Reading Notes: Vasantasena a dancer

This story is about an evil king named Palaka who is trying to attract a beautiful woman Vasantasena. She is not interested in the evil king. Rather, she is interested in a poor man with a kind spirit. The poor man comes to possess some of her jewels but he loses them. Later, she gets her jewels back and her freedom is gained by her slave. The woman is caught by the evil brother in law of the evil king. The rival of the evil king escapes and takes the place of the woman in a carriage. The poor man is forced to go to a trial for a crime he did not do. The main thing that stood out to me in this comic is the pursuit of a beautiful woman by the evil king, but the woman was actually interested in a poor but goodhearted man. I think it would be interesting to write a story in which a woman chooses a nice man of a lesser social status over a mean rich man. The moral of this story is that a good heart is worth more than social status or money.

Bibliography: Vasantasena, a Dancer

Vasantasena 

Reading Notes: The Stolen Plow Part B

This is the story of two traders, one from a  village and one from a town. The village man brought his plow to the town trader to have it fixed. When he returned, the plow had been sold and the town trader kept the money. The town trader said that a plow had been eaten by mice. The village trader then took the man's son to a friend's house. He told the man that his son had been carried off by a bird. The man said this was impossible, so they went to a judge to get his decision. The judge said that it was not possible for a boy to be taken by a bird or for mice to eat a plow. The plow and the boy were both returned to their owners. I think it would be interesting to do a very similar story with alterations made to the characters and the tales being told by each man. This would allow some room for imagination in crafting a similar tale.

Bibliography: The Stolen Plow

Plow 

Reading Notes: The Three fishes Part A

This is the story of three fish. Their names are Very Thoughtful, Thoughtful, and Thoughtless. They used to live in a place where there were no humans interacting with their environment. They decided to move to a place that did have humans. Once there, they realized that it was not a very good place to be, so they decided they should go back to their old home. Very Thoughtful wanted to go soon. However, Thoughtful and Thoughtless kept putting off the move because they are lazy. Eventually, these two fish went swimming off on their own and were caught in a fishing net. Very Thoughtful splashed around to save them from the fishing net, and this worked. They all went back to their normal home. I think this would provide a great opportunity to write a story with perhaps three kids instead of fish. The kids are playing. Two of the kids decide to go play a game without waiting on the other kid. Along the way, these two that went ahead got caught in some sort of trouble. The other kid decides to save them even though he was abandoned by them. Eventually, the problem is resolved and they all play together happily.


Bibliography:  The Three Fishes

Three fish

Reading Notes: Why The Owl is not the king of birds

This is the story of how the birds chose their king. It is stated that all the other animal groups had a king but the birds did not. The birds took time to think it over. This is when one bird suggested that the owl be their king. The crow protested this decision because the owl is sour looking in his opinion. The birds decided to choose the turtle dove as their king. This started the tradition of owls and crows fighting. I think this would be an interesting story on how a feud could start between two people. For example, two students are running for class president of their small school. The campaign turns ugly and they become enemies. In the midst of their fighting, it is decided that neither of them will become class president. Someday else is chosen. However, the feud between the students goes on long into the future.

Bibliography: Why the owl is not the king of birds.

Owl 

Reading Notes: The Foolish Timid Rabbit

I read the story about the foolish timid rabbit. This rabbit had a dream that the earth would be destroyed. Then, right as he woke up, a coconut fell behind him and shook the ground. Without looking, he took off running in fear of the earth being destroyed. When other rabbits saw him running, they joined him. Then, deer joined him. Other animals kept joining until the lion saw them and stopped them. He asked what they were running from, and eventually narrowed down the rabbit that started the running. He then took the rabbit back to where he said the earth was being destroyed and saw the coconut. It was clear that this was a false alarm that everybody fell for. The moral of this story is do not start a frenzy if you are unsure of the facts at hand. There are a variety of stories I could retell in this form. One idea is a story of a kid in a school who thinks there is an emergency but is unsure and starts an uproar that turns into a panic by students and teachers alike until the principal realizes that it was a false alarm.

Bibliography: The Foolish Timid Rabbit

The Lion and the Rabbit 

Reading Notes: Kincaid Mahabharata Part B

There is one very small part of this section of the reading that stood out to me. This section is where Krishna is meditating in the forest. While he is meditating, a hunter in the forest believes that he is a deer and shoots him. This stood out to me because I am from rural Oklahoma and deer hunting is a favorite hobby of many people in the fall. During the hunter safety course, it was discussed how relatively easy it is to mistake people in the forest for animals and accidentally shoot them. This is why wearing hunter's orange is such a big requirement while shooting. I could take this concept and craft a short story about this very type of incident happening. I believe it could be a realistic story that is both tragic and engaging.

Hunter orange 

Bibliography: Kincaid Mahabharata

Reading Notes: Kincaid Mahabharata Part A

I found this telling of the Mahabharata to be a very fun read. One segment that stood out to me was the segment about Hidimba. The Pandavas have fled into the forest. Bhima is watching over the members of the family while they sleep. There is a monster called Hidimba watching the scene and planning to eat and kill them. However, when Hidimbi sees Bhima, she experiences love at first sight. She turns into a woman and warns Bhima about her brother Hidimba. Brim then kills Hidimba and goes off with Hidimbi. I feel that this story would provide a great opportunity to retell a story using modern characters and settings. This could be the story of two families who were grown up to feud with each other. The members of one family hatch a plot to sabotage the other family, but one girl falls in love with a boy from the other family and prevents the evil plan from happening. This is similar to what happened in the reading and would provide a great opportunity for some creativity.

Bibliography: Kincaid Mahabharata

Bhima 

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata Part D

In this part of the reading, I found one small excerpt that I think would be great for a story writing assignment. At one point during the fighting, Karna’s wheel of the chariot becomes stuck in the mud. On top of that, Karna forgets the mantra that he needs to use the weapon during the fight. Later, it is revealed that this forgetting of the mantra at a crucial time is the result of a curse placed on Karna. He was cursed for deceiving Parashurama.

            As always with my stories, I like to change the characters and write a similar story with similar plot elements. For this story, I could start with a character doing something to deceive someone. This would later come back to haunt them at a crucial moment. The moral of the story would be not to deceive others, as was the moral in my story of the bird dog and the eagle.

            Perhaps this story could be written about a feud between two brothers. The older brother is always trying to play pranks and trick the younger brother. He has caused many embarrassing moments for him, but the younger brother vows to get his revenge on his older sibling. The younger brother knows that his older sibling is the best player on his school’s baseball team. To get him back in a crucial moment, the younger brother slips into the dugout and replaces his bat covered with pine tar. The replacement bat is, instead, covered with a slick grease. At the biggest point of the game, with runners on base and the tying run at third, the brother tries to swing his bat and loses his grip. He strikes out and embarrasses himself at the most crucial moment of the game. This could be a play on the similar plot elements presented in this section of the reading.

Bibliography: Narayan's Mahabharata Part D

Fight between Karna and Arjuna 

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata Part C

In this section of the reading, there was a specific part that stood out to me and created interest in a possible story. There is a part when they are traveling through a forest and chasing after a deer. Suddenly, they come across a lake. They are tired and thirsty. The water is desperately needed. A voice tells Nakula that they must answer some questions before drinking from the lake. He ignores the voice, drinks the water, and dies a s a result. This happens three more times. Later, Yudhishthira finds that his brothers are all dead. He answers the questions of the voice. It turns out that answering the questions was actually a test, and the brothers come back to life. They receive the gift of not being recognized.

            As usual with my stories, I like to take themes from the readings of the Indian epics and apply them to everyday life in a manner in which everyone can relate. This excerpt provides a great opportunity to do just that. I could craft a story in which a group of brothers are outside playing and exploring when they stumble into some sort of trouble. Perhaps they stumble upon an open window in the neighborhood with an older woman’s baked pie sitting there, primed for the taking. Two of the brothers could take some of the pie and eat it. They would then be captured by the old lady and face some sort of punishment. The other brother could politely knock on the door, explain that he could smell a pie, and ask if he could have a slice. The old lady could grant him a piece. This whole situation could be a test arranged by the father to see if he sons are behaving properly. The father could be friends with the old lady and have her set this test up. This would be very similar to the plot in the story, but with a different array of characters.

Bibliography: Narayan's Mahabharata Part C 

Three brothers 

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata Part B

In this section, there is a game of dice. Shakuni decides to play. Yudhishthira loses everything he own in this dice game.  Vidura says that the game needs to stop, but it is not stopped. Yudhishthira keeps losing and gambles away his brothers, himself, and Draupadi.

            I think this little excerpt provides the grounds for a fascinating story. I am from Miami, Oklahoma, and we have many tribal headquarters in our town. Many of these tribes have one, if not multiple, casinos under their ownership. Therefore, Miami has more casinos than just about anything else. It is not uncommon for people to spend their weekends by going to the casinos. Self admittedly, going to the casinos is a fairly big deal when you turn eighteen in Miami as there is not much else to do. As a result of this high casino population, it is also not uncommon to see many people lose their savings by spending more than what they have available. There have been multiple business that were forced to close down as a result of the owner gambling away the rental payment or operating funds. This story really finds familiarity for me and the town I am from. I think it would be interesting to write a story based on this excerpt in which a man gambles away all that he owns. Perhaps he could be someone of fairly large stature in the community, and he losing everything as a result of his competitive nature and this bad habit. It would also be interesting to include a moral of some sort in which it is clear that you should only spend what you have available and that it is not worth it to lose everything. IF length permits, I could even add in how he rebounds from hitting the bottom and losing it all.

Bibliography: Narayan's Mahabharata 

dice