Reading Evaluation

By far, my favorite reading this semester was Karna: The Unsung Hero of the Mahabharata. His character in the Mahabharata fascinated me and, since I was doing a storybook on his father, I decided to read this as one of my choices for the final weeks of class and I am so glad I did. It was such a personal look into Karna's life and I absolutely loved looking at it from another point of view.

I also really liked Narayan's version of the Ramayana and his version of the Mahabharata. His writing style is really easy to follow and it makes the stories easier to follow and they read more like a novel. Their organization also makes reading diaries easier.

I really liked the balance of reading, writing, and commenting. It seemed like a nice and even distribution and the readings were not overwhelming, which was nice. I also enjoyed the multiple options we had because it meant it was easier to personalize the lesson. 

With this in mind, I would tell future students to keep up with the readings and try to space it out. Reading over the weekend or towards the end of the week before the reading diary is due makes it a lot easier to complete all of them on time. I wish I had done that this semester, so I would definitely recommend it!

Week 15: Reflections

I've truly enjoyed this class this semester. I love how it forced me to be creative and stretch my imagination. I feel like in most classes, academic writing is so central to the course that it takes the fun out of it. This class allowed me to express myself in whatever way I wanted and to be imaginative at least once a week in the midst of impersonal and boring assignments in other classes.

This class was truly unique and I am so glad that I got to take it this semester. I'm really proud of how my storytelling has improved and I'm especially proud of my storybook. After all of the writing practice this semester, I feel like the end product was something I could look back on and be proud. This was a fantastic course and I feel like it really improved the way I read and interpret stories and the way I write my own stories. Thank you so much for this class! It really is incredible!

Storytelling Week 14: Deep Slumber

Galaxy Photo found on Wikimedia Commons

"The stars are beautiful tonight, aren't they?" Shane asked, startling Jenny out of her reverie.

She looked over at her friend across the clearing. "Huh? Yeah, yeah, they're gorgeous," she paused before continuing. "Sorry I was just thinking."

Looking back up at the crystal clear sky, Jenny's mind wandered again. The stars were clustered so close together that they seemed to form a shimmering puddle of liquid light across the sky. If she concentrated hard enough, she could feel herself floating through it, her thoughts sliding easily to the farthest reaches of the universe.

She did not notice Shane watching her expectantly until she said, "Well, what are you thinking about?"

Jenny shook her head slightly before turning her head back toward Shane. "I just heard something interesting the other day and it made me think," she started. "You know how, when you're dreaming, everything feels so real. You can never really tell you're dreaming until you wake up?"

Here she stopped, waiting for Shane's answer. When she nodded her head, Jenny continued. "Well, I was just thinking, what if this is just a dream? Or what if this is someone else's dream and we are just characters in it. And when they wake up, we disappear, only to reappear in a different form when they go to sleep again."

Shane's eyes widened before she laughed, eyes crinkling. "You're thinking too much! You have to just appreciate what is happening now because if this is a dream, there's nothing we can do but enjoy the stars and the time we have!"

Jenny paused and looked up at the sky again. She smiled, first at the stars, and then back at Shane. "You're probably right, I'm just overthinking things."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, both watching the stars so intensely that they noticed them begin to dim. One by one, they went out until finally-

****

Nina groaned, yanking her pillow over her head as her alarm told her it was time to get up. She had to leave for class in a few minutes, but before she left she reached into her nightstand to get her dream journal. She always had the most vivid dreams, and this had been one of the strangest ones yet. 

As she hastily wrote it down, she skimmed through the rest of her dream journal. Maybe one day she would figure it all out, but for now, she was running late.

Author's Notes

This story was inspired by the Pattanaik video and the story on Narayan's sleep cycle as the cycle of the rebirth of the universe. When Narayan is awake, the universe exists, but it stops when he is sleeping. For my story, I decided to switch it up and have the dream state as a universe of it's own. This was just a fun little story that I kind of think about a lot and the video this week reminded me of it. 

Reading Diary A Week 14: Pattanaik

1. It's interesting to think about people's perspectives on what is strange being influenced by what they were raised with. We talk a lot about that in my anthropology class.

2. I loved the story about Ganesha running around his parents three times. It was an interesting insight into the matters of subjectivity and the importance of it in life. 

3. The importance of empathy when analyzing or studying another culture is rightly emphasized in this video. We talk about ethnocentrism and how detrimental it is to cross-cultural interactions and I like the way this video analyzes and breaks that down in the example of Hinduism. 

4. I love the idea of divinity being formless and people creating forms for the divine in order to understand it. It's an interesting idea and it shows how complicated and abstract our forms of understanding and communicating are.

5. The story of the two warrior goddesses who did not marry because it would domesticate them was very interesting.

6. The idea of subjective truths was my favorite part of the first video. 

7. Narayan's sleep cycle and the idea of the rebirth of the universe is very interesting. It's an interesting insight into the lives of Hindus. I like the idea that it explains the urgency in some cultures and the lack of it in others. 

8. It's also interesting to think about the question of whether or not something exists if it is not consciously observed or thought of. And I love the question of whether or not we create the world with our observations or if the universe created us.

Statue of Vishnu: Image found on Wikimedia Commons

Storytelling Post Week 13: Karna

Karna tossed and turned in his sleep, worried about his future and his place in the world. Just as he was drifting into a more peacefull sleep, a cry from the other room woke him completely. He could hear the sounds of his brother crying muffled by the door between them. Tip-toeing to the door, he cracked it slightly and listened.

"Mama, he hit me!" he sobbed. "He hit me and so did his friends and I didn't do anything!"

The floor creaked as his mother quickly crossed the entryway to comfort her youngest son. The cries were once again muffled, but by his mother's shoulder this time.

"My dear, I am so sorry," she murmured. "Who was it? Who did this to you?"

As his younger brother listed the names of the children who beat him up, Karna's anger grew uncontrollably. He yanked on his shoes, grabbed a jacket, and brushed past his mother and brother on his way out the door. 

He stomped through the field towards the place he and his brothers played baseball on the weekends. When he reached the fence, he found the group his brother mentioned.

There were six of them in all. Karna's brother had not been a match for one of them, let alone six of them at once. Three of them darted off when they saw the fury in Karna's eyes, but the other three stayed, squaring up for a fight.

Karna flew at them, fists flailing as he attacked. Even though there were three of them, they were no match for Karna's righteous fury. 

He was not satisfied until each of them had run off, bruised and bleeding. Only then did he return home.

Not long had passed, maybe ten minutes, so his mother and brother were still in the entryway when he returned. A bag of frozen peas had been placed on the younger brother's eye where it was beginning to swell. 

"It's okay, baby brother," Karna said as he placed his hand on his brother's head. "They won't bother you again."

At his words, his mother turned to him with a concerned look in her eye. "What do you mean?" she asked. "Karna, what did you do?"

"I took care of it, mama," he said, walking towards his room. "I cannot allow people to hurt the innocent. Especially if they are my family."

He walked into his room, knowing he would be grounded. His mother would probably punish herself, too, but Karna could not help his actions. His anger at the boys who had attacked his brother could not be staunched. 

In the fairy tales his mother told him as a child, those who did the right thing always came out victorious, but the more Karna learned of the world, the less this seemed true. For now, though, he would do everything in his power to help those he cared for. He could help a little part of the world, and that was enough for now.

Image of Justice Scales found on Wikimedia Commons

Author's Notes

I have been reading Karna: The Unsung Hero of the Mahabharata this week (even though I haven't done a reading diary because it's been kind of hectic) and that's where this story comes from. Karna heard that a group of boys beat up his younger brother and so he goes out and beats the boys who did it. Not much changed in my story, but I wanted to write this one because Karna is such an intriguing character. He is going to be the star of my final "episode" of my storybook, but I do not have the room to include any of his childhood so I wanted to explore that in this story. He does have a temper, but it is usually when someone he cares for has been wronged and he is doing it to defend them. While just reading the Mahabharata, I was not very sympathetic to Karna, but now I definitely am. He wanted to do the right thing, but his loyalty to Duryodhana was his downfall. This is a very interesting take on his character and I would definitely recommend it. 

Storytelling Week 12: Kunti

"Dhatri, what am I going to do?" Kunti asked, pacing back in forth in her bedroom. In her hands was a long, thin, white rectangle. Her eyes never left the screen that confirmed her worst fear. 

Pregnancy Test photo found on Wikimedia Commons

"I can't be pregnant, I can't!" she said, nearly screaming at this point. "It's senior year, I'm not even out of high school yet and I am set to go to the school of my dreams in the fall. This will absolutely ruin me!"

Kunti sat down on the bed next to her best friend. Her eyes were wide with shock but when she spoke, her voice was calm and soothing. "Kunti it's okay, let's just think this through," she advised. "Just breathe and calm down. We can fix this."

Leaning her head on Dhatri's shoulder, she began sobbing. Her parents would never forgive her and if she did not have their support, there was no way she could get through college with a newborn child dependent on her. 

"How? How can we fix this?" Kunti demanded. "You know I'd trust you with my life, but I don't think this situation is fixable."

Dhatri opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say anything, Kunti continued, "You know how traditional my parents are! If they found out, they'd disown me!"

Dhatri's eyes were brimming with tears, but her voice was still calm as she spoke. Placing her chin on the crown of Kunti's head, she confessed, "I know what your parents are like and you're right, they would disown you if they found out."

Kunti leaned back and looked at Dhatri incredulously. "But I would never abandon you," she continued. "I will help you through this, no matter what."

Before Dhatri finished her sentence, Kunti was leaping towards her, hugging her tightly. Dhatri hugged her back fiercely and, as she did, she was already coming up with a plan.

****

"Okay, so let's go over the plan again," Kunti said. 

Dhatri nodded, reading over their plan to make sure she had every detail embedded in her memory. 

"My great aunt had an internship available for two high school graduates. I volunteered us both to work for her over the summer and into the fall semester," Dhatri started. She looked up at her pacing friend who motioned for her to continue. "The work experience will more than make up for starting a semester late and she told us that it will open up many connections and career opportunities for us in the future."

Kunti nodded, thinking. Any holes in their plan, and her parents could find out; her life would be ruined. "Are you sure your grandmother is okay with us staying with her until I have the baby?" she worried. "I don't want to be a burden. I feel so terrible already."

Dhatri stood up and walked over to her friend. "You know how much my family loves you! My grandmother always says you're welcome any time and she's happy to help."

Kunti smiled. "What would I do without you?"

Author's Notes

In the book Karna: The Unsung Hero of the Mahabharata by  Umesh Kotru and Shutosh Zutshi I was really interested in the friendship between Kunti and Dhatri. They shared everything and it was such a strong and caring relationship that I wanted to explore it in a more modern setting. This story is fairly similar to the original, except in the original, Kunti tells her father that she is to live in isolation and fast in order to become successful. It is a way to distance herself so that no one finds out about the pregnancy. In my story, I decided that she would go stay with Dhatri's grandmother and come up with an excuse for her extended absence that would equate to success in more modern times.

Week 12 Reading Diary A: Karna: The Unsung Hero of the Mahabarata

I decided to read Karna: The Unsung Hero of the Mahabharata by Umesh Kotru and Shutosh Zutshi for the next few weeks. A lot of this story is already familiar to me, so these reading diaries are going to be a little different and a little shorter. I'm just going to focus on small aspects of the stories that are different and that I like. These are going to be used for my final story on Karna for my storybook and also for the storytelling posts of the next few weeks. 

So far, I've read the sections on Kunti receiving the mantra and on Karna's birth and early childhood.

1. Durvasa gave Kunti the mantra because he could see her potential. 

2. Kunti was admiring the sunset when she decided to try the mantra. It says she fell in love with him then and that is why he was summoned by the mantra.

3. In this story, Kunti is pregnant for the full nine months. She says that Durvasa said she would be blessed if she fasted and avoided people for a year as an excuse to keep to herself. She only conversed with Dhatri who was her dearest friend and servant. Dhatri smuggled in a midwife and also smuggled Karna out of the castle. 

4. Karna was described as princely and supernaturally beautiful. His mother loved him very much. He had natural armor and earrings and the midwife noticed that he was divinely beautiful. Kunti adored him from the beginning. Dhatri allowed her to be content with her child for a while, but eventually she had him smuggled out of the castle and sent down the river in a small boat. She cried as he left.

5. Kunti wished she had been cursed by Durvasa and not blessed because losing her son was very upsetting for her. In the other stories, her love for Karna was not emphasized as much. This was heartbreaking.

6. On the Ganga, people were worshiping Surya as the sun rose and Adhirata was out on the river. He saw the boat and took Karna home because him and his wife Radha could not have children. 

Photo of the Ganges River found on Wikimedia Commons

7. Radha performed rituals every day to ward off evil eye. His parents loved him very much and, although they did not have much, they gave him a lot of love and affection. Adhirata was Dhritarashtra's charioteer. They had other children, which I did not know, but they continued to love Vasushena the most.