Mariah's Indian Epics Blog

Denali National Park in Alaska Image Link After a long journey across the Alaskan wilderness that included meeting friendly moose and deadly hunters, the two bear friends Koda and Kenai decide to rest at the base of the mountain. Tomorrow they will meet the shaman Tanana at the top, where the lights touch the earth. It is said that the lights house the spirits that guide all living things. "Let's see if there's fish to catch in this stream. I'm hungry as a bear!" said Koda. Kenai rolls his eyes at the joke, "Okay, hopefully we find some, we'll need the energy to climb the mountain tomorrow." "Oh I am ready. I get to see my mom, you get to see your brother and we can all live together," Koda said with confidence. Kenai nodded his head but knew the younger bear cub didn't fully understand why they were journeying to the mountain where the land was closest to the northern lights. Kenai was there when his brother died, and was s...

Yudhishthira Statue Image Link Notes: There is a struggle in deciding who determines Bhishma's fate because of his fatherly status to both sides. With the help of a distraction, Arjuna defeats Bhishma. Bhishma tries to tell Duryodhana and Karna to end the fighting but they just grows more angry and vengeful. So much for respecting elders Arjuna's son is killed and now he on a special murderous rampage. Karna used his fancy dart from Indra on Bhima's son which surprised me because I was sure he'd use it on someone like Arjuna. The death of the warriors children becomes a great weakness for them. Bhima scares the Kauravas warriors with his blood drinking antics. Krishna call out Karna's hypocrisy and Arjuna cuts off Karna's head. Duryodhana hides in the lake but the Pandavas find him and Bhima fights him. Ashwatthaman conducts a night raid and kills some of Draupadi's family; Arjuna steals his head gem. The survivors mourn those lost; Yudhishth...

Lord Krishna Image Link Notes: The Pandavas are off to their time in exile. Krishna comes to visit and claims that if he hadn't already been in war none of this losing the game and going into exile would've happened. It's amusing how Arjuna keeps going on these side trips during their exile. He returns a few years later and Indra says the brothers will hold power again. Hanuman and Bhima? The family tree just continues to tangle. Hanuman lays some deep wisdom on Bhima. The Pandavas come to the rescue of Duryodhana but he was so embarrassed he was ready to die. Some of his demon friends came by and renewed their support so he decided to continue on her path of Pandava destruction The Vasava dart has interesting terms and conditions Arjuna and Bhima are dead? The voice asks Yudhishthira questions I thought wouldn't have an answer but he gives answers like no big deal. The voice turns out to be Dharma so he brings Arjuna and Bhima back to life and gives the b...

The blossoms of the Ashoka tree Image Link Information for my trees: Mango The trees live a very long time, some even produce fruit for 300 years. Mango cultivation has been seen in Asia for thousands of years. It is only in more modern history that it has been associated with Latin America. India is the largest producer of mangoes, but 99% of that production is consumed in India. It is the national fruit of India and the yearly harvesting is often covered by the news. The mango tree, leaves, and fruit are used in art, worship, celebrations, weddings, festivals, and more. Information Link 1 Banyan The Banyan tree can also live a long life, many of the famous ones found in India are over 200 years old. The Great Banyan tree found in Kolkata is so large it looks more like a forest than a single tree. Its large size provides plenty of shade during hot summer months. The Banyan tree was often the location where Hindu merchants conducted business. This sacred tree is the nat...

The Pandavas with Draupadi Image Link Notes: Vidura warns the Pandavas of the danger they are in; they build a tunnel to escape and on the night of the fire a peasant family coincidentally perished and everyone believed it to be the Pandavas killed.  Bhima fights rakshasa in the forest; Bhima and Hidimbi (a rakshasi) marry and have a child named Ghatotkacha who promises to come to the aid of the Pandavas whenever they call Draupadi is to have five husbands; Arjuna wins her first but through confusion and slight bickering the five brothers end up sharing Draupadi (Wife of Five) It is interesting how much Drupada likes the Pandavas considering they helped Droni defeat him Yudhishthira becomes a great and loved king Exile is the number one punishment in every story it seems; Arjuna barely brakes the Draupadi rule but insists he go into exile for 12 years; he meets Ulupi and they have a child named Iravat It just so happens that Ulupi grants him the power to not die at t...

Vyasa Image Link Notes: Vyasa- the Mahabharata writer/creator Ganesha- Vyasa's scribe Devavrata/Bhishma- Shanantu and Ganga's son; the second name came after he made a terrible vow in order for his dad to marry Satyavati King Shanantu wanted to marry Satyavati but he wanted Devavrata to be king and not Vyasa so her fisherman father did not allow the marriage Amba- she will reappear in Bhishma's life towards the end; blames Brishma for her troubles; Shiva gives her the tools to defeat Bhishma in another reincarnation Vyasa is called upon to have children to carry on the throne; he is repulsive enough that his kids are born with abnormalities  Dhritarashtra is born blind Pandu is born pale; becomes king  Vidura is the human form of Dharma Kunti is the wife of Pandu; she had a son before marriage and his name is Karna Madri is also the wife of Pandu Pandava brothers all considered to be Pandu's sons but their fathers were gods  After Pandu died Dhritar...

Durga Puja Image Link Hanuman As we know already Hanuman is a devotee of Lord Rama. He appears in the Ramayana and Mahabharata and has evolved through stories over time. Hanuman has gained much popularity since the medieval times and is thought to be the perfect combination of shakti and bhakti. Hanuman may make an appearance in my storybook so I wanted to look into his background. Ramlila Ramlila refers to the dramatic live reenactments of the story of Rama. Normally performed in an open air theater at night, the audience is encouraged to participate alongside the actors. Declared by UNESCO as an 'intangible cultural heritage of humanity' for its ability to bring people of all backgrounds together. When reading Hanuman's Wikipedia I came across this festival as he is often portrayed with extravagance. Navaratri Navaratri is a 9 day Hindu festival that usually celebrates the goddess Durga. The 2 to 4 times a year event includes public celebrations using classi...

A microphone to represent both Sita singing and the podcast in my story. Image  Link Author's Note: I watched the film  Sita Sings the Blues  by Nina Paley. The movie follows the Ramayana from the point of view of Sita, along with some occasional interludes showcasing Nina Paley's personal experiences. I liked the movie as a whole but the narrators really stood out to me. They reminded me of a podcast so I decided to write my story in the form of a podcast transcript. The movie was already a shortened and less detailed version of the Ramayana than the readings, so my own story is inspired by very little of the original details. The sister is loosely Sita who has struggles she needs to work through. The sister's boyfriend is the dramatic and not all that helpful Rama. It didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to, it was a challenge for me to come up with an original story that still follows the Ramayana. Hopefully it's still an interesting read though. S...

Sita Sings the Blues Movie Poster Image Link Sita Sings the Blues  by Nina Paley The beginning of the second part is very modern bollywood-esque. It's easy to figure that the beginning sequence is showcasing the inner turmoil that comes from betrayal and heartbreak. The narrators talking about how Sita could be pregnant with Ravana's kids, that would've been quite the twist. A way bigger twist than Rama rejecting and banishing Sita multiple times after getting her back. It makes sense that Rama could've always had some small doubt about Sita's purity. It would help explain a bit why he was so willingly to listen to the common man and banish his wife. I'm not sure if Nina's story was all that necessary to include but I guess it helped show how the Ramayana could be felt in modern times, and give a break from the main storytelling. I didn't notice this before but Valmiki is the author of the Ramayana? And I thought Valmiki was a girl in the st...

Ravana and Sita (I thought it was pretty funny when the movie kept zooming in on Ravana's face as Sita was dismissing him.) Image Link Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley The animation is unique and interesting. The movie seems to be moving faster than when I was reading it the first time. I love the narrators. I think I could watch the whole thing with just their narrations. It's kind of podcast like, and I'm a big fan of podcasts. There are all kinds of strange characters attacking Rama. The animation helps my visual learner side; I am better able now to put names with faces. Rama is just as dramatic in the movie as I imagined him while reading the story the first time. Vishnu/Shiva as Hanuman? I didn't catch all that when reading. When the gods reincarnate/reborn are they still in their true form in the heavens? The songs weren't written for the movie? They fit pretty well. Everything is fine and dandy by intermission. Overall Sita is a little ...

Varanasi, India Image Link Chipko Movement For my storybook I will be focusing on important symbols from the environment. This was an article recommended to me by Laura so I thought I'd share what I've learned from the little bit of research I have done. The Chipko movement began in 1973 with the intent of slowing deforestation. It is widely known today that environmental destruction has a disproportionate negative impact on women so it is very interesting that women were the driving force behind the deforestation protests back in the 1970's. The women and villagers of this movement helped inspire many more in the quest to protect their natural environment. Prosopis cineraria The attempts at saving this type of tree in the 1700s was a major inspiration to the Chipko movement over 200 years later. This tree is worshipped by the Hindus during the Dasahra festival. The tree also makes an appearance in the Mahabharata when the Pandavas place their...

TED Logo Image Link First off, I love TED talks and I'm really upset that OU couldn't get its act together and TEDxOU has been moved to the fall after I've already graduated. I've gone the last three years so I'm pretty sad about this. I watched the TEDEd Videos: Language. I might be an English teacher later this year so I thought these videos could help with more than my own storytelling. These language videos were so interesting. The history behind languages and how they change is something I kind of already knew but not in as much detail. Cultures seem to be a major player in how we use languages. (I can't believe the difference between Old English and Modern English. I thought Old English was just 'thou' and 'ye' but it is almost completely different.) I had no idea our 3 tenses can actually lead to 12 different variations. That is a little overwhelming. I'm grateful English is my first language, not sure how I could learn i...

Lotus Flower Image Link Comment Wall For My Storybook Website Link to site ~~  https://sites.google.com/view/inspiredbytheenvironment/home Website Bibliography The Fascinating History of Tree Conservation Movements in India

Sita with her sons Image Link Notes: The story is starting to take a dark turn. Ravana tries to trick Sita into thinking Rama is dead but his tricks don't work as usual. Indrajit fights dirty. Kumbhakarna is supposed to be this big bad warrior but he is easily defeated by Rama. Indrajit seems to be the better warrior. Hanuman brings back a whole mountain to help heal the monkeys. Vibhishana gives advice that would've been helpful many battles before. They are finally successful in defeating Indrajit. Rama was ready to join Lakshmana in the afterlife, something I don't Ravana wasn't doing as his brothers died. But Lakshmana is healed by Hanuman. It's interesting how the gods decide when and when not to intervene with Rama's mission. Sometimes I just don't understand why the advise and weapons needed to kill Ravana show up way later when they should have been around to help Rama. I don't think Rama is being fair to Sita. I do like how Sit...

Hanuman finds Sita in the Ashoka Grove Image Link Notes: It is nice to find a friend in these stories. Hanuman will be an interesting character to look into. Sugriva and Rama are like kindred spirits. Vali was upset with Sugriva because he assumed his brother dead and made it very difficult for him to return with the living. Once again people have heard of Rama's power and some want to make the right decision to keep the peace. It is not all that surprising to me that Rama kills Vali in a non valiant way. Throughout the story he goes back and forth on whether or not he is really that great of a person. It is kind of sad that Vali died because it was all a great misunderstanding from the beginning. Rama is venting about his exhale and losing Sita. Not sure how great Sugriva is either. It takes some pushing for him to get working on helping Rama rescue Sita. After a month of searching, Sugriva's crew still hadn't found Sita. Sampati gives the search party a cl...

I see these plants growing with positive feedback. Image Link I enjoyed reading What Kinds of Messages Help Kids Grow because I am in the process of applying to be an ESL teacher for elementary school kids. I don't have formal teaching skills yet so I try to soak in any information that may make me a little better. While the methods may not be some I could specifically use in this course it's nice to know in general. The same ideas could definitely be applied in many situations. How to Give Feedback Without Sounding Like a Jerk was another interesting read. All of the points seemed reasonable, do-able, and understandable. Leveling the playing field and explaining why are the two things I'd like to actively work on when giving feedback. At work feedback generally comes in the form of 'this way is wrong you need to do it this way' and not so much 'this way is good but here are some ways to tweak it'. The presentation of feedback is really importa...