Week 2 Storytelling: How Rama Won Sita

How Rama Won Sita 

It was a chilly Saturday evening at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All of the students were in their respective houses’ common rooms. The ladies of Gryffindor were all sitting together in front of the fireplace. There was a dim glow in the room from the bright orange flame that Ginny conjured up. Hermoine Granger and Lavender Brown were taking up the seats on the couch. Standing in front of the fireplace were the twin sisters, Padma and Parvati Patil. Tonight, the girls decided to tell stories of their native countries. The Patil sisters decided to talk about the Ramayana.

(Gryffindor common room. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Padma explained to her peers that the Ramayana was an epic Sanskrit poem that was written by the Hindu sage, Valmiki. The Ramayana is one of the most well-known epics of India. The Ramayana tells the story of Rama, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, and how he goes about trying to save his wife, Sita. Sita was abducted by the evil king of Ayodhya, Ravana. At this point, Parvati cuts in and corrects Padma. “Ravana was the evil king of Lanka, Padma. You should know this by now. Mom and Dad would be so disappointed in you.” All the girls laughed at Padma’s expense. “Anyway, as I was saying, Sita was abducted. But girls, we want to tell you how cute Rama and Sita’s love story was,” Padma announced. All the girls were particularly intrigued at this point and couldn’t wait for the Patil sisters to tell them the story.

Parvati began by explaining to the girls that Sita’s father was Janaka, King of Mithila, and he set up a challenge for any guy that wanted to pursue his daughter. There was this mighty bow that was in Janaka’s possession. Many warriors and rajas tried to bend the bow, but their attempts were unsuccessful. Janaka claimed that whoever was able to bend the bow would be able to have Sita’s hand in marriage.  This feat seemed next to impossible for every guy that showed up for Sita. Janaka began to think that know one was worthy of marrying his beautiful daughter, Sita. Then, suddenly, Rama comes in. With respect, Rama asks Janaka if he may lift and bend the mighty bow. “Guys, OMG, this is the best part. Listen up!” exclaimed Padma.

(Rama breaks the mighty bow. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Parvati goes on to tell the girls the rest of the story. She excitedly tells them how Rama lifted up the bow with great ease, like lifting up a feather. With almost no force at all, Rama was able to bend the mighty bow. She made sure to tell them that before the competition started, Rama and Sita laid eyes on each other in the garden and instantly fell in love. Padma buts in and says, “Janaka was extremely impressed by Rama’s success and almost instantly accepted Rama as his Sita’s husband.”

“Aww, that was quite possible the coolest way to win someone over,” Lavender whispered. All the girls were intrigued by the story. They couldn’t wait til the Patil sisters gave another installment of the epic love story, Ramayana.  

Author's Note. I decided to write about when Rama wins Sita. I remained very close to the actual story of when Rama broke the bow. I have always loved this story of how Rama was the only raja who was able to lift and break the mighty bow of Lord Shiva. I touched on the part of the story before Rama wins over Sita through the competition. I briefly mentioned how Rama and Sita had already seen each other before the competition. But my spin on the story was to make it seem like Padma and Parvati Patil were telling the story to their friends at Hogwarts. I was browsing the random storytelling site generator and the Harry Potter style really stuck out to me. I have read and seen all the Harry Potter books and movies so it was easy for me to write a story based on the characters.  I love Harry Potter so it was fun for me to incorporate it into the Ramayana. I obviously chose an image that showed Rama breaking the bow and surprising all of the bystanders. This was the climax of the story, in my opinion. I hope anyone who reads this enjoys the mix of the Patil sisters and the Ramayana. I wanted to write a fun, light-hearted story about Rama and Sita.

Bibliography. PDE Ramayana. Part A, Section 9-10. Various authors. 

Week 2 Reading Diary: PDE Ramayana continued

PDE: Ramayana by various authors

After reading the next twenty sections of the public domain edition of the Ramayana, I became very interested in reading on. The storyline is so interesting and the writing is so rich in details. The first few sections in Part B really showed how much of a devoted younger brother Bharata is to Rama. I loved the dramatic scenes when Bharata was angry with his mother, Kaikeyi, for basically forcing him into reigning. My favorite quote was when Bharata said, "I have lost my father and my elder brother. Of what good is a kingdom unto me now?" This truly shows Bharata's devotion to his family, especially Rama. 

(Bharata sets out to find Rama. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

If I were to tell a story based on this section, Bharata Returns, I would definitely switch up the role that Kaikeyi plays in Bharata getting the throne. Instead of her being seen as evil and selfish, I could maybe describe her character in a positive light. I would make it where Bharata was not upset with his mother. 

Week 2 Reading Diary: PDE Ramayana

PDE: Ramayana by various authors

For the Week 2 Reading part A, I decided to read the first twenty sections of the public domain edition of Ramayana. As you may know, I am already quite familiar with the epic story of Rama. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this again because it took me back to when I was younger when my parents used to read the Ramayana to me. Even though I'm familiar with the stories, it was nice to be able to refresh on some of the important aspects of the Ramayana.

My two favorite sections from the PDE: Ramayana were Rama: Avatar of Vishnu and Rama Wins Sita. I remember growing up, my mom always described how Rama was born. I really enjoyed the vivid detail about how he was born like a "blue lotus bloom." This section did a good job of setting up the reason behind Rama and his brothers' births. My favorite part about Rama's birth was that he was given life in order to destroy the evil Ravana. If I were to expand on this for my storytelling, I would definitely add more descriptions about the rituals performed in order for the three wives of Dasharatha to have children. I would also focus in on one of Rama's brothers, instead of Rama himself. 

(The Birth of Dasharatha's Sons. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

When I read about how Rama was able to lift the bow and string it with such ease after so many had attempted it, I was amazed. I always loved this part of the Ramayana. The love story aspect is definitely one that I would elaborate on. If I were to write a story about this particular section, I would focus in on how Sita reacted to Rama being able to conquer such a feat. I want to change it up a bit to where Sita wasn't being given away to someone solely based on this accomplishment. I will focus on how Sita fell for Rama before any of the bow stringing competition happened. 

(Rama Breaking the Bow. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Tech Tip: Blogger Template

New Design!

I decided to change the look of my blog! I went for the watermark template because I liked the transparency. I choose the soft tan color because it reminded me of olden times like when the epics of India were first told. I also chose the font called Hanuman because I felt that it was fitting with our class! 

Learning Challenges

Learning by HEART

After looking into the concept of Learning by HEART more in depth, I have become very interested in implementing aspects of this into my life. As the new year came around, I did some introspection and decided that this year, I wanted to read for fun more. I feel like as a college student, I never get the chance to read books purely for recreation. I spend my time dreading having to read my textbooks and consider that my "reading" for the day. I have started to read for fun for about thirty minutes everyday. 

(The Problem with a Good Book. Source: Learning by HEART)

Another thing I need to work on is time management. This is quite possible the most difficult thing for most college students to figure out. I find myself waiting until the last minute to do just about any assignment or studying. I have learned that keeping a planner and writing in it daily has helped me to keep up with my school work in a timely manner. Doing this has also helped me find more time to read books that I actually enjoy. 

(Planner. Source: flickr)

Growth Mindset

Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset

Before this assignment, I had never heard of the growth mindset. The idea of a growth mindset and thinking of what is yet to come, rather than what is going to happen right away, is very interesting. This idea makes sense to me because it's a way for students to actually engage in what they are learning, rather than just learning something for the sake of a certain grade. I've always seen students (including myself) only learn material for a specific test and then forget the information afterwards. Using a growth mindset, teachers can teach students to actually strive to gain new knowledge solely for the sake of expanding their minds. 

I will definitely be putting the ideas set forth by Carol Dweck into my daily life. I feel like this outlook can help better my experience as a student. While attending OU, I feel like I've been learning information for my classes and then forgetting it after I was tested over it. This has proven to be quite detrimental to my learning experience, especially since some of the material I've learned has overlapped between several different classes. I've found myself forgetting information that I already learned, and having to relearn it for my next class. Hopefully, with a growth mindset, I can change this bad habit of mine. 

A meme from the Growth Mindset Memes Blog

Image created with: builder.cheezburger.com

Storybook Favorites

The first storybook title that caught my eye was Shreemati News. Upon viewing the storybook, I was really intrigued by the organization of the story. I really enjoyed the set up of the story and how the author made it into a news report. The introduction successfully explained the topic and I definitely was compelled to keep reading. The design and layout of the page is sleek and easy to navigate. I really liked the "read more here" option on the home page. 

The next title that stuck out to me was Elephants of Indian Epics because my favorite animal is the elephant. To be honest, I didn't quite know what the story was going to be about from just reading the title, other than that it would involve elephants. After reading the introduction, I was more informed about the content of the story. I enjoyed the outline of the page and how easy it was to navigate the page. My favorite part of the stories was how they connected each story to an elephant. I really loved the image on the home page because the elephant looked so cute and colorful. I was also pulled in because of the vibrant color on the background of the pages.

 

Image by Bonnie Morgan

As I was browsing the titles of past storybooks, I was intrigued by one titled, The Ganges River. This title pulled me in because growing up, my parents always talked to me about the Ganges and how it is one of the greatest experiences to visit. Of all the stories I looked through, this introduction was my favorite. I loved reading about how the boy, Ajay, didn't understand why the Ganges was an important Holy River. It was a very well-written introduction that allowed me to understand what the rest of the story would be about. The set up of the page was elegant and the colors chosen made sense with the topic. I will definitely look into different fonts for my storybook, like the one used in this example.

Overview

Overview

For the Ramayana readings over Weeks 2 and 3, I have decided to use the Public Domain edition because it is more convenient for me to be able to read straight from my laptop wherever I am. 

I am very familiar with the content of this course because my parents are from India and I practice the Hindu religion. I have grown up reading and learning about these epics. I have recited the Bhagavad Gita, fully, twice in my life. From the age of 6, I have learned the art of classical Indian dance, called Bharatanatyam. 

Image source: Hanuman flies to Lanka

I chose this image because it stuck out to me most from what I learned as a child. I can picture my dad telling me about this specific event in the Ramayana. Hanuman flies to Lanka to save Sita from Ravana.

Introduction to a Future Physician Assistant

Introduction to a Future Physician Assistant 

Hello everyone! My name is Roshni Suthar (pronounced like row-sh-knee). I am currently a junior at the University of Oklahoma. I am studying Psychology. I enjoy taking psychology courses because it’s so easy to apply what I learn in class to real life situations. Last semester, I took Social Psychology and learned a lot of interesting things like how and why people subconsciously judge others. My favorite class so far in my college career would have to be Abnormal Psychology. I have always been interested in psychological disorders and how they come about. It was really cool to be able to learn about several common disorders more in depth. After graduating, I hope to go to PA school. My long term goal is to become a pediatric PA. 

My parents are from India. They came to America before I was born, so I'm a first generation Indian-American. I feel like I am pretty in touch with my Indian culture and heritage. My parents are Hindus and I have been brought up following the Hindu faith. From a young age, I was told the stories of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Because of my exposure to these epics, I decided to take this course. It's a good refresher on the things my parents taught me when I was younger. 

If there’s one thing to know about me, it’s that I love my sleep. I can literally fall asleep anywhere, at any time of the day. I don’t need a pillow or blanket or even a comfortable location. If I set my mind to it, I can sleep whenever I want. I also really love TV shows. My absolute favorite show is The Office. It’s been almost 3 years since the show ended, but I still watch it religiously. In any given situation, I could probably quote The Office. I love everything about The Office, even the theme song.

 I also love Netflix. I could watch a show for hours upon hours and not even realize how much time has passed. Currently, I’m re-watching Grey’s Anatomy and I also started Criminal Minds.  

The Office logo. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

It’s hard for me to pick a favorite food because I love all kinds of foods. I guess if I had to choose, I would say my favorite foods fall under the Tex-Mex category. But I also really love Indian food because that’s what my mom always cooks at home. Oh, I also love pizza and ice cream. Yeah, I basically love all foods. I could go on and on.

Tex-Mex food. Source: Wikipedia.

Indian food platter. Source: Wikimedia Commons.