Epics of India Blog

See the most recent version published on my Portfolio . Sita, a young girl in a big city, had just gotten out of a long week of school. She had waited outside the school entrance to wait for her friends Sasha and Ramses, who usually want to go to the shops nearby Fridays after school, but both of them needed to go home for some reason or another. Crossing the street a few blocks away from the school, Sita walked slowly outside the store fronts, looking for a store she hadn't yet explored. Stopping in front of a brightly decorated store, she saw a strange statue with many heads and many hands. "What in the world is that?" Sita wondered out loud. _______________ The Demon King Ravana sat bored atop his throne on an uneventful Friday evening. "Isn't there anything in this kingdom of mine that can interest me?" boomed Ravana to his demons. His brother Maricha spoke up, "My brother, why don't you go out and see for yourself? I'm sure ther...

I took quite a few things I took from the second half of the Ramayana. I saw a theme of loyalty in the story of Bharata. Through his adventure, He seemed to be a very honest and loyal son. Next, I went through the story of Rama and Sita. I saw this set of stories as showing the "hero arch" of the epic. I see a lot of opportunity of with this story for one of the story topics I was looking at last week, Divine Iconography. He seems to be a major character in this epic. Later in the reading, Ravana, the king of demons, fights Rama in a war. His goal is to exploit the weaknesses everyone close to Rama in order to kill Rama and prove that he is not weaker than Rama. In order to do this, he must ennlist the help of his brother, Maricha, who turns into a golden deer to lure Rama and Lakshmana away from Sita. In the course of the next story called  Ravana and Sita , Sita is left alone and opens up to the disguised Ravana, and after he reveals himself, Ravana steals Sita away as she ...

I've learned through my writing and assignments in college that my biggest critic is myself. So this week, I chose to read two articles that would help me explore that more. The first article I read was  Silence the Critical Voices in Your Head by Sabina Nawaz. I liked her ideas on paying attention to criticism, but using it to better yourself instead of internalizing it. The critique can be used to amplify our strengths as well as  help fix our weaknesses. Also, she notes that when receiving feedback, we need to take note of both positive and negative comments equally, being sure to keep the positive in our head as well and believing  in what was said. The second article I explored was A Simple 5- Second Habit to Rewire Your Harshly Self-Critical Brain by Joel Almeida. I like how the author explains the elasticity of the brain, even in adulthood, and how you can either help yourself or hurt yourself depending on your criticism. He shows how there is a way to be extre...

The first topic I am considering is Creation Stories. Part of this topic would be to explore the stories of Creation within the core text of the Hindu religion, the Rigveda . This text lays out various beliefs on how the universe was created, who created it, and who is believed to be the central deity of the religion. Another topic that interests me is Yoga. I briefly got into doing Yoga with my mom several years ago, and I appreciate the art of body engagement. Last semester, I was introduced to asanas as practiced in Indian dance, so I believe it would interesting to see the asanas as practices in the art of yoga. Also, I would like to explore the more traditional form to yoga, which was originally more physical and had a large emphasis on spirituality. In traditional yoga laid out in the Mahabharata, there are three prominent types which focus on action , devotion , and knowledge , which I would like to look into if I choose this as my project. A topic that I explored last week ...

See the most recent version published on my Portfolio One day, a small girl was walking home, but she forgot her key. She knew her mom would be home soon, so she sat on the front step and watched the bustle of the city. Adults walking with brief cases, taxis exchanging person after person, and a few mice in the ally. "I wonder what the mice are thinking today," she thought to herself. "There's so much food in the trash today!" Mouse 1 squeaked happily. "Yes, it's a good day," said Mouse 2. "I'm so full." groaned Mouse 3. The three mice dove into the trash bags left out by the nice neighbors, who never seem to clean finish all their food. They found this home a few weeks ago, and have been happily binging their little hearts out and returning to their own home in the sewers happy and full. "EEP!" squealed Mouse 3. "What?" Mouse 1 and 2 responded, poking their heads out of an unlicked bag of chips. ...

The Jataka I liked the most was The Turtle Who Couldn't Stop Talking  by Ellen C. Babbitt. It's a fairly short story but it says a lot. Plot : In the course of the story, the author creates a friendly relationship between the geese and the turtle, so in the climax, I found myself hoping for the turtle to succeed. So the final event was mostly expected, but the style of writing seemed to create a flicker of hope for the turtle. I see the active characters in the story as essentially three good friends, two of them trying to help the third, but the third friend is not the smartest. If the children hadn't said anything, there's a possibility that the turtle could have made the journey successfully, but since we know the turtle was talkative, there's still some doubt present. The threat in this story was death by falling to the ground. I can see a story where this threat is something more physical, in a situation taking place between 3 mice and a cat who is initially d...

Starting to look at the materials for the week 3 reading of the Ramayana, I think I've decided to go with the online version. I really enjoy illustration and audio when reading, and I'm excited to see the different styles of writing. And of course, as a college student lacking money, the free option is often a great way to go. The first story that caught my interest is Ghatotkacha: The Chivalrous Demon from the Mahabharata. I found this comic interesting because it has many different parts to the story that I can imagine working with. I also find the original story intriguing and I like the basic moral of the story. The next story I found interesting is Kumbhakarna from the Ramayana. This story about a sleeping giant seems curious at first glance, and reading the guide kept me wanting to know more about the story. One of the videos I'm interested is to  Indian and Greek Mythological parallels . I have always been very interested in Greek mythology, so to see the parall...

The first article I chose to read was  The Important Habit of Just Starting by Jory Mackay. I found myself agreeing with a lot of what he was saying. He made comments on how everything advertised today is made to draw you to keep using them, and how difficult it is to block out all the distractions presented to us in our everyday lives. I also chose to read 11 Way Unsuccessful People Mismanage Their Time by Áine Cain. I thought the two articles went kind of hand in hand since they both talk about the need to change bad choices despite distractions in order to become more successful. So far, I've seen that I repeatedly spend more than the estimated amount of time on the assignments for this class. One of the things I will try to do that was suggested in the articles is to set more goals and deadlines so that I stay ahead of the deadlines on Canvas. source

Admittedly, I am not the best at operating technology. I really appreciate how many different resources are presented in this class, and how we get a few days to experiment before we're required to use the different sources extensively. This class coursework will definitely be good practice for adapting to various online sites apart from Canvas, as I am currently very unfamiliar with many of the listed sites. Through this class, I hope to develop my limited web skills. Technological Brain representation source

This class setup is very unique to ones I've had in the past. As a student who is very busy, I really enjoy the idea of working at your own pace as well as having a grace period for those nights where everything seems to be due at once. Last semester I took two online classes and I am very intrigued to see where this one goes comparatively. So far, this class has been far more interactive with the professor than any other online class I've taken, which in my opinion creates a really friendly course environment. Also, I really like how the extra credit assignments are meant to help better understand the intricacies of the course instead of some impossible task most students wouldn't have any time for. The extra credit assignment I'm most interested in is the one on HEART resources. I have a lot on my plate this semester and I think looking into those will not only help me get through this class, but also grow my mind in all other areas. Brain creativity source

I haven't heard of Carol Dweck before this assignment, but I found myself agreeing with a lot of what she had to say about learning. However, I also agree that there are many problems with the current state of teaching in American today to where this kind of encouragement is difficult to implement inn grading. I rember several instances in my school from myself and friends, where we were told by various teachers (typically in the science field) that we couldn't go on to try the harder level because, according to the teacher, we didn't show the effort necessary even though we willingly came up to try to get permission. I think another important aspect which Dweck touched on briefly is the importance of parental guidance in setting a person's growth mindset. While teachers can't do much with the grading system in schools across American, home life influences a person from birth. One of the main reason's i am where I am today is the driving thought that no matter ...

As a science major and a junior at OU, life gets very stressful. Taking lab after lab and even a single summer class that requires 12 hours of studying a day through the whole summer takes a huge toll on a person's mind and mental health. And in my opinion, the best medicine for any kind of stress is an animal that will love on you no matter what! All of my life has been filled with all different kinds of pets. I've had fishes, guinea pigs, turtles, a tortoise, lizards, snails, frogs, and even sea monkeys, but by far my favorite pets have been my dogs. Tortoise (picture from my camera roll) Harley the guinea pig  (picture from my camera roll) Now the hardest thing for me to do is pick out pictures of my dogs. All the pictures are just so sweet and bring back many great memories with friends and family. My camera roll is packed with them! To start out, I'll talk about my grandma. She has a beautiful set of black labs that are super sweet and absolutely love at...

The first storybook I found really intriguing was titled The Demon King of Lanka, Ravana . The setup of the book was a very good example of formatting. The writer had three stories and an introduction, first introducing the two man characters then formatting the stories as entries read from a journal found by the brothers. The writer seems to have a really great grasp on story writing, which kept me wanting to continue reading. The pictures added are well placed and are a good visual aid to imagine the people and events in the stories. Also, I really enjoyed how the author explained their style choice and reasoning for adding the personal thoughts of the Demon King. This image was particularly helpful for me to visualize the last story in their storybook Ravana fighting Jatayu Source The second storybook I enjoyed was titled When Trees Talk . I thought the author of this set of stories did a wonderful job of bringing the stories of the ancient and sacred trees of Indian cultur...

I have had the fortune of being able to travel to many different countries around the world. It's really difficult to choose my favorite place because I've been blessed with wonderful memories with my family everywhere I have been. One of the most impactful place I've traveled is to the beautiful Central American country of Belize. About 5 years ago I got my diver's license with the rest of my family, as soon as my siblings ( I have two) and I reached the age allowed. We had gone to tropical places before, but my parents decided to splurge and take the three of us somewhere we'd never forget for our first official dive trip. And so, to Belize we went. 5 years later and 4 more dive trips under my belt, I still have not seen scenery or density of life as beautiful as I saw in the reefs of Belize. This image doesn't show any of the animal life, but it is a good image of the reef itself. Belize Reef image

Just testing things out!