Thoughts About Comments

I think the hardest thing about giving a good comment is the fact that you have to be critical of someone else's work. I do not see myself as a very good writer, so telling someone else to change certain aspects or pointing out flaws feels like it is borderline rude. I am a usually good at finding mistakes in grammar or spelling, but I make mistakes just like everyone else.

Some of the most helpful comments I have received so far are about formatting changes. My week 3 story was originally in a large block and I had my picture at the end of the story. A few people pointed out that I should break the story up into smaller paragraphs and change the location of the picture. After making these small changes I could see that the story looked much better and I even got a comment that said the changes were good.

Another helpful comment that can be given is about what the readers feel should be expanded upon in your story. I think it is nice to get a range of imaginative ideas coming in so that I can create a plot that I may not have thought of otherwise.

I try to give mostly positive feedback followed by a critique so that the sting is less severe. Like I said before, it is hard for me to be critical because I do not see myself as a good writer. That being said, I believe criticism is crucial to the writing process.

Week 5 Reading Diary Continued: PDE Mahabharata

This is a continuation of my reading of the PDE Mahabharata.

So far I have noticed this epic is far more difficult to read than the Ramayana because there are so many characters and places that are being described.

One of the moments that stuck out to me was the battle between Arjuna, Krishna and Indra. This battle was for Agni to be able to consume the forest with fire. Arjuna and Krishna promised to help Agni only if he gave them celestial weapons. There was no description of the battle that took place, but the fact that Arjuna fought against his father for the sake of another intrigued me. I wonder what was going through Indra's mind as he lost to his own son in battle.

Burning of Khandava forest.

I also liked the story where Arjuna won Draupadi's hand in a contest. This story made me think of the animated Robin Hood, where he disguises himself to win a kiss from the princess. The story was interesting in that they Pandava brothers all agreed to take Draupadi as their wife. 

There was a great similarity between Rama and Arjuna because of their exile. I thought it was very strange that Arjuna went into exile over just looking at Draupadi when she was with one of his brothers, but then again the whole Mahabharata is extremely far fetched.  

Week 5 Reading Diary: PDE Mahabharata

For this week's reading, I chose to read the PDE Mahabharata. Some of my favorite moments are listed below.

Since my story book is centered around Indra it was nice to see a reference to him in the story of Vyasa and Ganesha. Here Indra is sent to bribe Uparichara, king of Chedi, with a celestial car because the other gods thought he was trying to challenge them for power. A story of the conversation between the other gods and Indra about trying to get him to give up his car could be fun. 

Another reference to Indra is made in King Shantanu and Ganga, about his eight attendants (Vasus).  These attendants angered Vashishtha, who condemned them to be born as mortals. I think it would be fun to have Indra be angry about losing his Vasus and having to pick up the slack while they are gone. 

One of the craziest stories that I came across was Pandu and His Wives. This story had a brahmin who was killed by Pandu while having intercourse with his wife in the form of a couple of deer. The brahmin cursed Pandu, much like Dashartha, to never be able to have children because he would die as soon as he was sexually aroused.  Really strange story.

I really liked the story of Bhima and the Nagas. After being poisoned by his evil cousin Duryodhana, Bhima is saved by the counteraction of the nagas poison and gains the strength of a giant from the king of the nagas, Vasuki. 

Bhima defeating the nagas.

I absolutely loved the story of how Indra stepped up to defend his son, Arjuna, in the Arrival of Karna. There was great imagery in this story when it said the clouds thickened and thunder and lightning were crashing down behind Arjuna and meanwhile Surya, the sun god, was backing his son, Karna by shining a beam of light off of his golden armor. It must have been a magnificent stand off between these two sides and it would have been filled with tension. I really wish there was a picture for this scene.