Epics of India

(This story is now also available in my website! Check it out ! Author's Note: This story was created of inspiration from The Ramayana: Viradha, translated by M. N. Dutt . The story followed the plot of Rama's epic batter with the forest demon, known as Viradha, with some alteration in characters and battle details. Dedicated to a dear friend of mine, who is the inspiration behind the naming of the antagonist of this story. As I entered the empty pathway of the heavily forested jungle, a hallowing shriek that rustled the leaves entered the corridors of my eardrums. I stood in silence for a moment, hoping that whatever that made that noise did not notice the sounds of my heavy breathing. In that moment, a creature not before seen by the light of day jumped out from the confines of the dark forest, covered in blood, emitting a frightening stench, and stood there right in front of me. There I saw it. In addition to the hideous details of it's horrifying appearance, shown t...

Dasharatha's Funeral.  Ramayana, the Epic of Rama, Prince of India  by Romesh Dutt These passages showing Bharta's grief for his passed father was by far one of the more detailed and emotional ones of the story. Maybe it's to exemplify the importance of the event and how it might be a turning point for the story. It also enables pathos within the readers.  When in grief, characters tend to cry out to the heavens, using the word "O" quite often Viradha. The Ramayana by Manmatha Dutt This is another action scene, but something I've noticed is that as the journey goes one, the demon antagonists get stronger and stronger. This demon had the ability to protect itself from sharp weapons Rama is quick witted and has to think of the situation as to how to defeat the demon, and ultimately does. This is something that I would want to incorporate within my characters. Viradha the demon, when it dies, also cries out to the heavens but does not seem to curse R...

King Dasharatha. Indian Myth and Legend by D. A. Mackenzie When talking about the setting of the story, the author included beautiful, detailed descriptions of the buildings that were there, what the streets were composed of, etc. There were also descriptions of animals in there that were written poetically when talking about the rustling of the winds.  Quick mention of the great gods, Vishnu, Indra, and Shiva, which puts in perspective the role of divinity within Indian Epics themselves. Rama's holy divination leading to his own creation and telling of fascinating adventures throughout is basis to the plot line. Rama: Avatar of Vishnu.  Indian Myth and Legend  by D. A. Mackenzie Inclusion of conflict that is currently going on up the godly world, which coincides with the main storyline. I think that the creation of multiple plot lines make the stories even more interesting to read especially with how big divinity plays a role in the stories! Thataka.  ...

R eading some of the articles on the importance of feedback and overall creating a growth mindset, there are some things that I think is worth mentioning in terms of what I took from them. In " A fixed mindset could be holding you back -- here's how to change it ," the author explicitly tells the importance of children not  being  exposed to failure as part of the "everyone wins" curriculum that seems to be apparent in most places, even at home. Due to this, children, as they grow up, have a fixed mindset and whenever they reach the blunder of failure, it attacks their "sense of identity." This is incredibly important as due to the fact that they were never quite been fully exposed to failure, they do not have  the  necessary coping mechanism to deal with it. If  they  were always touted as "brilliant" or "genius" when they were younger, they never quite understood the concept of being able to get back up and try again. In fact, mo...

Weapons of the Gods The topic of "weapons of the gods" is something that I would be interested to writing and further research about. One of the reasons being is there are so many different sorts of these relics, and each reflects a certain power that the god possesses. I've always loved these aspects of fantasy stories with each character having a different, unique power than another, so likewise, their choices of weapons are some of the aspects about them that intrigues me the most. The story I would probably like to tell is the path as to how these beings came upon to possessing these weapons. Were they bestowed upon them? Were they "chosen" to receive such weapons? These are the questions I hope to be answering when I write these stories. I would take any of the examples here , and then create its own story about it. (Source: Wikipedia) Supernatural Characters of the Ramayana Another topic that I would like to tackle is the "supernatural character...

Foolish, Timid Rabbit  Author:  Ellen C. Babbitt author uses "once upon a time" as introduction integrates lesson that one must not follow the rest of the group, or the fallacy of false rumors short, concise sentence that adds strategic breaks to the reading of the stories Turtle  Author: Ellen C. Babbitt general theme of foolishness and the fallacies/consequences of their bad habits the turtle's greatest weakness was that he talked too much and ended up dying also talks about ignorance of others and the genius of animals. stories are generally written in 3rd person POV Crane and Crab  Author: W. H. D. Rouse general theme of the cunning and the witted, where teaches a lesson that tells the people who try to deceive others often pay for it themselves Monkey and Croc  Author: Marie L. Shedlock again tells general theme of deceit and being outwitted by another character Starts story with background of the animal, or main protagonist Ends the s...

I think I will be choosing the PDE Ramayana Online over P. K. Narayan's Ramayana for several reasons. One of which being is that the PDE version compile numerous of different authors and styles that I feel can allow for better understanding of the epic overall from multiple point of views. Second reason is that there are audio versions and also numerous illustrations. One of my favorite thing about myths and legends are the fantasy components that associate with them. Therefore, being a visual learner, I feel like I would much enjoy the epic even more. The last reason is, well, it's free on an online platform and honestly, who doesn't love free? One of the comics that interested me was " Ancestors of Rama ", due to the matter that it dealt with a divine intervention and also intersection between the Raghu and Indra, one of the more better known deities of Indian mythology. Another comic that intrigued me was " Vishvamitra ", due to my fascination with ...

Upon reading the some of the articles about time management in preparation for this blog post, there are a number of things I learned that I wish to implement currently and for the foreseeable future. For example, from Tim Grahl's " The Myth of Too Busy " I was intrigued by the concept of being "busy" as an avoidable excuse and it implies one's inability to manage their time well. Granted that there will be situations where one has actual plans, but the point of the article is to say that in a world where everyone is essentially "busy" there are steps to allow oneself to make plans for the other aspects of life. One of which is learning how to prioritize your time well, and taking precautionary steps such as having a healthy sleep schedule and working ahead allows for the ability to fit in more time for extracurricular activities, or activities that one actually enjoys doing. Another aspect of time management that is worth considering comes from Am...

In terms of the mentioning about the numerous technology tools that are and will be used in this class, in addition to some useful extensions that can be used regularly, for the most parts, I'm familiar with its functions! It's quite intriguing as this is my first online class in college, and it's quite a different experience than the usual lectures in-class and homework off-campus. This being said, I think online classes are better in terms of the expected structure of the week and you can plan accordingly to the rest of your responsibilities. One thing that I haven't used before, in terms of the tools, are the bookmarking option. As useful as it potentially is, I haven't been using it at all since I've used a computer. I'm also interested in all of the platforms that I'll be using in this semester, especially in the creation of a website as this is something I've never used before! Other than that, I think this will be a semester where I will explo...

I'm very intrigued by the way the assignments are structured for this class, in terms of routine aspects to the class itself divided into each separate days, and how each topic for the day connect with the other days within the week. In addition, I also like how the extra credit assignments are never set at a certain time where it's due, but rather that whenever you have any free time during the week to do them. It also helps that these assignments give a clearer insight as to what you would want to learn regarding the general topics of the class. Overall, I don't have any specific questions that I have currently in regards to the extra credit opportunities or the way the general work schedule is during the week! (Designer Sketching Wireframes. Source: Unsplash )

From what I've seen of growth mindset up to now, I can see that there's been implementation of it in my high school years as well as the time I've spent in college. I haven't before heard of Carol Dweck, but have definitely been aware and familiar with her work. Personally, on the growth-fixed mindset, I consider myself to be more on the fixed side of the spectrum. Dweck was right, I was raised in, not just an educational environment, but at a home environment where the idea of getting an A in the class was top priority. This wasn't to say that of course, the main goal was to get the most of learning the material itself, but it has insinuated me the idea that I HAVE to get the A, no matter what it took. Of course, I see this as the issue that students can resort to cheating, skimming, and dread the idea of actually learning and applying the concept themselves. They think too narrowly, only enough to do well on the nearest quiz or exam and then never reapplying that ...

Hello! My name is Long, I'm currently a junior studying Microbiology Pre-Med route, and might I say, time has been going by way too fast for me right now. I remember just yesterday that I was a freshman entering the campus in Fall 2017 without a clue as to where my classes were. But, here we are, 5 semesters later, and I guess there's nothing you can do about it but try your best to catch up! Am I right? In the past two semesters, something that I was proud about was the matter that I achieved a 4.0 GPA in both of my busiest semesters of college so far. I know I'm giving myself a pat on the back right now, but seriously at some points during those semesters, I contemplated ripping off all my hair. I can say that, for me, 2019 has been a year of work after work after work, I couldn't find any time for myself. Spring 2019 I was pledging a fraternity. In summer, I was taking biochemistry every weekday for 2 months. And Fall 2019, I busied myself with 5 science-related clas...

Storybook Favorites While browsing the massive list of storybooks made by past students, there were three that caught my eyes. One of them being " Indra Lord of Thunder " The reason why this seems like a fascinating read was due to it having the intersection of gods from three different cultures: Hindu, Greek, and Norse. Knowing the popularity of Zeus and Thor in modern culture, the Hindu entity, Indra, poses an unknown for me. Now, the author POSES these powerful gods together, which can only spiral into an adventurous and certainly exciting tale! Who will rise to the top as the conclusive entity worthy of the title "God of Thunder"? (Sculpture of Indra on Temple. Source: Wikimedia ) The second story book that appeared prominent is called " Tragic Stories " which entails stories about the profound Yakshas and Yakshinis, which are powerful figures in Hinduism and Jainism. This storybook caught my eye due to the fact that the author provided am...

Week 1 Boston, Massachusetts One of my favorite places that I've visited thus far happens to be one of the most populous cities in the Northeast: Boston, Massachusetts. I was up there for my cousin's wedding, and let me tell you, it was an absolutely beautiful city. One of my favorite areas to see was the Port of Boston. (Photo by Chris Woods ) And of course, who doesn't take a stride through downtown when they're in a new city? Here is an aerial view of downtown Boston. Look how massive it is! The dazzling skyscrapers so close to the body of water were something I've never seen before. (Aerial View of Downtown Boston 2015: Wikimedia Commons )

Introduction to Epics of India!!!!