Indian Epics

Jatayu and Ravana -  Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists  by Sister Nivedita (1914) I found the tale of Jatayu battling Ravana in the sky to be very interesting. Unfortunately, the author only devotes two paragraphs on the details of this battle. I would like to go into more detail and expand upon this battle. Ravana, wielding countless bows with his many arms, and Jatayu the Lord of Eagles (because eagles are cooler) clawing and piercing at Ravana with his razor sharp beak. I feel like this fight could be written in a way to be climatic and intense, perhaps making it seem as if Jataku would actually slay Ravana and free Sita, only to be struck down with one last arrow from the Rakshasa.  Rather than having Sita land in Ravana's lap after the three fall from the sky, I will have Jataku catch her, injured as he is. They see Ravana plummet to the Earth, and rejoice, believing he is dead. Then Ravana would drive a final, fatal arrow through the eagle, and emer...

Thataka -  Indian Myth and Legend  by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913) This story was very interesting, and it featured the mythic weapons that I am interested in doing my storybook on. I think that the story could be expanded upon greatly to create a more intense atmosphere. I'd like to extend both fights, the one with Thataka herself, but especially the one against rakshasas led by Maricha and Sabahu. The first fight against Thataka is already set up well for a fascinating contest, with Rama and Lakshmana dismembering her but not killing her, only for her to transform and continue the fight as an invisible sorcerer. I want to expand on this sorcery element, and make her use it in more of a fantasy style than just throwing rocks. I'll have her casting fireballs and chain lightning, things like that.  As for the weapons granted as gifts for the completion of the task, I want to have their nature as weapons to be very vague. No mention will be made to these spirit...

The two articles I read for this assignment were  5 Tips For Taking Feedback Like a Champ  and  Recalibrating the Perfectionist Mind , which were both very insightful, and really got me thinking about personal feedback and perfectionism. I would classify myself as a mild perfectionist, whenever I do something, I want it to be perfect. I made a lot of art in high school, and was never really satisfied with it, even when other people thought it was good. The second article I read talked about this, and how perfectionism can be used as a skill rather than a negative trait, by focusing on the positive aspects of what can happen and working towards that, rather than preemptively expecting a negative result even before you have completed an objective, like a test. I hope to be able to use this and other tips in this article to reduce the test anxiety I feel, which will undoubtedly turn into project anxiety when I enter the workforce.  I can acknowledge that I can be se...

Weapons of the Gods There are many mythical weapons that are featured in the Indian Mythos, most of which have very unique properties. These include a multitude of different bows, as well as a few other regular weapons with mythic properties, and finally others that are more abstract and unique. I am very interested in learning about all these strange weapons and seeing how they compare to the other weapons used in other mythologies. I think I could create a story that mimics the nuclear arms race, but features world powers rushing to uncover the resting places of some of these epic weapons. I could even throw an Indiana Jones spin on it, similar to the Temple of Doom storybook by Madison Beneda-Bender , in which the Nazis are trying to find the weapons and the Allies are racing to beat them to it. This storybook was the main reason I became interested in other mythic weapons, and why I want to make my storybook about them. Indra, the Thunder God For some reason, Indra stuck...

Aves Andoran stood on the deck of a warship, loaded to the brim full of fighting men. He had grown up hearing tales and whispers of Ceylon, the Island of Goblins, and had vowed that one day, he would be the one to slay the Goblins. Now, he was leading the expedition that would put an end to that ancient menace. Rough Seas on Route to Ceylon (Source:  pixabay.com ) Seemingly out of nowhere, a massive storm appeared around the ship, and the waves began crashing into the hull of the ship, drenching the men on the deck to the bone. Through the spray of the violent sea, Aves saw the rage of the storm above, as massive bolts of lightning of every shade and color danced through the clouds. Occasionally, one would race down to the surface of the sea and explode with an unimaginable force. Before his eyes, a bolt of green lightning, cackling with wicked energy embedded itself into the deck of the ship, splitting the mast down the middle before rending the ship into pieces. Wh...

Jatakas - Goblins Story source : The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse. The story of the city of She-Goblins is very interesting, but it fails to make proper use of the shocking realization that the men are trapped in marriage to the goblins. This would be a devastating thing to learn, however the story almost glazes over it, since we, the readers, have been informed from the get-go that these are she-goblins that eat people. I have a few ideas that I think could help enhance the suspense in the story while staying mostly in line with what is already written. Follow the point of view of the stranded men Have the sailors be travelling in search of an island of goblins, hoping to slay them and earn renown When their ship crashes, they're rescued by the women of the island, who take them into their homes in similar manners as the original story Have the men notice something slightly off about the island and some of the people living there, espec...

It seems like we will be doing readings from several drastically different sources for this class, which I find quite interesting. I find it boring in classes where the readings all come from the same location or author, as a diverse set of readings creates a broader scope for learning the material. I'm looking forward to experiencing all of the different reading options that this class has to offer! Ramayana The first reading I looked at and found interesting was the multiple methods to read the Ramayana during weeks 3 and 4. I think it is intriguing that it can be read it two forms, one in a modern novel style translation by one author, as well as in an anthology style format by multiple authors. I plan on experimenting with which format I find most compelling as well as time efficient to read, and choosing that to complete my readings. Mahabharata The second reading I looked into was the Mahabharata, which seems to be set up in an identical format to the Ramayana. I may...

Time management is something that I tend to be in a constant battle with, but I think it is a battle I am beginning to win. I have gotten a little better about not procrastinating things until the last minute as much, but I'm guilt free of it. I still wait to do certain assignments, especially smaller ones, like this... I'm hoping that I'll be able to use this class, and several of my others this semester, to get myself into better habits for getting assignments and projects done in a more timely manner. The two articles I read for this assignment were enlightening and have given me some very helpful ideas on how to finally break my procrastinating habits. Time Management, xkcd comic by Randall Monroe (Source:  xkcd.com ) 4 Questions to Help You Overcome Procrastination The first article I read, written by Peter Banerjea, put forward 4 ways to help combat procrastination that I believe can seriously help me and improve my work this semester. The questions it suggest...

The technology tools we'll be using in this course are all ones that I am at least somewhat familiar with, image editing and graphics creation are two things I've spent some time working on before, and while I haven't really blogged or hosted a website in any compete sense, I have at least dabbled in how to do it. I am very much looking forward to using these tools in this class to create a unique learning experience that I have never seen before. Most of the courses I've taken here have been pretty cut and dry, you learn material, you do homework over the material, then you take a test over the material. You perform an experiment and then write a lab report over it. You compete a design project and write a report over it. But this course is completely different, it's fluid and the scheduling is open for however I want to do it, as long as I turn things in on time. As someone who occasionally runs on some odd hours, I appreciate the grace period that we have t...

I'm very intrigued by the various kinds of assignments we will be dealing with this semester. First off, I'm interested in learning more about Indian mythology from the readings, as I haven't learned much about this particular mythos very much. I've learned quite a lot about various other mythologies and pantheons such as the Greek and Roman pantheons, Norse, Egyptian, and Japanese mythology, but the Indian mythos has been something I haven't really focused on learning about before. I'm also excited to work on the story-telling assignments. I've always enjoyed making stories, but I've had some difficulties putting my ideas into concise words, and I'm hoping these assignments will allow me to improve. For a similar reason, I am excited about the semester project. I'm hoping to be able to put together a solid story that incorporates an aspect of Indian myth in a unique way.  As far as the extra credit assignments go, there are two particu...

I had never heard of Carol Dweck before watching these videos, but I was very intrigued by the ideas she was proposing. The idea that the absence of success should not be treated so much as the outright failure to succeed, but rather not yet succeeding. This puts students in a mindset that success is within their grasps if they try just a little bit harder and put out their maximum effort, instead of making success look like a far off dream.  As far as the growth vs fixed mindset spectrum is concerned, I think I try to be as growth-oriented as possible, though I feel I would be lying if I didn't admit that there is a part of me that feels more in line with the fixed mindset, particularly when it comes to failing, with it being a monumental detriment, rather than a stepping-stone to future success. I am somewhat pessimistic at times, which leads to this feeling, one that I am trying to learn to move past, growing into a more optimistic person. As the years have progressed f...

My name is Callum Maguire, and I am a senior majoring in Mechanical Engineering. The coolest class I took last semester was AC Systems, which explored how air conditioning systems work and how they cool down rooms. Get it? Coolest class? Jokes aside, it was a very interesting course that opened my eyes to how complex a system the air conditioning in a building is, as even a single room can be a lot to deal with as far as calculations go. I was raised on Star Wars and Tolkien, so they happen to be some of my favorite works, however I'm also very fond of superhero movies, sitcoms like Community and IT Crowd, as well as sci-fi and fantasy novels. Long story short, I'm a nerd. Best movie I've seen recently is The Last Jedi, which is something of a controversial opinion I guess, but I don't care. I enjoyed it, and that's all there is to it. I recently re-read one of my childhood favorite novels, Redwall, which was a nice trip down memory lane. It was clear that it wasn...

Tales From The Love Gods The first storybook that caught my attention was one comparing the exploits of the Indian god of love, Kamadeva, to the well known Roman god of love, Cupid. It was really interesting to see the similarities between the two figures, and how tales of love are universal between cultures. I really liked how the story was set up as a conversation between Kama and Cupid, comparing the stories of those they have connected, both the good and the bad. They both share a good love story they helped create, Cupid and Psyche for Cupid himself, and Rama and Sita for Kama. In addition to these happily-ever-after love stories, they each shared one that was not as sweet, for Kama, it was the ill fated relationship between Ravana and Mandodari, where Ravana was not satisfied by Mandodari, and sought the love of Sita instead, saddening his wife. Cupid shared his own tale of Orpheus and Eurydice, who themselves had a great love, but fell victim to the jealousy of another man,...

My favorite place is located in southwestern Oklahoma, near the town of Lawton. It is the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, in particular Mount Scott and Elk Mountain. These two sites offer incredibly breathtaking views as well as fantastic opportunities for hiking, bouldering, and rock climbing.  Mt. Scott Mt. Scott features a road that snakes its way up the small "mountain", culminating in a parking lot at the top. This location is fantastic is most likely what most people imagine when they think of the Wichita Mountains. It has gorgeous views of the surrounding area, including hills, forests, towns, and lakes, as well as plenty of spots to hike and climb. I have visited Mt. Scott countless times, initially just driving up to the top with my family, but eventually hiking up it with friends. It is a place that I feel very connected to, for reasons I cannot seem to explain. Whenever I hear people claim that Oklahoma isn't pretty, all I have to do is imagine the vie...

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