Week 4 Reading Diary: Nine Ideal Indian Women continued

Nine Ideal Indian Women: Sita, Promila, and Shankutala

Early this week, I read Sunity Devee's rendition of Sita's story. For the rest of this week's Ramayana readings, I decided to read more of Devee's work. This time I focused on Promila's story. Promila is Ravana's son's wife. Promila was a very dedicated wife. When Indrajit set out to defeat Rama for killing his brother, Birbahoo, she felt empty. "Without him, life became a void, a pathless chasm, into which she could not see." When Indrajit didn't return at sunset, Promila became so distressed that she decided to set out in search of him. "No gates can hold me back, no enemy intimidate me. I go to join my lord." She was so adamant on being with her husband that she risked her life. It was saddening to read about Promila and Indrajit's last good byes before Indrajit left to face Rama and Lakshmana. Promila tried to be strong and put on a brave face, but in the end, the grief of losing her husband overcame her. When Promila found out about Indrajit's death, she was distraught. Promila was so devoted to her husband that she literally couldn't live without him. If I was to write a story about Promila, I would definitely change her ending. I would write her as a strong and independent woman who was able to live happily with the memories of her beloved Indrajit. 

Bibliography. Nine Ideal Indian Women, Sunity Devee. (1919)

Promila

Tech Tip: Google Timer

For this week's technology tip, I decided to try out Google timer. I had never heard of this feature of Google until looking it up on the extra credits page. Now that I know about it, I will definitely be using it while studying and working on homework. 

I find it helpful to set up 5-10 minute breaks for myself before I even start working. I will decide how long I need to work for and then break up that time into about 30 minutes of work for every 5 minute break. I find that this helps me to not get burned out while studying for extended periods of time. 

This Google timer will be helpful for me in managing how much time I allot to a specific task on the computer. This way, I won't find myself browsing Facebook for 45 minutes when I'm supposed to be studying for a Microbiology test. 

Week 4 Reading Diary: Nine Ideal Indian Women

Nine Ideal Indian Women: Sita, Promila, and Shankutala 

For this week's reading, I decided to explore the works of Sunity Devee. Her book focused on nine ideal Indian women, which included stories about Sita and Ravana's son's wife, Promila. I read the first section, which focused on Sita. I was instantly intrigued by this story because it started off by explaining Sita's birth. It is known that Sita was found in a pitcher in the furrows of Janaka's kingdom. Right after describing Sita's "birth", Devee goes on to describe that a handful of sages gave Ravana's messenger that particular pitcher and told Ravana that "it carries a crushing significance which will end his royal splendor." I really liked how Devee broke up the beginning of the Sita chapter and explained Sita's birth and then simultaneously described Rama's birth and childhood. I enjoyed how she went into great detail about Janaka's test to find Sita's husband. She successfully explained the importance of the bow and how only a man with divine attributes would be able to break the bow. My favorite part of this chapter was how Devee emphasized that Rama and Sita fell in love at first sight and immediately became devoted to one another. Rama was so devoted to his father that, even though he already loved Sita and wanted to marry her, he waited to accept until he received Dasharatha's approval. My favorite part about the Sita chapter is that the author had to incorporate all of Rama's story because Sita is incomplete without Rama. 

Bibliography. Nine Ideal Indian Women, Sunity Devee. (1919)

Rama and Sita