Week 6 Story; The One Where Duryodhana Takes Control

***Check out the new and revised version of this story at my portfolio here!***

Source: A mantra and song from the Indian TV show Devon Ke Dev Mahadev. It is centered around Lord Shiva, who does not appear in this story, but I love the music. I also think it sounds suspenseful, so I thought it would be good to listen to while reading the story!

I'm strong, I'm valiant, I'm an excellent warrior, and I have studied my father's rule over Hastinapura for years. I'm fit to be king. I am Duryodhana, after all. But who does old Dhritarashtra pick to ascend to the throne? The useless, dumbfounded, and clumsy Yudhishthira, who is also unfortunately my cousin.

Ugh, I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Let me introduce myself and my family. I am Duryodhana, the eldest of the hundred sons of King Dhritarashtra. I am also the strongest and most intelligent of my brothers, but that's besides the point. My family goes by "the Kauravas." Now, my father's brother, Pandu, has a wife named Kunthi. She had five sons, all from different gods. Those five, called the Pandavas, are the worst, and you're about to see why. But first, some background information about my archenemies. 

Yudhishthira is the oldest of the five, and everyone in the entire kingdom adores him like he's their son. Why, you ask? I DON'T KNOW. If you find out, let me know, because I've been trying to decipher that my whole life. Anyway, the next son is Bhima. He is the strongest of the five, and that's cool and everything, but like... how smart is he really? He can shake the ground so hard the weather changes, but that's one trait! Why everyone thinks he's the most amazing warrior, I will never know. Kunthi's third son is Arjuna. When he was born, he was normal. Suddenly, he got really good at throwing weapons around. But even then, our master Drona trained all of us, so we should have all been at the same level of weapon-throwing. But no. Of course Arjuna was Drona's favorite. Our master ended up gifting Arjuna with the brahmastra, a weapon capable of defeating any opponent if used with the right mantra. I could not believe it. Just because he's a Pandava? Ugh. The last two Pandavas are twins: Sahadeva and Nakula. Those two just follow the other three around and do whatever they say. Typical younger siblings doing typical childish things. 

All five of them made my life growing up a living hell. They thought they were funny, pulling all those pranks. Even my own father thought they were funny and sided with his nephews rather than HIS OWN SON. I should have guessed they would be his favorite. I remember when they came to live in our palace and the moment he saw the five of them and what all they could accomplish together. He immediately fell in love with the new family. However, I soon realized that as long as Dhritarashtra could see, he wouldn't ever side with me. He would always appreciate the Pandavas more than the rest of us. So, I made a plan with my uncle Sakuni and some of my other brothers: we were going to make sure my father could never see again. Now, there are many ways we could have gone about this. We could have shot an arrow into both of his eyes, but that would be hard without Dhritarashtra seeing us as we were doing it. We could have stabbed him in the eye when he sleeps, but again, that would be hard when he is in bed with our mother Gandhari and she would be able to see us stabbing our own father. Plus, that would put our father in a lot of pain and I'm not sure we would be able to handle putting him through that. I may have a heart of ice, but I do have one. Anyway, we finally came to the conclusion that the only way we could make our father blind was to steal the brahmastra from Arjuna. The weapon has great powers, and will perform any command if the mantra is spoken correctly. Only one problem with that - none of us knew the mantra to make the weapon do what we wanted. So here's what we did:

We stalked Arjuna for weeks to try to find out what the mantra was, because we did know that in order to keep the brahmastra "alive" and intact, the owner has to say the incantation once a week. So, we hid behind bushes around his bedroom, pretended to bring him food or water at random times at night, put our ears to the wall separating his room with an adjacent room, everything. We. Tried. Everything. He would not ever practice the mantra! At one point, we thought maybe he had forgotten he even had it and hadn't practiced the mantra in years and allowed the weapon to die slowly. But then, one night, I saw a dark figure leaving Arjuna's room and heading towards the forest. I had my suspicions, so my brothers and I followed. We walked for about an hour until the figure finally stopped in the middle of the forest and pulled out something from his bag. It was the brahmastra! So this is where Arjuna practiced his mantra all the time, and we never even noticed him leaving the castle at night... Gotta admit, it was a clever hiding spot. But anyway, right after Arjuna recited the mantra, one of my brothers made a sound of a dying deer. We knew Arjuna was soft when it came to animals and hoped he would go tend to it. Our plan worked! Arjuna kept following the sound of the animal, not knowing my brothers were leading him far away from his brahmastra. When he realized it, we had already taken the weapon and were halfway back to the palace with the mantra replaying in our minds.

I creeped into our father's bedroom, where he was peacefully sleeping with our mother. I held the brahmastra in my hand and slowly and softly sang the mantra. I then imagined a blind King Dhritarashtra in my head, and then I saw a bright flash hitting my father's eyes. He didn't feel it. 

...He also didn't see it. Ha. 

Don't ever mess with the Kauravas.

Source: The brahmastra, which is seen as one of the most powerful weapons.

Bibliography: R. K. Narayan's Mahabharata.

Author's Note:

So, this is a new style I tried out where it's all in first person. I picked Duryodhana to tell the story because I wanted to give his actions a reason. Most of the story is facts from the Mahabharata, such as the information about the Pandava brothers. One thing I changed was not mentioning Karna at all (this story could go on forever if I added every character). For this reason, in my story the Brahmastra was given to Arjuna instead of Karna. I thought it be best to portray the hatred between the two sides of the family by having Duryodhana steal a valuable possession from his cousin and turn it around as a revenge scenario to his own father. In the original Mahabharata, Dhritarashtra was born blind and Gandhari covered her eyes just to match her husband; nobody specifically set out to blind them. I chose to make Duryodhana blind his own father because I wanted to make the story interesting and have him act on his hatred, rather than complain about it to his father like he does throughout the Mahabharata. I hope you all liked it, and I would love any suggestions since this is my first time doing a story like this :)

Reading Notes; R. K. Narayan's Mahabharata, Part D

Krishna's Role
I love that Krishna takes on the role of going to Hastinapura to try to make peace between the two sides of the family. That doesn't work, clearly, so he reveals his true form which I think is super important because it's about time people realized who he is. I also like that Narayan mentioned the part where Krishna talks Arjuna through his fears and stated that this was basically the Bhagvad Gita. I have always had many copies of the Gita at my house and at my apartment, but I have actually never read it. My mom always told me I could read it if I wanted to, but it wasn't necessarily the most important thing we needed to know at the time. She would focus more on me learning the different hymns and mantras of the Hindu literature, rather than the story of the Bhagvad Gita. However, I really liked that he mentioned the Gita in there, and maybe I could take that and expand a little bit more on it. If I research up on the Gita a little bit, I might be able to come up with a story explaining it for everyone to grasp a general gist of it. 

The Battle
There were so many characters involved in the battle, so many revenge plots, so many deaths, that I got a bit confused as to what was happening halfway through. It was interesting to see how Karna's chariot got stuck in the ground and how he forgot how to use the Brahmastra at the most crucial part of his life, all because of two people who had cursed him long ago. I also think it's interesting that whenever someone is cursed, that is exactly how things play out. I wonder if there is any way to prevent that from happening. Maybe I'll re-tell a story in which Karna, after getting cursed, spends his whole life trying to free himself from the curse or find out ways in which he can backfire it. I could even do this with Duryodhana's curse (in which Bhima smashes his thigh) and see if he ever finds a way to overcome it. Krishna is also cursed and told his people will fight and kill one another, but he states he already knows his fate. I wonder if he could change it as well? We shall see what I come up with soon!

The Aftermath
I'm glad the Pandavas finally got their deserved seat at the throne. Yudhishthira was so grief-stricken that even Krishna lost his temper and had to console him about how killing his own family members was okay in this situation. It ended peacefully, which I like, even though there were many deaths and a few sad ones. I'm thinking I could write a sequel to this and talk about Abhimanyu's reign and his son's Parikshit's reign over the kingdom. It would be interesting to see if history repeated itself and if the future kings also had disputes amongst children/nephews.

Bibliography: Narayan's Mahabharata, Part D. 

Source: Krishna in his whole form, revealing his true self to Arjuna before battle.

Reading Notes; R. K. Narayan's Mahabharata, Part C

Twelve Years of Exile / One Year Incognito
I thought this was a pretty random and well thought out plan of Sakuni's. When he first said 12 years of exile for all the Pandava brothers as well as their wife Draupadi, I was surprised. And then he mentioned going one whole year incognito; it was sort of like a very long obstacle course he wanted to put them through. If I were to re-write this part of the story, I could make it like the Hunger Games, where all the brothers had to fight to see who could survive the 12 years of the forest the longest, or who could stay incognito, or undercover, the longest. It could also be based off of the TV show Quantico, and we could see how many of the brothers could survive being undercover for a year (FBI training academy - like). I could also incorporate one of my earlier ideas about festivals and holidays in the Hindu culture and have the day the Pandavas come back from their 13 years away from their home become a huge festival. Just like how in the Ramayana, after the 12 years that Rama spent in exile, he came back and everyone had lit candles and fireworks for his return, which later turned into the festival of Diwali, I could make something like this appear in my re-tell of the Mahabharata.

Yama
I really liked this part of the story, because I thought the voice in the lake was just some monster or guardian of the lake, but it turns out to be Yudhishthira's father! The first thing that came to my mind was the ever-famous "Luke, I am your father" quote from Star Wars. I love that series, so maybe if I have time and if I can think of a long enough story to stem from this one idea, I could write about it.

The Struggle Before the Fight
I thought it was weird and intriguing that King Dhritarashtra cannot resist Duryodhana's will, no matter how much he knows deep down that what his eldest son is doing is terrible, and no matter how much he loves the Pandavas. If I were to continue with the Harry Potter stories, I could possibly have Duryodhana keep his father, Dhritarashtra under the imperius curse, which is one that makes the other do whatever the person holding the curse wants. It seems like that is already happening, but if I re-tell this part, might as well have a reason for why the King follows everything his eldest son does, despite everyone else's suggestions.

Bibliography: Narayan's Mahabharata, Part C.

Source: The scene where Yama tests the Pandava brothers and reveals that he is Yudhishthira's father.

Reading Notes; R. K. Narayan's Mahabharata, Part B

Indraprastha
I found it really shocking to find out the Kauravas actually wanted the Pandavas and their mother Kunthi dead. When the text said the two sides of the family were not fond of each other, I thought the Kauravas just wanted the Pandavas to step down and let Duryodhana be king. However, they actually tried killing them all! Even Kunthi, who didn't do anything wrong or vouch for anyone specifically. However, the Pandavas seem more agreeable and humble than the Kauravas at this point and I love how they constructed a beautiful city (Indraprastha) out of a simple desert. The Karuavas thought making the Pandavas go to a desert would make them upset, but they ended up doing the opposite, which obviously frustrated Duryodhana. Although Dhritarashtra seems to be a good man, he is torn between making each side of the family happy. Since Duryodhana is always the one to be upset and since nothing pleases him, Dhritarashtra is forced by his own conscience to give the oldest Kaurava brother whatever he needs. I could re-write this part of the epic in many ways. For one, I could have have Dhritarashtra not be blind; I think this handicap makes him vulnerable to many things; since he cannot see, he has to ask someone to recount what is happening and whenever they mention one of his sons or nephews being hurt, he immediately loses control of his emotions. So maybe if he was a King who could see, he would not need advice from others as much and maybe would not be influenced by Duryodhana's evil mind. 

The Dice
Sakuni is an evil mastermind when it comes to gambling with dice, it seems. He somehow gets Yudhishthira to gamble away all his possessions, even his brothers and his own wife! I thought that was extremely shocking because I thought Yudhishthira was intelligent and fit to be King. However, he was so engrossed in the game he did not realize what he was doing. He even comes back for a second game and has his whole family exiled for 13 years, which brought quite the twist into the story. I have been wanting to do a Lion King themed story sometime, so maybe this is the time to do it, as there is another form of exile. Simba could be Yudhishthira, he could have 4 brothers and a wife who he takes care of along the way. I'm not really sure yet, but it might just work!

Krishna
I have been waiting to see how Krishna finds his way into the Mahabharata, so I was excited to see him appear and would like to see how exactly he influences the rest of the story. I feel like I could write a lot about Krishna and his work with the Pandavas. 

Bibliography: Narayan's Mahabharata, Part B.

Source: A picture of Indraprastha from the Mahabharata story told in a Youtube video.

Reading Notes; R. K. Narayan's Mahabharata, Part A

The Mahabharata provides many back stories, many of which appear in Part A of the reading. It's really interesting to see how different characters turn out to be a God/Goddess later on.

Bhishma
It's really interesting to see how Bhishma readily agrees to not ascend to the throne and to never have kids that could potentially be successors of the kingdom, especially for a family he did not know. He did it all for his father, which shows a great deal of loyalty. However, if I were to rewrite this part, I would maybe tell it from Bhishma's point of view as he rules the kingdom himself. Things would have probably gone a very different path in this case.

Ambika and Ambalika
I thought it was amusing that since Ambika closes her eyes when Vyasa sleeps with her, their son is born blind, and when Ambalika turns pale when Vyasa sleeps with her, their son is born very, very pale. If I were to rewrite this part of the Mahabharata, I would possibly tie in a "deaf, dumb, and blind" sort of theme, where one son was born deaf, one was born without the ability to speak, and one was blind. Maybe all three sons would get along perfectly, or maybe they would have their own people rooting for them to ascend to the throne. 

The Pandavas
There is a Bollywood movie called "Karan Arjun," where the two are brothers who live a simple life with their caring mother. They are killed by a villain in an attempt to save their mother from him, and are reborn into the world. When they become older, they feel a connection but have no recollection of their previous lives. It's a really interesting movie with lots of fighting, and when I read about Arjuna in the Mahabharata, that movie is all I could think about. I could possibly write up a back-story for Arjuna and tie in the movie plot. Also, Karna was a son of Kunthi that not many people knew about until after he died. Karan and Arjun in the movie also fight against one another initially due to some conflicts, but later remember their previous lives. Karna's name even looks like Karan's (with only two letters switched), so I could maybe have Karna and Arjuna find out their true identities in my retell. 

Draupadi
I couldn't figure out if Draupadi getting five husbands was a blessing or a curse. In her previous life, she had wanted one husband with five different personalities, so why was five husbands such a curse to her? Maybe I could go more in depth into her previous life and why exactly she wanted her husband to act like five different people, or maybe I could write a story in which there was a competition between the five Pandava brothers to win Draupadi as their wife. 

Bibliography: Narayan's Mahabharata, Part A.

Source: The five Pandava brothers, with their wife Draupadi in the middle.

Tech Tip; Embedding a Youtube Video

I decided to embed a Youtube video into my portfolio for everyone to watch/listen to as they read my story! I think it fit really well with the theme of the story, as well as the theme for this class. To view my story and the embedded video, visit my first portfolio story. :)

Week 5 Story; The One Where Rama Runs Away

***Check out the new and revised version of this story at my portfolio!***

Dasharatha: Look, Rama. Everything the light touches is our kingdom. 

Rama: Woah...

Dasharatha: Just as the sun rises and falls everyday, the king's rule rises and falls every now and then. One day, the sun will set on my time here, and will rise with you as king.

Rama: And this will all be mine?

Dasharatha: Everything the light touches.

Rama: ...But father, what about that forest over there, just beyond the light?

Dasharatha: That is a tricky place, Rama. There are dangerous creatures there and illusions beyond our scope of mind. You must never go there. Never.

Rama suddenly woke up and found himself surrounded by large trees and two huge monkeys staring at him from above. His disappointment at being in reality again was clearly noticeable. He always had the same dream and he could never sleep past that last word, "never." It was one of the last words he had heard from his father, Dasharatha, before he was killed. Before Rama ran away. Before everything began.

*One month earlier*

Rama and Sita, who had recently gotten married, decided they wanted to get out of the palace and have a picnic in a beautiful park by the forest surrounding the kingdom in Ayodhya. They settled down for lunch and were enjoying the peaceful breeze when something immediately got Sita's attention: a perfect, golden deer. Rama could tell from the look in her eyes that she craved to hold the golden deer, and since he had vowed to always make her the happiest woman in the world, he began to call to the deer. When the deer trotted away from Rama, he went closer and attempted to embrace it. The deer kept backing away, but Rama was determined to make the deer his friend by sunset. He chased the deer farther and farther into the forest, when suddenly he heard a battle cry coming from the kingdom. He immediately realized his mistake: the golden deer was a diversion and both him and Sita fell for it. He knew he was never supposed to go into the forest, he knew there were many illusions that distorted reality, but he had not heeded his father's words of advice. He rushed back to the kingdom with Sita, and what he saw left them both speechless.

The streets of Ayodhya were flooded with Ravana's army and the palace was undergoing a stampede by Ravana's chariot and thousands of rakshasas. In the distance, Rama could see his brother Lakshmana in the middle of the fight with a hundred rakshasas surrounding him. Dasharatha was attempting to save him, while Rama silently stood, watching the fight. He did not carry his bow and arrow to the picnic with Sita, so he desperately watched as the entire kingdom tried to fight Ravana's army and as Dasharatha took Lakshmana's spot in the fight. As soon as Dasharatha picked Lakshmana out of the fight, a rakshasa stabbed him straight through his heart. Rama, Lakshmana, Sita, and the rest of Ayodhya's citizens suddenly dropped to the floor, surrendering to the demons that just slayed their favorite king right in front of their eyes. They could not believe it. As Ravana slowly got out of his chariot with an evil grin on all ten of his heads, all Rama could think about was his father's dead body and how the golden deer so wittingly deceived him. "I should have been more alert. I should have listened. This is all my fault. I did this." Rama muttered to himself as he slowly backed away, out of the palace. He could not handle it anymore. He turned on his heel and ran. Ran far away. Through the forest, into another, and finally collapsed on a piece of land close to the beautiful pond.

*Present time*

Now, when Rama tried closing his eyes again, the creatures began whispering.

"Do you think he can see us?" the smaller one asked.

"Hanuman, don't be silly. Of course he can see us. He is only pretending he cannot."

"Then why is he not saying anything, Sugriva?"

"I don't know, let's ask him."

"Oh, don't bother." Rama finally spoke.

Sugriva, the larger monkey, laid down next to Rama. "What brings you here? I haven't seen your kind around in a long time."

"I'm nobody. I just wanted to get away from my land." Rama answered.

As Hanuman also laid down next to Rama, his tail accidentally brushed across Rama's head and he immediately saw everything. He could see every minute of Rama's life and every person he cared about. He could even feel Rama's love for Sita, Lakshmana, and the rest of his home, as well as his grief over his father's death. At this moment, Hanuman realized it was his destiny to be Rama's companion for the rest of his life. After he explained this feeling and his purpose in life to both Rama and Sugriva, Sugriva decided that he too should help Rama in getting his kingdom back. Rama, for the first time since he ran away and exiled himself to the forests, finally had some hope. Hope that he might be able to enact revenge on Ravana and win his kingdom back.

Source: The ever-famous Lion King quote, when Mufasa tells Simba about the kingdom.

Author's Note: 

I'm sure most of you got the reference to the Lion King with the beginning quote, but in case you are not a Disney fan, just know that the Lion King is a CLASSIC. I love the movie so much, and when I read the part of the Ramayana where Rama is exiled into the forest, I immediately thought of the Lion King and how Simba runs away to the forest after his father Mufasa died in a stampede conducted by Simba's evil uncle Scar. I replaced Simba with Rama, Mufasa with Dasharatha, and Scar with Ravana. I decided to keep the main plot line of the Lion King, so that is why Rama decides to exile himself rather than someone else making him leave. I also love the characters Timon and Pumbaa in the Lion King because they are hilarious and good companions, so I thought Hanuman and Sugriva could be the two companions here, since Rama could not have beaten Ravana without them. I also decided to have Rama run away by himself, because in the Lion King, Simba runs away without telling anyone where he is going either. If I get a chance to finish the story, I'm sure you can tell how that would end: Sita would come looking for Rama, they would all go back together with Hanuman, Sugriva, and the rest of the monkey army, beat Ravana, and get the kingdom back. We'll see if I can do a part two to this :) Hope you guys enjoyed!

Reading Notes; Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues, Part B

Everything after the intermission was really interesting and weird for me, just because I've always seen Ram in a positive light and always imagined a "happily ever after" once Sita is rescued. However, it is way different than I had expected!

I thought it was cruel of Ram to banish Sita to the forest after finding out she was pregnant, just to gain the approval of his subjects! I had never seen this side of Ram before, so it was all new and weird. He suddenly turns into this selfish king, but Sita, being the pure-hearted woman she is, still prayed to Ram everyday. That was also one of the things the narrators talked about; how and why she still prayed to him when he didn't let her come back to the palace. However, I really liked the depiction of Ram and Sita's sons and the song they sang in praise of Ram (I thought it was very amusing... and it's still stuck in my head so there's that). If I were to rewrite this part, I would make it more of a modern-day break up story maybe, kind of like the animated versions of Nina and Dave. 

I could also have Lav and Kush go find Ram once they're older and bring some sense into him, luring Ram and Sita back together once again. There are lots of movies, TV shows, and other story plots where the kid grows up without a parent (or both) and eventually pieces together who they were born to, then goes and finds them. I think that's where I got this idea - it is just so common these days! We'll see how my story turns out after I brainstorm some more :)

Bibliography: Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues.

Source: The appraisal song sang by Lav and Kush in Sita Sings the Blues.

Reading Notes; Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues, Part A

I thought this version of the Ramayana was HILARIOUS. I couldn't stop laughing; the different animations were funny, the narrators were funny, the dialogues were funny, I could go on and on. I feel like everyone should watch this short film just to watch it because while it tells the story well, it also adds many little side twists to it.

I really liked how Nina Paley put some of her own life story in the film as well, with little tweaks here and there. And many of her life's story correlated with what was going on in the Ramayana as well. I also thought the songs were interesting and were sung with a beautiful voice. 

I thought it was great that the film added in a little background of how Ravana was so devoted to Shiva and how his lust for Sita all began. It depicted the events of the Ramayana really well, and I thought it was amusing that the narrators argued over things a lot. If I were to re-write some of this, I could put it in the point of view of Brahma, the creator of all things, or even in Ravana's point of view. I could have something happen between Rama and Ravana in their childhood that made Ravana despise Rama. 

I thought it was super interesting that one of the narrators didn't like how Sita didn't go back to Rama with Hanuman. Is it because she didn't trust him or is it because she wants Rama to come himself? There are many possibilities, and I could write about one of them. I could write a story in which Sita goes back with Hanuman, which would be interesting because that is the only reason Ram was even going to Lanka in the first place. 

In this film, Lakshman is not shown very often; he is not seen guarding Sita when Ram goes after the golden deer (Maricha) or even accompanying Rama to see Sugriva and such. This got me thinking - what if I wrote a part of the Ramayana without Lakshman? Or without Hanuman? Or any other huge character in the Ramayana? There are many different ways I could take this story, we'll just have to see what I go with!

Bibliography: Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues.

Source: A narrator of Sita Sings the Blues describing the scene where Sita is praying for Rama while captured by Ravana. 

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Source: I just really like The Great Gatsby and all the Leonardo DiCaprio memes that stem from it :-)

Week 4 Story: The One Who Betrayed His Brother

Ram, Lakshman, Hanuman, and the rest of Sugriva's army set out to rescue Sita from Ravana. As they're journeying across the lands and through the numerous villages surrounding Lanka, they see many beautiful lakes, at which they take rest once a day. One day at one of these lakes, Lakshman suddenly hears a woman singing. It is the most beautiful singing he has ever heard in his life, and without even thinking of telling the others, he goes in search for this voice. He drifts far away from Ram and the army following him, and finally reaches an ashram adorned with flowers, just how he constructs his. He can still hear the beautiful voice, as if it is calling to him and drawing him closer. Finally, when he reaches a pond behind the little house, he is awestruck. Before him is a woman so beautiful and so welcoming that he can't find the will to move. He is in love. Or at least, he thinks he is. Little does he know, he stepped into a large trap for him. The woman's voice and appearance was a disguise for her true self - Soorpanaka. Ever since he mutilated her for trying to strike Sita, she felt the need to get revenge. And she was almost done. 

As Soorpanaka got closer, Lakshman felt a drift of happiness come over him and immediately bowed down to her. Soorpanaka told him that she accidentally trespassed Ravana's land in Lanka while trying to get to her own home, and he banished her to this spot; the only way she can pass through Lanka is if she finds a man who can take her across without actually stepping on land (she knew Ram and Lakshman had a chariot that could fly). Lakshman, still in her spell, reassured her that he would always take care of her and invited her to come with his army to Lanka. Soorpanaka, still in her disguise, agreed. When they got back, Ram was extremely suspicious of Lakshman's situation, but he knew his brother had great judgment, so in the end he gave him the benefit of the doubt and allowed the woman to stay.

When they went to sleep, Soorpanaka transformed into her true self, and carried Lakshman to Ravana's palace. She had enchanted him so that he would follow her orders; slowly by slowly, he revealed Ram's location and his plan for attacking Ravana and rescuing Sita. No sooner had Ram and his army woken up from the sun's rays, did Ravana and his army attack their ground. The next few moments were ones of confusion, hurry, and realization of betrayal once they saw Lakshman driving Ravana's chariot. Ram could not believe his eyes, and his heart suddenly filled with anger. Soorpanaka and Ravana did not realize what would happen if Ram was in a rage. He slayed most of Ravana's army with only three arrows, jumped around from horse to horse, chariot to chariot, just swinging his bow, trying to kill Ravana and successfully dodging all the objects and people flying at him. The only people left to kill were Soorpanaka and Ravana. When Ram finally hit Soorpanaka with one of his arrows, Lakshman became free of her spell. He immediately jumped into action and stabbed her, while Ram focused on Ravana. His anger was still at a unusually high level, and he decapitated Ravana's heads one by one. The heads kept growing back, but his army around him suggested going for Ravana's heart, since that could not be replaced. Finally with a plan in mind, the entire army of Sugriva ran at Ravana and focused on tearing his heads from his body, while Ram shot arrows at his enemy. Finally, enough arrows hit Ravana to where he could not move and his heads began growing back slowly. Ram finally got off his chariot and walked over to Ravana, and with one swift move, he killed Ravana once and for all. The battlefield was quiet for a few moments, while everyone realized what just occurred; then, cries of victory all over sprang about. They had won! They had finally defeated Ravana, who had been terrorizing the lands for years!

Ram finally was able to cross the lake between him and Lanka, where Sita was being held. As soon as he saw her, he picked her up and immediately swore to her that he would never let her out of his sight again. Sita knew in her heart that Ram would always protect her, and they graciously welcomed each other. Finally, when Lakshman arrived, Ram stared at him coldly. Lakshman tried explaining what had happened to him, but Ram was not responding to him as a brother. He was looking at him through a different lens, as if he was the enemy now. Lakshman lamented for hours, but when Ram was clearly not satisfied with his explanation and continued to say his soul had been poisoned, he began to gather some wood and make a fire for himself. Lakshman cried out, "O Agni, great god of fire, be my witness." He threw himself into the fire, and less than a minute later, Agni rose from the flames and presented Lakshman to Ram with his blessing. Ram was finally convinced that his brother still had a pure heart, and welcomed him gracefully.

Source: A depiction of the battle between Ram and Ravana.

Bibliography: R. K. Narayan's Ramayana, The Battle.

Author's Note: 
I made this story pretty long, just as the battle between Ram and Ravana was. I kind of thought of Narnia and how Edmund betrayed his family for the Witch, but then realized his mistake and came back to his family. So in this story, I chose Lakshman to betray Ram's side, because I felt like that would have the biggest impact on Ram since he trusted his brother more than anything. I made Soorpanaka lure Lakshman to his side because of the earlier plot story about Lakshman mutilating Soorpanaka; this part was kind of a revenge story. At the end of the Ramayana, Ram tests Sita because he thinks she is impure after spending so much time at the enemy's lair. She jumps in the fire until the god of fire presents her to Ram with his blessings. Since Lakshman was the one that Ram thought was at fault here, I changed it to where Lakshman jumped into the fire until Ram accepted him. The one quote I had in there, when Lakshman jumped in, came straight from R. K. Narayan's story. 

Reading Notes; R. K. Narayan's Ramayana, Part D

Hanuman in Lanka
I love that Hanuman can figure out exactly who Sita is just by Ram's description. The love between the two is clearly seen in that context. Also, when Hanuman's tail is lit on fire and he goes around the city and sets fire to everything with his tail is one of the things I remember the most from when I used to read the children's version of the Ramayan. R. K. Narayan didn't talk about it much in this version, but I was glad to see it in there.

Vibhishana
I grew to like Vibhishana's character because he was wise and warned Ravana of the dangers of fighting Ram and his army, and when Ravana kicked him out, he went straight to Ram to help him. He was very helpful in gaining Sita back; I'm not sure if it was out of revenge for Ravana or because he knew it was the right thing to do, but I think it was because he knew what was right and wrong. When I read this I was thinking of re-writing it with a Narnia theme to it, because of the boy Edmund who betrays his friends, but then betrays the Witch later. Vibhishana betrays Ravana, the bad guy, at the end, which helps the good team win in the end. I could write about Lakshman, Hanuman, Sugreeva, or any other character who helps Ram, and make them betray him at first and join the "dark side." I could even make that character betray the good side and then later betray the bad side exactly as it is in Narnia. We'll see soon enough!

Sita's Return
I was confused when Ram wasn't accepting Sita, but it made sense after she jumped into the fire and declared her purity. Still though, it seemed kind of rude that he would question her purity even after Hanuman had clearly seen her in simple clothes and surrounded by demons all the time. But I'm glad the two got together in the end and Bharata was still a pure and loyal guy.

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana, Part D. 

Source: Sita in the fire, showing Rama that she is still pure.

Reading Notes; R. K. Narayan's Ramayana, Part C

I feel like this section of the reading was extremely suspenseful because we know that Ram is being led in the wrong direction and that Lakshman should stay with Sita, but they don't know Ravana's plan. It was also really saddening to see Jatayu being killed. There are a few possible stories I thought I could write off the top of my head for this part, but I couldn't think of nearly as many as I did for readings A and B. However, maybe if I spent time brainstorming like I did for the topic research, I bet I could figure it out.

Kiskinda

I really liked the part where Ram and Lakshman met Hanuman and Sugreeva. It was a heartwarming sort of moment, where Hanuman could immediately sense that Ram is an avatar of Vishnu. His utmost loyalty and service to Ram is so powerful and amazing to read about. There is a lot of uncertainty that prevails in this part of the story, since neither party is sure whether they should trust the other. I liked the challenge that Sugreeva and Hanuman asked Ram to complete, just because it showed his inner greatness.

Vali vs. Sugreeva

I find it interesting that many times, a God will give someone powers, and many times, those powers end up causing terrible things. I felt bad for Sugreeva here because he lost pretty much everything, even though he had good intentions and much love for his brother. However, the battle between the two was interesting, and when Vali finally dies with Ram's arrow, I liked how they conversed in a civil manner and Vali understood the reason for everything. I might write a story about this, because Vali's own hastiness and foolishness is what got him killed. There are many ways I could write about trying to do things fast and getting caught up in the moment and in your own overconfidence without thinking.

Search for Sita

It was interesting to read about Hanuman's adventure in trying to find Sita and the creatures he meets along the way. Sampathi's story is also very saddening, but I'm glad he got his majestic feathers back and he is back in his normal state. I feel like the story is finally moving in a positive direction since they now know that Sita has been taken to Lanka. 

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana, Part C. 

Source: Picture of after Ram has killed Vali with one of his arrows, as well as a depiction of the fight between Sugreeva and Vali in the top left corner.

Topic Research: the Lion King

I think my favorite theme out of all my brainstorm ideas was the Lion King one. I have several stories in mind, some of which I mentioned last time. I really like the idea of combining a few themes into one, but my favorite one is the Lion King for now. 

#1) I was thinking about replacing Scar with Ravana, Simba with Rama, Mufasa with Dasharatha, and Nala with Sita in this story. It would work out so well, because obviously Ravana wants something that Rama has, just like in the Lion King, Scar wants the kingdom that Simba will get once he's older. Dasharatha dies and Rama goes into exile all at once it seems, just like in the Lion King, Mufasa dies and Simba leaves his home for years. I could write about the story in a different perspective, maybe of Nala's, since it would be different than how the Ramayana is written (Sita's perspective is not shared as much as Rama's or Ravana's). Or I could write it in the perspective of all of the characters, switching off every paragraph. A resource I could use is A Kingdom of Love in a Lion Pride, which is a storybook done by a previous student, who replaced all the characters in the Ramayana with lions. This is essentially what I intend to do, so maybe I can look at what this student did and decide whether I want to have lots of dialogues between the lions or just do a third person view of the story.

#2) Another idea I had was talking about other animal characters in the Ramayana, such as the bird Jatayu, but having him appear to Rama in the form of Timon or Pumbaa. There are many sages and animals that Ram, Sita, and Lakshman encounter in the forest in the 14 years they are there, so I could have them appear to the characters and help them along their journey. One resource I could use for this is Narasimha. This article talks about the Man-Lion reincarnation of Vishnu, who maybe could come help the trio save Sita from Ravana. I know Hanuman comes and helps Sita, but I wasn't sure if I should take him out of the picture or just have him come into the story as Timon or Pumbaa. Narasimha could be Pumbaa and Hanuman can be Timon, or vice versa. I haven't figured that out yet but I think it would be cool for Ram, Sita, and Lakshman to have characters and friends such as Timon and Pumbaa by their side. 

#3) Lastly, I would like to integrate two or three themes. For example, I could have Nagini from Harry Potter appear in the story as Soorpanaka; it would fit nicely if we had an evil female character just like in the Ramayana. On the other hand, I could make Nagini, or Soorpanaka a good character and have her switch sides in the story, helping everyone take Ravana down. Another idea I had was maybe having the Doctor from Doctor Who come into their world; the reason being he was chasing rakshasas around the world and ended up in the forest where Ram, Sita, and Lakshman are. I'm not sure if this could potentially be my storybook / portfolio, but I'll figure it out soon! I could do three "chapters" sort of, where each time a new theme blends with the Lion King one, or I could start with all three, not sure yet! A resource I could use for this is Rakshasa; this article describes rakshasas as "powerful warriors, expert magicians, and illusionists" which fits into the supernatural theme of things, if I was to go through with that.

Source: Photo of Narasimha, which I would love to use if I were to write him into my story.

Feedback Strategies: Or Should I Say Feedforward?

I like helping people out a lot, so if someone asks me for feedback or an honest opinion on something, I'm happy to give it to them! However, if I want to comment on something but the person did not ask me for feedback exactly, sometimes I get nervous because I do not want to offend them. I spend a lot of time thinking about how to word a message so that they understand my point as well as take it seriously and casually instead of offensively. 

One of the articles I read was Preschoolers and Praise. I liked how it talked about saying things like "Good job on _____" instead of just "Good job." I think that is important because it will make the kids feel better about what they did. If you always say "good job" to someone, I feel like they might notice that it is very repetitive and they might not think those words are important anymore. However, if they can tell that you are really invested in what they're doing and that you notice the small things, I think they will be more likely to keep doing it in the future or do different things and see if their achievement is rewarded.

The second article I read was Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback. I really liked the study they did, where they asked participants to tell a random person what they would like to change about themselves and then the other person had to give them suggestions or ideas. I think it's a great way to give ideas on how to improve, especially since everyone will be honest with each other and (hopefully) not judge one another. I especially loved how at one point it said "We can change the future. We can't change the past." It's a great quote in my opinion, because a lot of times we focus on the past and regrets, when we should be focusing on the present and on the future.

Source: Because this is what everyone will be getting on their stories soon :-)

Week 3 Story; The One At Hogwarts

***Find the whole and revised version of the story in my portfolio here***

Albus Dumbledore learned of Parvati and Padma Patil, the twins who had great potential to learn to use their magical powers at Hogwarts. He felt it necessary to go straight to their palace in India to persuade their father, the king, to let them come with him. He had also heard of the stories of Lord Brahma and his creations, Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati, and Lord Vishnu and his wife Lakshmi (who is also referred to as Padma, which means lotus). When he learned there was a set of twins named Parvati and Padma, he knew there was something special going on. So, he began his journey through the Forbidden Forest and the huge lake that stood between Hogwarts and the King's palace. When he got to the palace, King Daksha Patil was surprised to see Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, standing before him. Nevertheless, he greeted him gracefully and pondered what the meaning of this meeting was.

"Professor, I am rather intrigued by your visit. What can I do for you?"

"I want your daughters, Parvati and Padma, to come with me to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They have great powers that will be able to help me journey back to the school as well as help others once they arrive at the school, which is guarded by monstrous creatures."

Dumbledore was so straightforward with his answer and King Daksha was so surprised at it that he almost fell out of his throne.

"Excuse me-- you want what?"

"Your daughters have a great potential for magic; I have been able to sense their powers and ask your permission to let them come with me and allow them to explore this world they are attracted to."

"But they're just children! At only eleven years old, how will they go away and live without their family in an unknown land?! I'll send anyone else with you, anyone. My eldest nephews and nieces would probably be more than happy to accompany you."

At this, Dumbledore argued, "If you cannot send Parvati and Padma, I don't want anybody. I'll go back alone."

Dumbledore was rather upset, but he could see that he could not get Daksha to change his mind so easily. He began to retreat from the palace. Meanwhile, Parvati and Padma had been upstairs in their room, but they happened to hear everything. They quickly came running down.

"Professor! Please wait!" they cried out. "Father, Father! Please let us go join this man! He seems very knowledgeable and we can learn so much about these powers we have been wondering about!" 

After several minutes of begging and negotiating, King Daksha realized he could never deny his daughters the opportunity to grow. He finally agreed.

Dumbledore and the Patil sisters were all very excited for their journey, although Parvati and Padma had no idea what was to come or what they were capable of. 

They began their journey through the lake that Dumbledore had crossed earlier. While the twins were busy steering the boat in the direction Dumbledore had indicated, the professor exclaimed, "Oh, treacherous waters! How full of life they used to be, now stained with the darkness and evil that lives within!" 

At this, the twin sisters were a bit confused. "What is so special about these waters?" Parvati asked. "What do you mean by fulfilled by the good and the evil?" asked Padma.

Dumbledore had his story ready. "Well, long ago, there was a wizard called Lord Voldemort that seized rule over these waters. He convinced all the half-mermaid, half-human (merpeople, as I like to call them) inhabitants in the lake that his rule would bring them more wealth, so of course they followed him. He killed everyone in the surrounding villages until there was only one boy left. When he attempted to kill the last remaining human alive, he somehow failed and the boy's unknown power repelled the evil Lord. The merpeople, still loyal to Lord Voldemort, have now taken over parts of the lake and its inhabitants and eat anyone that swims in the water. Some parts of the lake are so bad that even touching the water can poison travelers. After this incident, I had a dream in which I heard a prophecy which stated that the boy would never grow up to realize his powers and get rid of the merpeople and their evil deeds, but only his children could defeat the merpeople once and for all. That boy grew up to be your father, and you two girls are the only people who can touch these waters without being poisoned."

After hearing this, Parvati and Padma were indeed stunned, but were able to pick up the courage to ask Dumbledore how they could help. Just as they asked, the merpeople swam to the surface of the lake and were about to attack their boat when Parvati and Padma both threw out her hands as if defending themselves. Bolts of piercing light came out of their hands and hit the merpeople straight in the chest. The sisters stared at their hands, mesmerized but also terrified, waiting for Dumbledore to say something.

"Ah, finally! Oh wondrous children! You have finally given the animals in the lake and the people around it hope and life! Bless you, bless you both. Now, as we are almost to land, we will walk through the Forbidden Forest until we arrive at Hogwarts. More stories to come along the way!"

Source: An animated version of Parvati and Padma.

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana, p. 1-53.

Author's Note:
This story is the one about Vishwamitra. He goes to King Dasharatha and asks if Rama can come with him. Dasharatha is reluctant at first and tells Vishwamitra that Rama will not go anywhere without his brother Lakshmana. Vishwamitra states that he will look after both sons, as long as Rama is there. He goes on with the journey and along the way, tells them the story of Thataka, Ganga, and Ahalya along the way. He also takes him to Janaka's palace where Ram breaks Shiva's bow and marries Sita (which I have not gotten to yet). I decided to place this story in India and Hogwarts (connecting the two with only a lake and a forest). I replaced King Dasharatha with King Daksha (which is Sati's father; Sati is another name for Parvati), Vishwamitra with Albus Dumbledore because they were both mentor-like characters, and Ram and Lakshman with Parvati and Padma. When I was writing about Lord Voldemort and the merpeople, I was thinking about the Goblet of Fire, where the merpeople are in the lake in one of the tournament challenges. I replaced the Death Eaters with the merpeople because it made more sense with the story of the lake. 

Reading Notes: R. K. Narayan's Ramayana: Part B

Rama's Exile and Bharata
I really liked how much everyone supports Rama; they were all willing to go live in the forest with him and I thought that was super special! I also admire Bharata's humble character; he really hoped Rama would be king and is even staying out of Ayodhya until Rama comes back. I was hoping they would all revolt and through Kaikeyi out or something, but they are all good people so that did not happen :-) like I said in my last reading notes, I might go with my Lion King theme, where I would have Rama replace Simba and go out into the forest for years and have all the other "lions" be upset and be under the whole of someone they don't want. I could put a twist on it and make Bharata take the place of Scar, so in that case he would be an evil person instead of a loving, humble one. 

In the Forest
I liked all the different people that Ram, Lakshman, and Sita met along their journey. I could replace some of them with Hanuman, Timon, and Pumbaa to reiterate the Lion King theme. I could them tell stories of how they got there and other things that come later in the reading. I think this would be a great story because there are many characters in the Ramayan, so I could combine all my story ideas and have Nagini from the Harry Potter series come in. I could also have characters from Doctor Who come in and be rakshasas that Ram defeats. Soorpanaka's character could be replaced by a rakshasa or even Nagini if I decide to make her an evil character in the series. Or this could be where Nagini comes in and Ram convinces her to be his companion instead of Lord Voldemort's (just like Dumbledore convinced Snape to be on his side rather than a Death Eater). Just some ideas I'm throwing out there.

Soorpanaka and Ravana
There is a lot that goes on in this part of the Ramayana. Ravana comes up with an elaborate plan to capture Sita, although she clearly is not interested in him. There are many stories like this one, so it might not be too hard to come up with a story plot for this part. If I do combine Doctor Who and Lion King, I could have the Doctor chase some of the rakshasas that got away from him last time, and they all end up in the forest. When Ram and Lakshman get tricked by Mareecha and Ravana takes Sita, the Doctor could even help in bringing her back, while Ram and Lakshman can help the Doctor defeat the alien rakshasas in return.

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana, Part B.

Source: Ram killing the golden deer, who is actually Mareecha in disguise.

Reading Notes: R. K. Narayan's Ramayana, Part A

As I was reading the beginning of the Ramayana, I was very intrigued because there were many stories which I haven't heard before and many that I have, but not in such detail. Here are some of the thoughts/questions I had about some of the stories in Reading A:

Vishvamitra
I really liked this idea of a mentor, kind of guiding Rama and Lakshmana through the forests and cities. He allowed Rama to obtain and realize his full potential as a leader, which was really neat. I could write this in many ways, because there are many stories in which a mentor guides a student. For example, Professor Dumbledore guides Harry Potter in many ways. In my version, he could guide the Patil sisters. Also, Oogway and Shifu were both great mentors in Kung Fu Panda, which is another setting I could use. Lastly, if I went along with my Lion King story theme, I could use Rafiki as the mentor (sage Vishvamitra) and Simba as the mentee (Rama). 

Ganga
I had actually never heard the story of how the river Ganga came to be, so I thought this story was really interesting. The Horse Sacrifice was something new to read about, and I wasn't sure where the story was going until it mentioned Ganga coming down and cleansing the bodies of the people that died trying to find the horse. It was weird reading how Ganga and Shiva were making Bhagiratha go back and forth, but it was even more interesting to see his determination of praying to the gods for thousands of years for the salvation of his ancestors. I also found it interesting that all the holes Sakara's sons dug up to find the horse became "the oceans of today." I'm not sure if I will rewrite this story, because I can't think of a more interesting way to write this; or at least, I think I could write more about other stories than this one. 

Ahalya
I don't usually see gods in an evil light, so when Indra is shown in such a negative way, I was really surprised! I had never heard of his infatuation with Ahalya and what he did to try to receive her love back. I do think it was a little harsh of Sage Gautama to punish her to become a stone for years, though, because she was not aware that Indra had taken her husband's place. This was a fairly short story, but there are still many stories about unrequited love that I could replace the three main characters with.

Sita
I loved the part where Sita and Rama first meet. It was simply adorable and the typical "love at first sight" scene. I could actually picture it in my head. I don't think I could write stories about this one, it's too historical to change :-)

Ram's Exile
I was so upset when reading about Kooni and how she manipulated Kaikeyi to be harsh towards Dasharatha and Rama. Kaikeyi was actually happy to see Rama become the next King, until Kooni told her she was being absurd. Kooni is the one that brought up how Kaikeyi still had two boons, and told her exactly what she should demand. I don't think Kooni had any right saying those things and disrupting a perfectly happy Kaikeyi and her family. I was also surprised about how quickly Kaikeyi changed her views and immediately became so cruel towards Dasharatha and Rama, so I wonder if she actually had the same thoughts as Kooni but did not realize them until they were brought up. I could go with my Lion King theme again here, and replace Dasharatha with Mufasa, Rama with Simba, Kaikeyi with Scar, and Kooni with the hyenas that assist Scar. I'm not sure who would play Bharata, so I might have to add in a character for Scar's son.

Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana, Part A.

Source: Rama breaking Shiva's bow, which gained him Sita's hand in marriage.

Tech Tip: Announcements Email

I really like reading the announcements because it reminds me of stuff that I should be doing and it helps me make sure I don't forget anything! There are interesting videos and tweets on there every week so it's fun to read through those. Sometimes I miss the announcements because I don't look at the home page of the class often; I go straight to modules or the Blog Stream. So I like that there is an option to subscribe to emails. I love listening to Hindi music so I plan on embedding some YouTube videos or Soundcloud audio into my blog at some point in the semester :)

Feedback Thoughts!

I actually like receiving feedback on my work, whether it be on my writing or on my duties as an Exec member of my organizations. I like knowing HOW I am doing in my work. If I am not doing what I need to be doing, or if I can make what I'm doing better, I'll embrace any feedback coming my way! The only thing that bothers me is when people give negative feedback instead of constructive feedback. If people type something out that comes off as rude, I often get a little upset, but try to fix the issue anyway. However, if people use words like "hey maybe this will work better!" or "hey that looks good but try this!" I don't mind at all - in fact, I love it.

Source: My only request when it comes to giving feedback. (kind of a biochemistry related pun, but it applies)

One of the articles I read was The Psychology of Comparison and How to Stop. I liked this article because I tend to compare myself to others all the time! I often used to compare myself to my sister, who is 6 years older than me. If she made an A in a certain course, and I was struggling in it, I would wonder why! I wouldn't want to disappoint my parents by making less than what she had made. However, I soon realized that although my sister and I may look exactly alike, our personalities and brains are definitely different. Now, I find myself comparing myself to others who are also studying for the MCAT with me. Some of my friends are ahead of studying than me, and I keep doubting my abilities. However, I sometimes need to step back and realize we have different study habits and way of learning things, so I should just keep my head in the game and "be a racehorse" (as the article says) and not focus on how others are doing, because that will only bring me down. 

The second article I read was 6 Bad Mental Habits That Sabotage Your Success. This article was also helpful by putting things in perspective for me. I definitely doubt by abilities all the time, especially if I don't do as well on a test as I would like, or if I am struggling in a class even though I do all my work and study a lot. Everyone has their weaknesses and strengths, though, so I shouldn't berate myself for my weaknesses; rather, I should learn how to make those into strengths. I also second-guess myself on many things, which I know I shouldn't do, but I can't help it! I naturally worry about a lot of things, including my choices and if I made the right decision. I think I have recently gotten a little more confident in myself, but I still need to work on it.