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Possible Storybook Topics

1. Possible Topic: Weapons. I have always had an interest in historical battles and weapons and my time in the military has only strengthened that interest. I love that there are so many weapons that have fantastic powers and how the various gods gifted them to worthy individuals. I remember the story where Rama broke Shiva's bow and I could see a possible story where Shiva seeks revenge for Rama breaking his favorite weapon. As for the battles, I was particularly interested in the battle between Ravana and Jatayu (I already wrote a story about this titled Murder at the Office, but I think I can expand it into something even better).

Research so far: I found that there are a great number of weapons that are used through out the epics. Many of these weapons are bows, but there are some interesting ones like the Sudarshan Chakra. This weapon is a disk with serrated teeth that is used by Vishnu.

 
Vishnu holding the Shudarshan Chakra

2. Possible Topic: Ravana and other Rakshasas. I noticed there were many stories about Ravana in the epics along with other Rakshasas. I thought it would be interesting if I could make a story with the Ravana as the main character, making him being the protagonist and have him and the other Rakshasas being terrorized by Rama. I feel this would be an interesting twist and a little bit of a challenge to try and promote sympathy for such a hated character.

Research so far: Ravana seems to be the equivalent of the devil or satan in the Christian faith. He has ten heads and twenty arms, which I thought was terrifying to think of. By looking at the demons topic page and Wikipedia site about rakshasas, I found that there are tons of characters to choose from, but Ravana still seems to be the most interesting just because of his central role to the epics.

Ravana, The Demon King

3. Possible Topic: Karma. I think most of us are familiar with the word, but I did not know exactly what it meant, so I needed some research to get a better grasp on the concept. I did know that karma was loosely a principle of “what comes around goes around” so I thought this topic could be a fun way to show how an action could cause unwanted repercussions.

Research so far: From the Wikipedia site on Karma, I saw that it is a principle of cause and effect. The most striking thing that I found was karma’s role in rebirth. There has been an underlying theme so far in the epics of living a virtuous life and this could be because the mortals would not only like to ascend to heaven, but to be reborn into a better situation. Referring back to how I wanted to make Ravana the hero in one of my stories, I think I could have him redeeming his evil ways by performing a heroic act and being reborn as a virtuous god with even more fantastic powers.



4. Possible Topic: The god Indra. Not much has been covered in my readings so far of the Ramayana about Indra, but I do remember that he was a god of rain and thunderstorms. In the story about Rama breaking Shiva’s bow there was a reference to the sound that the breaking bow made sounding like Indra’s thunderbolt. I would like to explore more about

Research so far: I found from the Wikipedia article that Indra is like the Norse god Thor. He was said to be the one that holds up the sky and he released the waters of the world from the grip of the serpent Vrtra. Also, he was prone to commit acts of mischief that he would be punished for. I think a good story could come from Indra planning on doing something mischievous and being found out by one of the other gods or even Rama.

Indra Riding His White Elephant

Week 2 Storytelling: Murder At The Office

It was late spring at the law firm of Ravana, Jatayu and Rama. These three had been working separately for the past twenty years, but had recently combined their talents into a shared law firm and had built quite the reputation in their competitive city. The firm started out with just Rama and Ravana, with the newest partner being Jatayu. Rama, a very skilled lawyer, is renowned for his likability among juries and has astonishingly never lost a case. Rama’s reputation started to make Ravana, the oldest of the three outstanding lawyers, stew with jealousy. Ravana had graduated Summa Cum Laude from Harvard and built the frame work for what the law firm had now become. Ravana was getting tired of his prospective clients always asking for Rama to represent them and simply ignoring his abilities as a lawyer. Needless to say, Ravana has an unhealthy grudge on Rama. Jatayu is the newest partner to the law firm and is a quiet and deliberate man. He has a hooked nose, almost like a beak, and very dark eyes that make him seem intimidating to some, but he is actually a very kind and thoughtful man. Jatayu and Rama quickly developed a friendship even though they had only briefly known each other.

Late in the day, Ravana came to Jatayu and Rama explaining that he had given his younger sister, Shurpanakha, a job as his secretary and that she should be welcomed with open arms. The two agreed and went on with their days. After many weeks Sharpanakha turned out to be very rude with all of the other employees at the firm, but would magically put on a sweet appearance whenever her brother was around. Many complaints about Sharpanakha were brought up to Ravana, but he always ignored them because he never saw his sister act any way but nice. One day, Rama and Jatayu observed Sharpanakha belittling an intern and decided to intervene. When confronted by the two lawyers, Sharpanakha began to run away, but tripped. As she was falling, the hateful girl knocked over a freshly brewed pot of coffee that spilled onto her head. Sharpanakha screamed in agony as the hot coffee scalded her face. Ravana heard the screams from his sister and rushed from his office to see what was going on. Once on the scene, Sharpanakha told her brother that Rama had pushed her down, causing her to be burned and disfigured by the burning hot coffee. Rama and Jatayu were in disbelief of these wild accusations and quickly tried to disprove these statements by Sharpanakha, but Ravana was unmoved by what Rama and Jatayu, or anyone else in the office for that matter, had to say in retort. He was sure that the disfigurement of his sister happened exactly how she had explained it. Ravana, engulfed by the flames of rage, lunged at Rama to avenge his sister, but Jatayu stepped in and tried to mediate the situation. Ravana’s rage then switched to Jatayu for having the gall to keep him from vengeance. A fight broke out between Ravana and Jatayu with Rama standing by in shock. Ravana grabbed Jatayu’s throat and started landing blow after blow to Jatayu’s body and head. Jatayu fought back with a flurry of fists of his own but was no match for Ravana’s superior size and strength. Eventually Ravana landed a thunderous blow to the temple of Jatayu that caused him to fall into a heap on the ground. Rama rushed to Jatayu’s aid, but as he checked for a pulse, he could not find one. Ravana had killed Jatayu in cold blood right before him. Ravana then quickly raced out of the office, barely escaping the grasp of Rama. Rama could not believe what had just happened, nor could he believe that he Jatayu had defended his honor like he did. Rama, stricken with grief, vowed to track down Ravana to make him pay for his evil deed. He then took off out of the office as quickly as he could in search for the evil that had taken his friends life.

Rama Scolds Sharpanakha 

Image Source

Authors Note:

My story makes use of a collection of stories from three sources from the PDE of the Ramayana that are listed in the Bibliography below.

In the original story, Sharpanakha goes to Ravana after Rama's brother cuts off her nose and ears because she was trying to trick Rama. Ravana then abducts Rama's wife, Sita, but Jatayu, the bird/vulture king, intervenes and a battle ensues. Jatayu is killed in the battle and Rama is in hot pursuit to take back is wife and avenge Jatayu. I kept the names the same and the plot mostly the same as the three sources, but I chose to make the story take place in a more realistic setting (a law firm). My main goal was to make the story as realistic a situation as possible, but that proved to be quite difficult for me with keeping the plot intact. 

Bibliography

1) Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

2) The Iliad of the East: The Ramayana, by Frederika Richardson Macdonald (1886)

3) Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914)

Week 2 Reading Diary, continued: PDE Ramayana

As a reminder, I am reading the Public Domain Edition: Ramayana. My favorite moment during this reading was the battle between Ravana, the demon king, and Jatayu, the vulture or bird king from Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914). The description of the battle was very short and I think I could expand it into quite the epic scene. I really like that Jatayu comes to defend the honor of Sita, and swears to protect her for Rama, even at the cost of his own life. Jatayu is a very interesting character to me for the simple fact that he really had no cause to be involved in the abduction of Sita. The bird king nonetheless vows to help Sita because he believes in Rama's virtue and wants to help. I also really like the character of Ravana. When I was younger I liked a cartoon called Samuri Jack, and the main antagonist was a character by the name of Aku. Like Ravana, Aku is a demon king that is bent on destroying a virtuous being. Aku, has his origins partly tied to the Hindu god Vishnu, along with various other gods from different cultures, so there is a strong tie between him and Ravana from the Ramayana. I believe I could expand on this character and maybe intertwine the tales of Aku and Ravana to make them a completely new character. I was even thinking of making my storybook from the point of view of Ravana. This strategy would be a complete role reversal, making Ravana the hero and Rama the villain. Overall, I've come to realize through reading these stories that I am particularly interested in the battle scenes and I will most likely have my storybook's main focus be centered around the various battles in the Ramayana.  

Image Source: Ravana abducts Sita and a

battle with the bird king, Jatayu, ensues.

Week 1 Reading Diary: PDE Ramayana

After reading the first half of the reading assignment (I chose the Public Domain Edition Ramayana) I noticed a few things things the authors did that I liked and one thing that I disliked. I will list the things I liked first, followed by my dislike.

Likes

1) The extensive descriptive details in the version of the Ramayana by Donald A. Mackenzie, titled Indian Myth and Legend. Mackenzie painted a setting that was very detailed and made it easier to get involved in the story.


2) The use of links for all of the characters and other Indian geographical sites (mythical or real). When I first began reading the stories in the Ramayana, I was completely lost because there were so many Indian names and places that I could not even pronounce, but as I gradually clicked on more and more links I was able to get a better grasp on what was going on in the stories. I think it will be good to include links to any obscure names and places where appropriate.


3) I like how so many of the gods have such diverse powers and some of these powers intertwine among them. I think I could use these powers to make my own twist on things when writing my own stories.


4) My favorite story was "Bhagiratha and Ganga" taken from The Great Indian Epics by John Campbell Oman (1894). I particularly liked liked the picture showing how Ganga was finally allowed to fall through Shiva's hair, as shown below.

Shiva, With Ganga Falling Through His Hair

Image Source

Dislikes

1) I did not like the rhymes that were scattered throughout this edition of the Ramayana. I found them hard to follow, and confusing at times. This will not be a style that I use for my storybook.