Topic Brainstorm

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 out to me and I was intrigued to learn more about him. I want to learn more about the God of Thunder in Indian mythology to see how he differs from the thunder gods of other mythology, such as Thor in Norse mythology, and Zeus in Greek mythology. I was intrigued to see that like Zeus, Indra was the chief of the Indian pantheon, which I thought was an interesting parallel between two very different cultures and mythologies. I think I could create a very interesting tale based around the fact that in later tales, he was described almost like a once great hero who was now nothing more than a washed up drunk. Expanding on this, I could have a new conflict cripple the other, more prominent gods of now, leaving it up to Indra to pull himself together and rise up to his old glory once again to save the world. I think this could work as a powerful story of redemption, and also allow for some epic battles to occur, which are always entertaining. Indra is an interesting story created by a former student that also expands Indra's story, with him facing off against the other gods. This served as inspiration for me to have Indra return to prime form, but to instead be fighting for the gods, as opposed to against them.

Epic Battles

Indian mythology features many an epic battle, often destroying the landscape in which they were fought through the use of the mythic weapons I read about earlier. I think these epic battles could be a very interesting topic to create a storybook over due to the classic nature of the epic good versus evil struggle that they invoke. I could weave a tale of a line of land owners that continue to move across India after battles destroy their land, only to ironically settle at the sight of another future battle. This could create some ironic humor, and it would mimic the tale of Wilmer McLean, who moved after his home was involved in the First Battle of Bull Run in the American Civil War to avoid the war as much as possible. His new home, in Appomattox, ended up being the place that Robert E. Lee surrendered to U. S. Grant, effectively ending the war. This tale could be somewhat light-hearted as this family would continually wonder what they must've done to have to keep being at the site of these battles. A good source of inspiration for the battles was the storybook Epic Battles and Weapons, which also provided me with the idea of lumping in the battles element into my story for the mythic weapons I mentioned earlier.

An Epic Battle Underway, Source: Wikipedia

Supernatural Characters of the Ramayana

The tales of Indian mythology are full of countless creatures that could be considered supernatural. These include Rakshasas and Asuras, which are similar to demons in other cultures, though not exclusively evil. I think these creatures and characters could be used to create a very interesting cast for a storybook, perhaps featuring a mythic warrior who has to hunt a series of evil Rakshasas and Asuras down and kill them, with each one having unique powers and challenges. Actually, a really fun way to do that could be to have them be the enemies of a group a people playing a table-top boardgame, with Ravana being the final bad guy to end their campaign. Ravana and his Rakshasa Family was a very useful introduction to Ravana and some of the other supernatural characters related to him, and would give me a lot of information for my story.