Week 14 Reading Diary B: Ryder's Twenty-Two Goblins

Today, I finally finished the Twenty-Two Goblins. The last set of riddles were as entertaining as the other I suppose; I'm still trying to figure out the King's logic for each of his answers. The thing that really stood out to me about this reading was the ending. It was a pretty big plot twist to find out that the monk had been planning on killing the king this whole time (if the Goblin is to be believed) and even more surprising to just the king lop off his head without giving it a second thought. His reward for outsmarting the monk was power over all fairies and magical creatures, which seems like it would be pretty cool, but he decides to give that up just so the riddles can be spread all over the world. I guess my problem with this story was that I was expecting something with maybe more human motivations, like the epics. But this story seems to be a lot more moralizing in comparison, which is not necessarily a bad thing, it just made the characters seems a bit flat I guess.

"Sadhu," an Indian Monk; source: pixbay

Week 14 Reading Diary A: Ryder's Twenty-Two Goblins

This week I decided to continue on with the Twenty-Two Goblins from Ryder. I really enjoyed the first week's set of readings, and I'm interested in seeing how things turn out for the King. I thought that the second story from this set of readings, the one about the King and His general, was really interesting, especially because of the moral at the end. I keep thinking that the King's reasoning doesn't make too much sense, such as how he declared the King more virtuous simply because he was a king so it was harder for him to be a good person. It seems like a lot of the stories deal with Kings or love in some aspect, so these themes might be interesting to work into a story.

A "King" card; source: wikimedia

Reading Diary B Week 13: Ryder's Twenty-Two Goblins

I'm still continuing to read through Ryder's Twenty-Two goblins. I think my favorite story from this section was about the family that sacrificed themselves for the King, and then the King in the main story says that the King made the biggest sacrifice. I'm starting to get the impression that these stories are satirical because they're so over the top. I'm also wondering now why the story is called the twenty-two goblins when in actuality it's the same goblin each time. I'm hoping there will be a better explanation at the end, but for now I just have a lot of questions.

Arthur Ryder, translator: source: wikimedia

Reading Dairy Week 13: Ryder's Twenty-Two Goblins

Western Representation of a goblin; source: wikimedia

This week I decided to read Ryder's translation of the Twenty-Two Goblins. I really like the format of this tale because it helps incorporate the story-within-a-story technique really well with all of the different fables told by the goblin. Each individual story is also really interesting. I really enjoyed the story of the dead girl and the three lovers, and it was interesting to see the logic the king used in explaining his answer about the riddle. I'm wondering if these are supposed to be taken as correct, or if we'll find out at the end that all of them have been impossible to decide and the King will be punished for not realizing that. I also really liked the story of the thrush and the parrot, but again, his reasoning at the end about all women being bad is a bit striking. I'm really looking forward to see if I can get more into the king's mindset as the story continues.

Portfolio Guide

This is the index page for my Storytelling Portfolio! Check back every so often to see what I've added to it.

The Breaking of the Bow- Rama and Lakshmana arrive in Mithila in time for a grand competition.

Creation of the Mahabharata- Vyasa recites a tale to Ganesh.

Bed of Arrows -  The tale of Bhishma and the Bed of Arrows

Draupadi's Diary - An entry from the new bride's journal

The Death of Sati - The tale of Shiva and his wife Sati

Week 12 Storytelling: The Death of Sati

Once upon a time, there lived a very powerful and proud king named Daksha, who was blessed with many beautiful daughters. The youngest of these was Sati, and she was the most virtuous and pure of all her sisters. Unbeknownst to her father, Sati had devoted every part of her being to the Great God Shiva, who returned Sati's great affection. Their love was revealed at Sati's Swayamvara, where she chose Shiva to be her husband. Daksha was furious at his daughter for out of all the wealthy princes and lords, she chose Shiva who had very little material wealth. Daksha cursed his daughter and forced the two to leave his kingdom and never come back. This was, of course, a very ineffectual punishment, as Sati and her husband were very happy in their home far from the rest of the kingdom, and also Shiva was the Great God, so the idea that Daksha's punishment would matter at all is utterly ridiculous, but I digress.

After some time, the couple was visited by the great sage Narada, who somehow managed to be an insufferable gossip despite his infinite wisdom. Narada told the great Shiva about an upcoming feast that Daksha was planning to hold to honor every member of his family, and then Narada proceeded to be a huge jerk by trying to rub it in Shiva's face that he wasn't invited. Shiva, having fallen asleep during the conversation, paid him no attention. But Sati was consumed by her "woman's curiosity," and yes, that is apparently a real thing according to the story. Shiva told his dear wife that she had to stay home, but this greatly upset her. She was so frustrated she turned into the ten-armed goddess Durga, also known as the goddess of death. Ignoring the wishes of her husband, who happened to be not only a god but the GREAT god, Sati went back to her father's kingdom to attend the feast. To this day, no one really knows why she thought this was a good idea at all. One could only assume that she was very hungry, or just really into feasts.

Once Sati arrived at her father's kingdom, wearing the simplest of dresses and no jewelry, she was greeted with the ridiculing laughter of her many sisters because apparently all of her sisters were like mean high school girls. Daksha then rose and addressed his daughter, his voice dripping with rage. He was furious she had dared to show her face in his hall, for she was just the lowly wife of a beggar. Sati could not stand her father's condemnations of her husband (who was still the GREAT god) and refused to listen further. Apparently, Sati was such a dutiful wife that even hearing her husband be slandered could be considered infidelity. She then spontaneously combusted as an act of suicide, adding a whole new meaning to the phrase "going out with a bang." Shiva was meditating during all of this, because I guess he couldn't be bothered to go protect his wife's honor.  But to his credit, he did decide to summon a demon army to kill Daksha in revenge, so I guess it's all good.

Sati is rejected by her father; source: wikimedia

Author's Note: This story is based off of Sister Nivedita's story Sati, The perfect Wife, available here.
My story is a fairly straight representation of the original; I didn't change any major plot points or anything like that. The story to me just seemed like one wild overreaction after the next, so I wanted to try to play that up in this version. Most of my other stories have had more straight-forward humor, so I tried to make this one more dry or sarcastic. It was also my first time using a more biased narrator to comment on the story. I really like the idea of having a narrator as a character who engages with the story so that was something I wanted to try this week. At first, I thought I would write a children's-story style piece (hence the once upon a time) but I think it maybe turned into a more satirical story. The character of Narada in particular was such an amusing portrayal of the wandering sage archetype we've seen so much of, so I had to include him and how he plays into the plot. I also decided to try writing a story without any dialogue to see how well I'd be able to still convey the story. I've gotten a number of comments on how good my dialogue is, but that makes me think I should practice the prose more.

Week 12 Reading Diary B: Nivedita's Shiva

Today, I read the second set of readings from Sister Nivedita's stories about Shiva. These stories were a lot more direct and easier to follow than Nivedita's other writings, and I think I got a lot better ideas about how to describe the characters, physically and emotionally. Especially in the first story, Nivedita goes into a lot of detail in specifying who Shiva is, how he can be characterized, etc. I'm also glad that she included another story about Uma and her role in everything. It was kind of hard to follow all of the different avatars and reincarnations of different characters in the other stories, but here it's laid out much more simplistically. I think doing something that focused on mistaken identity or reincarnation for my story this week would make a lot of sense.

Shiva statue; source: wikimedia

Week 12 Reading Diary A: Nivedita's Shiva

This week, I decided to read Sister Nivedita's stories about Shiva. I really enjoyed what she had to say about Krishna and Kali, so I thought I would try reading another one of her works. Her stories about Shiva are really interesting because she intermingles them with short sections explaining the evolution of Hindu theology, like how some myths have become more popular and dominant over older myths that might be contradictory, like the story of Shiva and Sati. I really thought it was intriguing how Nivedita describes all of the different parts and representations of Sati as different women, and it definitely seems like Shiva is quite the ladies' man. I also really liked the section where Shiva is so angry he decides to summon a demo to wage war against Sati's father. It adds an interesting dynamic to the relationship between the gods and the demons.

Shiva: source: wikimedia

Week 11 Storytelling: Patient Report

Nivedita Psychiatric Hospital

Patient 4106 Kali: source: wikimedia

Patient Number: 4106

Patient Name: Kali (aliases include: Mahakali, Parvati, Durga)

Physical Description: Long, black hair, often tangled and unkempt; Red blood-shot eyes; Dark black complexion; Patient has four arms; Patient often sticks out her tongue (of unusual length)

Clothing and Other Artifacts upon Admission: 1 curved sword, 1 trident, 1 white cup, a large number of human heads arranged into a necklace (No other clothing)

Behavioral Report: Patient often prone to violent tendencies, including murder and decapitation. This is often with slight provocation, and patient can only be calmed by dancing on or with her husband. Patient also tends to display a number of strong maternal instincts, including the nourishment and protection of her followers and family. Patient often vacillates between these two extremes.

Diagnosis and Treatment: It's clear that the patient has very strong manic-depressive mood swings, and can often fall into a rage without notice. At the beginning of her time here, the patient was much more prone to these sudden changes in behavior, and we believe this was a coping mechanism that she developed to protect her husband and family. We have been hesitant to try pharmaceutical solutions as the patient's digestive tract seems to only accept blood of enemies she has slain. However, the patient has recently made great strides in controlling this rage. Our team of counselors here at Nivedita Hospital have focused on positive reinforcement strategies to augment the patient's natural maternal behaviors. This seems to be proving a success in helping reform the patient, who has fully accepted a new motherly identity.

Future Recommendations: While it is unlikely that the patient will ever fully relinquish her violent impulses, these will continue to function in the scope of her role as "Mother of the World." Our goal has been to elicit more peaceful behavior with the hopes of eliminating the patient's deeply ingrained rage, however this seems to be key to the patient's personal ideology of motherhood. Patient should be ready for discharge within a few weeks. 

Author's Note: This is a re-imagining of the goddess Kali as she is depicted in Sister Nivedita's Kali the Mother (found here). From other, more traditional stories I had heard of Kali, she is often depicted as a sort of wildling, with unruly hair and bloody weapons. She was often shown to be provoked into a rage where she kills a number of evil forces and has to then be calmed by her husband Shiva. I tried to incorporate these details into the story in a lot of ways. I also tried to reference the other forms that Kali has been shown to take in various other stories, and her patient number is based on the number of arms she has in each form (4 for Kali, 10 for Mahakali, and 6 for Durga). I thought Sister Nivedita's representations of Kali were so interesting because they provide a much softer, gentler side of Kali. I did a bit of research and it turns out that most contemporary devotional movements based around Kali show her as a much stronger maternal figure, like Hera in Greek mythology. This change was so fascinating because it kind of shows the necessary duality to motherhood: a mother is often caring and nourishing for her family, but can be wildly protective if that family is threatened. Nivedita talks about this a bit in one of the sections in her writings and I saw it as a really interesting concept. 

Reading Diary B: Nivedita's Kali the Mother

Today I finished reading Nivedita's Kali the Mother. There was a lot more substance in the last section than there was in the first, and I think I'll have a lot of material to pull from in describing Kali as a character. I really liked the passage at the end where she talks in first-person, and the poem in the very last section was a very neat change in style from the rest of the text. There weren't any clear stories or tales that I could adapt, so maybe I'll just use the characteristics of Kali and make a new story about her, or insert her into another story.

Kali the mother; source: wikimedia

Reading Diary A: Sister Nivedita's Kali the Mother

For this week, I decided to read another story from Sister Nivedita. I really liked her stories about Krishna, and this week I thought it might be a nice change to look at something other than the epics. Her writing is much more essay-like in this story and it was a complete shift away from what I had expected. She had some really interesting passages on the importance of language and symbols and how we use those to create our own ideas of divinity. I really liked a lot of her thoughts, but she didn't present a lot about who Kali is and what she's done. I'm hoping there's a bit more in the second part that would allow me to generate more ideas for telling a story.

Kali the mother: source: wikimedia

Week 10 Storytelling: The Curse of Gandhari

It was the final night of the great Kurukshetra War. The Kaurava forces had been wiped out, their commanders killed one by one. All that remained was the king of unyielding cruelty, Duryodhana. However, his end would have to wait. Blessed by the gods, Duryodhana had no need for air or food, and he was hidden away from the fighting, at the bottom of a deep lake. The battle had ceased- temporarily, anyway.

The remaining Pandavas and their forces went to pay their respects to the old queen Gandhari, mother to the one-hundred Kauravas, including Duryodhana. The old queen was wise and held a deep spiritual strength. She was no fool; she knew her sons had brought about their own destruction. However, her deep affections for Duryodhana often betrayed her better judgment. Upon seeing Krishna enter as part of the Pandava retinue, she let out a wail of sorrow. This was the man responsible for all of her loss and suffering.

"Oh mighty Krishna, why must you show your face here? Have you not already caused enough pain in this house of mine? You, whose cunning and guile have so easily won the war...you could have made peace between these families, but instead you led them only to death and despair."

Krishna was shocked by her accusations. He had tried to put a stop to the conflict, but the stubbornness of Duryodhana was the real cause of the war. He tried to explain.

"Wise Gandhari, surely you know that this was not my doing. Can you not see tha-"

"No actually, I can't see. Vow of blindness and all that, you know."

"Ah, yes, of course. My apologies, Gandhari. But nevertheless, I insist I can take no blame for this war."

Gandhari bristled at this declaration of innocence. She arose from the mat where she was sitting and walked over to Krishna.

"Because of your actions, I place upon you and your tribe a curse of a mother's sorrow. In 36 years, all of the Yadavas will perish, each killed by the hand of a brother."

Krishna could not help but laugh. "That's it? That's your curse? My clan has grown much too arrogant and vile. Honestly, they probably deserve what's coming to them. You're doing me a favor."

"You really want your whole family to die? That's horrible."

"Well yes, karmic justice must be upheld right? I'm just confused as to why you're putting it off for 36 years. That's an oddly specific number."

"It was just the first one that popped into my head really. This whole curse-making thing is much less refined than one might think."

Queen Gandhari: source: wikimedia

Author's Note: This is a retelling of a section of the Mahabharata as seen in Peter Brook's film, the Mahabharata. I thought Gandhari was a really interesting character in all of the versions I've seen, and her story is very compelling. I also thought it made an interesting counterpoint with the depictions of Krishna that show him as totally accepting of the curse against his clan. I started writing this as more serious than usual,  but I couldn't help try injecting some humor into the story towards the end.

Reading Diary B: Peter Brook's Mahabharata

Today I finally finished the movie! I really enjoyed it but I'm also glad that I was able to finish such a long movie. My week has been kinda hectic, but it was nice to take time and just finish watching everything. I really like the ending sequence of the movie, so I might try to use that as inspiration for my storytelling assignment this week.

Ascent to heaven: source: wikimedia

Reading Diary A: Peter Brook's Mahabharata

This week, I'm just continuing to watch Peter Brook's version of the Mahabharata. I really enjoyed the movie last week, but I'm looking forward to finishing the film. I hadn't really realized how long the film would be when I started watching, but it's been really good so far. This section was really nice because it was building up to the big finale, so the plot really picked up a lot. It's funny how similar the book and the movie can be in terms of pacing and story mechanics, and yet still be so different.

Battle at the conclusion of the Mahabharata: source: wikimedia

Week 9 Storytelling: Draupadi's Diary

Dear Diary,

Well, here I am, a new blushing bride. Or at least, that's what I should be. Taken from my father's palace, wagered in a stupid archery contest, and now taken back to a hut in the woods - at first I had accepted my fate; how is my story any different from the dozens of other princesses that get tossed to best bowman or the strongest warrior? That's just the way things are. And there were worse husbands than Arjuna. He's a talented warrior to be sure, but he's a kind and virtuous soul. That's the impression I had at first anyway.

Of course, everything changed when we completed our journey back to his hut. Or rather, his brother's hut. I understood their family's situation, and I was devoted to my husband as a good wife should be. What I was not expecting was to be burdened with five husbands in the place of one. It is said that a wife's worst enemy is her mother-in-law, and this was something that never really made sense to me until I met my husbands' mother. I know she meant well when she told the brothers to share their prize, but she could have told them how ridiculous it was to insist on sharing me. Surely, they wouldn't stand for their mother to be passed around between five men like a bad cold.

The worst part is that my husbands are all seen as these wonderful warriors and wise princes. And this may be true when they're out in public, but at home they couldn't be worse. Arjuna, whom I had thought would be my loving and doting husband, has a number of other women that he neglected to mention until we were already living together. He's even been with a Naga! It's a great shame that such a noble warrior can sink so low. Bhima, the giant one, is a complete slob, and has the worst hygiene you can imagine. He's such a brute, it's a wonder he doesn't try to fight the storms in the sky. The twins are here too, I suppose. I can't tell them apart for the life of me, and their complete lack of a defining personality trait between the two of them is almost impressive.

The oldest one, Yudhistira, is much too caught up in his role as a kshatriya: it's all "honor" and "duty" with that one. And he's absolutely obsessed with gambling. He's constantly wanting to play dice games with his brothers, who seem all too eager to oblige. But his terrible luck is going to get him in trouble someday.

Draupadi: source wikimedia

Dear Diary,

It's finally over. The great Kurukshetra War is finally over, and my wonderful husbands are victorious. I couldn't be more fortunate to have such brave warriors as my companions. Bhima's tremendous strength and courage took down many soldiers, and Arjuna was the finest archer on the field. The twins fought quite skillfully, but I'm most proud of Yudhistira. His wisdom and skill as a leader are what ultimately won the day. 

Now we can finally return to our kingdom and live peacefully without any possible threat from the vicious Kauravas. While my husbands are sad to have slain so many of their family, we all know it was a necessary evil. Our companion Krishna has returned to his kingdom to watch over his people, but we have made a number of other strong allies. It seems like I might get my "happy ending" after all!

Author's Note: This story is based on a section of Peter Brook's Mahabharata. In the film, like in the original story, Draupadi is won by Arjuna, but becomes the wife of all five of the Pandava brothers. I thought it might be nice to look at Draupadi's situation from a different point of view. In the original, she's very relaxed about the whole situation, and that seemed like a very unrealistic reaction to a very ridiculous situation. I chose this image of Draupadi because it's what I would imagine her wedding dress would look like, and I wanted the first diary entry to be from immediately after she is wed to all of the brothers. I added the second diary entry as a counterpoint to show how Draupadi does grow to love all of her husbands by the end of the story. I'm still trying to get better at writing in a first-person perspective, so I thought a diary format would be really good practice for this. I also thought this would be a nice chance to poke more fun at the characters of the story. I keep finding that it's much easier for me to write stories with more of a sarcastic/humorous tone, so that's what I decided to do this week. I feel like so many of these tales are well-suited to comedic interpretations, trying to do only serious stories would not be nearly as fun.

Reading Diary B: Peter Brooks Mahabharata

For this reading diary, I'm still making my way through Peter Brook's version of the Mahabharata. I'm really enjoying the film so far, and I like how it feels more like a theatrical piece. The "special effects" and costumes are all very basic, and nothing is too dramatic or over the top, which I think would have been really easy to do.

Director Peter Brook; Source wikimedia

The story of the film seems to be holding pretty close to the original, other than the more prevalent "story-within-a-story" elements. Still, the whole theatrical aspect definitely gives me some ideas for how I could write a story that's more drama-oriented. I'm really looking forward to watching more of the film next week and seeing how all of the action at the end is portrayed on screen.

Reading Diary A: Peter Brook's Mahabharata

For this weeks reading, I decided to watch Peter Brook's version of the Mahabharata. I thought it would be interesting to watch the film version to get see how the story differs in a different format.

The boy, Ganesh, and Vyasa source: wikimedia

The thing that was most striking about this version was how the beginning of the story was different. There is a young boy who is present for the telling of the tale by Vyasa, and Ganesha has a much more active role in how he questions and talks to Vyasa. Moreover, it was interesting seeing the film use such a huge and diverse cast. I read somewhere that Brook's used actors from many countries to represent the idea that the Mahabharata is the story of all of humanity. This is a really interesting idea that I don't think I really picked up on in the other version. I am really excited to see how the rest of the story develops and to see how the film version differs from the book.

Reading Plan

I think for the rest of the semester, I want to focus on the two epics from the beginning of the class. This will allow me to work with the stories in a number of very different formats and styles, and hopefully that will help to inspire me to write my stories in equally eclectic ways. For weeks 9 and 10, I think I will read The Missing Queen. This story seems really entertaining, and it's gotten such a rave review from Laura, I think I have to check it out. For weeks 11 and 12, I really want to watch Peter Brook's version of the Mahabharata. I loved seeing the Ramayana in a film version so I'm hoping that this movie will be as equally enjoyable. For weeks 13 and 14, I want to read the graphic novels from the Mahabharata. Personally, I've always been a fan of graphic novels, and these stories will make me go to the library, which will probably be good because I might not have the motivation to do so otherwise.

Read ALL the books! source: pixabay

Reflections: Looking Forward

Looking towards the second half of the semester, I'm really excited for all of the potential that this class has to offer. There area number of different stories and works we can work on, and the main choice for me right now is deciding whether I want to focus only on other versions of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata or whether I want to try to cover as wide a breadth as possible. I really loved the two epics and I think it would be interesting to familiarize myself with more versions of the stories to see what changes and what stays the same in each version, so that's what I'm leaning towards now.

In terms of my writing, I really want to use this second half of the semester to try to write more adventurous stories. All of mine have been basic retellings or depictions of scenes from a similar point of view, but I've not really done anything as creative or different as some of the stories I've seen from my classmates. I want to use these last few weeks to really sit and focus on my writing and what I can do better.

My other main goal involves my scheduling for this class. I've been able to get everything done so far, but there have been a lot of times where I've forgotten to do a declaration or not been able to work on assignment until I'm already in the grace period. I'd like to make a better schedule that might take off some of the stress of keeping up with this class. That way, I might be able to work on some of the extra credit assignments and maybe finish a bit early.

Generic inspirational sunrise, courtesy of flickr

Looking Back

Looking back , I think the first half of the semester has been pretty good. I think I've learned a lot from the readings and also from the writing exercises. My portfolio project is going pretty smoothly, and I've definitely gotten some ideas from some of the other students on what I can do to improve my project even more. I loved going through both of the epics, and I don't know if I could pick a single favorite scene or reading from between them. I have learned that I tend to read in big chunks, and it's really hard for me to break up big readings into little sections to read over a number of days.

The fact that this class is entirely online hasn't been too much of an issue. I feel like I do a decent job of managing my schedule. I typically work on class materials for an hour every day or so, because that's what fits my schedule at the moment. I'm not sure if I've really connected with any of the other students yet, but I'm sure that will happen in the second part of the course. I typically work on this class in my apartment, in the evenings, after I've done everything else I need to do for the day. I'd like to try to work ahead a bit more so it's not such a constant stream of homework, but it's really hard to find time.

Unfortunately, I've not been able to do any of the extra credit activities yet. I am really interested in the growth mindset challenges, and I know I would be able to get a lot out of the curating activities, so I'll try to do more of those as the semester progresses.

Looking back on the semester; source: flickr

Week 7 Storytelling: The Death of Krishna

Dear Diary,

Today started out as a day full of misfortune, much like every other day in my life. I woke up this morning, hungry and alone. Not like, physically alone; my wife was there, of course, fixing breakfast for her mother and our three children. But alas, no eggs for me. My wife claims it's because of my high cholesterol, but I know the truth. My family doesn't respect me at all, for I am, as my mother in law calls me "a good-for-nothing waste of space who would be more useful as an ergonomically-designed footrest." Or at least, that's what I imagine she calls me behind my back. I have no real skills, or education, or redeeming personality traits. But you already knew all of that, Diary.

I got out of bed, and got ready for the day. That consisted of me staring into the mirror for nearly an hour, sinking deeper and deeper into the soulless void I saw in my own eyes. After feeling thoroughly refreshed, I made my way out of our small hut and into the woods. My wife kissed me on the cheek as left. "Have a good day, my darling!" she commands. My children wave and smile as I leave, very clearly beaming because of my departure. Even my mother-in-law taunts me, giving me a small lunch to carry with me. How my family wounds me!

I thought I might try to fight off my overwhelming existential angst by trying to find some food in the forest surrounding our meager dwelling. There's not much fertile ground nearby, because my wife has taken up all of it with her bountiful gardens. Most animals tend to avoid our house as well. I think they can sense the crushing despair emanating from my being. This day, however, I made my way to the crystal-clear river that runs near our house. I saw near the water, the most beautiful swan. I knew this was my one chance at redeeming myself, so grabbed my bow and readied an arrow. Crouching down, I took aim and released.

It was sometime between releasing the arrow and the impact that I realized what I took to be an elegant waterbird was actually a human foot. I ran over to this poor fellow, another victim of life, and found that he was gravely wounded. I knew then that it was too late, and that I had slain this unfortunate soul.

the hunter taking aim at Krishna's foot; source: wikimedia

 Author's Note: This story comes from Sister Nevedita's Cradle Stories of Hinduism, specifically, the section "Death of the Vrishnis." I thought that this whole episode surrounding Krishna's death was a little absurd, and I do tend towards the absurd things when I write. I thought it would be interesting to look at how the hunter saw the whole event, and maybe look into his back story. I thought I would add a bit of dark humor by having him be a character with a pretty good life who is just so overwhelmingly pessimistic that he imagines negative things.

Reading Diary B: Krishna by Sister Nevedita

Krishna kills the tyrant Kansa: source: wikimedia

There was definitely a lot of action in this second part of the stories of Krishna. We see the epic fight between Kansa's forces and Krishna, as well as the large battle that makes up the end of the Mahabharata. It was really interesting seeing this fight from a different perspective that paid more attention to Krishna's involvement. This is also true of the aftermath of the battle in seeing Gandhari's interactions with Krishna, and seeing how she cursed his clan to death. Again, it was really noticeable throughout all of the stories that Sister Nevedita focused mainly on the religious aspects of the stories, and there are a lot of times where she describes Krishna and the gods in relation to their Divinity and their more spiritual aspects.

I think the most interesting thing to take away from these stories are the various ways Krishna is represented. He's a bit of a mischievous child, and then a very cocky and rash warrior when he fights Kansa. After that, he seems to mature and calm a lot when we see him next, and a lot of people look to him for his wisdom later in life. The ending of Krishna's stories was a bit anticlimactic, I must admit. He gets shot by a hunter who mistook his foot to be a swan, and this wound is what ends him. It seems a bit strange to me that someone who has demonstrated a number of different powers and extraordinary abilities would be felled by a single shot, but I guess this just adds to the tragedy of the tale and serves to show the strength of Gandhari's curse

Reading Diary A: Krishna by Sister Nevedita

Statue of Krishna with his flute: Source: wikimedia

This week I decided to look at Sister Nevedita stories of Krishna. I thought this would be a good opportunity to learn more about Krishna, who was a very enigmatic character in Narayan's version of the Mahabharata. Sister Nevedita definitely skews her perspective on the stories towards more religious aspects, and this makes for an interesting contrasts with the other things I've read in this class so far. The first section starts with Krishna's birth, and Nevedita calls him "the Indian Christ-Child," which I'm not sure is entirely appropriate, but oh well. There are a lot of really interesting stories about Krishna's childhood in this first section, including the story about Brahma, who suspected that Krishna was actually an incarnation of Vishnu. Apparently, the easiest way to do this was to make a bunch of cows fall asleep in a cave to see if Krishna would be able to find them and then herd them back. This story is really interesting because we see some motivations of the gods, specifically Brahma who hasn't been talked about a lot in the other stories. It's a bit funny to think about the gods acting like a sort of rivals, keeping tabs on each other's activities and trying to make sure they're always one step ahead of the others. There were a lot of other interesting excerpts in this section, including the battle between the monstrous snake Kaliya and Krishna.

Week 6 Storytelling: Bed of Arrows

Well, this is awfully embarrassing, Bhishma thought to himself. The moment I step out of my chariot, I manage to trip over nothing and fall directly onto a large number of arrows. Great. Fantastic. Good job, Bhishma, really.

He struggled to free himself, but it was no use. There were too many arrows pinning him to the ground, and shifting his weight caused him too much pain.

Well, that's fine. At least I'm not close to the fighting, so I don't think anyone saw me fall. I'll just die here alone. I'm okay with that.

That's precisely when Bhima came by on his chariot.

"Great Bhishma, are you hurt?" he yelled, his voice echoing off into the battlefield.

Well, obviously I'm hurt. Do you not see the long pointy things sticking out of me? But Bhishma restrained himself. Such an answer was not befitting a man of his stature.

"My dear Bhima, physical wounds are nothing. What truly pains me is this terrible fight that has torn apart my family." Yes! Solid answer, just the right amount of wisdom bestowed. Pat yourself on the back, Bhishma.

"Of course, I understand. I shall fetch my brothers and all the Kauravas at once to come see you in your final hour." Bhima hurried off in his chariot, crying out to every warrior he passed to pay their respects to the great Bhishma.

"No, wait! That's not...okay, you're gone." Of course, it had to be Bhima who found me. Not someone quiet like the twins.

Soon after, all of the warriors on both sides had come to pay their respects to Bhishma, who was much loved for his wisdom and selflessness. It was the mighty Arjuna who spoke first. "Oh lord Bhishma, I know I speak for all, Pandava and Kaurava alike, when I say we are truly saddened to see your death. But please know that you have not died without purpose."

No, no, no. I refuse to die in front of everyone like this. I'm not going to let these idiots make me out to be some kind of martyr. "Arjuna, I fear you have made an error. I may be wounded, but I have yet to die."

"Well, yes, I suppose you aren't dead yet, but you are bleeding profusely from a number of vital organs."

"They are but flesh wounds! My immortal spirit will continue to live on, long after this war has finished." 

Taken aback somewhat by these words, Arjuna didn't know how to proceed. "Well, um...Is there anything we can get for you while you continue to grace us with your wise and virtuous presence?" 

"Some water would be absolutely lovely. Being pinned to the ground by dozens of arrows is really quite thirsty work."

With a quick snap of his bow, Arjuna shot an arrow into the ground, creating a spring of water that shot straight into Bhishma's open mouth.

Such a show-off. 

Bhishma on the bed of arrows; Source: wikimedia

Author's note: This story is taken from Narayan's version of the Mahabharata. This whole scene was probably the most striking part of the final battle between the two groups. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do a serious story or a funny story this week, but I really liked the idea of seeing more of Bhishma's inner thoughts while he's lying on the arrows, and it was much easier to write him as a snark who manages to live through his injuries just out of pure spite. I chose this image in particular because there are a lot of images out there depicting this scene, but this one in particular shows the look I would imagine Bhishma's face to have while drinking the water. In the original story, Bhishma is much more stoic and calm, as he is throughout most of the story, so I hope this is a fun counterpoint to his original self. I decided to use italics to write Bhishma's thoughts directly instead of narrating them traditionally, and I think this stream-of-consciousness technique helps convey Bhishma's frustration with the other characters.  I was writing the story when I realized the story was becoming a bit like a scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, so I added a line to reference it explicitly. It really helped play up the more over-the-top aspects of the story.

Reading Diary B: Narayan's Mahabharata

It finally happened! The epic battle that the whole book has been leading up to finally happened. I'm a sucker for big fight scenes, and I have to say this was by far my favorite part of the story. We see all of the characters that have been introduced throughout the story as well as number of characters who show up as reminders of brief or minor events from the beginning, like Bhima's rakshasa son. Following the events of the fight was really exciting, but I did think there was some silliness. Namely, Bhisma's falling on the bed of arrows.

Bhisma on the bed of arrows; Source; wikimedia

While this event is a bit strange in and of itself, I especially liked how everyone dropped what they were doing just to come and gawk at Bhisma. I guess the fighting wasn't that important? This is not the strangest thing to happen in the story, but it just stuck out to me as especially bizarre. The rest of the battle was fairly predictable: the righteous Pandavas overcome Duryodhana and his ilk, and then rule the kingdom. I can't tell if I like the character of Yudhistira or not. There are more than a few times where he laments his role as a kshatriya, which is understandable because he does not seem to like fighting and violence as much as his brothers. However, he still does a lot of stupid, rash things throughout the story. Bhima and Arjuna are both very aggressive, while the twins are there  just hanging out, so it's not hard to make Yudhistira seem like the rational one; but still, it seems strange that he was so willing to punish the Kaudavas but then talks about his unfortunate circumstances as a warrior.

Reading Diary A: Narayan's Mahabharata

This section of the Mahabharata set up a lot of plot for the final battle between the two families, but it did have some really interesting scenes. The "hundred questions" scene in particular was really interesting I thought. We know that these texts are supposed to be very important to the larger context of Hinduism, but sometimes it's hard to see how that can be. In this scene, we're gien a number of very straightforward philosophical ideas and values. I also like the idea of Yudihistira's father coming to Earth to test him and make sure he was turning out okay. The fathers of the Pandavas are mentioned in the very beginning but it seems like most fathers in these stories take a rather hands-off approach. I also like how this is the scene where Yudihistira undoubtedly redeems himself in the eyes of his brothers. Yeah he may have lost all of their wealth and fortune twice, but at least he answered all the questions and everyone got to come back to life. It kinda balances out I guess.

Statue of the god Yama; source: wikimedia

I also really liked the stories of the Pandavas while they were at Virata's court. It's an entertaining trope, seeing these highborn nobles taking on more demeaning tasks, but it also does a lot to characterize them. Honestly, it's very easy to forget about the twins, and it was a nice change to se Bhima excited to do something other than fight and/or kill things. The scene with Arjuna and Uttara fighting together was especially interesting because of the dynamics between the two characters, and we can see how easily Arjuna can slip between his two personas. There was a lot of brief mentions of different alliances and deals made with other kings/rulers, so I'm really excited to see how it all plays out in the final battle.

Thoughts about Comments

I really love the amount of peer review we have in this class. As writers, getting feedback and critiques is the best way for us to improve. I really like comments that can point out a single aspect of a story and give an opinion on it. The very general comments about the quality of a story or how it reads are nice, but it's much more engaging if someone says "I liked the dialogue" or "The description of this scene seemed lacking."

In that same vein, I think it's best if comments are honest, even if that means they're negative. Honest comments are how a writer can tell that his or her audience is truly engaging with the story.  If there is a serious problem in a story, then it needs to be pointed out to the author. Sometimes this could be a number of problems with the grammar, or it could be an issue with wording or sentence structure. Other times, this might include a more stylistic critique, looking at how characters are described and how the structure of a story is set up. Personally, I know that this is a very hard thing to do with a person face-to-face let alone in an online class where we don't have the chance to explain/deliver our critiques exactly as we would like. There have been a number of times where I've been conflicted over whether or not I should say something to an author because I didn't want to create bad vibes in the class. Moving forward, I hope to do a better job of leaving comments that are not only engaging, but also constructive.

Week 5 Storytelling: The Creation of the Mahabharata

Vyasa was bored. Tremendously bored. Agonizingly, crushingly, painfully bored. It was already noon and not a single person had come by asking him to solve their problems. Business had never been this slow before. He'd been in the wandering sage game for a while but he found that it was finally time to take a more active role in drumming up clients. He asked his manager, Ganesh, to come by to discuss his ideas. Because he was a divine being and was capable of doing so, he showed up instantly.

"Ganesh, I must speak with you. I've devised a project that will help me spur up some customers, but I need your help."

"Surely, Vyasa, you know I will assist you in any task. What is it you wish to do?"

"As a wandering sage, my only purpose is to give aid and spread wisdom and all that, but I can only do so when others come to seek my help. As such, I've decided that my reputation and fame could use a boost." Vyasa smiled, his eyes glimmering with pride at his new idea. "I'm going to write a new version of the Mahabharata!"

Ganesh cocked his elephantine head to the side."Vyasa, I do not think I follow. You mean to say your retelling will surpass all the others and that it will garner you fame? You're going to change the story as it was told by Draupadi, Arjuna, and the god Shiva himself?"

"No, no, nothing like that. If anything my version will be as close to the other versions as possible, but with one key difference. I'm going to be one of the main characters, helping all the others, and explaining things about the gods, and just generally being old and smart and so on. When everyone sees how wise and virtuous I was in the Mahabharata, I won't stop having people to help!"

Ganesh couldn't suppress his laughter."Vyasa, be serious! You're going to try to pass off a new version of the Mahabharata with you as a main character? Who will you claim wrote the whole thing, yourself?"

"That's an excellent idea!" Vyasa clapped his hands in approval, his head already full of excitement. "I'll say I'm the original author, and I preceded all the others. Then I will also be praised for my abilities as a storyteller! All good wandering sages are skilled storytellers."

Ganesh shook his head in disbelief, "Vyasa, don't be ridiculous. No one will take it seriously. You're essentially trying to pass off your fan-fiction as historical fact."

"No, Ganesh, you misunderstand me. I'm going to tell you the new story and you'll to write it down and distribute it among the people. Everyone knows gods don't lie or spread false advertising. If all goes well, then my version will become the new standard!" 

Ganesh sighed in frustration, but he gave in to the soft spot he held for Vyasa."Fine, I'll do this for you. But we have to do this all in one sitting; I have an appointment with another client this evening. How do you want to start?"

"Let's keep the beginning mostly the same, but we'll say I'm the one that actually fathered Pandu, Dhritarashtra, and Vidura, thanks to my prodigious virility. After that, I was thinking we could change..."

The wise and virtuous Vyasa; Source: wikimedia

Author's Note: This is a retelling of the very first part of the Mahabharata by R.K. Narayan (1978). This version opens with a brief introduction talking about the process of Vyasa telling Ganesh the whole story. The fact that they had to set conditions about the dictation really reminds me of a business transaction, so I thought it would be interesting to portray it as a manager/client relationship. I really like the general idea of a story-within-a-story framework, and the character of Vyasa is interesting for his dual roles in the story. He reminds me a bit of Alfred Hitchcock in that he has a cameo in his works. I tried to imagine why he would want to tell a story like this, and that's how I came up with the idea I had for this story. Some of the things he does are a bit over the top (sleeping with the three women and cursing the sons of the two queens just because they closed their eyes or got pale) and it seemed that he had a much stronger ego than other wisemen we've talked about. The image I’m using for this story is a simple picture of Vyasa. I feel like it shows him as the prototypical yogi one might imagine. 

Reading Diary B: Narayan's Mahabharata

The miracle of the cloth; Source: wikimedia

The second part of this week's reading was a lot easier to follow. I will admit that I got a bit lost with trying to keep all of the characters names straight in the first 40 pages, but now it seems like the division between the two sides of the family is a lot clearer, so it's a lot easier to keep up with all of the different names and characters. That, in turn, makes the story waaaaaaay more interesting!

I really liked the scene between Yudihistira and Sakuni. It was a bit predictable in that you could tell Sakuni would win with every wager, but it was still really entertaining to watch the usually serious and rational Yudihistira fall deeper and deeper into a gambling frenzy. The story also brought up some really interesting moral questions: if a person engages in something willingly and in full knowledge of the consequences, are they the only one to blame for their circumstances? This was exacerbated when he wagered Draupadi, because she brought up a pretty straightforward argument about how he couldn't have wagered her as he was already Sakuni's servant. I think the most interesting aspect of this whole story is how it humanizes most of the characters. All of the named characters have some aspect of divinity or  the supernatural as part of their characters, but in this scene it was just two guys gambling over things and everyone arguing about the rules. Of course, the scene at the end with Krishna's miracle of the endless cloth can't really be considered "normal" but it was pretty cool.

Reading Diary A: Narayan's Mahabharata

For the Mahabharata I decided to go with the Narayan version instead of the Public Domain version. I liked the online accessibility of the PDE version of the Ramayana, but the radical changes in styles and forms between sections was a little bit too much for me. In Narayan's writing, the prose is all under the same structure, so it's much more consistent, and I can get a better feel for the text

Vyasa recites the story to Ganesh; Source: Wikimedia

The story here is a lot more sprawling and epic than the story of the Ramayana. It opens with a description of Vyasa and Ganesh agreeing on how to copy down the story and the launches into the actual tale. I like this story within a story framework, but it seems like it will only be mentioned at the beginning of the story. I also like how Vyasa himself is a pretty major character in the story.

The sheer number of characters makes it a bit difficult to follow. We're introduced to all of the members of both sides of the family pretty quickly, and a lot of them have very similar names. Moreover, there are three generations worth of lineages to keep track of. This familial drama reminded me a lot of Game of Thrones or the Lord of the Rings; I'm really considering sketching some family trees to keep everyone in order. My favorite episode from this section was watching Bhisma taunt the rakshasa. The dialogue was pretty funny, and it really made the scene entertaining to watch unfold.

Week 4 Storytelling: Hanuman and the Mountain pt. 2

**Note: This is a continuation of my Week 3 story. If you've not read that, please check it out first!

New York Skyline; Source: wikimedia

Dr. Uman jumped out of his recently stolen ambulance, slung his bag over his shoulder and began bobbing and weaving through the cars that packed the streets. Years of pouring over medical books and articles might have left him a bit out of shape, but Han was gifted with a natural litheness; he moved through the cars as swiftly as a gust of wind.

Three blocks up the street; he was almost halfway back to the hospital. That's when the real problems began. There had been a large accident at a major intersection involving several cars, and the tow truck that had been carrying Han's rusted pick-up. Apparently, the bumper of the poor vehicle fell off while it was going through the light. The police had cordoned off the entire block and traffic wasn't allowed to pass through until the accident had been cleared away. Stopping for only a moment to appreciate the cosmic irony of the situation, Han began devising a new strategy to make his way back uptown to Sacred Flower.

"This way is blocked off...And if I go back down a block to cross over I'll lose too much time. How can I get to the next street over?" Han looked around at the buildings that lined the street. Most still weren't open for the day, but the smallest shop on the street, a tiny bakery called Rak Sha's Buns was wedged between two stark steel skyscrapers, with a flashing neon sign blinking "OPEN" out of the front window. Han sprinted over to the small shack, and pushed open the door. Not stopping for a moment, he ran behind the counter, into the back, and straight into a small old man bent with age, wearing an old apron covered in white flour.

"Sir! You can't be back here!" he yelled at Han, shaking a rolling pin that was thicker than his arm.

Han didn't have time to stop, he ran back through the kitchen dodging through other workers carrying trays full of baked goods. Finally, he made it out the back door of the shop into an alley that led into the next street over. He ran out of the dark alley into the bright street, lit by the fresh morning sun. No sooner had he made it to the street when he heard the stamping of footsteps coming from behind him. Han turned to see the bakers running down after him, the old man leading the charge.

Not having even a moment to spare, Han began sprinting down the street as fast as he could, pushing any passerby out of the way. He saw a street sign pointing him towards the hospital; he was close! He rounded the corner.

"STOP WHERE YOU ARE"

And ran directly into a police blockade. It is a not-entirely-surprising fact that stealing an ambulance constitutes Grand Theft Auto, and thus Dr. Han Uman was now a felon. However, Han was not one to let something little like a team of armed law enforcers stop him from finishing his job. Pausing for only a second, Han turned back around and ran straight into the crowd of angry bakers that was following him. The police gave chase, but they lost Han in the confusion.

Author's note: The second part of the story from last week. This is again a continuation of the story of Hanuman and the Mountain. I tried to come up with other obstacles that would be entertaining but also realistic. I considered adding some more fantastic elements to make the story a bit more exciting and I may do so if I decide to do the portfolio.

Reading Diary B: Sita Sings the Blues

Bhavana explaining Rama's thoughts on Sita: Source; Nina Paley's Blog

The second half of the film was really as good as the first. It opens with Nina receiving the dreaded email from her husband that ends their marriage. I think this was pretty clearly foreshadowed within the film, and it's in all of the descriptions of the film so this didn't come as a big surprise. It does also work really well as a modern day comparison to how Rama treats Sita by exiling her to the forest. The animation in the second half was still very good, especially the interpretive dance number ( I don't know how else to describe it!)  which was really breathtaking. The second half seemed very song heavy- it seemed like a new song was being sung every 2 or 3 minutes. I suppose this makes sense when there is so much of the story to spread out over 40 minutes.

The narrators take a much more active role in this section. They go from just recalling and retelling the events to actually commenting on Rama's actions and why Sita reacts the way she does, specifically what might motivate her to stay with Rama. The narrating puppets continued to be my favorite part with their bickering, and I thought it was a really nice touch how Nina had them framed on her wall in the final scene in her apartment. The story did a really good job of going full circle in that it explained what drove Nina to create the film and how she was inspired. All in all, I'm really glad I decided to watch the movie this week because it was such a new and different way of engaging with the material, and I think it shows a lot of the issues inherent to the character of Rama that might get glossed over in the texts.

Reading Dairy A: Sita Sings the Blues

Movie Poster; Source: flickr

For this week's reading, I decided to watch the movie Sita Sings the Blues. I thought the movie would be a nice change of pace from reading the epics, and it was actually really engaging. There are two stories going on at the same time, maybe three, depending on how you look at it. The first involves Nina and her boyfriend who gets a job in India, and the ups and the downs of their relationship. This parallels the story of Sita and Rama; Rama is exiled to the forest and Sita follows suit. The story of Rama is related to us by 3 intermediary characters, portrayed as Indians who are trying to recall the story from heart. This adds a lot of comedy as the three can't always recall the details exactly, and often they bicker over the events of the tale. The third element of the movie is the blues songs that Sita sings between major story segments. These songs usually reflect her emotions regarding the goings on of the story and fit surprisingly well with the rest of the film.

Engaging with a movie is much different than engaging with a text. The animations styles are varied and help make each part of the story feel unique. The voices and songs are really well done and do give a great insight into the emotions of Sita at each point in the story. I'm really looking forward to finishing the second half of the film and seeing how the end compares with the text version.

Sacred Sites of India: Style Brainstorming

Topic. My storybook will be about stories relating to different sacred sites of Hinduism within India. My goal is to find four different sites with relations to four different deities and hopefully from four geographically distinct locations within India. One story I feel like I should include is the story of Bhagiratha and Ganga as it tells of the Ganges river. Another is the story of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple. There are hundred if not thousands of temples and other sacred sites across India, so I don't think there would be any shortage of stories to choose from. The only difficult thing would be deciding on which version of a story to use. My criteria for each story is that each should focus on a different place and a different god or goddess.
Bibliography:
1."Bhagiratha and Ganga" from The Great Indian Epics by John Campbell Oman, written in 1894
2. "Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple" from Pilgrim shrines of India: mythology, archaeology, history and art (Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish, Christian & Sufi) by Amar Nath Khanna (2003).

Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple; Source: wikimedia

Possible Styles

1. Stories as Tour Guides
This one could be really fun. I would set the storybook up like an advert from a travel agency and each story could be like a different place in the brochure. This would allow me to really highlight the other environs surrounding each site, and could allow for a really fun modern take on all of the stories. One aspect of this that I don't like is that it would be very easy to cheapen the cultural significance held by these stories, but maybe that could be played up to be satirized.

2. Scrapbook of the Gods
This storybook would allow me to tell the stories from the perspective of a god or multiple gods. Because each story involves a deity in some way, I could use this style to give a deeper insight into how the gods and goddesses perceive these stories and how they felt as they were taking place. This could also be something like a bunch of deities meet up to talk about and remember their shared stories with potential conflicts in the details. 

3. Pilgrimage across India
This story would follow one traveler or maybe a small group as they make their way to different sacred sites across India. This would allow me to incorporate the stories of the sites and show the importance they still have for contemporary Indians and Hindus. It might be really interesting to make this story about an American-born Hindu person who is going to India for the first time time and finding his or her roots. 

4. The stories as a newspaper/news broadcast
A lot of sacred sites are actually cities or places within large cities, so it might be fun to tell each story as if it were happening in real time within a city. This would allow for a bit more dynamic retelling of each story and would still logically make sense to cut to different events going on in different parts of the country. This would prevent me from doing stories that happen in chronological relation to each other, but I don't think I was planning on using any like that anyway.

Week 3 Storytelling: Hanuman and the Mountain

It's a generally accepted rule that traffic in the city will always be at its worst precisely when you need to get somewhere in a hurry. This was certainly the case for Dr. Han Uman, the newest resident physician at Sacred Flower Hospital, one of the largest medical facilities in Uptown Manhattan. It was his first day on the job; fresh-faced and just out of med school, he couldn't wait to begin practicing. Of course, being the lowest on the metaphorical totem pole made him, in a practical sense, less of a doctor and more of an intern. His first task was unequivocally mundane: a shipment of medications meant for Sacred Flower had been incorrectly delivered to St. Himalaya's Hospital on the other side of the city, and no one else could be bothered to go pick it up. He hopped in his car, an old pick-up truck he had been given by his father, and started making his way downtown. After maybe four or five minutes, his phone started ringing; it was the hospital.

"Hello? This is Dr. Uman."

A woman's voice spoke, textured by age "Han, this is Vibi, I run the pharmacy. I've been told by the director that there are some time-sensitive materials in the delivery. We had missed it the first time we looked through the shipping statement, and we need you to hurry back as soon as you can." She took a breath, hesitant, "Without those medications, some of our patients' conditions could dramatically worsen. I don't mean to alarm you but this is a rather critical situation."

The urgency in her voice washed over Han like a cold wave. "Understood. I'll make it back on time"

The drive to St. Himalaya's was entirely uneventful. It was early morning and the city was still waking up. He walked into the lobby, talked to the secretary at the desk, and made a beeline to the pharmacy. The old man at the desk was less expedient than Han would have liked, but he didn't have time to complain. He rushed back to his truck just in time to find it being towed away. Unbeknownst to Han, the parking attendant had assumed the elderly vehicle had died in the parking lot and was forsaken by its owner. Han, being someone who had always struggled with the idea of keeping calm in the face of adversity, spotted an EMT heading towards one of the parked ambulances, and ran over to him. It had never occurred to Han to try explaining the situation; rather, he took the keys out of the man's hands, jumped in the ambulance and never stopped to look back.

At this time, most of the city's commuters were making their way to work (or more commonly, coffee and then work) and the roads were packed with cars. In theory, an ambulance should be able to make to maneuver through traffic with relative ease; in practice, this cannot be done when hundreds of cars are bumper-to-bumper in every lane. Han, after briefly considering driving on the sidewalk, jumped out of his stolen vehicle and began bobbing and weaving through the cars, carrying the medicine in a bag slung over his shoulder.

(To be continued)

 

Hanuman and the mountain; Source: wikimedia

   Author's note: This is a retelling of "Hanuman and the Mountain," as taken from Myths of Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita in 1914. This story immediately reminded me of the medical dramas on TV so I thought I would give it a new modern twist. I tried to incorporate some references to the original story with the names of the hospitals and characters, and I tried to preserve Hanuman's characteristic rashness. The essence of the story is the same: Hanuman has to overcome a number of obstacles to get some sort of medicine to heal the troops of Rama (or in this case, the patients at the hospital) and manages to do so with a mix of skill and well-placed frustration. I chose this image less so because it relates to my story and more because the huge monument shows the importance and popularity of this tale within India. I wanted to make this fantastic, almost absurd story and its supernatural elements more easily relatable to a contemporary audience. Also, I decided to leave the story on a cliff hanger because it seemed really fitting for the medical drama setting...also I was going to go over the word limit for this assigment, and thought it was a good place to break off the story.