Topic Brainstorm!

At first, I thought brainstorming for ideas was going to be really difficult, since it is only week 2 and we haven't read all the stories yet. However, I looked through the Project Ideas Index and found so many options! All at once, different ideas came flooding to me. 

#1) One of the listings on the page was Supernatural Characters of the Ramayana. My mind immediately went to Doctor Who. It is so intriguing to learn about supernatural creatures so I looked at some of the stories listed on the page. They mentioned rakshasas, which I am a little familiar with only because I know Ravana is considered a bad demon. However, I do not know much about the other rakshasas, especially the female ones. I would like to learn more about these creatures and how they are involved in the Ramayana. I like this past story, called Ravana Diaries, because it gives Ravana a voice and we finally get to see the situation from his point of view. I have a few ideas for this story, but I'm not sure which will write better yet. One of my ideas is writing it in first person, where I am the companion to the Doctor in Doctor Who. We would go to the place that Ravana held Sita and help Ram and Hanuman fight off Ravana and the other rakshasas. Another story I could develop is having good rakshasas in the mix, and us trying to figure out which ones are good and bad while trying to fight them off. Another idea I had was giving Ravana or another rakshasa a background story, so that we can see WHY a lot of rakshasas are bad. 

#2) When I saw the listing for Animal Characters of the Ramayana, I thought about the Lion King (which may partially be due to the fact that I am wearing a Lion King shirt as I write this). I am thinking of making the story set in Africa and replacing Simba with Lord Rama, Scar with Ravana, and Nala with Sita. I would like to add Hanuman in there, but Timone and Pumba are a perfect duo so I might add Hanuman as a monkey in the jungle that befriends them before Simba comes along. I want to learn more about the animal characters that assist Rama or Hanuman in the many battles they encounter. I feel like there is a ton I could write about this in the Lion King setting, because Rama was exiled for 14 years, and Simba also left his home for years. Each one encountered many things in the forest, so I could potentially write many stories about different animals they came across and how they helped. Two resources that I found pertaining to animal characters in the Ramayana were Campfire Animal Tales and a Wikipedia page about Nala. I thought it was very interesting that there is a character named Nala in the Ramayana and in the Lion King!

#3) Another listing in the Project Ideas Index was about Nagas and Naginins. Obviously, knowing me, my mind went straight to Harry Potter because Lord Voldemort's snake was named Nagini. In Harry Potter, she was an evil snake, since she carried one of Voldemort's horcruxes with her. In the Mahabharata, snakes, or nagas, are seen as evil also. I was thinking that in my stories, I could make Nagini a good character. I know that Lord Shiva carries a snake on his shoulders, so maybe Nagini could be his pet instead of an evil person's. Snakes in my culture are seen as auspicious and many people pray to snakes and give it milk, as they believe killing snakes would be offensive to Lord Shiva. I would like to learn more about snakes in the Ramayana and Mahabharata and see why some are portrayed as evil and maybe even turn that around.

#4) Finally, I had a few ideas about the Festivals and Holidays listing. My family celebrates a lot of festivals in our home so it would be fun to learn more about each one, the historical background of each one, and be able to turn it into another story. I was thinking I could talk about Diwali, since it is believed that this holiday celebrates the return of Lord Rama after his 14 years of exile. I could combine a few of my ideas by including a re-tell of what Lord Rama encountered in the forest, but also exiling him to the African forest where Simba went in the Lion King. Then I could have Nala, or Sita, come and help him on his journey back once the 14 years were over. I'm not really sure about the other plots as of yet, but I'm sure once I read through the entire Ramayana and Mahabharata, I can combine and mix-and-match some characters to make a story out of this! I also love celebrating Krishna Janmashtami, which is when Krishna is born. I could provide a back story of how he was born or even the stories of when he is a little kid and his first battles. Another resource I could use for this one would be the small stories I have about Krishna as well as many other Gods and Goddesses. (see the picture below)

This is a personal picture that I took of all the little stories and information I have about some of the Hindu Gods and Goddesses. I'm hoping to find inspiration for my stories through these.