Week 4: Extra Credit Reading

This week I chose to read about the great rakshasa Kumbhakarna. He was one of my favorite characters and enemies in the original Ramayana. This was a great story that included how the gods, demons, and people on earth interacted. It is crazy that a demon can defeat a god in battle which is why I loved reading about him.

Source: Kumbhakarna

The army of Rama is frightened and worried to fight this mighty giant in battle. Many of the men are killed because of his great strength. I enjoyed the story having the animals/monkeys fighting the giant. The Ramayana is very detailed with many of the characters being animals.  Rama finally defeats the great giant. The battle scene is awesome and the way Rama defeats him is important to the Ramayana. Overall, this was great to focus on this character.

Week 4 Storytelling: Revenge Will Soon Come

The story begins in the great town of Bihar where two monkey brothers attended the nearby school. The eldest, Vali, was the most popular monkey in the school with all the girls, except one. Her name was Sita and she was dating the younger brother Sugriva. The story begins on a brisk night where Vali simply could not take not having the beautiful Sita any more:

“Sugriva, get up from your nap now! We are going to be late to the dance” Vali screamed up the tree to his younger brother. Vali was irritated.

Sugriva had stayed up all night writing a letter Sita, singing out loud whatever he wrote. They had been dating for a year now and he could not wait to give her the carefully written letter before the school dance. He yelled back at his borther, “I am coming brother! What, did you wake up on the wrong side of the limb today?” Both of them quickly ate their bananas for dinner and swung as quickly as possible to school.

As the two arrived, Sugriva quickly went searching for his Sita while Vali went straight for the food. Sugriva finally saw Sita. “Sita my love! You look so beautiful!” Sita was wearing a long, bright blue dress that went all the way to the ground. The two embraced and Sugriva handed the letter to Sita. As she read the sweet words of her boyfriend tears rolled down her face. As she finished, she looked up and smiled at Sugriva. The two began dancing to the slow paced song that was being played. All was right in the world, except for Vali. He looked at the two with detest. He wanted Sita and he could not understand why she had no interest in him. As he drank a glass of fruit punch, rage poured into him more and more. All of a sudden he snapped.

“Sugriva! You do not deserve such a beautiful woman. I am the most handsome monkey in Bihar and I want what you have!” He quickly sprinted to Vali, hands tightly bound into fists.

Sugriva, in total shock, was not ready for what was happening. He dodged the punch of Vali just in time. The two brothers fought in the middle of the dance as the other students looked in horror. Sita cried out as Sugriva punched his brother and Vali punched back. Sita begged and begged for the two to stop, but all she got in return from Sugriva was, “Shut up Sita!”

Source: Sugriva and Vail

Finally, the teachers ran to the two monkeys and broke up the fight. Both bloody, the two were pulled back from each other. Sita could not take what just happened. She did not want to date and love a monkey that was so quick to anger and disrespect to her. She ran up to Sugriva and spoke words that sliced through his heart.

“Sugriva, you were my love. However, your quick reaction to anger and rude comments to me does not make me desire your affections anymore. I am through.”  As tears ran down her face, she walked out of the dance. Never to be seen again by Sugriva.

Sugriva filled with rage! As the teachers let him go. He spoke these words of revenge to Vali. “I do not care what happens in this world, however I do know one thing. You will pay for this one day.” Sugriva walked out of the dance and swung away to a place far, far away to plot his revenge.

To be continued…

Author’s Note: I wrote this story in reaction to the Divine Archer I recently read this past week. I felt the story was very similar to the original Ramayana, therefore I wanted my own twist. I wanted to have more of a connection between the monkeys, Sugriva and Vali, and Sita. Allowing the two to be in love and them end due to Vali will make his revenge even greater when Rama needs help.  I felt that creating a story that connects all three of these characters early on in their lives would help explain why Sugriva even helps Rama get her back in the first place. I am wanting to continue my writing on this in order to apply my own twist to the Ramayna and Divine Archer. The desire to get Sita back from Ravana will be even more because Sugriva actually loves Sita. I plan on applying a major twist in the original story in my upcoming stories. 

Bibliography: The Divine Archer. F.J. Gould. 1911. http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2014/05/reading-guide-week-1-gould-divine-archer.html

Week 4 Reading Diary Wednesday: Part B

I am continuing my reading diary of the Divine Archer.

•     Hanuman is heading towards Lanka in order to find Sita before Rama attacks. I enjoyed how they described the monkey’s powers as magical because he is able to jump over the serpent Surasa.
•       As Hanuman makes his was to Sita, he notices Ravana making advances towards Sita (similarly to the Public Edition of the Ramayana). I do find it strange that Hanuman is described as having magical powers and is sneaky enough to get to Sita, but is caught after he talks to her. Maybe the rakshasis have more power than Hanuman and were able to detect him.
•     When Hanuman is caught, he has his tail set on fire. This causes the entire city of Lanka on fire except the house Sita is located.

Source: Hanuman's Tail on Fire

•       I find it interesting that they added many of the demons in trying to persuade Ravana to return Sita. Ravana is too prideful and thinks he is untouchable though, a tragic flaw in my opinion. 
•      I do find it interesting that Rama shoots Ravana’s crown off in this take on the Ramayana. He should have just killed Ravana if he could have hit his crown off. However, in the Public Edition, Rama is criticized for not fighting Vali but simply sneak attacking him. I felt this author wanted Rama to be more of a hero and attack the enemy head on.
•       I did enjoy the description of Rama defeating the brother of Ravana. I felt it was great diction that his, “soul went up to the shining gods”. The battle was quick and Rama defeated the demon king Ravana.
•      Sita and Rama are reunited, however, she has to be tested for fidelity. Even though she proved she was, people in the kingdom talk about her in such a way that Rama exiles her. I was really hoping in this edition that Rama would not banish Sita. I feel that there was no point in all of these battles and deaths for them not to be together, especially when she proved she had not cheated on Rama. I hope to either write about this in this week’s storytelling or read about this in another weekly reading. 

Week 4 Reading Diary Tuesday: Part A

This week I decided to choose the Divine Archer for my readings. I felt that the title really emphasized Rama and his ability to wield a bow and arrow, therefore it caught my attention. Below is my analysis on Part A:

·       The story starts off in many of the same ways as the Public Edition of the Ramayana that we read last week. For example, the King Dasaratha has four sons from his three wives. Rama, of course, is the best and most skilled son. I do find it interesting that Rama possesses the skill of being able to read Vedas. I feel this was overlooked in the original Ramayana. His ability to have great knowledge could have further developed his character.

·       The sixth avatar of the god Vishnu, Parashurama, enters after Rama breaks Shiva’s bow to win over Sita. I felt this was interesting to allow two avatars of the same god to interact. I enjoyed the diction when Rama first received the bow and how it tightened just to his liking.

Source: Boldsky

·       The idea of karma is once again mentioned in the death of Dasaratha. He was cursed a long time ago for killing a boy instead of an elephant.

·       Shurpanakha is beaten/tortured by Lakshmana because she attempted to seduce him and Rama. This is vital in the plot of the Ramayana because she is the sister of Ravana, the leader of the demons.

·       Ravana, in revenge, then kidnaps Sita in the same manner as the Public edition of the Ramayana (the golden deer/hermit). I still find this to be my favorite part of the Ramayana because of the unique way to capture Sita. I do not remember though Ravana asking Sita to be his queen before he kidnapped her. I thought this was an interesting take on the Ramayana.

·       Rama teams up with the monkey Sugriva to get back Sita. This is similar to the original Ramayana.

Overall, I found that is wasn’t that different than the one we read last week. However, it was good to read again to get a further grasp on the storyline. 

Week 3 Review

Source: Week 3 Announcements

My favorite weekly announcement was the one you see above. I find that people sometimes wait for people to give them the tools to be successful. I was raised to work hard and make my own success. 

Thanks for reading everyone!

Famous Last Words: Week 3

This week’s readings was very great. I find that by the end of my readings of the Ramayana I was able to fully understand what was going on. I especially found that I understood which character was which and I was able to connect the relationships between everyone. I did not find that I particularly enjoyed the ending of the Ramayana. I felt that the epic should have ended with Rama and Sita being together instead of Rama shunning her. The whole second half of the Ramayana was involved with Rama fighting off demons and animals to save Sita. I understand that the both went to heaven in the end, however I wish they got to be together right after he saved her. I did really enjoy the character Rama throughout the Ramayana though. 

Source: Ramayana 

I actually thought my ant take on the Ramayana was one of my better stories I have written. I liked being creative and making the people as ants, Ravana as a crazy eight eyed black widow, and Kumbhakarna as a praying mantis. I felt that I developed the characters, however, I may be able to write a story about Zane and Ira's relationship. 

My other courses have actually been a little busier than what I originally expected. My courses have assigned multiple homework assignments that have been difficult. Also, I am doing my first experiment in my drilling lab this week. That entails measuring the densities of the mud we mixed last week. I will have to write a lab report so that will be very time consuming.

I attending my first AADE meeting last week and that is very exciting. The discussed the different tools that are available in the bottom hole assembly. Also, I enrolled in a drilling simulator that allows you to get real life drilling experience. It is one of the best drilling simulators at any college, therefore I am very excited to see what this course entails.

Finally, I am super (no pun intended) excited for the Super Bowl this weekend. I am a huge sports fan and can’t wait to hang with friends and watch the game on Sunday.

Source: Super Bowl 50

Anyways, thanks for reading!

Learn By H.E.A.R.T: Next Chapter

Source: Learning Challenges 

I feel this is a great way to look at life. I think many people worry about what has happened in the past when they need to focus on the future. I can relate to this in many of the things in my life. For example, I wanted to play college basketball when I was in high school. However, at the last minute I decided to focus on academics. I sometimes regret not trying to play, however I am glad in my decision. I recommend looking to the future instead of yearning for what could have been. Happiness is vital in everyone's life, so be happy!

Thanks everyone for reading!