Week 3: Famous Last Words

What a week it has been… Like usual it’s Sunday and I procrastinated all of my work until the last hours. I should really start working on that because it is not a good strategy for success. This week was kind of crazy because I finally got my final schedule for my job as an RA (Research Assistant) in the Psychology Research lab, and it is a lot of hours. I will have to adjust my schedule for my other classes, because the times I am now working were when I was originally doing homework and studying.

This week I thought my best writing was in my storytelling post… I think I have said that every week, but this week I spent a lot of time on it. I liked how I got the chance to pretty much make up a scene myself and make whatever changes I wanted to it. I like being able to use my imagination for things like this.

My other classes are good. I have my first quiz in my Human Relations class this week, which I am kind of nervous about, but I’ll survive. I just need to do some studying and prepare for it and it should be okay. In my art therapy class we have a paper due this week over a movie we watched, and I should probably get started on that too.

Other than school life has been pretty good. I went home to see my family in Texas this weekend, which was really fun. I always enjoy going home and getting to do stuff that I can’t do in the fantastic city of Norman. I just wanted every one to know if you have heard of the app Trivia Crack, but you have not played it, you definitely should! It is my new addiction, along with all of my roommates. Some of the questions are really easy or extremely hard, but some are just perfect. It’s nice to see how much random knowledge we actually have in our heads.

Please enjoy my picture of the halftime show during the Super Bowl. The stage was fantastic!

(Katy Perry at the Super Bowl Halftime,
Photo taken by me)

Animal Vahanas: Styles Brainstorm

Topic: My storybook will be about the animal vahanas of the gods and goddesses. I plan on finding four different situations in the books that involve the gods or goddesses using their vahanas.  One story I want to include is when Indra lends his chariot to Rama. Here Rama uses this chariot pulled by Uchchaihshravas, who is a seven-headed flying horse. Uchchaihshravas is often seen as a vahana of Indra. Another story I want to look at retelling is when Shiva’s bow is given to King Jakana. I may use these stories in my storybook, but the way they will be used and told about depends on what style I choose.

Bibliography:

Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic.

•         I will add more bibliography information when the final stories are decided. This is just the book we have read, and I have used to do some of my research so far.

Possible Styles:

Animal Storytellers: One obvious style to look at would be to have each of the vahanas tell a story from the Ramayana or Mahabharata. They would tell this from their own point of view, as they experienced what was happening. Examples are Uchchaihshravas actually telling the story of Rama battling Ravana from his perspective. Or I could tell the story of Nandi the bull talking about how he brought the bow of Shiva to King Janaka (even though this did not really happen). This is a good option because we do not usually hear the stories from the vahanas perspective. This would probably use an anthology, and all of the stories would just be told separately.

Gods and Goddesses View: This style would be told from the perspective of each of the gods and goddesses that has a vahana. They would tell either the story of their vahana and how they came to be their vahana, or tell about how their vahana helped them to accomplish something they would not have been able to alone. This would be good because it could give some background about each of the vahanas. This would be an anthology because they would all be stories about vahanas, but they would be told as separate stories.

Vahana retreat: We all know that working for a god or goddess can be very hard work. I thought it would be interesting if I sent all of the vahanas on a retreat. Here they could just hang out and relax. While relaxing they could spend some time with one another and tell of their successes or failures. This would still be the different Vahanas telling their story, but it would be to each other. Some of them could be boastful or even saddened by something that happened to them. This would use a frametale, such as all the vahanas sitting around a fire drinking hot chocolate or eating something and talking to one another.

Vahana Group Therapy: Since I am a Psychology major I think therapy can be very helpful for people to get over things. I thought it could be a funny take on therapy to send some of the vahanas to group therapy where they can talk about all the problems they have with their god or goddess. It would be a chance for them to complain about how hard they are worked, or some of the dumb things the different gods and goddesses do. This option gives me a chance to make up a personality for each of the vahanas and portray it through their therapy session. This style would use a frametale; the frametale would be the group therapy session. The therapist asking each of them questions would serve to connect the stories. Each vahana would have a chance to reply.  

(Rama on Indra's Chariot, Source) 

Storytelling for Week 3: The Voice of Vali

Finally, after 28 months I have destroyed Mayavi. That demon! For a year I had to stay hidden in that dreadful tunnel waiting for my time to strike. Today was that day. I was finally able to return to my land Kiskinda, and go home to my throne.

But what do you know; my devious brother was at it again. After 28 months! 28 months of me working to get rid of Mayavi, and my brother traps me in that cavern. He caved in the whole entrance, but he obviously forgot how strong I am. How could he? He just wants what I have: my throne, my people, and my strength.

I walked up to that puny rock pile, tapped it with my toe and it turned to dust and watched it crumble to the ground.

“Oh, Sugreeva, how could you betray me?” I yelled at the top of my lungs, and the whole land shook as I stepped from the cavern entrance. He had to know I was coming to ruin him. He’s no brother of mine. I took off at a sprint toward Kiskinda and of course he was there being protected by his bodyguards. They were my bodyguards! Oh how loyalty works… There is no such thing as loyalty! I saw him sitting there on my golden throne, my precious throne, oh how I missed it. I stormed right up to Sugreeva, grabbed ahold of his shirt, and shoved him against the wall.

“How could you?! I trusted you to protect my kingdom until I returned,” I roared at him!

“You are my brother! My brother! I leave for 28 months a mere 28 months and you take my land, people, and title! We are done; you, you are done!”

“But… I did what you said,” Sugreeva whimpered to me. Oh how dumb is he to think I would believe him?! Nothing, nothing he says will change my mind, I know what he did!

“Ha! You imbecile! I saw how you covered my only exit… You thought that would stop me? You were wrong!,” I snapped back at my younger brother.

“Vali, you must listen to me,” Sugreeva waved his arms at me. “I did what you asked and protected the lands until you returned. When it hit 28 months and we had not heard anything I wanted to look for you, and I tried. You were nowhere to be found! I was forced to close off the cavern so Mayavi would not come out if he succeeded instead of you.” Sugreeva wailed at me.

“Brother, what faith you have in me. I applaud your courageous acts. What is it you have been doing since I was gone?” I questioned my dear brother. “Sitting here plotting my demise, I assume.”

“Every minute of every day I thought of you dear brother. I only did what I believed was best,” protested Sugreeva.

“Oh poor Sugreeva. What a hard life you’ve had since I’ve been gone,” I retorted. “Was it you who stayed hidden for years? And when you weren’t hidden did you fight for your life? Oh sweet brother, my sweet fool of a brother…”

“I would run now…” I warned Sugreeva, “I would run far and fast, because when I catch you I will end you!”

“But…” Sugreeva whimpered, as he slowly backed up looking for an escape.

“RUN!”

Have you ever seen a mouse run from a cat? That moment when the mouse realizes it won’t escape. You see the fear enter its eyes, that incredible moment of pure terror. Well, I love that moment. I love watching their eyes search for an escape. Sugreeva was the mouse, and I was the cat. He ran and I chased him…

Authors Note: For this story I chose to take a quick scene from the Ramayana, and make it longer and more detailed. In the story it does not give details about how Vali feels when he leaves the cavern, so I added what I thought he would be feeling. I also added some dialogue so we could see what a conversation between the two brothers would have been like when Vali came back. My main goal was to show Vali's perspective, since Hanuman who was on Sugreeva’s side told the whole story in the book.

Bibliography:

Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana.

Image Information:

Vali and Sugreeva fight, Source: Wikipedia

Vali's Death, Source: Wikipedia

Week 3 Reading Diary B: Saving Sita

Ravana and Sita- Ravana was trying to break Sita’s will and make her become his mistress. She refuses him over and over again, but is frustrated that Rama has yet to come and save her. She threatens to kill herself, which is something we have heard many people threaten throughout the story. Pg. 122

•  I find it weird how often people say they are going to kill themselves in this story.

Hanuman is saved- Hanuman is saved by Ravana’s brother Vibishana. Ravana sets fire to Hanuman’s tail, Hanuman then runs through the city setting fire to everything. Pg. 123

• ·      Hanuman ruins everything in the city with his tail that Ravana set on fire. It’s entertaining how Ravana was messed up by his own torture.

Ravana’s council- Many of Ravana’s council tries to get him to fight back against Rama by telling him how great he is and how strong he is. His brother Vibishana reminds him that he is not immune to humans and monkeys. Instead of heeding his words Ravana becomes mad and believe that Vibishana is in love with Rama and Lakshmana. Pg. 124-129

• ·      Vibishana travels across the seas and meets with Rama.

Vibishana- When Vibishana visits Rama they are afraid to let them in, but Hanuman sees that he has a pure heart. Vibishana also saved Hanuman when he faced Ravana so he trusts his heart. They later crown Vibishana as the king of the land. Pg. 131

(Rama fights Ravana, Image Source: Wikipedia)

Rama gives Ravana a second chance- When they are batteling each other Ravana is beaten down and runs out of weapons. Rama gives him a chance to get more weapons and come back the next day. Pg. 136

Week 3 Reading Diary A: Rama Meets Hanuman

Hanuman- I really like the character Hanuman. When we first meet him he is hiding his true self, but he immediately trusts Rama. Right away Hanuman sees how important and special Rama is. When he was younger Hanuman’s father made him dedicate his life to serving Vinshu, and Rama is the incarnate of Vinshu. Pg. 91 and 94

Vali and Sugreeva- An interesting scene to me was when Vali finally defeats Mayavi and tries to leave the cave. I thought this was interesting because the cave was blocked and Vali immediately believed that it was Sugreeva’s fault. Vali believed that Sugreeva was trying to take over his position as king. Pg. 93

Vail is defeated- I thought this was interesting because Vail was known for his superior strength and, “he felt admiration for the unknown assailant.” Pg. 100

Vail and Rama have a heart to heart about why it was right for Rama to just kill Vail. In the end Vail accepts it and understands why Rama did it. Pg. 104

Rama sends Lakshmana to Sugreeva- Rama is very upset that Sugreeva did not send his army right after the rainy season, so he sends Lakshmana to Sugreeva. Rama is so upset at the beginning that he is very harsh when he says he will destroy all the monkeys if Sugreeva does not come to help. After he is done speaking his tells Lakshmana to be patient and nice to them. Pg. 110

(Rama and Lakshamana confer with Sugriva, Image Source: Wikipedia)

Lakshmana is homesick- It is interesting to see this young man who gave up his whole life to be with Rama affected by homesickness. When he sees Tara and the other women he is consumed by these feelings of homesickness and misses his mother dearly. Pg. 112