Wednesday, January 27, 2016

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)

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