Reading Notes: Mahabaratha, Part C

Spy (Wikipedia Commons)

I think the part of the Mahabaratha when the Pandavas have to be in hiding for a year is the most difficult part of the exile. While it is somewhat easy to go to another city or the forest and live life elsewhere, it is more difficult to live in hiding in the same city that you are from. If the Pandavas were discovered, they would have had to restart their entire exile from the beginning. I think if I were to create a story from this reading, I would make one in which someone has to live in hiding in the city that they are from; maybe a spy. However, I would make it to where the spy takes down a super-evil organization from the inside. This would be similar to how the Pandavas work for King Virata's kingdom during their year of hiding.

Bibliography: R.K Narayan, Mahabarata, Reading Notes

Reading Notes: Mahabaratha, Part B

Shakuni playing dice (Wikipedia Commons)

One of the common themes in many of the stories that I have read has been exile, especially in the Ramayana and the Mahabaratha. However, in both of these stories, the exiled are sent afar for a lengthy period of time, though they have really done nothing wrong. Rama and the Pandavas were honestly punished for the good morals that they possessed. However, foreshadowing the end of the Mahabaratha, good triumphs over evil, like in the Ramayana. I think the other major aspect of this story was the result of the first dice game when Draupadi's sari is unnecessarily pulled away. However, I think the important part of this section was to show the power of Draupadi's prayer to Krishna. As her sari is being pulled away, more and more cloth appears. This also signifies how the "good" are being punished when they have not done any wrong. Tying this back to a story, I think it would be interesting to write a story told in the present of someone that is sent to exile but is a valued member of society.

Bibliography: R.K Narayan, Mahabarata, Reading Notes

Reading Notes: Mahabaratha, Part A

Pandavas (Wikipedia Commons)

I grew up learning about the Mahabaratha and its various tales. For this set of reading, I decided to read the RK Narayan version of the Mahabaratha. However, I quickly realized that there was a lot to the backstory that I did not know much about prior to the birth of the Pandavas and Kauravas. From reading this part, however, I think it would be interesting to write a story based off of a bystander looking onto the lives of the various members of the family. Without knowing exactly who the characters are, it can get a little confusing to understand both the major characters and even the lineage in the story. In that way, I think it would be interesting to write a story based on another person's perspective looking into the family. I think it would be especially interesting to have a story about Drona training both the Pandavas and the Kauravas or the Pandavas escaping from the fire.

Bibliography: R.K Narayan, Mahabarata, Reading Notes

Tech Tip: Google Timer

I think the timer is awesome and I wish I discovered this before. Usually, when I'm studying or working on a paper, I like to take breaks. But, often times, the breaks that are meant to be 10 minutes end up being 30 minutes long. I will definitely be using the timer more in the future!

Wikipedia Trails: From the Orlov Diamond to the Catherine Palace

Catherine Palace

I was looking through the class Twitter feed and came across the Orlov diamond, so, I decided to Google it. I found out that this diamond was originally from Andhra Pradesh, India, and it is now a part of the Kremlin in Russia. Due to the fact that I love traveling, I clicked on the hyperlink for St. Petersburg so I could learn a little about the city. According to the Wikipedia page, St. Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia, after Moscow, and was once the capital of imperial Russia. Scrolling through the page, the architecture in St. Petersburg is gorgeous. Naturally, during this process, I started reading about the Winter Palace. I honestly think it would be so cool to live in a palace. There is so much history and culture within the walls and it would be amazing to live within it. As I read about the Winter Palace a little bit, I clicked on the link for the Alexander Palace. This palace was the place that the Romanovs were under house arrest in the early 1900s during World War I, before they were overthrown. Finally, the last link that I went to was the Catherine Palace. This palace happens to be near the Alexander and the pictures from the Wikipedia show it to be just as beautiful. The outside is a light blue and the inside of the palace looks exceptional. I could keep going on the palaces, but I think this is a good stopping place.  

Reading Notes: Ramayana, Divine Archer, Section A

Dashavataram (Wikipedia)

One of the aspects that I enjoyed about this reading is that it goes into some details that are not necessarily discussed in the other narration by RK Narayan. Specifically, I enjoyed that there were more sub-stories to the main plot of the Ramayana. At times, it felt like the details that were emphasized in the Narayan story were not discussed in as much detail in the Divine Archer, which provided a good contrast. Further, I also liked the inclusion of the Parashurama story because it ties the Dashavataram to the story, which is how the Ramayana came to be. After this reading, I thought that it would be interesting to incorporate all the avatars of Vishnu into a single story. Maybe even put a modern twist into it. I think it would be cool if all the avatars lived different lives around the world and did not know of the others' existence until a certain point when they had to come together and fight the ultimate demon. It would probably be a story that could be told from each perspective, leading to the avatars all meeting and then their journey to defeat the demon. It could even include the other leading characters from each story to connect the overall story.

Bibliography: F.J. Gould, The Divine Archer, Reading Notes

Reading Notes: Ramayana, Part D

A dog sleeping (Wikipedia Commons)

Rama is a very noble and knowledgeable character by his own merit. However, I think what makes him more admirable is that he still chooses to take advice from those around him, namely Hanuman. It is clear that Hanuman is utterly devoted to the duty of saving Sita from Ravana and Rama recognizes this. But, Hanuman does not take advantage of this position he is in with Rama. He is still reasonable with his actions. For example, when Vibhishana leaves Lanka and goes to Rama, most of the others say that he is not to be trusted. However, Hanuman says otherwise and looks at the qualities of Vibhishana and not just his relation to Ravana. A decision that eventually helps Rama because Vibhishana is able to assist them with the battle in Lanka.

Another part that I enjoyed reading in this section was about Kumbakarna. Although he is "technically" supposed to be evil, he is absolutely hilarious. The fact that he asked for a boon to just sleep for extended periods of time is quite entertaining. My parents used to always make fun of me and say that I was similar to Kumbakarna because I love to sleep. So, I think it would be fun to write a story about a character that loves sleep (maybe from a college student's perspective?).

Bibliography: R.K. Narayan, Ramayana, Reading Notes

Wikipedia Trail: From the 62 AD Earthquake in Pompeii to the House of Savoy

Margherita Pizza (Wikipedia Commons)

I started off my Wikipedia Trail by reading about the Earthquake in Pompeii in 62 AD. When I was in elementary school, I remember watching a documentary about the volcano in Pompeii and how that destroyed the entire city. I've always been intrigued by history and I've always wanted to visit Pompeii so this Wikipedia article was interesting to read. From that article, I went on to read about Naples. As I mentioned in a few other blog posts, travelling is one of my passions. I dream to travel as much as I possibly can while learning about the cultures of other countries and eating all the delicious food along the way. Also, Naples is essentially the home of pizza so that just makes everything better. If you haven't guessed already, my next link was about Pizza. Honestly, reading about pizza just made me really hungry and I started wanting pizza as soon as I read it. But, it was interesting to read about how different cultures had variations of pizza. For example, during Darius I's empire in Persia, soldiers would cook pizza on their battle shields with flatbread, cheese, and dates. There was also some speculation on the origin of Margherita pizza being named after Princess Margherita of Savoy, however, it could just be a legend. But, that didn't stop me from learning about Princess Margherita. After reading about Margherita of Savoy, I learned that she lived quite an interesting life. She engaged in politics and even lived through World War I. She was a quiet supporter of Mussolini because she disliked democracy and longed to see the monarchy rule. So, once I learned a little bit about Margherita, I wanted to learn a little bit about the House of Savoy. As I mentioned before, I love history. I especially love European history and learning about royalty. I didn't know that Italy took part in the colonialism movement and once ruled over Ethiopia and Libya. I also learned that members of the House of Savoy went into exile due to the rise of fascism in Europe and they were even banned from entering the country of Italy until 2002. I could honestly keep reading about this and go on more Wikipedia Trails but I'm going to save that for the next assignment.

Tech Tip: Canvas Calendar

I use the calendar on my phone to remember important events, schedule meetings, and keep track of my classes. But, after watching the video in this tech tip, I added assignment deadlines to my calendar. I'm actually kind of excited for this feature because it'll help me to plan my week out in advance and use my time more efficiently and effectively.