Brainstorming Storybook Topics

1. 

Rakshasas: The first topic that really interested me, even before I browsed the topics for this project, was the rakshasas and asuras. I found them to be fascinating characters and they seem to be integral to the stories of The Ramayana. I'm particularly interested in their relationship with Ravana and it seems like that might make a good topic for my project.

Research: So far, I have read several stories from The Ramayana which feature rakshasas and Ravana. They seem to be what we call 'demons' and are ugly creatures who wish to harm others. In this article from Wikipedia on rakshasas it says that rakshasas were born from the breath of Brahma and as soon as they were created, they began to eat him. Vishnu came to Brahma's aid and banished them to earth. They have an interesting origin story as well, so they would be a good topic for my storybook.

2.

Karma: This topic really stood out to me when browsing the list of topics  because it fit well with an idea I had for a storybook format. The format I had in mind relied heavily on cause and effect and so when I read over the topic list and saw karma, I knew I had to make this one of my options. It's such an interesting topic that really would allow me to stretch it in multiple different ways, so I think this would be a great topic for my project!

Research: Karma is not really a new subject for me. It's kind of a popular and well-known concept, but after reading a few different articles, I did learn some new stuff about it. For instance, after reading this article from Wikipedia I learned that, not only is karma linked to consequences in this life, it also deals with rebirth. I found this to be a very interesting concept that could help in my storybook project. I also always considered karma a future event, but never took into consideration that past actions played a part in present consequences. I knew they did, I just never linked that concept to karma.

3.

Surya: This topic actually came from one of the random pictures found on the topic list. Surya is god of the sun and his image really caught my attention. I thought of some of the other myths I've read on the sun and gods of the sun from other cultures and they have always fascinated me, so I thought he might be an interesting topic for my project.

Image of Surya found on Wikipedia

Research: From the research I found in this article on Wikipedia, it seems like Surya is not a major character in The Ramayana, so if I wanted to do my project on Surya, I would have to do some extra outside research to expand upon this character. I also found his chariot pulled by seven horses interesting.

4.

Love Stories: Finally, I chose this topic because I've already worked with one of these stories and I had a lot of fun writing from this topic. I think this would make for an interesting and diverse project because it would allow the incorporation of multiple sets of characters with different topics and settings. It would also allow for a lot of drama, which would be fun to write.

Research: After reading the article for this topic from the class website, I started thinking about all of the betrayal and jealousy that would be possible in these stories. I already read some of the betrayals from The Ramayana, such as when Kaikeyi forced her husband to exile Rama, and they make for fascinating stories. There also seem to be a lot of other love stories from which to draw information for my project. 

 

Week 2 Storytelling: "Across the Way"

Rama shifted his backpack over on his shoulder as yet another person was pushed into him. The streets were packed to the brim with people, all trying to get the most out of the street festival. Before joining the festivities, Rama sent a quick text to his father so he knew that his train had arrived safely. He knew his father worried, so he made sure to keep him updated.

Looking back at his brother, Lakshmana, he pushed his way into the crowd to join in the revelry. Although he had never been here before, the sights and smells seemed familiar. His feet carried him down seemingly random streets, every once in a while stopping to buy something from a street vendor, or stopping to watch a show. 

While checking out the merchandise at a jewelry stand, Rama felt an odd tugging sensation, almost as though his eyes were being drawn up to the sky. He glanced up towards the balconies, each one full of people appreciating the festivities from afar, but one person in particular caught his eye.

A young woman, about his age was laughing, watching a street performer juggle what looked like bows and arrows. As he watched her face, it seemed to shift and change, almost as though there was another face underneath her own. He knew this girl. He'd never seen her face, but he felt as though he had known her for a thousand years.

Almost as though she could feel his eyes on her, she glanced his way. When they made eye contact, he saw his own recognition reflected in her eyes. Could she feel this sensation, too? Did his face shift under her gaze, showing a thousand other faces? Before he could go to her and answer these questions for himself, he was bumped from behind by another tourist and he lost sight of her. 

All day, he couldn't get the stranger out of his head. Rama knew he had to find her. Nothing but fate could have led his feet to that particular spot at that specific time so that he could catch a glimpse of her radiant smile. He fell asleep, dreaming of her eyes meeting his.

***

The next day, Lakshmana and Rama continued their tour of the city. On their way to one of the more historic buildings that had been transformed into a museum, Rama felt a similar tugging sensation to the one he had felt the day before. He looked up and noticed a middle-aged man hunched over, reading a newspaper. What the man did not know, but Rama now did, was that a street performers' trick had malfunctioned, sending a flaming arrow towards the unsuspecting man. Rama was not sure how he knew, but he did. Breaking into a sprint, Rama ran towards the man, tackling him just as the arrow embedded itself in the wall behind him.

As he helped the man to his feet, Rama noticed that he knew this man. Although they had never met, he was an acquaintance of his father.

"Why, young man, you've just saved my life!" the man said after he caught his breath. "I'm Janaka, please, tell me what is your name?"

"I'm Rama," he said, inclining his head. "I believe you know my father, Dasartha?"

At this, Janaka's eyes lit up with recognition. "Of course, my boy! Of course, you must come to dinner," he said, his eyes twinkling. 

***

Later that evening, Rama arrived at Janaka's house for dinner. The area seemed familiar to him, but that feeling had not left him for the entirety of his stay here, so he thought nothing of it. He walked in, greeted his host, and took a seat on the couch. Before he could get comfortable, Janaka returned with, to Rama's surprise, the woman he had seen on the balcony the day before. 

"Rama, I would like you to meet my lovely daughter, Sita," Janaka said, a mischievous smile on his face.

Rama's heart stopped, and then began racing. She was even more lovely up close! He could not believe that, of all the people he could have saved, it was the father of the mysteriously familiar woman on the balcony. It must have been fate, there was no other explanation.

Rama inclined his head toward Sita, smiling slightly at his fortune, "It is very nice to meet you, Sita."

As he looked up, he noticed she was smiling as well. 

An image of Rama and Sita
found on Wikimedia Commons

Author's Notes

For this story, I decided to draw from the story of how Rama and Sita first met and fell in love. I tried to modernize my version, but I also tried to draw on some of the other ideas from the story. I always like the idea of reincarnation and cyclical storytelling, so I decided to draw on those aspects. It's a similar setting in the future, after the same thing has happened before. Not only are they incarnations of Vishnu and Lakshmi, they are also reincarnations of Sita and Rama. This story is kind of 'history repeating itself' in a way. That's why I referenced the flashing, familiar faces that Rama noticed, and presumably Sita also noticed, when they first saw each other. I wanted the story to be more practical in modern times, so I did not have him draw a bow, but rather save her father from a bow and arrow mishap, and they also did not get married right away. I tried to imply that Janaka is trying to get them to marry, but I did not want to push it too hard so that it would be more realistic in this setting. I drew my story from the R.K. Narayan version of The Ramayana. There are details on this version here. 

Bibliography

"The Wedding" by R.K. Narayan, from The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (2006)

Reading Diary B: The Ramayana by R.K. Narayan

These are some of my favorite plot lines and stories I found interesting during the reading from the Ramayana by RK Narayan for this week.

1. Although Dasaratha tried to take back his promise so Rama could stay and be king, Rama would not allow his father to do so and he went into exile willingly. When the king learns that he will not return, he cannot handle the news and he dies. The brother who was to be king, Bharatha, returns and is heartbroken to learn that his father is dead and his brother has been exiled by order of his mother, Kaikeyi. He was furious with her and after his father's funeral, refused to be crowned king and began to search for Rama. After an argument, Bharatha agreed to rule for 14 years in Rama's stead.

2. Rama met a great eagle named Jatayu who was once a friend of Dasartha. He was very sad to learn of the death of Dasartha and wanted to end his life, but at the request of Rama and Lakshmana, he agreed to live until Rama ruled Ayodyha, protecting them on their journey.

Rama, Lakshmana, and Jatayu: found on Wikimedia Commons

3. An asura in disguise named Soorpanaka tries to deceive and seduce Rama, but when she notices Sita she tries to convince him that Sita is actually a rakshasa. Rama knows of her deceptions and he leaves her, but Soorpanaka is infatuated and decides to take Sita. As she is following her, Lakshmana attacks and mutilates her. She says that if he takes her, he will be pardoned, but otherwise her kin will destroy everything in their path in anger for what has happened to her. Soorpanka went to get her stepbrother Kara who sent fourteen warriors to destroy the brothers. They failed and were killed by Rama and Lakshmana so Kara went himself. He was defeated as well, so Soorpanka went to tell Ravana. When she told Ravana about Sita, he fell in love with her. Ravana makes a plan to kidnap Sita. 
On a side note, I am loving this epic. I'm actually having a hard time putting this down so I can do readings for other classes. I want to just read this all the time! 

Reading Diary A: Narayan The Ramayana

The first thing that really spoke to me creatively in the Ramayana was the introduction to the setting. Kosala seems like a beautiful, magical place and the descriptions of the countryside are so colorful and vibrant. The descriptions really stand out to me in the R.K. Narayan version of The Ramayana.

1. Dasartha's Four Sons
Also from the beginning of the epic, I really enjoyed the story of Dasartha's four sons. Dasartha is an interesting and likable character who rules over Ayodhya, but he cannot have any children. At the same time, the gods are trying to defeat Ravana, who can only be killed by a mortal man. So in order to kill Ravana, Vishnu decides to be born as Dasartha's son. When Dasartha performs a sacrifice, he is given some rice which he feeds to his wives. After this, they collectively have four sons, one of whom is named Rama. Rama is Vishnu incarnate. This story was very interesting and I liked the plot device of one of the gods being incarnated as a mortal human. This seems like an interesting story that I may want to use for my project.

2. Thataka's Story 
Thataka was the daughter of a powerful demigod named Suketha and when she grew up she married a chieftain, Sunda, and had two children, Mareecha and Subahu. Her children were very destructive and her husband followed their example and destroyed anything he encountered. Agasthya, a saint, cursed Sunda and he died. When his family went to seek revenge, he cursed them as well, turning them into demons. Thataka now lives in the desert, destroying any life she comes across. When she tried to kill Rama, Viswamithra, and Lakshmana, Rama killed her.

3. Ganga's Story
Bhagiratha had ancestors who had been destroyed by a saint after wronging him and so he asked the gods for a way to cleanse their bones so that their souls were no longer trapped. Shiva agreed to help bring Ganga down so that she could clean their bones, but this would be dangerous. He prayed for a total of 30,000 years and finally Ganga descended, but right before she destroyed the earth with her power, Shiva absorbed the impact in his head and the water trickled out of his hair to form the sacred Ganges river. 

Creation of the Ganges by Khitindra Nath Mazumdar in
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists 1914

4. Sita
Sita is the incarnation of Lakshmi, Vishnu's lover. When Rama and Sita see each other, they are instantly in love and long for each other. The only way that Rama can have her hand, though, is if he is able to lift and string Shiva's bow. This was a condition made by her father, King Janaka, because she had so many suitors after her hand. Rama is able to complete the task and they marry in a huge celebration. 

This epic is so interesting and I'm really excited to read more of it!