Mariah's Indian Epics Blog

An Archer like Arjun or Ekalavya Image Link Notes: Durwasa likes to curse people for petty reasons but Kunti is unafraid of him. He gives her a gift that allows her to summon any god. The sun god Surya visits Kunti and she has a child. Kunti has to give him up. When Pandu is cursed by a hermit and cannot have kids, Kunti shares the information that she can summon gods and have their children. Kunti takes the sons back home to Hastinapur after Pandu and his other wife die. The creation of Gandhari's children is very strange and helps shed light on why they were always set out on destruction and revenge. Bheem ends up at the serpent king's home where he is bestowed with gifts. He also decides that it is time to grow up and face the dangers the future has for him. Bhishma is the grandfather to all the boys. Drona becomes the war teacher, Arjun was the perfect warrior. Ekalavya became the worlds best archer just because of his willingness to learn. Drona has him cut ...

Bhishma gives his oath Image Link Notes: King Shantanu marries Ganga and the kingdom lives in relative bliss. Ganga begins to drown her children as a condition of past arrangements. Ganga leaves with the 8th son after Shantanu confronts her. Ganga returns years later with their son Devavrata. Time passed as it always does. Shantanu wants to marry Satyavati but her dad doesn't approve because Devavrat's children will be heirs and not Satyavati's. Devavrata becomes Bhishma after he vows to never have an heir so that Satyavati can marry his father Shantanu. Shantanu is not very happy with Bhishma but grants him the ability to decide when he will die as a gift for his sacrifice. Parshuram fights Bhishma because he will not marry Amba. Another situation that doesn't make a lot of sense when you think about it. Bhishma reminds me of a cool uncle that seems to know a lot but no one really knows why. So many characters being introduced at once is challenging. Wh...

At the time of this posting there are only 65 days until graduation.  Image Link 1. So far I am definitely happy with how the class is going. The beginning of each week starts stressful because of the to-do list but once I get started working it's all manageable. Monday and Wednesday have the biggest chunks of uninterrupted time to get the assignments done. I think this helps me get as much finished during the week and not wait for the weekend. I enjoy the reading, even if it takes me much longer than the estimate to complete. The Wikipedia trail extra credit is my favorite. I learn a lot of random stuff that I'm sure will help me win trivia. My storybook website is a source of pride for me. It's much better in my opinion than my blog site. 2. There's not much I feel the need to change significantly as the semester progresses. I'd like to manage my time a little better just so I can finish more extra credit assignments each week. I am worried about my futu...

 Feedback Cat Image Link 1. The quality of comments have been good and generally helpful. The ones I've found to be most useful include specific feedback. When there is a vague suggestion I'm not sure what is being recommended so I don't usually do anything different. 2. I hope my feedback has been helpful. It is a little stressful for me to give feedback, I'm pretty sensitive to what I receive and don't want to offend anyone that I think I'm helping. I probably overthink the comments I'm giving out. Using guidelines like WWW are useful for me, just so I keep my feedback concise. 3. I haven't really felt connected through comments and feedback; there are a lot of people in this course. I sometimes am given a post from someone I've previously interacted with but that's about the only time I feel like I'm getting to know people. 4. It's more helpful for me to receive concise feedback so I want to keep working on giving concise...

Mango Tree Image Link The image above heads my first work in my storybook. I searched for a good image for a while before I finally found this one. It includes the fruit, flowers, and leaves that I talk about in my story and leaves a really nice visual for the reader.  So far in the semester I am pleased with the progress I have made. I still struggle enough with story writing that I tend to procrastinate getting started on that assignment. What I've seen from myself is that I enjoyed writing more in the beginning of the semester and now my creativity has faded.  Otherwise I think it's going good. I am particularly happy with my first story in my storybook. I just sat down and wrote the whole thing in one go, keeping it relatively painless. The readings are easy enough to understand, especially with a second read through. I'm not sure why but I picked up on the first half of the Mahabharata really quick. That was a nice change from the Ramayana which required q...

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...