Potential Topics

1. Possible Topic: Gods and Goddesses. I am interested in this topic mainly because of my interest in Greek gods and goddesses. I would love to find a way to incorporate gods from Greek and Indian mythology. I honestly don't know a lot about the gods or goddesses from Indian epics.
Research so far: I spent some time looking at a few of the different gods on their Wikipedia pages including Vishnu, Brahma, and Hanuman. It is hard for me to read these articles when I know so very little about the culture and religious beliefs. So through this project I hope to understand more fully all the aspects of these epics.

2. Possible Topic: Heroes and Heroines. I am interested in this topic for a comparable reason as the first one. I have enjoyed studying Greek heroes and would love to incorporate that with the Indian Epics. I have really enjoyed the story of Rama thus far and would love to continue working with it.
Research so far: Well part of my research I include what we have already read in class. I just think there is so much to work with with the story of Rama. I also began reading about him on the Wikipedia Page. Rama is a very respectable character and I would like to focus on a few specific instances of his life.

Painting of Rama with Bow

Web Source: Wikipedia

3. Possible Topic: Animal Characters. For starters I love animals so I think I could have a lot of fun with this topic. I really like Matsya. I was a swimmer for years and years so I really enjoy fish. But I also like that Matsya has been depicted as half man half fish, so essentially a mermaid. I think this would be a lot of fun to work with.
Research so far: I do not know a lot about Matsya, actually nothing in fact. I went to his Wikipedia Page and read about him there. Part of his story with the flood appears to be somewhat similar to the Noah story, which I am very familiar with. So it would be fun to more about Matsya's flood story.

4. Possible Topic: Love Stories: Let's be honest I am a helpless romantic and I love love! So I would really enjoy writing about love stories. The only one I really know about right now is Rama and Sita. I have really enjoyed their story so far. I also really enjoyed Ahalya and Gautama's story, even though it was quite sad. I feel like I could work a lot with this story.
Research so far: The two love stories I have already mentioned we have already read a little about so I feel like I understand their stories thus far. I went to the Wikipedia Page for Swayamvara. I think that this practice could make a really interesting story that I could work a lot with.

Storytelling for Week 2: The Power of Song

There once was a prince named Gerald and he was the most handsome prince that had ever walked the earth. He also had a magic power: song. Whenever Gerald would go to battle he would start singing and all of the enemy troops would be so mesmerized by his voice, that they would stop fighting. Gerald's army would then slaughter all the enemy troops.

One day Gerald was wandering the streets of a neighboring kingdom and he saw a beautiful princess standing on the balcony of her castle. Then the princess began dancing, the most perfect dance that Gerald had ever seen. He knew at once that he must marry her. So he ran into the castle, found the king and asked for the lovely princess' hand in marriage. The king agreed to give his daughter Maria's hand in marriage.

Once Gerald and Maria were married they were set to have an amazing life. Gerald and Maria would stay out late at night singing and dancing for all the citizens of their kingdom. But one day a wizard came to the kingdom and watched Gerald and Maria's performance. He was incredibly jealous of their talent. So, as the moon rose, the wizard snuck into the castle by casting a sleep spell on all the guards. Then he went upstairs and stole Gerald's voice and hid it in a magic necklace. Whenever the wizard wore the necklace he could sing like Gerald.

Gerald awoke the next morning and was shocked to find that he couldn't speak. He knew someone had stolen his voice. The security cameras in the castle proved that it was a wizard. Gerald began to pack his bags to journey into the forest to retrieve his voice. When Maria arose from her slumber she found her husband in distress. She knew she had to go with him into the forest. He no longer had his song to protect himself, he only had his good looks, which are never enough. At least Maria could dance and keep them safe. So they embarked on their journey together. They also took a magic song bird with them for company.

One day in the forest Gerald went to retrieve water. As he approached the river he noticed a beautiful maiden. This woman was nearly as beautiful as his own wife. When the woman caught a glimpse of Gerald she instantly fell in love. The woman introduced herself as Jasmine, but her real name was Becky the Sorcerer. She was the most wicked and hideous of all the sorcerers in the world.

Witch Head

Deviant Art

She had seen Gerald the day before walking in the woods and knew she must have him. Becky tried to convince Gerald to begin life with her, but Gerald knew after a few moments that Becky (at this time Gerald was still under the impression that she was Jasmine) was nothing more than a beautiful woman. She had no special talents to make her truly worthy of him.

Maria began to worry about Gerald and came down to the river to find him. When Maria saw he was alright she began to dance toward him gracefully. Becky had never seen anyone dance so beautifully. Becky did not know that Maria was Gerald's wife, so she said "My love turn away, this woman is an ugly sorcerer who has merely disguised herself as a beautiful woman. Flee now before she captures you." Instead, Gerald ran to Maria and embraced her. Becky was furious and stormed off.

The next morning while Gerald was away, Becky came to the tent where Maria and Gerald were staying. Becky came to give a poisoned apple to Maria, so that she could have Gerald all to herself. But the magical song bird that had been traveling with Maria and Gerald saw everything and before Becky could give the poisoned apple to Maria, the bird gauged out the eyes of Becky. Then the bird let out a powerful scream and Becky's ears exploded. Becky was so ashamed that she ran back to her home, never to leave it again.

Gerald ended up finding the wizard and getting his voice back. Maria and Gerald lived happily ever after.

Author's Note: 
For this story I was inspired by Rama's encounter with Shurpanakha in  The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan. I really enjoyed reading this story and wanted to experiment with it. The ending to my story is abrupt, but I wanted to focus on the story of Shurpanakha with Rama. Essentially, I wanted to stay fairly true to the original story, but I wanted it to have a new influence. I was inspired by the stories of Disney Princesses. I named Gerald's wife after Jasmine in Aladdin. The stolen voice was took it's inspiration from The Little Mermaid and the poisoned apple took it's inspiration from Snow White. Stories of Disney Princesses are some of my favorite, so I wanted to recreate this story in this style. I also wanted to add humor to the story, because it is rather gruesome. An example of humor I added is the reference to security cameras, obviously security cameras wouldn't exist during the time that this story would have taken place. I like the picture of the witch for this story because it is the stereotypical witch that comes to mind when people think of of witches. Overall, this story was fun to write and I hope you enjoy it.

Bibliography:
"The Ramayana" by R. K. Narayan (2006)

Reading Diary B: Narayan's Ramayana

So the story I first really want to talk about in this reading is the story of Ravana's Sister. She calls herself Kamavalli but her real name is Shurpanakha. She acknowledges that she is Ravana's sister but claims to have rejected the ways of the demons. She falls madly in love with Rama, but he sees her for what she is. "He realized that she had only an appearance of quality, and was really cheap and shameless." (87) Although I personally agree with this description, it is a rather strong one.

I also really enjoyed when Shurpanakha says "Great one! Don't let this creature come near you. Don't be misled by her appearance, it's not her own, she has assumed it through black art. Actually she is a rakshasa woman; drive her off before she does you any harm. This forest is full of such deceivers." (89) Oh the irony in this statement is beautiful. She is describing the wife of Rama as how she herself is. To make it even more ironic, she has no idea that this is Rama's wife.

Rama and Shurpanakha 

Web source: Wikipedia

After Shurpanakha has been cut, she goes to Ravana. During this scene she describes Sita in great detail. Ravana falls uncontrollably in love with her. I know in my last post I said that Sita's love for Rama was extreme after just seeing him once, but this is a little insane to me. He hasn't even seen Sita yet.

I also enjoyed the deception in the golden deer story. Lakshmana knew that Rama couldn't be in any real danger, but still he was forced to go check on him. I think this shows how wise of a character Lakshmana is, because he had a feeling that something was wrong about this whole situation.

Reference:
The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan
Ramayana Reading Guide

Reading Diary A: Narayan's Ramayana

One story that I really found interesting was Ahalya's story. A god named Brahma made a perfectly beautiful woman and she was named Ahalya. She was married to Sage Gautama because Brahma appreciated his pure heart and mind. However, a god named Indra infatuated over her. So he made himself look like her husband and slept with her. Gautama returned and found them. He cursed Indra and made his body be covered in female organs and he turned Ahalya into a stone. But she would turn human again when Rama passes. To me this story has a lot of elements to it. It has respect, lust, deception, betrayal and redemption. This short story is very complicated.

Ahalya Emerges From Stone Form 

Web source: Wikipedia

I was also fascinated by how distressed princess Sita became after seeing Rama. I mean I understand he must have been good looking, but her reaction seemed a little extreme. But on the other hand, I respect love. I like Rama's reaction much better. He kept himself together in public, but then began to think about the girl.

The last bit of this reading was heartbreaking to me. The drastic change in Kaikeyi from supporting and being happy for Rama becoming King to wanting him banished was shocking. The king completely shut down, which was shocking for a King. In modern society I feel like we don't take our promises seriously, so its interesting to watch a King being held to a promise.

I also have so much respect for how Rama handled his change of fate. This shows his character. He is a man truly deserving honor.

Reference:
The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan 
Ramayana Reading Guide