctors and I'm gratefu...

Devadatta attempting to assassinate the Buddha. Could not find artist info.  Source . One day, as the Buddha was tending to his garden, one of his most beloved monks, Sāriputta, came to him with great concern. "Sāriputta, what is troubling you?" the Buddha asked. "Teacher, I must tell you that the monk Devadatta is plotting to kill you," Sāriputta said with quiet urgency. "I overheard his plan, he desires to take your place. Tell me what you want me to do, you know that I and your disciples will protect you." The Buddha simply smiled and nodded. "I knew this day would come," he said, not seeming nervous at all. "Since the day I encountered him in this life, I remembered. We met in a past life, I a monkey and he a crocodile, and he tried to kill me then as well so that his mate could have my heart. He wasn't successful then, and he won't be now, brother." "But-" Sāriputta started, but was cut off with the Buddha raising...

Crocodile in River - Tecolutla - Veracruz - Mexico - 01 I loved this week's reading, I liked that it was several short stories. That made it easy to keep my attention focused. My favorite story of them was 'The Crocodile in the River' . It was the first one that was the Buddha telling a story about a past life, and I just thought the whole murderous monk being the crocodile was really interesting. I decided that's the story I will retell this week, so here are my reading notes. The story begins by saying the Buddha is telling it when he finds out about one of his monks, Devadatta, planning to kill him. My first question was that I wonder who exactly he's talking to. He says "brethren," so it seems he's talking to more than one person. I wonder if it is only his most trusted monks. I would want to include more detail on that in my retelling. I also have to wonder why these crocodile females are so obsessed with a monkey's heart??? I don't really...

Shiva and Parvati ( British Museum , circa 1800) I chose this image because I mention a comic about Shiva and Parvati and I am interested in learning more about their love story. For my reading of the Ramayana, I've decided to go with the tiny tales book! I'll be honest, the biggest factor influencing this decision is that it's the shortest version and I know that while I would love to read the one that is more like reading a novel, I probably wouldn't read all of it. So this is just me helping out my future self. I also like that I can just read it on my computer! As for the comics, I am interested in  Shiva Parvati: A Story of Divine Love (Volume 506)  for sure! I'm interested in this because, like I mentioned in my storybook favorites blog post, I'm somewhat familiar with the story of Parvati and Shiva because of the book series Tiger's Curse . I'm also interested in  Savitri: The Perfect Wife (Volume 511) . This one is interesting to me because of th...