Week 3 Reading Diary: The Ramayana Part C

I really enjoyed the character of the monkey-king in Sugriva and Hanuman, especially because the human characters are still present rather than a story based entirely on animal characters. Likewise, I found the details in King Sugriva about the high officials of the monkey kingdom, or the mahamatras, and the vanars very interesting; maybe because it reminded me of a favorite scene from The Wizard of Oz. 

Flying Monkeys. Source: Wikimedia Commons

I love the depiction of Rama in Sugriva and Vali, which reads “To his foes resistless Rama is a lightning from above, To his friends a tree of shelter, soul of tenderness and love, Dearer than his love of glory is his love to heal and bless…” I can see where some readers have a problem with Rama’s controversial tactics of guerrilla warfare in Vali’s Death; many people don’t find the strategies of guerrilla warfare fair or honest. Especially with Rama’s saint-like portrayal, these sneaky tactics don’t exactly match up with his character. I was so surprised by Rama’s display of impatience in The Rainy Season! I feel like this is so out of character for him, and especially after his display of unfair combat, I feel like this change in character is leading up to something important. I like the idea of having to wait until a rainy season is over; I think it creates a really beautiful picture. I would like to learn more about this rainy season specific to India and how it affects life there.

Brainstorming Project Topics

1. Yoga: I am currently pursuing my yoga teacher training certification and with this comes intense studying of the subject, which originated in India. I have already seen a lot of overlapping of ideas between yoga and our literature in Epics of India. Dr. Laura Gibbs also suggested that I look at a previous student’s project, IE:Yoga Studios: Pose Origins Workshop. The project is laid out so that the viewer feels as if he or she is actually present in a yoga class, which I found very interesting! I was so impressed by how well the author explained some very complicated ideas; I know how hard it can be to break down such complex ideas, but this author didn’t seem to struggle at all with this.

2. Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues: I am very interested in watching Nina Paley’s contemporary animated film, Sita Sings the Blues. I think that I might be able to come up with a project around her beautiful animations. I would love to research more about her art and learn just how Indian culture really influences her work, specifically in Sita Sings the Blues.  I am also interested in how Nina Paley got involved in such an original idea for a cartoon. She is obviously very talented, having been written about in the New York Times.

3. Animals characters: I really enjoyed our Week 1 StoryRetelling Assignment, where we were asked to incorporate animals into our new story. I took this opportunity to play with a symbolic animal, the deer. I think I am drawn to this idea because animals are universally symbolic, defying culture or geography. I would like to learn more about their meaning. For example, a turtle might be an interesting animal to focus on. I would also like to learn which animals are specifically important to the people of India.

4. Karma is another topic that I might want to pursue in my project. I think I could incorporate this idea with another one like animal characters, for example. Karma is something I have always been a believer in. I would love to create a beautiful project around this idea that what comes around goes around. I would also like to learn more about how this idea affects the culture and literature of India. I do believe that every action has a consequence, like the butterfly effect. This butterfly effect could be an interesting starting point for a project!

Butterfly. Source: Flickr

Storytelling for Week 2: The Deer Chital

Somewhere between the disenchanted city of Ayodhya and the corrupt kingdom of Lanka, the deep and quiet Pachavati forest protected a majestic deer named Chital. White speckles lay gently upon his narrow honey-colored back, which culminated in a lively tail that appeared to be dipped in snow. 

Chital Deer. Source: Wikipedia

Chital considered the lotus flowers to be his dearest confidants; their melodious observations made his heart dance. 

Lotus Flowers. Source: Flickr

All day Chital and his lotus friends would blithely banter about silly human affairs and nonsensical celestial entanglements. It seemed like each day more and more news surfaced regarding the activity of the most virtuous Rama. Chital innocently worried for Rama and Rama’s beloved, Sita, while the loti comforted him in their karmic wisdom. Like never before, Chital experienced an unusual gust of wind that sends chills up his bony spine. Next came a womanly cry from above, “And O thou forest and flowery trees, and thou Godavari, and woodland deities, and deer, and birds, I conjure you to tell my lord that Ravana has stolen me away.” Sita. Instantly, Chital felt as if he had known her for a lifetime, as if Sita was summoning him specifically. Never before had Chital felt more purpose to his life. Chital knew what to do. He ran vigilantly to an opening in the trees that he might catch sight of this wondrous woman. The sighting was much more daunting than anything Chital had ever witnessed: Ravana maiming Sita’s protector, the vulture Jatayu. Incredibly, Jatayu was able to conjure up enough strength to knock Ravana to the ground but only more angered, Ravana violently severed Jatayu’s wings. Out of plain sight, Chital watched Sita mourn the lifeless bird before Ravana dragged her away from the earth. Chital couldn’t believe his eyes; he began to weep. From mere gab, Chital had spent a lifetime drawing up what an encounter with such people might entail, but this confrontation was not comparable to such daydreams. This was a nightmare. The clouds grew darker. The forest seemed petrified and, for the first time, the loti were speechless. The moon came and went. With the arrival of the new sun, Chital remembered Sita’s words, “… and deer, and birds, I conjure you to tell my lord that Ravana has stolen me away.” Chital had no choice but to fulfill Sita’s request, so he set off for Rama.

"The lotus-flowers faded, the sun grew dark, the mountains wept in waterfalls and lifted up their summits like arms, the woodland deities were terrified, the young dear shed tears, and every creature lamented."

Author’s Note: An adaptation of Jatayu and Ravana from Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914) is portrayed from the perspective of a deer. This story specifically stuck out to me because I love its personification of nature, which I included above. I mentioned in my Reading Diary of Part B this week how I enjoyed the introduction of the deer, a symbol of gentleness, spirituality, and love. I also incorporated the lotuses into my story because of their meaning of rebirth, purity, and divinity, which I mentioned in my Reading Diary of Part A. I named the deer Chital because a chital deer is a native deer to India. 

Week 2 Reading Diary, continued: The Ramayana Part B

I appreciated the literal translation of The Ramayana by Manmatha Nath Dutt because I often found myself wondering how much the wording varied from their original prose. At the beginning of Part B, I will say I started to get some of the many characters confused but eventually began to understand the narrative again. As in Bharata Returns by Donald A. Mackenzie, I cannot imagine unknowingly coming home to my father’s death and my brother’s exile. I think its important to note that people WANT to follow Rama. He is a leader by example - not by rank. This quality is not only very valuable but it is also very rare, and I think it is what makes Rama so powerful. The portrayal of Rama in Dasharatha's Funeral especially highlighted Rama's unique power over people when Dasharatha claims that "...this earth does not look graceful. The city appeareth unto me like the night deprived of the moon" in Rama's absence. Shortly after this, the idea of japa, or a repetitive recitation of a mantra, is introduced. I am familiar with this concept but would love to learn more about mantras related to the sacred literature of India. In Rama and Bharata, I found Jabali's morbid ideas surrounding death very intriguing. Likewise, I loved every bit of Rama's response to Jabali - spot on! More specifically, Rama claims, "Truth endures when all else passes away." To build off of my first post this week, Rama is very much a savior-archetype. For example, something about The Sandals story reminded me of Jesus cleaning people's feet. Furthermore illustrating this idea, Rama says that he "will live as a devotee... in a robe of bark" similar to the sacrificial life of a martyr. The last portion of Part B, Shabari, reaffirms this idea. Finally, I enjoyed the introduction of the deer - a symbol of femininity, gentleness, and unconditional love - into The Ramayanas.

Source: Wikimedia

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

I liked the idea of being able to see what the weather is like where a blog is originating from, so I chose to add a weather widget to my blog. To do this, I followed instructions provided by my professor, Dr. Laura Gibbs.

Week 2 Reading Diary: The Ramayana Part A

Upon beginning the Ramayanas, archetype was the first word to pop in my head. From the beginning of King Dasharatha, I couldn’t help but spot the many parallels between the Old Testament and the Ramayanas. Even the writing style of the ancestry in the first paragraph was similar to that of the Bible. More specifically, the depiction of Ayodhya sounded like an illustration of the Garden of Eden (or paradise) from the Creation story: “there were numerous birds and flowers, shady groves of fruit trees, and lakes gemmed with bee-loved lotuses”. At the same time, the city of Ayodhya reminded me of the story of the Tower of Babel: “it had wide streets with large dwellings, richly decorated temples, towering like mountains, and grand and noble palaces”. Through beautiful juxtapositions such as these, the Ramayanas portray a city of prosperous and happy people who at the same time had to be “surrounded by strong walls and guarded by a thousand warriors fierce as flames” – much like the classic fall of man. Similar to the sacrifice of Dasharatha and his wives', Sarah and Abraham are tested in order to eventually reproduce and become the forefathers of Israel. Furthermore, a favorite child, Rama, is introduced in Rama: Avatar of Vishnu in order to further complicate paternal sacrifice, just as with Abraham's Isaac. Then, in Bhagiratha and Ganga, there is the beautiful portrayal of Ganga who showered the earth and Shiva who caused many years of wandering; to me, this resembled the manna and 40-years of wandering from the Old Testament. I especially enjoyed the connection to the full moon in Dasharatha’s Sons as well as the ever-significant references to the lotus’ symbols of purity, rebirth, and divinity. 

Lotus. Source: Deviant Art

The Ramayanas read, 

“the lotus brightens at the promise of spring”, and 

“thousands of lotuses spread their lovely petals to the sun”, 

among other references to this lovely flower.

Tech Tip: Blogger Profile

The first tech tip that I decided to try out was adding a blogger profile to my sidebar. I also added an image of myself to this profile. Since looking at Sarah Trapp's blog I have been wanting to do this because I think it really helps to be able to put a face to a name, especially in the online community!