Indian Epics

 Before:  New Orleans was bombarded daily with ships looking to invade the Mississippi River. Sailors came from across the globe to access the port as well as enjoy the entertainment. Yet the city had a dark secret. Vampires scoured the docks looking for sailors' blood. One night a crew brought forth a shipment of garlic. As the first few soldiers jumped onto land, they quickly vanished. The vampires were out hunting. However, the captain was cunning. Having knowledge of vampire's, he quickly gathered the garlic and wooden stakes. Slowly, the crew battled the vampires until there were no more. After:  New Orleans was bombarded daily with sailors looking to access the Mississippi River.  Yet the city had a dark secret.  Vampires scoured the docks looking for blood. Only in the day could sailors make their shipments while the vampires slept.  One night a crew brought forth a shipment of garlic and wooden stakes. As the first few sailers jumped onto land, the ...

 The first article I read was Preschoolers and Praise: What Kinds of Messages Help Kids Grow? . The article was similar to the articles I read last week as it also referenced growth mindset. I found this article particularly interesting as it showed how important words and positivity is for the development of children. Being a psychology major and having taken classes such as developmental psychology, I have some knowledge of how the human mind and psych begins and develops. I think sometimes we do not realize how malleable the minds and brains of children are, and how impactful words or events can have on their future. I appreciated how the article highlighted the importance of growth mindset from a very early age. The second article I read was How to Give Bad Feedback Without Being a Jerk . This also reminded me of the articles I read for growth mindset as it gave clear ways to improve delivering feedback. Often giving feedback can be as difficult as receiving feedback. Pers...

After spending more time researching animals in Hindu mythology and Indian epics, I found myself amazed by the variety of animals and creatures. While I knew prominent animal characters such as Ganesha and Hanuman, I discovered many more such as Nandi, Shiva's bull and Narsimha, the lion and man combination.   Story 1: Narsimha When I first came across Narasimha, I was fascinated by his appearance and his origin story as well. For this character, I would focus on the Prahlada legend. This story follows the evil Hiraṇyakaśipu is unable to be killed by a human or animal. Narasimha is able to overcome this by being a combination of both. The ending for the legend suggests Narasimha becomes violent and begins to threaten the world. I feel that I could write this story from a first person perspective of Narasimha as well as include a new ending. Source: Narsimha  Story 2: Ganesha origin As I a kid, I really enjoyed reading Ganesha stories, and as I did research I was fas...

Rama approached the center stage and prepared to perform the feat. He had no nerves and was confident in his ability as he was the avatar of Vishnu. Sita was worthy any feat, and he would do whatever it took to win over Janak and the people of Videha. Yet, the feat was no easy task as it was handed by down by the great Shiva himself. Shiva had given Janak a powerful sword in return for a favor Janak had performed long in the past. However, the sword remained in its sheath as only one worthy of Shiva could use the sword. Thousands of warriors came to Videha to unsheathe the sword and to claim Sita, but all had failed. As the sword was brought to the stage, Janak remained cautious in hope to see a a worthy man take the sword and his beautiful daughter. Was Rama surely the one to it? Rama approached the sword and gazed at it intently. It was gleaming from its solid gold and many jewels were embedded on the sheath. Rama stared at his own reflection upon the sword as he prepared for the upc...

Part 2 of The Ramayana really moved along the plot and brought forward the major conflict of the whole epic: Rama's journey to save his wife Sita. It is interesting to read how this conflict develops as it is really due to the personal desires of Shurpanakha. If she did not have a desire for Rama, then there never would have been any need for retaliation from Ravana to kidnap Sita. However, I do have to remember that this is really the plot of Brahman as he wants a human to kill Ravana. This kind of plays with the idea of faith and just trusting god to lead the way even in times of distress and agony. Something that also makes me wonder is why Brahma gave Ravana all these powers and abilities even while he is the king of the demons. From my lay person's perspective it does not make sense, but I also feel that if I understood more of the Hindu perspective on god, this help would me see why Brahman would be so giving to an evil character. The plot by Ravana to kidnap Sita reminde...

 Part A of the Ramayana gave me an intense but interesting introduction to the famed epic. There were many stories that I found interesting such as Rama winning Sita and the banishment of Rama. Reading the Ramayana now as a college student and for credit is somethingI would have never would have expected. The epic was one I read as a young child, so I have some previous knowledge and understanding of the plot and the significance of the story. Moreover, celebration Diwali each year brings the story back to prominence. I enjoyed reading the guide before each story as it helped me with understanding the older English style used in the stories. While I knew beforehand this was the style of the public domain stories, I felt that it was not too hard to understand, especially with the reading guide before the story. Additionally, having read the epic before helps me with understanding the older English wording. Going back to Rama winning over Sita, I found it interesting in the guide ove...