Week 2: Indian Epics Topics

Possible Topic: The God Indra
This is a possible topic for me because when I was reading the story in Ramayana about the woman who was turned into a rock after she was seen with Indra by her husband, i was interested by how his character was so envious and lusty. What made me pursue this as a topic was when I read the part about him getting the "thousand eyes." There was something I read a long time ago that made mention of this feature, so Indra became a favorite of mine.
Research so far:
On the Wikipedia page that I found about Indra, it mentioned that Indra always carries a thunderbolt with him (which is what I assume is in his hands) and rides this elephant (as displayed in the image below). In the article, it says that he is a great leader and a great deity, however he "commits many kinds of mischief" and that's what I am more curious to learn about.

The God Indra

Source: Google

Possible Topic: Demons (Asuras)

For some reason, I assumed Asura was also a god because in the past I read something that mentioned Indra and Asura together, so I assumed they were both gods, but I may have read that wrong. Despite that, asuras stood out to me and were mentioned occasionally in Ramayana so I wanted to study on them some more.

Research so far:

On the Wikipedia page I read, it said that asuras are actually "power-seeking" deities so I was partially right by saying that asura was a deity. I continued further and found that they are kind of "nature spirits" and constantly are having battles with the "devas" or the deities. This "constant battle" is something I want to look further into.

Possible Topic: Love Story of Ahalya and Gautama

Of course, I'm a sucker for love stories so a love story most definitely had to be a possible topic for me. Out of all the pairings that I read so far, this one was one I loved the most because of the sincerity of Gautama prior to being with Ahalya towards Ahalya. Also, Indra played a part in this love story so that's why it was a winner for me. 

Research so far: 

On the Wikipedia page for Ahalya it stated that she was seduced by Indra, something we read in the Ramayana and the reason this story caught my eye. I was curious as to what was going through her mind when she realized Indra's disguise and also her years of living the life of a rock and also about her creation as the most beautiful women, which was done so by the god Brahma. 

Possible Topic: Heroes (Lakshmana) 

Lakshmana was a character I was attracted to ever since I read about his closeness to Rama and his protective instincts towards Rama as well as Sita. His strength and love for his brother are something I wanted to write about. Along with love stories, I'm also a sucker for heroes. 

Research so far:

I learned off the Wikipedia page that Lakshmana was highly skilled in archery and could "loose five hundred arrows in one shot." Wow, that's awesome. It was interesting when they mentioned his twin brother Shatrughna because though he is his twin, Lakshmana is very attached to his half-brother Rama. His "unswerving loyalty" as they said on the page, is what I want to write about. 

Just a Dream (Week 2 Storytelling)

Sita giggled amongst her maids as they spoke of one of the servant boys who brought havoc amongst the girls simply with his looks.

“Oh, he is so very dreamy,” cried one.

“Even more so, his smile,” swooned a second.

“It should be a crime to be so beautiful,” sighed a third.

“If only he would make me his,” dreamed a fourth, lounging beside the princess.

Smiling, Sita gazed at the beautiful garden from the gazebo where they were all settled, shading themselves from the sun. Her eyes slid from the trees to each of the girls surrounding her, their cheerful expressions cheering her heart.

“Oh!” one of the maids gasped. “There he is! There he is!”

Sita elegantly craned her neck back to get a glimpse of what the maids were shyly observing and whispering about.

The servant boy they spoke of was strolling down the pathway along with two other unfamiliar figures.

Sita shifted her gaze to one of the men following behind the servant boy, her expression molding to one parallel to the girls' expressions. She let out a small gasp of her own when her eyes fell in line with his.

Beautiful, she thought.

And then he was gone.

She had lost herself so deeply in those eyes that she hadn’t even realized she was no longer looking at them.

“Oh, did you see him? Did you?” she frantically asked the girls.

“Yes,” they all chorused, their thoughts consumed by a whole different being.

“He smiled at me this time,” said the fourth maid jovially.

“You? That wasn’t at you! It was at me!” the third hissed.

Sita shook out of her dream and blinked at the sudden change of atmosphere. When did it become so rowdy?

“Girls! Girls!” she said, silencing them immediately. “What is the matter?”

She probably shouldn’t have asked because they began yelling at each other all over again. Between all this confusion, she heard ‘servant boy.’

“Servant boy?” she uttered out loud.

“Yes!” replied maid number one. “His smile was directed right to me!”

The other maids countered her with the same argument.

“Girls! Girls!” Sita said again, her voice rising over the others. “Did you not see the man who was beside him?”

The maids all paused in sync. “What man?”

“The one tall figure who was walking a little behind the servant boy you were all so fondly giggling about. You saw him, yes?”

She was desperate to know.

The girls shook their heads. They were so absorbed in the other boy that they had not noticed Rama as he was passing through the gardens.

Sita felt weak.

Was it just a dream? she thought, sighing. If it was, it was the most beautiful dream she had ever witnessed.

Unbeknownst to her, in only a few short hours, her dream would become a reality.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: The main purpose of this story was to show from Sita's perspective, a snippet of what was happening when Sita and Rama met eyes for the very first time. I only showed it from Sita's point of view because we already know how Rama felt at that moment, though I had thought about expanding Rama's point of view too.

The moment when their eyes met was so very short-lived, and in my story I also made it brief just to show how quickly it happened. At the same time though, I wanted to express the connection that they had, at least on Sita's side. This scene was memorable to me especially now because we have finished Ramayana and know how *SPOILER ALERT* Sita gets swallowed into the ground after the whole separation between her and Rama and her attempt to come together again. It makes me sad to think that they went from such a cute beginning to that end.

Their weren't really any alterations from the original story. It was more just an idea I came up with, creating a kind of visual of that moment. 

Sita: Entranced in the Garden

Source: Google

Bibliography: 

• Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana.

Week 2: Reading Diary B (Rama's Life in Exile)

Narayan's Ramayana
Pages 53-89

• Despite everyone wanting him to stay, Rama still agrees to go away into exile as originally ordered from the promise. Bharatha, son of Keikayi, went to his brother Rama and told him that he did not want to be king and for him to come back.
• They had a long philosophical and interesting debate as to who should rule, but in the end Rama still agreed to the exile.*
• Bharatha agreed to rule (from the outskirts) till Rama returned after 14 years and not a day passed that.
• Rama meets Kamavalli, Ravana's sister, in the forest who is extremely beautiful. She tries to persuade him to marry her though he calmly states why he can't each time she tries until Sita comes out of the cottage and is seen by Kamavalli. The pair eventually went back inside the cottage after useless argument and Kamavalli went back to the forest, all love-sick, similar to how Sita was when she first saw Rama.
• She came back again, about to attack Sita when Lakshmana came in and cut off her ears, and nose, and breasts.
• Her brother is enraged when he sees how she has become mutilated. 
• However, he falls for Sita when he sees her similar to how his sister fell in love with Rama.
• Maricha, son of Thataka and uncle of Ravana, is asked by Ravana to help him get Sita. Maricha finally agrees since Ravana was not backing down and helps to distract Lakshmana and Rama, leaving Sita by herself. Ripe for the picking! 

Rama hunting the Golden Deer

Source: WikiCommons

Week 2: Reading Diary A (Starting the Ramayana)

Narayan's Ramayana
Reading notes: Pages 1-53

• King Dasaratha was childless, but with the help from his mentor, Sage Vasistha, he was able to find a way to get children. He had a total of four sons from his wives. Remember: Rama!
• Dasaratha had to give his son, Rama, to the sage Viswamithra who would take his son Rama to many places for specific purposes. Rama's brother Lakshmana came along too; the two are inseparable.
• How would Rama feel about this whole event?
• Rama ended Thataka, who was degraded to demonhood from a past event. Rama brought her to her end by piercing her throat.
• Ahalya, created by Brahma, was very beautiful. She was gifted to Sage Gautama who had pure intentions and was good. The God Indra, however, was very envious and wanted Ahalya all for himself. 
• He watched over Ahalya in different guises just to get glimpses of her, while also watching the habits of the sage. From this he plotted his scheme to get Ahalya, which he did and the sage caught the two in the act.
• Rama, once in Mithila, saw Sita (incarnation of Shiva's consort), and fell in love. Sita, after seeing a glimpse of him and having their eyes meet for a mere second, could not stop thinking about him and was going insane from all the thoughts of love.
• In the end, they got married.
• Kaikeyi, one of Dasaratha's wives came to him and told him that he had two promises he had to keep in which she can ask for anything. She asked for her son Bharatha to be king instead of Rama being crowned king and to exile Rama for 14 years so he would not get in the way (as she assumed). 

Rama and Sita

Source: Google