Wikipedia Trail: From Indian Prime Minster to Lanuages with official status in India.

First: Prime Minister of India

While I was reading about the Prime Minster of India, I learned a lot about India politics in general. I found it interesting that based on different parties there was different ages one could be prime minster. I also saw that the salary of the prime minster increased by $900 in 3 years which is interesting to see.

Next: Lok Sabha

This is the lower house of India's government, and can be translated to House of the People. It has a maximum of 552 seats and currently 545 are filled. They last for 5 years or until a new president is instated.

Next: Rajya Sabha

This is the upper house of India's government. It can be translated to the Council of States. There's a maximum of 245 seats and currently 223 are filled. Both of the houses are equal in what they do, except in small matters.

Final: Languages with official status in India

I felt like this was a good article to end my Wikipedia Trail in. It talks about all the different languages that India has, since there is no national language. It just shows how culturally diverse India really is and I think is a good representation of India overall. I've really enjoyed learning so much about India and am very glad I choose to make one large Wikipedia Trail for my extra credit.

Emblem of India from Source

Week 12 Story Lab

TVTrope

This week for the Story Lab, I decided to look into the TVTrope and see what the website was about.

I was really impressed with TV Trope and how much information there is on one site! I knew TV and movies and books all share a lot of the same general ideas and general plot movements, but it was crazy to look at one movie and get everything that is involved with that movie in such detail.

The main page I looked at was The Incredibles, and I looked at all the different "tropes" that movie has. There was so much detail even just for that one movie! You never really think about all the small little tropes (some examples are  "And your dog too" and the "annoying little sibling" ones). I think it's a great resource for writers to be able to see different tropes and figure out how to play around with them.

The Incredibles from Source

Wikipedia Trails: From India to Prime Minster of India

First: India

While going through the India Wikipedia page, I started to think about what I wanted to focus on for the next portion of my Wikipedia Trails. I figured that I wanted to learn more about culture so I scrolled down to that section and picked my next link based on what I found there.

Next: Caste System in India

The Caste System is a big part of what most people know about Indian culture. I wanted to explore this page a bit more because I wanted to find out what the caste system was really about and what it actually meant in Indian culture.

Next: Politics of India

One of the things I learned from the caste system (besides that it still exists) is that it really influences the politics of India. After reading that, I wanted to see what the politics of India really were about.

Last: Prime Minster of India

I didn't realize that India had a prime minster (though it made sense since India was under British colonialism for a while) so decided to end my Wikipedia Trail here so I could learn some more about the prime minsters of India.

Indian Flag from Source

Week 11 Story: The Naughty Toddler

The Naughty Toddler

There was once a very cute toddler. His parents absolutely adored him and called him 'Buddy' because he was such a sweet child and had such a sweet kid.

One night, after Buddy went to bed, his parents watched a movie about robbers. They thought Buddy was asleep, but he wasn't. So Buddy overheard what the robbers were saying.

"We need to make sure we take as much as we can. We can't share a thing, it's all ours. We have to look out for ourselves," the robbers in the movie said.

Buddy overheard this and thought to himself, "This is how I'm supposed to behave, I need to make sure I take all the toys and look out for myself."

And the next day at daycare, that's exactly what Buddy did. He took all the other kids' toys and refused to share with anyone. He treated the other kids so poorly, they all started to cry. The teachers were all surprised. How had Buddy changed so much overnight?

When Buddy's parents got the report about how naughty he had been that day at school, they were shocked. They began to brain storm as to what had changed overnight. Finally, Buddy's mother wondered if he had heard the movie last night. To test her theory, they played a much nicer movie about a man who gave everything for his friends.

"We need to help everyone," the kind man said. "We need to make sure we share what we have and we want to leave people happier than we left them."

When Buddy heard this, he decided to try this method the next day at school.

Sure enough, the next day at school Buddy was so much better and shared all of his toys with all the kids. He had everyone laughing and smiling and having a good time. And Buddy enjoyed that so much better than making everyone sad. So that's how Buddy became so kind.

Bibliography: The Elephant Girly-face by Ellen C. Babbitt

Authors Note:

When reading the original story, I thought of how impressionable the elephant was and how much that reminded me of young children. That's why I decided to write the story about Buddy the toddler, overhearing a bad movie his parents had playing.

Toddler From Flickr Images

Week 11 More Jataka Reading Part B

Source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

How the Monkey Saved His Troops

- Monkeys gather mangoes from underneath a tree
- A King discovers the mango
- The King collects all the monkeys mangos
- The monkeys grab mangos from the branches which upsets the King, so he requests the monkeys be shot down
- The chief monkeys lets the other monkeys climb over his back to escape
- The King sees what the chief monkey did and promises he will take care of him

The Hawks and Their Friends

- Hawks live on an island. Lions live on the north side,, a Kingfisher on the east and a turtle on the south.
- The mother suggests they make friends with all the other
- Hunters are in the forest and they see the hawks
- The hawks go to the Kingfisher for help and he comes
- The Kingfisher gets tired so the mother tells the father to get help from the turtle
- He comes to help
- The hunters start to hunt the turtle instead
- The turtle has to run to avoid being eaten so the hawks go to the lion
- The hunters go running and the friends all live

The Brave Little Bowman

- The bowman has a crooked back
- He goes looking for a big man so he can go into battle
- They join the kings army
- The King sends them to hunt down a tiger
- The bowman gets him
- They kill a buffalo too
- The King goes to battle
- The big man got too scared and ran away
- The Little Bowman continued to fight and made him the chief of the army

The Foolhardy Wolf

- A lion kills a buffalo
- A hungry wolf offers to be the lions servant and the lion accepts
- The wolf tells the lion if there's animals he can hunt or not
- The wolf is feed well and grows in size
- He tells the lion to trade places with him and tell him when he sees an elephant
- The lion agrees
- The wolf fails and is killed by the elephant instead

The Stolen Plow

- Two traders are from a small town and a large town
- The small town trader leaves a plow with the large town one and he sells it and lies about selling it
- The village trader leaves the towns trader with a friend
- the village trader lies about his whereabouts and they both go to court
- the court orders the town trader to give back the plow to the village trader and then he can get his son back

The Lion in Bad Company

- A young lion lets a wolf live with him against the warnings he knows too well
- The lion's dad doesn't like the arrangement
- the wolf wants to eat a pony and convinces the lion to do it
- He becomes addicted to eating the King's ponies
- the lion goes to the stables to eat the ponies and ends up getting shot. The wolf abandons him

The Wise Goat and the Wolf

-There's one goat the wolves can't catch
- A wolf and his mate devise a trick to get her
- The goat is hesitant but eventually comes to help
- The mate messes up and the goat sees this
- They try another trick but the goat decides to trick them instead
- She asks to bring hounds with her and she never hears from the wolves again

Prince Wicked and the Grateful

- Prince Wicked is awful and everyone is worried what will happen when he's King
- The servants pretend they didn't abandon him
- The King searches for him
- Prince Wicked finds a log along with a snake and a rat
- A poor old man goes to save him
- The poor old man helps the animals first
- The prince hates him for that
- The animals offer him goods when they leave
- The prince offers him riches when he's King, and soon after his father dies
- The old man goes to see if the 4 will keep their promises, the animals do but he doesn't take it. The prince tries to kill him
- The people hear the story and get scared, so they kill the king and let the poor man be king
- He treats the animals well after that and they live happily ever after

Beauty and the Brownie

-  There's two sibling deer named Beauty and Brownie
- Their parents advise they go away while corn is being ripened because it's dangerous
- Beauty takes his herd away from the village and travels by night as advised and his herd makes it
- Brownie ends up taking his herd the wrong way twice and many die

The Elephant and the Dog

- There's an elephant and a dog who are good friends. They eventually are allowed to live together. Then the dog gets sold and the elephant becomes very very sad. To make the elephant feel better, the King brings the dog back and they all live happily ever after

Lion and the Wolf from Source

http://www.gatewaytotheclassics.com/browse/display.php?author=babbitt&book=morejataka&story=lion

Week 11 Readings: More Jakata Readings Part A

Source: More Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt

The Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls

- A King's family all go down to the lake and the queen laves her jewelry unattended
- A girl monkey really wants the pearls
- The servant watching the jewelry falls asleep
- The monkey hides the pearls
- The main guard realizes a girl monkey must've taken the pearls
- The guards try to trick the monkey into leaving the pearls when she has a strand of beads
- The girl monkey shows off her pearls and the guard takes the pearls back

The Three Fishes

- Three fishes named Thoughtful, Very-Thoughtful (VT) and Thoughtless.
- They go close to a town and VT warns the other two fishes of the danger they're in
- Thoughtful and Thoughtless don't see where the fisherman's net
- VT goes to save them and succeeds by outsmarting the fisherman
- They all finally return to their old home

The Tricky Wolf and the Rats

- There's a rat chief
- The wolf wants to eat as many rats as possible
- He decides to stand near the rats home on his hind legs with his mouth wide open
- The chief of the rats pities the wolves and talks to him
- The wolf would eat the last rat whenever they left
- The chief rats go last the last time but he doesn't get caught
- The chief of rats bites the wolves neck and he die

The Woodpecker, Turtle, and Deer

- All three animals are friends
- The deer gets caught by a hunter but the woodpecker and turtle help his escape
- The turtle gnaws at the leather until his teeth are gone and he's bleeding
- He was so weak the Hunter captured him
- The deer decides to help him and leads the hunter into the forest
- They all escape the hunter and live together happily

The Golden Goose

- There was a goose with golden feathers and a poor women with two daughters
- The goose gives her one of his feathers
- The mother decides to get all the gooses feathers in fear that he'll go away one day and they'll be poor again
- If his feathers are plucked they aren't golden anymore, so the feathers are just white
- He goes away after the abuse and never returns

The Stupid Monkeys

- The King declared a holiday for his people
- The gardeners gets the monkey to water for him so he can have a day off
- The monkeys pull up the roots of the trees to see if they had been watered enough
- The monkeys kill all the young trees

The Cunning Wolf

- The town had a holiday and they all went to the forest with tons of food
- A man tries to kill fresh meat so he lies on the ground to trick them
- The King of Wolves creeps towards him
- The man tries to kill the wolf but misses and walks away empty handed

The Penny-Wise Monkey

- A King goes to try and takeover a small country
- A monkey steals the army's horse's peas
- One pea falls to the ground and the monkey drops all the other peas to get that one
- The king learns not to lose what he has to gain so little and turns around

The Red-Bud Tree

- 4 princes are told about the red-bud tree. They all wish they had seen one
- The eldest prince goes early in the spring when there are no blooms
- The second prince sees the red buds
- The third prince sees the green buds
- The youngest prince sees bean-pods
- The princes argue over the tree but the King tells them they just saw it at different seasons

The Woodpecker and the Lion

- A lion gets his bone caught in his throat and it hurts terribly
- A woodpecker offers to help him
- The woodpecker puts a stick between his upper and lower mouth so that he can't be eaten
- The lion feels much better, but doesn't thank the woodpecker
- When the woodpecker asks for favor and the lion says the favor was to not eat him
- The woodpecker stays away

The Otters and the Wolf

- A wolf desperately wants fresh fish
- Two otters are in a river, one goes for a fish but the fish is too strong and he gets pulled away
- They work together to get the fish and then split it between themselves
- The wolf divides the fish they are fighting about and takes the best part for himself
- He gives the fish to his mate

Lion from Source

Wikipedia Trails: From Magh Mela to India

First: Magh Mela

Last week I was really excited to learn about Magh Mela and now I think I'm going to try and learn about different festivals/ holidays/ sacred events in India. That's why I've selected my next link.

Next: Pushkaram

Pushkaram is an Indian festival dedicated to worshipping rivers. It happens on the banks of 12 various rivers and it rotates which river it is celebrated on (which is why each festival is once every 12 years). In theory it happens year round, but the most people come during the first 12 days.

Next: Ganges

Ganges is one of the major rivers that Pushkaram happens at. I picked it because it's also one of the biggest rivers in Indian and has a lot of history and a lot of stories attached to it.

Last: India

I picked India to end because I really wasn't sure what I wanted to research next and thought just going to the general India Wikipedia page would help me out and help me figure where my next Wikipedia Trail shall go.

Ganges River from Source

Story Lab: Week 10

Empo Word:
Chapter Two Reading Notes:

- "We're all stories in the end" has a lot of different interpretations and so do many of the things we write
- Narration is how we convey our stories and there's different techniques to that, such as plot.
- Scope is the boundaries of plot (so like what you'll be covering); sequence and pacing is the order of the events and the amount of time you give to each event (this determines how the reader sees the story)
- Remember the elements of plot
- Different ways to structure plot, but it needs to be there
- Point of view is very important to your story, along with the tone
- Building characters is vital to the story, they are needed to bring your story forward
- Stories can be multi-media or multi-genre stuff
- Overall the article reminded me about the basics of storytelling and how I need to be putting more thought into each layer of my story and how it'll best be portrayed. Even small things like what POV works best for the story can really change how it turns out in the end.

Snape Writing Meme from Source

https://www.writerswrite.com/writingmemes/

Week 10 Reading (Extra Credit): Jakata Tales Babbitt Part B

The Wise and Foolish Merchant

- A thrifty merchant ended up buying wears to sell and a stupid young merchant bought goods in the same city. The started at the same time

- The young merchant goes first because he thinks he'll get the first pick of everything

- The thrifty merchant is okay with that because he'll smooth out the roads

- A demon sees the merchant and wants to overcome him so he empties his water

- The foolish merchant empties the water completely and there was no water to be found

- The demons meet the thrifty merchant as well and doesn't throw away his water

- the demons don't bother the thrifty merchant and he leaves with the foolish merchant's goods

The Elephant Girly-face

- Girly-face is named because he is so gentle, good and looked so kind

- Robbers break into Girly-face's home and plans to kill Girly-face's owners

- Girly-face learns from the cruel robbers and he kills his keeper the next morning

- He keeps getting fed but no one will approach him

- A wise man discovers that Girly-face learned from the robbers

- They plant some good men to tell Girly-face how to act and it works

The Banyan Deer

- There was a deer that was golden in color, that looked beautiful. 

- The King of the county liked to eat deer meat

- A deer park is made so the King can hunt

- He allows the Deer Kings to live

- The two deer kings talk about how they need to save themselves

- They give one deer up a day

-One day the lot falls on a mother with a young baby

- The Kings aren't kind and forces her to die

- The King of the Banyan Deer goes in her place

- The King sees the Kings sacrifice and stops hunting deer

The Princes and the Water-Sprite

- 3 princes: Prince of the Stars, Moon Prince and Sun Prince

- The queen is given whatever boon she wants

- She asks for the youngest son to get the kingdom, but the king refused

- He worries for the older two princes so he sends them away until he dies

- The youngest prince goes with them

- A water-sprite was given the pond and if people could answer "What are Good Fairies like?" they weren't in her power

- The Sun Prince tries and gets carried into the cave, so does the Moon Prince

- The Prince of the Stars answeres it correctly and he gets one of his brothers back 

- He asks for his youngest brother

- His answer means that both brothers come back

- The eldest brother inherits the throne once his father dies

The King's White Elephant

- Three carpenters are approached by a limping elephant

- They help him remove his splinter and wash his wound

- He goes to help the carpenters

- Once he's too old, he asks his son to help them instead

- His son is the white elephant

- His son would play with the carpenters children

- The King sees the white elephant and takes him back to palace and he lives a good life

The Ox Who Never Envied the Pig

- There's an ox and his brother called Big Red and Little Red

- the pigs are ordered to be fattened for the wedding feast

- Little Red is jealous the pigs are being fed well

- Big Red tells his brother why

Grannie's Blackie

- a man gave a woman a baby elephant and she takes good care of him

- The Elephant is called "Granny's Blackie"

- Blackie plays with the children

- Blackie never does work, only plays

- Blackie wants to help Granny with money

- Blackie works to pull wagons to get money for Granny

- The man only pays Blackie half of what she is owed and he's upset

- He doesn't move and Blackie is paid what he is owed

- Granny is pleased with Blackie

The Crab and the Crane

- A crane tricks fish into "going to a new lake" when they really get eaten. The crab notices and tricks the crane instead and the crane dies

Why the Owl is Not the King of Birds

- A tale about owls and crows

- Everyone chooses kings to rule over them, so the birds must choose

- The birds decide to make the owl the King of Birds

- The crow points out how sour and cross the owl looks

- They fight and have been enemies ever since

- Turtle Doves are chosen as the king of birds

Source: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt (Image too)

Girly-face being Examined from Source (see above)

Week 10 Reading: Babbitt Jataka Tales Part A

Monkey and the Crocodile:

- We read this story as part of week 1 of reading
- This version it's the crocodile's mother that wants the heart of the monkey
- Monkey agrees to crocodile's ride
- Crocodile lets Monkey breathe just to tell him he's going to kill him
- Monkey tricks Crocodile into thinking that his heart is a fruit
- Crocodile finds Monkey later
- the Crocodile pretends to be a rock and the monkey calls for it
- When Crocodile answers, the monkey says hello to him
- The Monkey convinces the crocodile to open his mouth so his eyes close
-He jumps over the crocodile

How the Turtle Saved His Own Life

- the princes get scared of the turtle in the lake, thinking it's a demon
- The king orders the demon be caught and killed
- An old man who's scared of water suggests throwing him in the water
- The turtle begs not for that one and is thrown into the water, only to be safe

The Merchant of Seri

- merchant goes from town to town selling brass and tinware with a second greedy man
- There was an old women who has a golden bowl who doesn't know it's a golden bowl
- the granddaughter begs her grandmother for something and suggests she trades the bowl
- The greedy merchant pretended not to be interested in the bowl so he leaves it
- the other merchant sees the bowl and tells them he can't buy that bowl
- He buys the bowl for all that he has and then crosses the river
- the greedy merchant comes back to find the bowl is gone


The Turtle who Couldn't Stop Talking

- There was two geese who befriend a turtle and ask him to fly back home with them
- They devise a way for the turtle to be able to fly but it only works if the turtle doesn't speak
- Kids make fun of their way and the turtle goes to defend his friends but he falls to his death
- His geese friends keep going

The Ox Who Won the Forfeit

- There was a strong Ox and an owner who constantly bragged about him
- They tie 100 wagons to the ox
- The owner whips his ox and treats him badly so he refuses to go
- The owner loses and has to pay a ton of money
- The ox askes the owner why he whipped him and called him names
- the owner apologizes and the ox offers to do it again
- The owner wins his money this time

The Sandy Road

- A merchant reaches a road that has very hot sand so can only be traveled at night
- They make camp during the day
- The pilot says they will be out of the sand in one more night
- however, the pilot fell asleep and the ox keep going
- when he wakes up they're out of water and lost
- they eventually find water
- they continue on their way

The Quarrel of Quails

- A man earns his living by catching and selling quails
- He can make the same noise as the leader of the quails
- The leader of the quails devises a way to stop so many from being captured
- It works and the man can't catch the quails
- The quails divided themselves into two groups after a fight and neither group wanted to lift the net
- Their fight let to them being sold

The Measure of Rice

- Valuer is an honest man in a dishonest kings court
- He set the price of expensive thing
- the King knew if Valuer was dishonest, he would be richer
- the Valuer gets fired and a new peasant is hired as Valuer
- He buys 500 horses for a measure of rice
- The horse-seller gives the Valuer a present and tells him to tell the king what a measure of rice is worth
- The new Valuer sets the measure of rice as the price of his whole city
- He's laughed out of the city

The Foolish, Timid Rabbit

- The rabbit thinks the world is falling apart and slowly pulls more and more animals into his frenzy until the King Lion stops him and shows him it was merely a coconut that fell from the tree.

Source: Jataka Tales by Ellen C. Babbitt (for picture too)

Monkey from Source (see above)

Wikipedia Trails: From Uttar Pradesh to Magh Mela

Start: Uttar Pradesh


- Uttar Pradesh is located in the northern part of Indian and also has extremely warm temperatures. It has animals like the Gharial that live there and also is a mostly Hindu population that speaks mainly Hindi. It has a rich history as well.


Next: Allahabad District

- The Allahabad District is the mostly populous district in Uttar Pradesh so I clicked on it to learn more about it. It has a population of 5 million which is close to the population of Denmark or Missouri, but only the area of 5000 square kilometers. The district also has a high literacy rate compared to the national average.


Next: Prayag Kumbh Mela

- This was described as a big Hindu event so I clicked on it to learn more about it. It takes place at the meeting point of the Ganga, Yumana, and mythical Sarasvati rivers in Allahabad. The full festival is held every 12 years and the half ceremony is held every 6. The 2013 celebration was the largest religious gathering ever.


Finish: Magh Mela

- This is an annual festival held in January/February that every 12 years coincides with Prayag Kumbh Mela. It's said to be a pilgrimage for past mistakes religiously. This festival is actually mentioned in the Mahabharata.

Kumbh Mela from Source

Week 9 Story: A Smart Women

A Smart Women

There was once an extremely wealthy family that consisted of a husband, a wife, a daughter and a son.

One day, the husband got extremely drunk and started to gamble with his brother. Before he knew it, he had gambled everything he owned away. His house, his cars, his money, and all his possessions. All that he had left was his wife and his children. When he returned to his wife to tell her, she just took a deep breath and was determined to fix the mistakes her husband has made.

Immediately, she knew began to work to fix the problem. She allowed her children to stay at her grandparents house so they wouldn't have to deal with the consequences of her husband's actions. The two of them moved into an extremely small studio apartment to try and live off the few dollars they managed to get.

Then, one morning, she woke up to find her husband completely gone. Instead of going to find him, the wife moved on. She packed up all her things and stopped paying rent on the studio apartment. She then moved back in with her parents and save money for  her family there.

Months later, she heard a rumor that her husband was a nearby Uber driver. First, to test the theory, she let her two children take an Uber to the nearby store. The man was disguised but after a few questions, then children were quickly able to tell that the man was in fact their father.

Hearing the news, the wife rolled her eyes and let her husband be an Uber driver for another week before making her move. She then simply ordered an Uber to the next the local store. The whole drive, she let her husband keep up his act and it wasn't until she reached the store she finally revealed she knew it was him the whole time. She asked if he would like to come back and live with her instead of pretending he was no longer around.

He acted all embarrassed and begged for her forgiveness, but she remained strong and ignored his words and once again invited him to live with the family again. He finally accepted and they worked together as a family to get all their fortune back.

Family from Source

Author's Note:

I read the story of Damayanti and really liked how she kept preserving through the hard times but I didn't like how weak she came across in the story. I liked how she was supportive of him and loved him regardless, but he did her wrong over and over again and never complaining. So in my rewrite I made the wife (Damayanti) a lot stronger. The original story was Damayanti from Nine Ideal Indian Women

Week 9 Reading: Nine Ideal Indian Women Part B

Uttara
Source: Nine Ideal Indian Women by: Sunity Devee

- Story from the beginning about the three sisters who all approach Vyasa
- The eldest daughter approaches with her eyes close so her son is blind
- The middle daughter approaches with a pale face and has a pale son
- Youngest is not ashamed because she isn't noble and gives birth to Bidoor
- Goes through the families whole story but in summary form
- The Panduvans go into exile because of the dice game
- They go to Birat Rajah and Princess Uttara is their pride and joy
- Arjun teaches her and after he's discovered Uttara marries his son
- She's really young? Like plays with dolls young?
- The battle for land begins
- Uttara's never been sad or serious
- Her husband jumps at the chance to fight
- Uttara is crying when he finds her and begs him not to fight
- She helps him get ready but sobs the whole time
- They have a very tearful goodbye
- He dies saying Uttara's name
- Uttara faints hearing he's dead
- Krishna offers to be Uttara's child to comfort her
- Uttara doesn't recognize herself
- Parikshit is born
- She wants to die but she's told to take care of Parikshit
- Uttara was a great mother and finally gets to die

Sati
Source: Nine Ideal Indian Women by: Sunity Devee

- Sati youngest of Maharajah Dasku's daughters
- She's her fathers favorite and wants to make the best match
- She devotes her life to Siva
- Her father is angry that's who she wants to marry
- She marries Siva against her father's wishes
- She lives somewhere very nice
- Sati and Siva are opposites but work well
- Daksha Raj is the last to attend an event and his son-in-law doesn't stand for him
- So he throws a party and doesn't invite Siva
- Her sisters arrive and Sati tells them she's not invited
- The sisters ask Siva to let Sati go with them
- Sati begs Siva to let her go and he agrees
- There home and Siva become sad when Sati leaves
- Kuber and his wife dress Sati
- Sati receives the warmest welcome from her mother and her sisters become jealous
-Her father is furious she's arrived
- She chastise her father and his head turns into a goat
- She begs for death and dies
- Siva furious when he finds out
- He nearly causes the end of the world
- Vishnu cuts Sati's body into pieces and wherever a piece falls become holy
- Without the body being a burden, Siva calms down

Uttara from Source

Week 9 Reading: Nine Ideal Indian Women Part A

Savitri
Source: Nine Ideal Indian Women by Sunity Devee

- Savitri is a very famous Indian women
- her parents are upset they have no son
- Savitri named after the goddess that let her parents have her
- She was educated
- She likes ashrans
- She visits a topoban and on the way back she rests and sees a young man dressed like a hermit
- They meet eyes and fall in love
- She finds the hermit again and learns his name is Satyaban
- Her parents realize she's in love with Satyaban and try to figure out how to avoid Savitri getting heartbroken since she can't marry Satyaban
- Narad reveals Satyaban is a good suitor but destine to die in a years time
- Savitri told he will die in a year and she stills wants to marry him
- Her parents beg her to not, for the good of the people, but she refuses
- She wins
- Prince Satyaban thinks Savitri is going back to the topoban with him
- Savitri asks to go too and he agrees
- Savitri gives up everything
- Everyone loves Savitri at the hut
- Savitri goes with Satyaban to get wood
- She knows the time he should die arrives and calls for him to come down from the tree
- He just kind of starts dying and she attempts to nurse him
- He dies and Yom, the Lord of Death, comes for him
- Yom cannot touch her because she's too good
- She follows death because she doesn't want to live
- Yom offers her a wish and she asks for her father-in-laws sight back
- She gets another wish and asks for her father to have a son
- She asks for sons and is given them
- She finally defeats death with her love for her husband
- Her father-in-law gets his kingdom back and shes a princess once more
- Savitri-brata is a vow Indian women make to see they are never widowed

Damayanti
Source: Nine Ideal Indian Women by Sunity Devee

- Bhimsen is sad because he had no child
- He's a good Maharajah who always listens to his people so he's promised a daughter
- The Queen gives birth to Damayanti
- Nal wants to marry Damayanti
- He writes to Damayanti because he loves her
- She gives her heart to him secretly
- She asks her friends for help
- The swan travels to bring their letters to each other
- One of her friends tells her mom who tells her dad
- He is summoned to the palace
- Four gods long to marry Damayanti as well (Indra, Agni, Yom, and Baruna)
- The gods disguise him to let him get in easily to tell the princess that they are interested
- She says she is honored but wants to marry Nal
- Nal tries to convince her otherwise
- The gods decide to test Damayanti's love for Nal with more disguises
- She picks the right Nal and the gods bless their marriage
- Sani befriends Pushkar, Nal's brother, because he's upset Damayanti denied the four gods
- He spoke poorly of Nal and he hates him
- They play dice and Nal loses everything
- Nal tells her he lost everything
- Damayanti isn't upset and suggests they go see her parents
- They go with Nal to the jungle
- Sani mad when he sees they are happy
- Nal gets tricked into leaving by Sani against his will
-Damayanti realizes Nal has left her and cries
- A hunter tries to get her to come to his house but she refuses
- She joins traders but elephants kill them all
- She goes to the Palace of Chedi and becomes a maidservant
- She becomes close to her aunt who bad talks Nal
- She gets discovered by a messenger for her father
- Nal gets lost for many days
- He gets disfigured by the fire and when he comes to his senses he feels like he can't return
- He becomes a driver
- Damayanti hears about his driving and creates a plan to find Nal by saying she'll marry again
- Damayanti sends the children to Nal when he arrives
- Damanyanti asks Nal to cook for her
- They are reunited
- Nal adopted by Damanyanti's family and gets his kingdom back after winning at dice to his brother
-

Damayanti from Source

Wikipedia Trails: From Ghaziabad to Uttar Pradesh

Start: Ghaziabad

Last week, I said that I wanted to look more into modern India, so that's why I picked Ghaziabad. It talked a lot about the different religions and people of the area and it was cool to see how unified everything seemed to be.


Next: Jawalharlal Nehru Stadium

This stadium is in Ghaziabad and was described as a 'multi-purpose stadium' so I was curious what that meant for Indian sports. I knew for America it would be a football, soccer combination. It seems in India it means a cricket and soccer combination


Next: Uttar Pradesh Cricket Team

This is the main cricket team that calls the Jawalharlal Nehru Stadium it's home. Since cricket is a less known sport here in America, I clicked on this to learn more about it.


Last: Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh seemed to be a larger state of Ghaziabad so I clicked on it to learn more about Indian geography and how that worked. It's actually the most populous state in India and in where the Taj Mahal is located, so I'm really excited to explore it more next week.

Taj Mahal from Source

Week 8 Progress

Looking Back:

I think I'm doing really well with my class progress. Right now I'm on track to be done before the end of the semester, and if I keep working ahead that'll be sooner. I like the flow of things I've gotten into and have gotten to do the extra credit assignments that I think work with what I'm doing. Things are going great and I really hope to keep it up.

Looking forward:

I think, considering at the moment I'm 2 weeks ahead, I don't want to make any changes as we keep moving forward. I hope to be able to keep up my pace of staying on top of the class, and being able to stay 2 weeks ahead.

Keep Going from Source

Week 8 Comments and Feedback

Reflection:

I think I've been doing a really good job of complimenting peoples stories and telling them the things I like, but I usually don't get real feedback on stories unless its for the 150 word ones. I think I overall need to get better about telling people different things they can do to take their story the extra mile. I think the feedback I'm getting back is good and also thinks the feedback strategies are helping me a lot too. I do feel like I'm getting to know people. Since I'm doing the extra comments, I've read everyone's introduction and also enjoy reading about their favorite place because it seems like a smaller way to get to know a detail about them. I think moving forward I just need to make sure I'm helping people improve and not just focusing on how great they are.

A Remainder from Source

Week 8 Reading and Writing

Reflection:

I think I'm getting better with the writing assignments as the class goes on. I'm beginning to start thinking about what I want to make my story about as I'm reading. Reading wise, I think I could do a better job of taking notes on the different readings I am doing. I really like my blog and am getting more used to the set up of my website and how to add pages to it. I'm really proud of how my rewrite for "Hetic Recess" turned out and was really happy I was able to move on from revising it to editing a new story. I really liked reading the Ramayana. I liked how it seemed to flow as a story and how it seemed to be very narrative focused. I do think my notes help me a lot and figuring out what story I want to tell while reading helps me focus.

Looking Forward:

I think I want to try and take better notes and focus a lot more of the stories that I'm reading each week.

Reflection from Source

Week 7 Story: Meet the Family

Meet the Family (Updated Version)

Hey all, my name is Parikshit, and today I’m going to introduce you to my family tree. I will warn you, it gets a little crazy, so please try your best to follow along.

First let’s start with King Vichitravirya. He had two wives, Ambika and Ambalika (they were sisters) who gave him two sons, Dhritarashtra and Pandu. Now, Once King Vichitravirya died, his mother thought of her other son, Vyasa. He terrified Ambika so much so that when she saw him, she closed her eyes. Therefore, Dhritarashtra was born blind. Ambalika was also terrified, but she went pale. Therefore Pandu was pale. Vyasa is my great-great grandfather and the father of both Dhritarashtra and Pandu.

The next generation is a little more complicated. So Dhritarashtra married Gandhari and she had Duryodhana, Dushasana, Dussala and 98 other sons in total. These children are usually referred to as the Kauravas. Pandu married a woman named Kunti, who already has a son named Karna. This son was Surya’s son and grew up so quickly that Kunti didn’t really raise him. Kunti had three sons: Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna while Pandu’s other wife, Madri, had two sons: Nakula and Sahadeva. Now, all these sons were actually fathered by different deities, but Pandu always claimed them as his own as we all just let him. Pandus 5he sons were typically referred to as the Pandavas.

My father was the son of Arjuna and his wife Subhadra, and he married Uttara, my mother, who had me. When I was born, I was born dead, but Krishna brought me back to life. I was eventually made king of my grandfather’s kingdom, but the story to get there is a little complicated...

There was always a big feud between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. They all grew up together after Pandu’s death, and it was a household with 105 sons, there was going to be fights. You see the Pandavas were extremely gifted and very talented, which made Dhritarashtra’s eldest son, Duryodhana extremely jealous. So jealous that Duryodhana ended up disrespecting my great-uncles’ wife, Draupadi, and then sent my great-uncles’ to exile in the forest. But after their exile, they declared war on the Kauravas. The war was bloody and many died, including my father, Abhimanyu, and every single one of my uncles and aunts, and all of the Kauravas. My family won, but at great cost. This is how I was made the heir of the throne, even though I was the grandson of Kunti’s youngest son.

So while my family maybe complicated, but who's family doesn't have a little drama in it. And I’m so grateful for my family’s hard work that ended with me on the throne. Author's Note: The most confusing part of the Mahabharata for me was the family tree. There was so many characters and so many character names and I just kept getting confused. So for my story this week, I decided to have it be from the youngest member of the Pandava family, Parikshit, and have him tell his families story. It mainly focuses on the family tree to help me straighten things out, but also give a bit of the family drama involved at the end of the Mahabharata, because who doesn't like a little bit of family drama.

Source: Mahabharata (Public Domain Version)

Family Trees from Source

Wikipedia Trails: From Yashodharman to Ghaziabad

First: Yashodharman

This is where I left off last week. The Wikipedia page isn't long though and I learned a lot about the King, so I decided to learn more about his dynasty.

Next: Aulikaras

Since the era is from so long ago, there's not a ton that can be learned about the Aulikaras, but there is a stone that has helped bring new information about them to life.

Next: Risthal Inscription

Since this stone seemed to have a lot of information, I decided it would be the best option for my next link. This page had a ton of information, including the full inscription of it.


Last: Ghaziabad

This was the location the Risthal Inscription was found in. While I've had a lot of time learning about ancient India, I was really curious about what modern India was like and hoped that clucking on a city name would get me close to where I wanted to be.

Portrait of Tormana from Risthal Inscription from Source

Reading Week 7: Mahabharta Part D

Bhishma Falls
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- Bhishma refuses to kill anyone who's not a women, so Shikhandin is sent with Arjuna
- Arjuna doesn't want to trick him
- Arjuna kills Bhisma and weeps bitterly
- Duryodhana only gets angrier

Drona in Command
Source: Mahabharata, Epics of the Bharatas by Romesh C. Dutt

- Drona now leading the Kuru forces
- Fighting continues
- Many die

Abhimanyu and Jayadratha
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- Jayadratha goes to fight Yudhishthira and they kill his charioteer
- Abhimanyu dies and is described as innocent (he's the son of Arjuna)
- Arjuna kills many the next day, but refuses to kill Drona
- Arjuna kills Jayadratha

Ghatotkacha
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- Torches sent in so the battle can continue into the night
- Arjuna calls for a truce and the warriors sleep on the battlefield
- Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhima, kills many people and fights Karna
- Ghatotkacha dies at the hands of the invincible dart
- Lots of crying in the battle

Death of Drona
Source: Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita

- Bhima kills an elephant named Ashwatthama to make Drona think his son is dead and dishearten him
- Dhrishtadyumna kills Drona is his sadness

Bhima and Duhshasana
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- Yudhishthira and Bhima fight Karna
- Bhima kills Duhsasana and then drinks his blood
- This freaks people out

Arjuna and Karna
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- Arjuna and Karna battle
- Arjuna's bow breaks and he asks Karna to wait, but Karna doesn't
- Karna's chariot gets stuck and he asks Arjuna to pause and he does
- Arjuna hears his son's name and gets angry enough that he just immediately kills Karna

Duryodhana in the Lake
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- The Kauravas retreat and it's suggested they sue for peace
- Duryodhana understands he can't, so the war must continue
- Bhima finds Duryodhana and brings Yudhishthira to him
- Bhima kills Duryodhana and declares Draupadi avenged
- Yudhishthira mad at Bhima because he broke the rules of combat
- Krishna points out the Duryodhana has played dirty frequently.

The Night Raid
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie and Mahabharata, Epics of the Bharatas by Romesh C. Dutt

- Kripa and Ashwatthaman visit the dying Durodhana
- Ashwatthaman attacks the Pandavas camp
- Drupad, Dhristadyumna, Shikhandin and Draupadi's children all killed
- Duryodhana dies happy

Ashwatthaman's Jewel
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- Draupadi extremely upset
- She asks Bhima for the head of Ashwatthaman
- When told that can't happen, she asks for his jewl instead
- Arjuna gets it for her

Mourning
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- Dhritarashtra mourns the death of his 100 sons
- There's great mourning
- Kunti's happy to see her 5 son but then mourns the dead
- they have a funeral for it

The Pandavas and Bhisma
Source: The Mahabharata, A Summary by John Mandeville Macfie

- the Pandavas visit Bhisma who is waiting for the sun solstice to die
- He tells them a story about the rishi Vishvamitra and the terrible drought
- Yudhishthira is put on the throne
- Bhisma dies with Krishna's permission

King Yudhishthira's Horse
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- It's suggested that Yudhishthira does a horse sacrifice because of all the carnage from the war
- Arjuna and an army follow the horse
- the horse goes many places and gives Arjuna many adventures
-

Parikshit
Source: The Mahabharata, A Summary by John Mandeville Macfie and Nine Ideal Indian Women by Sunity Devee

- Ashwatthaman killed the baby of Uttara and Krishna agrees to help her

- Parikshit is born and Uttara wants to die, but Krishna stops her

-Uttara's son becomes king

- Finally Uttara is allowed to die

Horse Sacrifice
Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- Yudhishthira lived a life of purity and self-restraint
- He's excited to see Arjuna again
 - The sacrifice ceremony is preformed

The Mongoose
Source: The Story of the Great War by Annie Besant

- A lot of wealth brought to the kingdom after the ceremony
- A mongoose appears before the King
- He tells a story about a poor brahmin and a greedy guest
- They gave the guest everything and were praised for it

The Forest and its Ghosts
Source:  Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- Dhritarashtra mourns his firstborn and to the jungle with his queens and Kunti
- the brothers and Draupadi visit
- The ghosts from the battle are summoned by Vyasa
- Many high-born widows choose to die with their husbands that day
- 2 years later, all the elders are dead

Death of Krishna
Source:  Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- Pandavas know something bad is going to happen, but don't know what
- Krishna and Balarama leave the city and die in the jungle after a great feast
- Arjuna given a message to help the women wailing for the dead and buries everyone who died

The Pandavas Depart
Source:  Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- Yudhishthira divides his kingdom between Parikshit and Yuyutsu
- the Pandavas then go to the jungle and they all die because of their sins
- Yudhishthira says he can't go to heaven without his brothers and his wife
- When told he can't, he begs for the hound to come with him

The Afterlife
Source:  Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

- Yudhisthira dies and finds Duryodhana and the Kauravas in heaven, but none of his family
- He goes to find them in Hell, but it was all a test
- Yudhishthrina is made a celestial being and enters Swarga
- Krishna, Draupadi and his brothers are all waiting for him

Yudhishthira and a dog from Source