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.

Reading Diary B: Public Domain Ramayana

Today marks the conclusion to the Ramayana, and I have to say it definitely feels like a grand finale to the story. We see the final battle between Ravana and his forces and the allies of Rama, and this takes up roughly half of the reading. The battle was really exciting because it brought back so many of the other minor characters that we've met throughout the story, and it was much more drawn out and tumultuous than the other battles portrayed throughout the story. While the outcome may have been a rather obvious outcome, it was still exciting to read through the story and watch the action unfold.

Sita's trial by fire; Source: wikimedia

The second part of the readings focused on the aftermath of the battle, which was mostly about what to do with Sita, after she was dishonored by being forced to live with Ravana. Rama says he cannot allow her to continue to be his wife as it would bring him dishonor, so she asks for a trial by fire to prove her innocence. On the one hand, this is terribly misogynistic and hints at the valuing of women as only sexual objects, as Sita's entire worth and value seems to be determined by if she was faithful to Rama or not. However, going through the trial of fire and attempting to appease the gods to show her innocence was the most characterization she's shown in the whole story, so I'll take it. The epilogue stories concerning Rama's sons and the exile of Sita seem a bit extraneous, but the final chapter was a nice way to tie everything up and end the story.  

Reading Diary A: Public Domain Ramayana

This section of reading had a lot of action in, definitely more than in the previous readings. We're also introduced to Hanuman, a follower of Rama who is arguably the most important character of this section.

11th century statue of Hanuman; Source: wikimedia

The first part that really stuck out to me from this set of readings was the description of the battle between the monkey king Sugriva and his brother Vali. Not only was the battle very dramatic and much longer than other fights/conflicts we've seen thus far in the texts, it also seemed to place a lot of emphasis on the role of Tara, the wife of Vali. Tara was trying to calm the two, and ultimately failed, but the text talks about her calm demeanor and wisdom. It's just striking to me that she is portrayed as such when it seems like most descriptions of female characters are almost non-existent or focus only on the beauty and grace of the character. 

I also really enjoyed the adventures of Hanuman in Lanka, the kingdom of Ravana and the Rakshasa. Like all of the other named animal characters, he is very clearly portrayed as having human attributes and intelligence, but a lot of his actions seem to show the capriciousness one would associate with a monkey, such as running around and burning the whole city to the ground while his tail is on fire, and then realizing that he might have accidentally hurt or killed Sita. Another example of this would be when he jumped three thousand leagues into the sky because he thought the sun was a piece of fruit. I'd really like to hear more stories about Hanuman, because he seems like such an interesting character, and maybe a bit more nuanced than Rama (who is always the strongest/most righteous/most moral/etc)  

Storybook Topics

1. Possible Topic: Temples/Sacred Sites of India. The spiritual aspects of the Ramayana are some of the most interesting characteristics of the story because they give a deeper insight into the complex belief system of Hinduism. This storybook would focus on multiple major temples and sacred sites across India and the stories surrounding their histories. I think this would be an interesting and different way of looking at the stories.
Research so far: I've started going through the wikipedia article on Hindu pilgrimage sites, and I've been looking around for other articles on the more major locations like the Ganges. I need to find and pick the specific stories for the more minor sites and temples.

Kandariya Mahadeo Temple; Source: Wikimedia commons

2. Possible Topic: Gurus, yogis, and wisemen. The character of the "warrior-sage" is a really interesting trope and again, the role of these characters is really important in the stories and in Indian society. I think I could do some really creative things by re-imagining the characters in the epics in different contexts. The storybook I'm thinking of doing would be composed of different stories of various sages.
Research so far: I've read through some of the broader wikipedia pages talking about gurus and yogis in general, but I've not yet started going through the stories of specific characters. I know there is a pretty good list on the blog, and I'll see where that takes me to get ideas for specific stories.

3. Possible Topic: Ravana and the Rakshasas. The Rakshasa as a whole seem to be very interesting and unique monsters when compared to the more familiar creatures of Western mythology. Moreover, they seem to be more complicated and multifaceted: someone can be cursed to be a Rakshasa and sometimes these Rakshasa aren't necessarily evil. There's a lot of different stories involving the Rakshasa so I think there would be more than enough material to make a really great storybook.
Research so far: Again, I've looked at the information on wikipedia about Rakshasa as whole, but I've not yet looked through the specific stories for those who are not directly mentioned in the Ramayana. I feel like I'm fairly familiar with Ravana and his family, but I'd really like to learn more about the others, specifically those who weren't evil.

4. Possible Topic: Epic Battles. If the Ramayana is any indication, the mythology of India is filled with a number of breath-taking battles. These scenes are some of the most interesting sections for me, as they always involve two larger-than-life characters fighting for good or evil. In reinterpreting these scenes and the characters involved, or just in expanding the scope of these battles by exploring the backgrounds of the characters or the "what-happens-next" I think I could  come up with some very interesting takes on these stories.
Research so far:This is probably the one that I've done the least research on. I'm familiar with all of the battles we've seen thus far in the readings, but I feel like I need to look more into the mythology to find other great examples of big battles. It feels like each of these battles might refer to some lesson or moral, or just some kind of bigger message at all, so maybe that would be an interesting take on these stories.

Week 2 Storytelling: The Breaking of the Bow

Rama and Lakshmana had only just arrived to the city of Mithila when they took their leave of the sage Vishvamitra. The main road had led them directly into a busy market square- dozens of tiny improvised stalls packed next to each other, vendors hawking goods and foods of all kinds, and a constant mass of moving, chattering patrons. This was a welcome sight for the brothers, who were tired and out of supplies after battling the rakshasas in the forest. Rama left Lakshmana to haggle with the local merchants while he walked down one of the winding side streets. He made his way further into the heart of the city and found himself on a hill overlooking the palace. A young woman with dark hair and plain clothes was sitting in the grass, watching him watch her.

"Are you lost, sir?"

"No, I've only just arrived. It's too soon to be lost, wouldn't you say?"

"One might say lost is about the only thing you can be, in that case." The young woman smiled at Rama. There was pretense of politeness, but he noticed the mischievous glint in her eye. "What brings you to Mithila, sir?"

Rama cleared his throat and explained,"My brother and I are sons of the great maharajah Dasharatha. A great sage asked us to battle the dark rakshasas in the forests, and our travels have brought us here."

"Ah, so you must be the amazing Rama everyone has been talking about? How fortunate I must be to welcome you to our fine city."

Rama could tell the girl was trying to fluster him. "I appreciate your kindness, Miss, but would you have any idea how we might be able to meet with King Janaka?"

"Ah, yes, the king. Well, the word around town is he will be holding a public gathering tomorrow in front of the palace. I'm sure you'll be able to speak with him then. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a number of things to do and surprisingly few of them have anything to do with sitting here and talking to you."

Before Rama could say another word, the young woman had stood up and made her way back towards the city. That night, Rama met with Lakshmana and Vishvamitra to discuss their plans. The three decided that they would try to meet with the king during this public forum. The next morning, the three readied themselves and made their way to the palace.

When they arrived, it seemed as if the entire city had gathered to watch the proceedings. In a clearing in the center of the crowd sat an older-looking man in finely adorned clothes who must have been the king. He held in his hand a shining golden bow. After a few moments, the man stood up, and a sudden silence swept through the crowd. "I have called a gathering today to find a suitable husband for my daughter, the princess Sita. She is a noble and graceful woman, and only the strongest warrior deserves her hand and my favor." He held up the bow." This is the bow of the powerful god Shiva. He who can snap this bow in twain shall be declared the strongest warrior in all the lands. All are welcome to try their strength!"

Every man in the crowd made his way forward, one after one, to try breaking the golden bow. Most were strong and had the clear markings of warriors, but despite all efforts, the bow would not break. Finally, Rama stepped forward to try his hand. He strung the bow, and tossed it back and forth from one hand to the next, testing its weight. Finally, he took both ends into his hands and bent the bow back as far as he could. The ends of the bow were almost touching, and it was a marked improvement over his competitors, but despite his incredible prowess, Rama could not break it. He tossed the bow down in disgust and stepped back into the crowd.

A few moments later, a small hooded figure wrapped in a dark cloak stepped past Rama and into the center of the crowd. He picked up the bow and held it at a distance, examining it. Suddenly, almost too fast to see, the figure pinned one end of the bow to the ground and bent the other back with both hands. The cracking of the bow echoed off the stone walls of the palace walls, and the crowd began cheering. The king stepped forward to congratulate the new champion.

"You, sir, possess the strength of more than a hundred men. Only you are worthy of being my daughter's keeper."

"I must say I'm rather glad to hear that, father," and with a deft motion, the figure pulled back her hood and cloak, revealing not a man, but a young woman. Rama recognized her instantly as the girl from the day before.

"Let it be known that it was the wit and strength of a woman who broke the bow, and I, Princess Sita of Mithila, am bound to no one. Father, you will let me choose my own husband, and this choice shall not be questioned." The king, still in shock over the current proceedings, could only nod his agreement.

"Where is the one named Rama? He who is righteous and possessed with a divine grace, he shall be my husband, my partner and equal."

Rama stepped forward to meet his new bride."Princess, I must admit, I had no idea who you were when we met yesterday. I did not come here to win your hand but I would be honored to be your husband."

That same mischievous glint flashed in her eyes again."Rama, the rest of these suitors gathered in the city for the sole purpose of winning my hand. But you are here out of circumstance. One might say it's the will of the gods."

The breaking of the bow; Illustration by Evelyn Paul

Author's Note: This story is a mix of two separate parts of the Ramayana, "Sita" from The Divine Archer by FJ Gould (1911) and "Rama wins Sita" from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. MacKenzie (1913). I really liked the whole sequence revolving around Rama's arrival in Mithila, and the bow-breaking contest was really evocative of a lot of other mythological courtship stories. In both sources that I used, Rama does succeed in breaking the bow, and thus wins Sita's hand in a more traditional manner. There is also less dialogue between the two characters before the contest. The character of Sita seems relatively flat and lacks any kind of personal sovereignty in comparison to the male characters, so I tried giving her a bit more personality and agency. The change in the ending is probably the most direct example of this, but I think the dialogue helps to flesh out her character as well. For the finale,  I decided to have the couple stay together to maintain consistency with the broader story, and I tried to add a few more flirtatious lines to emphasize their attraction to each other as avatars of two divine lovers. This image does not show Rama in the act of breaking the bow, but rather, the aftermath while the bow lies in pieces on the ground; thus, it could be open to interpretation as to who really broke the bow. 

Reading Diary B: Public Domain Ramayana

The second part of this weeks readings seem to be a bit more action packed. I really liked all of the scenes after the introduction of Ravana and it feels like we're getting into the real meat of the story. A lot of the beginning scenes were too disconnected to really get a feel for the story but now I think it resembles what we could consider a more a traditional story. I'm sure part of this is also the nature of public domain edition, with sections coming from a number of authors and styles. If I have time, I'd really like to read the other version to see what it's like in comparison.

Defeat of Khara; source

As I said, the episodes with Ravana and his cohorts were very engaging and they made much more compelling antagonists than the other random Rakshasa. I also think it's very interesting that the act that ultimately spurred on a lot of these scenes was Rama's rejection of Shurpanakha. Women in the Ravayana seem to get the proverbial short end of the stick. Sita is the main female character but she doesn't really seem to have her own personality or any agency in her story: she gets kidnapped by a rakshasa, and she's tricked by Ravana. The majority of the other female characters have been monsters (the rakshasi) or the women of the court, who either have very little to do with the story or are scheming and manipulating the men. I understand that the traditional epic probably places an emphasis on the male characters for cultural/ideological reasons, it's just hard to not point out the disparity.

Reading Diary A: Public Domain Ramayana

Wayang puppet of Manthara; source

One of the most interesting parts for me so far has been seeing the family drama play out in Dasharatha's court. The plotting and scheming for the right to the throne reminds me a lot of how we think about medieval courts, especially in pop culture (eg. Game of Thrones). It's also really interesting to see these relatively mundane stories unfold while interspersed with accounts of more fantastic events like the fighting of the rakshasas. I picked the image of Manthara because she seems like a particularly interesting character in the court politics because she is a common person and not a part of the royal family. She occupies a different social sphere than the rest but she seems just as invested in who gets to be next-in-line as the others.

I also really liked the passage about the rakshasa woman, Thataka. Reading through her physical description, and seeing how she is referred to in relation to her son reminds me a lot of the mother of Grendel in Beowulf. Both are grotesque, otherworldly creatures and both are mothers to equally evil monsters that also try to kill the protagonist. It's a really interesting comparison when looking at everything from the surface, but it's been a very long time since I read Beowulf so I'm hesitant to look deeper into it.

Another episode that I found to be really enjoyable was the courting of Sita. As was said, it was highly evocative of traditional fairytales, and I couldn't help but think to a hundred other stories I've heard about how a protagonist has to win a contest to win the hand of a princess of maiden.