Brooklynn's Indian Epics Blog

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Story: There once were two bird brothers. There names were Jatayu and Sampati. They loved to fly together across the sky, they sometimes even raced.  One day they decided to race to the sun. Jatayu and Sampati had been competing all their lives, they were good matches for each other. As One brother increased speed, the other increased more. Suddenly Sampati began to feel the heat of the sun, he realized that going any further would be dangerous to his brother and himself. Sampati yielded and yelled for his brother to stop and turn around, Jatayu, believing this was all a trick for Sampati to beat him in the race, continued. Before thinking, Sampati raced in front of his brother, spreading his wings as far as possible to protect his brother from the sun, but Sampati had gotten to close, his wings were seared by the heat and he feel to the ground. Jatayu realized the reality of situation and began flying towards the ground to look for his brother. Jatayu spent many days and many nigh...

Rama returns to Ayodhya PLOT: Part D contains stories of the war and what took place leading up to Ravana's death. Then it continues on to Rama and Sita's life after returning to Ayodhya. After returning home to Ayodhya Rama and Sita lived happily, Sita even became pregnant, however the doubts of others pushed Rama to send Sita away. Sita then stayed with Valmiki and she had her sons, who eventually came to meet there father, bring Sita back to Rama.  The ending of Ramayana ends in many deaths, Sita sank in the ground to prove herself, Lakshmana beheads himself for disturbing Rama and Kala, and Rama, overcome with grief, departs into Sarayu river. When visualizing these stories, they do not resemble the happy ending I expected them to. For instance, Rama doubts Sita and treats her as less than before directly after rescuing her. And after a short period of time of everyone being happy, Rama again doubts Sita.  Bibliography: Laura Gibbs, Tiny Tales from the Ramayana

Plot:  Most of part C contains stories of the quest to find and rescue Sita from Ravana. Throughout these stories Rama creates allies to help him. Many of these stories follow one of his allies named Hanuman, and his mission of locating Sita. During his mission Hanuman is reminded of the power he posses and he uses this power to help.  Towards the end of part C, it begins to speak of a war, the instances in which the war is mentioned is a use of foreshadowing. It is preparing the readers for a big event to come.  When I visualize these stories I see what resembles any "rescue-mission".  It begins with a person in trouble, and another person doing everything in their power to rescue them, with help along the way. I ultimately see this ending well for Rama because it would follow the plot of a "rescue mission" to have a happy ending.  I mentioned in my Part B notes that it had yet to reach the climax of the story, Now I believe that the war that is beginning is t...

Key to Success: Pixy.org The two articles I read were "How to Give Feedback Without Sounding Like a Jerk" and "Why Do So Many Managers Avoid Giving Praise?" . I really relate to both of these articles because I have always felt like a jerk when giving negative feedback in the past, and I also have had managers and teachers who have avoided giving praise, which led me to not want to receive feedback at all. I know that when someone is giving me feedback it helps to know that they do not believe that they are a pedestal above me, like mentioned in my first article this can make people feel inferior. I also know that when in a workplace, or school, receiving positive feedback for things you have done well, will make you more capable of receiving negative feedback for things you need to improve. My overall view on these feedback strategies are that feedback is important for success, but in order for feedback to work, the feedback must be given successfully and respectfu...

  3 Possible Stories:  1. Trishula- The Most Powerful Weapon: Source .   The origin of Trishula varies, One origin story says that Shiva has had the Trishula from the beginning of his own origin, while another says that Vishwakarma created the Trishula and gave it to Shiva.  I may also include the different battle/occasions that it was used in.  2. Vel- Weapon of the War God: Source .  The Vel is said to have been the embodiment of Parvati's shakti. Parvati gave the vel to her son, Murugan The Vel was created for a specific purpose and that was to vanquish the evil asura Soorapadman. 3.  The Bow and Arrows of Kamadeva: Source 1 , Source 2.  Kamadeva's Bow was said to be made out of sugar cane and the bowstring a line of bees. The five arrows are each decorated with a specific flower.  I can also include the last use of the bow and arrow of Kamadeva, which includes the story of Kamadeva's death by Shiva.  An Armoury: Wikimedia

STORY:  One day Dashagriva was riding along when he approached a mountain, the name of this mountain was Mount Kailasha. He had heard the stories of the god Shiva and Nandi, the bull he used as his transportation, but being the overly-confident person that he was, Dashagriva was not concerned with running into either of them. As he got closer to Mount Kailasha a Bull appeared in front of him. “Turn around now, Dahagriva. This is the territory of Shiva and he wishes to have no visitors at this time.” said the Bull. Dashagriva was unbothered by this bull, who clearly was Nandi, so he continued to the mountain with a grin saying “and who is going to stop me?”, then using all of his 20 arms he lifted the mountain high above his head, “because it won’t be you, Nandi” Dashigriva continued. Shiva had been watching the altercation from above the mountain, and once Dashagriva lifted the mountain Shiva saw an opportunity to put Dahagriva in his place. So Shiva used his big toe to push down t...

Rama and Sita: Wikimedia PLOT: Most of Part B contains stories following Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana, after Rama is exiled from Ayodhya. Throughout these stories Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana meet different creatures and travel through different places. Some of the creatures/people they met:   The goddess of sleep, Nidra-Devi Rishi Sutikshna The Ashram of rishi Sharabhanga Tumburu cursed to live as a fierce rakshasa  (they heard) Apsaras Agastya Indra Anasuya, wife of Atri and more.... Some of these stories also included mini stories, like the story of the Five-Apsaras Lake, A hermit who Indra tricked into losing his powers, and the story about the Ilvala and Vatapi brothers.  When I visualize these stories they look like a quest, with many different settings and checkpoints. I feel that these stories are leading to a specific point, a climax, that hasn't been reached yet but is approaching quickly.  Part B also ends on a "cliff-Hanger" being that Sita was just kidnap...

Statue of Ravana: Wikimedia RAVANA:  Son of Vishrava (a Brahmin) and Kaikasi (a rakshasi) Had ten heads and ten pairs of arms Originally named Dashagriva Has 3 full blooded siblings Given immortal nectar, that protects him from many things, except humans Was trapped under a mountain by Shiva, then released because of his might roar.  Renamed Ravana "He-Who-Roars" Became a follower of Shiva Created a "veena" out of his own body for Shiva, was then gifted with a special sword.  Shiva granted a wish for Ravana, Ravana's wish was to have Parvati, Shiva's wife.  Parvati made a double out of herself to take her placed, which was named Mandodari, Ravana's chief wife Had a son named Maghanada, was invisible and carried invicible weapons Was swallowed by his sisters husband and offered up the heir of his throne in order to be saved Had a half brother who began the guardian of the north, Kubera Takes over the city of Lanka Ravana conquers Yama, the God of Death. A...

  Feedback: Pixabay The two articles I read were " Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt " and " A Fixed Mindset Could Be Holding You Back ". I chose these two articles because I struggle with self doubt and I also think that, most of the time, I have a fixed mindset. Growing up and attending a school with a fixed mindset approach made me dislike feedback and try to avoid it. Feedback meant I was doing something wrong, and while it is okay to do things wrong, I was taught that that meant failure instead of learning. Throughout the years I have tried to listen more to the feedback I get and I have found that as long as the feedback I am receiving is coming from a place of compassion, rather than anger, I thrive.  While reading "Seven Ways to Crush Self-Doubt" I was very surprised at how much I related to the article. I hope to try and follow these tips in order to become less doubtful, and to become more okay with not being perfect. My hope is that with the help o...

 Four Possible Topics:  1.) Kamadeva, the God of Love: I am interested in this topic because of the popularity of "Cupid" in today's society. The only previous knowledge I have about the topic is the stories of a flying baby with a magic bow and arrow, that shoots love. I would like to know more about the connections between Kamadeva and Cupid and maybe why we have such a twisted view of Cupid. The stories I would like to tell for this topic may be about the couples he has "set up" together, and I could tell these stories with the idea that Kamadeva is professional match maker. Similar to Tales of Dr. Love  by Dillon Duke 2.) Weapons of the Gods: This topic was interesting to me because I am sure that the weapons of Gods are not anywhere near average. I have no previous knowledge on the Indian gods' weapons however when looking at Greek mythology there are some very interesting weapons, including tridents and even lighting bolts. I hope that this topic can ...

Portfolio Link Nemo Horror Story Almost everyone has seen "Finding Nemo" but very few people know the horrific story of what went down behind the scenes while filming. Today I am going to tell you all about how Gill really came to get his scar.  The scene in which Marlin and Dory get into the Pelican's mouth and taken to the dentist office to find Nemo was not originally written into the script, it was created later on to replace a scene that, when first filmed, went terribly wrong.  The original scene was actually filmed using a crane rather than a pelican. In the scene the crane was supposed to carry each fish one by one to the ocean to help them escape the tank and reunite Nemo with his father. Gil volunteers to go first, the crane first had to prove his loyalty by taking Gil to the ocean and back to the dentist, without eating him.  It must also be noted that Gil was the only fish on set that did his own stunts.  While filming the scene Chris the Crane took Gill ...

The Cunning Crane and the Crab by W. H. C. Rouse Notes: Plot:  Main Events: Many fish live in a very small, hot, pool of water. During the summer the pool of water becomes too small and will soon lead to the death of the fish. A cunning crane takes advantage of the fish's position and tricks them in order to easily eat them. After tricking all of the fish the Crane becomes greedy and tries to trick a crab, but the crab knows better. The crab develops a plan to secure his safety and kills the crane for trying to trick him too.  Twists: Fish are blindsided and killed, Crane is tricked and also killed. Character Chart: Crane: deceitful, bully, overconfident, cunning Greatest Weakness:   being too self-absorbed and in return putting himself at risk.  One Eyed Fish: gullible, hopeful Greatest weakness: greed, wanting more at the cost of his life.  Crab: wise, clear-eyed Moral of the story: What goes around, comes around.  Overall thoughts: This story does a gre...

 I have decided to read the "Tiny Tales from the Ramayana" for week 3 and 4. I chose this version for many reasons, the biggest reason is that I can get it on my kindle app for only a dollar! I also liked this version because it was specifically written for this class. The two comic books I have chosen are the Saraswati: Stories of the Goddess of Wisdom and Surya: How the Sun God Was Tamed . I chose both of these stories because I have always been fascinated by greek gods and goddesses so I thought it would be interesting to learn about gods/goddesses from other cultures.  The videos I have picked are Indian and Greek Mythology Parallels and Harry Potter Meets Hindu Mythology . I picked the first video because of the same reasons I stated for both of my comic books. I chose the second video because I enjoy seeing the connections of 2 stories that at first glance are nothing alike, and also because it helps me to better understand the stories when using a story I already kno...