Week 15 Story: The Case of the Kidnapped Detectives, Part III (Final Chapter)

-CONTINUED FROM WEEK 9-

The Blind King's Bar: Wonder HowTo 

Chapter 3.
You stagger over toward the decaying bar, your legs growing weaker with every step. You could feel the poison start to creep up behind your eyes.
Enigma starts up again on the speaker, "Are you ready to start my gamie??" he sang out. Before you could mutter out some witty response, your legs give out and you collapse under the glass case holding the antidote. Engima seems to take this as a yes.
"First riddle! What is something you can give away, and then keep at a later timey?" Enigma asks.
You're confused. How can you have something that was given away? Then, almost as if it came to you in a fever dream, you answer, "A promise!"
There is no answer for a moment, but then Enigma responds, "Yessie! That's correct." He continues with another riddle, "What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs at night?"
You roll your eyes. Nathanial was always into these kinds of puzzles, and you remember him telling you this riddle a few months ago. He had mentioned something about a sphinx, you don't quite remember what, but you remember the answer was mankind.
"Its humans," you say into the air.
"Correct-o," Enigma gleefully chatters. Then, he started to speed up with the riddles, asking sometimes four at a time. You felt the poison muddle your thoughts, but you were forced to answer every riddle as quickly as possible,  at risk of falling behind and angering Enigma.
"What remains immobile at birth? What, when given up, makes one loveable? What do you always want to share, but, once you do share, no longer have it?"
"Eggs. Pride. A secret," you rasp out with great difficulty.
"Rightie! You did it, Yuddy!" Enigma exclaimed. "You've beaten my puzzles, but now I must leave-y. I can tell that there are more of your police buddies are on the way!"
That dick, you think. Just when you think you win, he always manages to get away. At that moment, you heat the glass above open upwards, attracting your eyes towards the bottle labeled 'Antidote.' For a moment, you wonder desperately how you could reach the bottle several feet above you. As you lie there collapsed on the floor, weakened by exhaustion, you hear a small gear start to shift above you. You look up.
Now, the bottle seems to be outstretched above you by some mechanical arm, and the bottom of the bottle is now visible to you. You see a small, narrow opening, and it immediately sprays a fine mist on top of you. You panic. Were you sprayed with more poison? Is this you end?
After a moment of feebly trying to rub the mist out of your eyes, you come to realize you are starting to feel better, not worse. Enigma was telling the truth; it was the antidote, not more poison. As you start to feel better, you begin to comprehend the situation around you: Enigma was gone, your boys were still lying unconscious on the floor, but you were alive and you had the antidote. And you had a  criminal to catch.

----------

Author’s Note: I did it (again!). I continued my missing detectives story, AND I brought it to some sort of conclusion! It felt good to finish this story with at least a somewhat satisfying ending. I know the bad guy got away, but I had to set the stakes by poisoning Yuddy, and I couldn't justify a poisoned man catching the bad guy, so I let Enigma get away. I probably will never continue the story, but for anyone that is wondering, I imagine that Yuddy would restore the other five detectives, and all six would embark on a journey to confront Enigma. This would culminate in more riddles spanning all across the town and Enigma being outwitted by Yuddy. Bing Bang Boom good guys win!

Mahabharata. Narayan. R.K. pp 85-131

Extra Credit Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part D

Hello VagaBuddies!

Finally, after much anticipation, I finished the Mahabharata! Things got pretty crazy here in real life (or IRL as the bloggers say). Not to date this blog or anything, but I am currently writing this post while in quarantine for coronavirus! Scary! But also a good time to catch up on readings, because it is important to finish the story!  Here are some thoughts on the thrilling conclusion of the Mahabharata!

Where I left off in my last post (soooooo sooooo long ago), Yudhisthira and crew were starting their final and hardest year of exile: spending a year undercover in a city. With their silly disguises, they almost get caught so many times. Arjuna reveals himself to the boastful prince in order to save them both from an attack by Karna, and Yudhisthira is accidentally cut during a moment of anger from the King. Apparently (which I say because it was never mentioned before), if Yudhisthira's blood is spilled on the ground, a huge curse is put on the one who caused the wound. So Draupadi had to act quickly and catch the blood before it reached the ground. Phew!

Arjuna and prince fighting Arjuna | paperstand.blogspot

One of the wilder parts of the big between the Pandavas and Duryodhana and crew is how they took down Drona, the old teacher of the Pandavas. To do this, they named an elephant after Drona's son, killed it, and then loudly proclaimed its death. Drona even asked Yudhisthira (who can't lie I guess?) if it was true, to which he replied, "yes," and then under his breath, "the elephant." This deception made Drona let down his guard for a moment in which someone else could come kill him. WILD

Overall, I thought the battle was meh. A good amount of action, but there were so many names that it was hard to really care about anyone in particular.

I also thought it was a bit selfish of Yudhisthira, whom I had consistently respected up to this point, to try to refuse the crown in favor of an ascetic life. He literally fought a war and then decided it wasn't worth it. Nice dude. I'm glad that Krishna was there to set him straight. It was also interesting to read how all the main characters passed, too. In the last couple pages, we saw how everyone else got their dignified deaths, and Yudhisthira actually just was raised into heaven.

Anyway, I am really glad I finished the Mahabharata, and, if forced to decide between recommending the Mahabharata or the Ramayana, it would be the Ramayana if for nothing else than the absolute gem of a character of Hanuman (What a hunk!)

Buon Voyage!






Mahabharata. Narayan. R.K. pp 131-179

Reading Notes: More Jataka Tales Part B

Hello VagaBuddies!

Welcome to the Reading Notes for Jataka Tales Part B! These stories were the spiciest stories out of all of them (And my favorite story of all the Jataka Tales!) Here is the reading list for this week:

Reading Part B
How the Monkey Saved His Troop
The Hawks and their Friends
The Brave Little Bowman
The Foolhardy Wolf
The Stolen Plow
The Lion in Bad Company
The Wise Goat and the Wolf
Prince Wicked and the Grateful Animals
Beauty and the Brownie
The Elephant and the Dog

One of the better stories in this reading was the story How the Monkey Saved His Troop, because I really liked the sacrifice that the Chief Monkey made to save his troop. However, I was curious about the actual distance between the trees. because if one monkey could stretch across and grip both ends, then surely all the monkeys could jump that distance!  Then the monkeys would be much easier saved, without needing the king to grant the chief monkey his life in order for everyone to make it out alive. Regardless, great story about heroism and bravery.

Without further ado, my favorite story: The Stolen Plow!  I loved this story so much mostly because I feel like I would react exactly as the second farmer would! I am not usually petty, but sometimes I get so in my head that I overreact! So when the first farmer stole the plow, and the second farmer reacted by stealing the other guy's fucking KID,  I instantly felt like I was the second farmer. And his response to the JUDGE was also so petty. Like imagine going up to a judge, someone who has the power to send you to prison, and you just use him as a way to further your petty plot. Imagine being called into a legal battle, and you bring up a completely separate incident as a justification for the current situation. It's ridiculous! And I loved it. 10/10 would definitely read more petty stories like this again.



















Bibliography:
Babbit, Ellen C. "More Jataka Tales" http://www.gatewaytotheclassics.com/browse/display.php?author=babbitt&book=morejataka&story=troop

Reading Notes: More Jataka Tales Part A

Hello VagaBuddies,

In this assignment, I read even more Jataka Tales! I am really enjoying these quick little fables! Here are the ones I read for this post:


Reading Part AThe Girl Monkey and the String of Pearls
The Three Fishes
The Tricky Wolf and the Rats
The Woodpecker, Turtle, and Deer
The Golden Goose
The Stupid Monkeys
The Cunning Wolf
The Penny-Wise Monkey
The Red-Bud Tree
The Woodpecker and the Lion
The Otters and the Wolf

One story that threw me off this week was the story of the Golden Goose. I felt like I knew what this story was going to be about, but instead the goose was a personified character and not just the possession of the woman like I had expected. However, it still ended in a way that I could predict, with the woman becoming too greedy and capturing the goose. Unfortunately for her, the goose's golden feathers stop being golden when they are plucked involuntarily, so the woman becomes poor again.

My favorite story this week was the The Tricky Wolf and the Rats, because it was filled with clever characters! As I have said before, I enjoy stories that center around clever (but not necessarily moral) characters. In this story, the wolf had a really good trick of pretending to be lame so that the rats would get close to him. He was capitalizing off of the rats' kindness, sure, but I really like this story because it ends with the rats winning. Although normally I wouldn't root for rats, the rats in this story were very kind to the wolf, and the king of the rats was able to figure out the wolf's trick. However, the rat just straight up kills the wolf, which I thought seemed a bit extreme but whatever. (To be fair, the wolf did kill several rats, soooo). Anyway, I am glad the rats won but figuring out the ruse.

The Tricky Wolf standing on his hind legs: Gateway to the Classics

Bibliography:
Babbit, Ellen. "More Jataka Tales." http://www.gatewaytotheclassics.com/browse/display.php?author=babbitt&book=morejataka&story=monkey

Week 10 Lab: The Hungry Hungry Crocodile (Rhyming Poem, Microfiction)

Monkey on the Crocodile's back: Yoga for Modern Age

There once was a monkey who lived in a tree
Happy and healthy yet hungry was he

For just cross the river there was a small grove
Of mangos bananas and foods that he loved

Meanwhile a crocodile was beginning to start
To dream of a scheme to eat monkey heart

So the croc yelled out to the monkey up high
“Cross on my back so youll stay nice and dry”

The monkey considered and pondered and thought
And decided “why not? I’ll give it a shot”

As soon as he jumped on the crocodiles back
The croc said “haha! Now your heart is my snack”

The monkey, so smart and clever was he,
“Well good thing my heart stays up in my tree”

The crocodile, confused, still wanted his snack
So he said, “go get it! And come straight back!”

As soon as the monkey landed on land,
He smiled and waved goodbye with his hand

“Foolish little croc, you’ll never get me!
You just let me escape and I’ll always be free”

Author's Note: Trying something a little different this week! I honestly had no idea that this is what I would end up with for this week; it actually just came to me! I woke up one morning with the first two stanzas in my head and then I pulled up my phone and wrote the rest (with slight modification to keep the same cadence). I used to always write poems like these for my family members' birthday/christmas/holiday cards, so I have a lot of practice with this style of writing! Im glad that I can put it to use for a grade finally! I hope you enjoyed the Dr. Seuss-esque rhyming poem!

Bibliography:
Ellin Babbit. "Jataka Tales" http://www.gatewaytotheclassics.com/browse/display.php?author=babbitt&book=jataka&story=monkey

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales Part B

Hello VagaBuddies,

Welcome to the second part of the reading notes for the first collection of Jataka Tales! I am really liking these Jataka Tales. Not all of them are good, but they remind of Aesop's Fables and they are new to me! I will talk about a few of them in this post. Here are the stories I read for this reading:

Reading Part B
The Wise and Foolish Merchant
The Elephant Girly-face
The Banyan Deer
The Princes and the Water-Sprite
The King's White Elephant
The Ox Who Never Envied the Pig
Grannie's Blackie
The Crab and the Crane
Why the Owl Is Not King of the Birds

One of the wild things about this collection was that the story of the Princes and the Water-Sprite is an exact copy of the story of the Pandevas brothers in their exile in the forest. From each brother going to get water individually, to the sprite/yaksha taking them because they didn't answer correctly, and down to the eldest brother winning all his siblings back through his morality, this is practically the same story! It was very fun to see how Buddhist texts and Indian epics influence each other, and the similarities make sense because they both were written at the same time!

In my last blog post about these Jataka Tales, I talked about all the stories where the message could be summed up as 'don't be a d*ck.' Elephant Girly-Face kind of fits into this theme, but it's also very different because the main character, Elephant Girly-Face, was just annoying to me. I didn't like that Elephant Girly-Face was so easily influenced to become mean and then just as easily was back to being nice. It made the message really unclear. Was the message to not believe what others say immediately? Or was it to not fuck around with mean elephants? Who knows.

Elephant Girly-Face literally becoming a little shit because he overheard some thieves talking: Gateway To The Classics

Another story that had a confusing message was the King's White Elephant. Here, the baby white elephant learned how to work with the carpenters, but then was sold to the king. It seems to me that the carpenters had no right to sell the elephant, because the elephant seems remarkably sentient (and so should not be sold). Besides that, the story just ends with "and the elephant went with the king and was taken care of." It didn't seem to me that the white elephant particularly deserved this good life (he was a good elephant, but didn't do something amazing), nor did he deserve to be sold to someone else at all!

Overall, these stories left something to be desired. I liked the story, "Why the Owl Is Not King of the Birds" but it was just ok. Many of the stories here didn't seem to have a particular lesson or moral like the previous collection had. Maybe I just need to change my expectations for when I inevitably read more of these stories!
Vaga-Buon Voyage!

Bibliography:
Ellin Babbit. "Jataka Tales" http://www.gatewaytotheclassics.com/browse/display.php?author=babbitt&book=jataka&story=wise

Reading Notes: Jataka Tales Part A

Hello VagaBuddies,

This week I am reviewing the first half of Jataka Tales. I will give a short summary of some of the stand-out stories (whether good or bad) and explain my position!

The Merchant of Seri
The Merchant of Seri was a great little story about being a good person (a common theme you will see repeated in this blog post), where one greedy merchant tried to take advantage of someone by devaluing a piece, but another honest merchant was able to take advantage of the greedy merchant's cockiness. Overall, the theme of the story was to not be a d*ck. I liked that the honest merchant offered his entire stock just for that one gold bowl, and he was still able to live off that one trade for a good amount of time. Good for him.

The Ox Who Won the Forfeit
The Ox Who Won the Forfeit was another 'don't be a d*ck' story. In this one, the farmer tried to be all tough and macho in front of the townspeople, completely embarrassing his strong ox in the process. The strong ox understandably refused to move and win the bet for his owner. But fortunately, both parties had a good feelings-dump after the bet and the ox agreed to win his owner more money! Yay for kindness and helping your friends get rich!

Picture of the owner decorating his ox before the 2nd bet : Internet Sacred Texts Archive

The Sandy Road
The Sandy Road, I think, still falls. under the category of 'don't be a d*ck', but in a different way than the other two stories. Here, the guide makes a mistake, and instead of trying to blame it on other people or anything, he owned up to it and made it right. I respect that a lot! Especially since the guide's entire thought process was, "it's all up to me to make this right, so let's not stop until everything is ok!" Not only that, though, but the guide also marked the well for other travelers to use. How kind of him! I liked this story the best because it rewarded someone for working hard.

Vaga-Buon Voyage!

Bibliography:
Ellin Babbit. "Jataka Tales" http://www.gatewaytotheclassics.com/browse/display.php?author=babbitt&book=jataka&story=monkey

Week 9 Story: The Case of the Kidnapped Detectives, Part II

-CONTINUED FROM WEEK 7-

The Blind King's Bar: Wonder HowTo 

Chapter 2.

Following the strange text that Solomon sent to his twin, you drive out to the Blind King’s Bar at the edge of town. Pulling into the small bar’s parking lot, you wondered why anyone, much less the talented detective Solomon, would come all the way out here, especially after it had been abandoned for over a year. Weeds were growing through cracks in the concrete, the old red sign had faded into a rusty brown, and many of the broken windows had left shards scattered in the parking lot. It was only late afternoon, but the inside was too dark to be able to see far inside. You think that Solomon must have been pursuing a case himself, which lead him out here, but you didn’t remember seeing any open cases under his name. What could have been so intriguing as to bring him out here? Regardless, something sets your instincts on edge.

As you move closer to the building you start to see more of the bar inside: tables, chairs, old glasses, the like. But on the ground near the bar at the far end you also see four large lumps (two that seemed identical and one that was clearly bigger than the others). Suddenly, you recognize the four masses as the bodies of the four missing detectives, your friends.

Nerves on edge, anger rising, you rush to the door, but years of detective work remind you to look for signs of a trap before rushing into a dangerous situation. You sweep your eyes across the room, but you don’t see any signs of movement. You pull out your gun and move to the door. You slam your foot into the door, but the old wood gives way too easily, and you’re thrown off balance as you stumble through the doorway.

Before you could regain balance, your right foot trips some fishing twine across the threshold and a fine mist blasts your face. It tastes bitter on your tongue, and you try to rub it off your tongue and eyes, to no luck.

From a megaphone over your left shoulder, you here a voice cackle. No. Not a voice. The familiar, eerie voice of your worst nemesis, Enigma.

 “I have you finally, Yu-did-ie” the scratchy voice screeched over the speaker. “Now we get to finish the gamie!”

“I thought you died in some shitty hole, Enigma” you cough out between rasps of air, the poison sinking deeper into your lungs. “What did you hit me with?”

“He-he-hie,” Enigma answered. “Only some fun little poison I made! You’ll be dead without my antidote, but you have to play my gamie! I warned your friends not to be too hasty, but they refused to playie. Wittle Archie even tried to shoot out my drinkies!”

You realize that you had been played. The poison became worse with every step and the antidote was labeled in a beer bottle locked behind a glass wall. The only way to get the code would be to play Enigma on his own terms. You only hope you can solve all the puzzles this time.

----------

Author’s Note: I did it! I continued the story from Week 7, but I also left it on another cliff hanger, because it was getting long again. In this part, I introduced the main antagonist in this story, Enigma, based off of Yama. Even though he hasn’t done much in the story yet, I am basing Enigma’s character off of the character of the Yin Yang killer from Psych (love that show), because both sets of villains/heroes interact with each other through series of riddles.

Mahabharata. Narayan. R.K. pp 85-131

Tech Tip: Tech Tips with Blogger (Favicon Image, Featured Post, Featured Link)

Hello VagaBuddies,

Welcome to my first Tech Tip Extra Credit post! I used this relaxed, retrospective week to update my blog and put in some new features!
One of the things I added to optimize my blog was a favicon image. I used a picture of the world to go along with the traveling theme that I had started early on!
I also added a featured post, which I set to my Introduction post. I wanted to make it easy for any new visitors to get to know me easily!
The last thing I added was a featured link to my storybook! I have added one story so far, and I am really proud of how it is turning out, and I can't wait to add more!

I am glad that I had this week to update my blog and do some much needed work on it to make it something I can be proud of!

Technology through the decades: WannaJoke

VagaBuon Voyage!

Week 8 Progress

Hello Vagabuddies!
This is retrospective post part 3: progress edition! I will review the progress I have made so far in this class!
So far, out of the 410 total points I need for an A, at the beginning of week 8, I was at 204. The goal for Week 8 was 205, so I am one point short, which is not too bad! To make up for it, during this retrospective week, I have started an extra credit reading (finishing up the Mahabharata reading) and a Tech Tip post (about refining my blog).
I definitely started off the class being very proactive and working ahead, but I progressively got more and more distracted to the point where the last two weeks, I have missed assignments. Hopefully, this week will be good to make it all up and then some more!
For the second half of the semester,  I hope to be more proactive about completing my assignments. Also, I am looking forward to finishing my storybook for this semester. The mantras and everything was fun to research for the first story and I can't wait to do it again!

Edna Moda cause why not: Pinterest

I don't know why Edna Mode showed up when I searched for motivational memes, but I also don't think I should question it. And neither should you.

VagaBuon Voyage. 

Week 8: Comments and Feedback

Hello VagaBuddies and welcome to retrospective post Part 2: Electric Bugaloo!

In this post, instead of being meta and reviewing my previous posts, I am going to be even MORE meta and reviewing my reviewing techniques! A large part of this class has been. learning about the feedback process and practicing giving and receiving feedback throughout this class on various assignments.
For myself, I found it interesting to learn about the feedback process, especially because of my job outside of school. Working as a math tutor to grade school kids through high school means that I work with a lot of kids with low self-confidence on a subject that they struggle with. Giving good feedback has helped me be more encouraging to my students, even when I tell them that they're wrong.

From Feedback Cats: Cheezburger

I chose the above Feedback Cats (TM) picture, because I am by far my own worst critic. I don't think I am overly critical of myself, but I usually find much more fault in my work than others do. I hold myself to a high standard, and sometimes I fail. Usually, though, I am able to have a great attitude and work/study harder for next time. I feel lucky to have a great attitude when it comes to working, and I hope I keep with me all my life!

VagaBuon Voyage!

Week 8: Reading and Writing

Hello VagaBuddies and welcome to a very retrospective blog post. 

I am going to take the time here to look back on the last couple months of reading and writing blog posts that I've done, just to see how I can shift gears to make better content in the future. 

Overall, I can say that all the reading and writing blog posts are going great for me personally! The reading notes give me a chance to develop my thoughts on the readings, which is difficult to do if you're not in a book club or anything and aren't forced to talk about what you read. The stories, on the other hand, give me the chance to express myself and be creative (and it has been a great outlet for me this semester!) Overall, I think my writing is pretty good, and I have had a lot of fun trying out different styles of stories to tell. However, I have noticed that my sciency stories did NOT do very well in terms of page views, comments etc (LOL)(See Image below from my very first story!). That makes sense to me, because like who wants to read a story about water purification?? I am kind of glad I moved away from that style, because honestly it has been a lot more fun writing stories where I don't need to do a lot of outside research to write! I did like that those stories were a unique retelling of the original stories, but I just didn't feel as creative about it. 

Figure 1: Cartoon drawing of a normal cell next to a carcinoma cell with description of the carcinoma cell in green: YouTube

Overall, I am looking forward to doing some more creative writing, and continuing the meta-writing style I developed in my Week 5 story! That one was by far my favorite one to write, and it came so easily! Not only that, but it definitely seemed to be received well among the other people in this class! I think that I would like to try a lot more meta-style writing assignments. My roommate is a connoisseur of meta-fiction, so I am sure he could give me some ideas to try to incorporate into my writing. What a challenge!

Vaga-Buon Voyage!

Week 7 Story: The Case of the Kidnapped Detectives

Film Noir scene: GavTrain

You look out the window. It's raining. Again. It's always raining in this lousy town. You set down  your whiskey on rocks and light up a cigar just to take a big long puff. You exhale slowly. It may be nine in the morning, but you have a feeling it's going to be a long day. 

Your phone on the table starts ringing. You flip it open to see the police commissioner's number flash on the small screen.
"Flynn," the police chief showed stress and worry even in saying your name, "we need you."
"I've been out of the force for years. I'm a PI now, Dirk. You got your own boys to do the detective work." You couldn't understand why the police would need you. They had four detectives that all had outstanding records.
"They're all missing, Yuddy." The chief now used your nickname from back in the day. Yuddy, they called you. You hadn't heard that in years. "Some new criminal has kidnapped all of them. We only really noticed when Archie's gun was left on his table over the weekend."
Archie was the best shot this side of the Mississippi. Brains to boot, too. If they had him then they were clever.
"What about Billy?" You asked. Billy did a bit of heavyweight boxing in his spare time. It'd take a mountain to bring that guy down. You were always glad he was on your side.
"He got taken too. Like I said, we need you." The police chief's voice would seem calm to anyone else, but you noticed the small shake at the end of his sentences.
You sigh, wait a moment before responding.
"Of course, Dirk. I'll bring our boys back home. Send me everything you got."
-
You received too many folders and papers and files to count, but you organized the victims at least.
#4: Billy
Amateur heavyweight, strong with a good head, but no genius.
#3: Archie
Passed the academy with the highest marks ever seen, but decided to stay in the town instead of moving to a bigger city. Was never the manliest guy, but had more than enough tricks to put you on your ass in a fight.
#2: Nathanial
The more handsome twin. Grew up on a farm. Hard outdoorsy type, like horses and week-long backpacking trips outdoorsy type. Great survival skills and good smarts.
#1: Solomon.
The other twin. The first victim. When his brother went out into the woods, he spent his time with the barnyard animals. Always had a knack with his hands. Happy go lucky but a little reckless sometimes.

As you look through some of the recent text messages the boys from the lab were able to pull of their phones remotely, you notice Solomon sending a strange message to his brother.
Come to the Blind King.
Seemed a little too blunt to be the yuppy kid you knew. You decide that this bar on the edge of town would be the best place to start your investigation.
----------------------------

Author's Note:
The scene at the lake where Yudhishthira was tested by his father Yama really captivated me in the Mahabharata. I liked the idea of Yudhishthira trying to win his brother's back, and slowly this idea morphed into a crime noir novel. It was an interesting style that I had yet to try and I thought it fit well with this story! I had a little bit of fun characterized the Pandevas brother's and putting their most notable qualities into a crime noir setting (Yidhishthira = Flynn/Yuddy; Bhima = Billy; Arjuna = Archie; Nakula = Nathanial; Sahadeva = Solomon). I didn't have much details to go off for Nakula and Sahadeva, so I added a few details about personality or hobbies to flesh out the 'victims' more. Also, I noticed quickly though that the story was getting a little long, so I decided to cut it after the first clue, leaving the story off on a cliff-hanger (like the real crime noir serials!). Maybe I'll continue this story next week, maybe not, who knows??

Mahabharata. Narayan. R.K. pp 85-131

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata Part C

Hello VagaBuddies!

The Mahabharata is kicking off! But before I get to the things I didn't like, I want to again go into how much I dislike King Dhritarashtra. He again did a lot of wishy-washy coward-like things such as not yielding to the Pandevas like he should, and ignoring Vidura's advice on how to proceed. However,  he did have a slight redemption in that he realizes his own incompetence, and literally tells Vidura "I am helpless (around my son Duryodhana)." Even if he isn't able to actually make the tough decisions, I at least respect him for recognizing his fate and his weaknesses.

Pandavas in Hiding comic book cover by Anant Pai: Amazon

One story that I really enjoyed in this reading was the story of Yudhishthira's test by his father Yama at the lake. It was a little comical that four of the brothers would all drink the water and "die" (I also don't think they actually die, but get knocked out or go unconscious or something, because that makes more sense). Normally all the brothers being foolish would annoy me, but it seemed at least plausible that someone who was so thirsty wouldn't listen to a random voice on a lake. AND, it also sets Yudhishthira up to be super wise and clever, which I enjoyed. I like stories that involved someone being clever. It also felt justified and logical that it was Yama, the god of Dharma and death, and Yudhishthira's father, to test him. This was also a good way to receive the boon of being incognito for their year in the city without it feeling like it was undeserved or anything! 

Speaking of living in the city, I laughed out load at the part where the brothers and Draupadi were choosing their jobs for the next year. When Yudhishthira announced that he wanted to play dice with the king, I could literally picture exactly the look of doubtful skepticism from each of the brothers and wife! After he had gotten them into exile in the first place with his gambling problem, it was funny to see Yudhishthira go right back to the dice.  

Can't wait to finish the story!

VagaBuon Voyage!

Mahabharata. Narayan. R.K. pp 85-131

Extra Credit Reading: Narayan's Mahabharata B

Hello VagaBuddies!

This week I am covering the second reading of the Mahabharata, Part B! This reading was even crazier than the first reading, covering everything from polygamy to dangerous games of dice to magic bowls of limitless food... also beta-male kings.
King Dhritarasthtra really annoyed me in this reading. He seemed quite powerful and wise and good. earlier in the story, but now he is just weak, easily manipulated, and incompetent; a classic beta-male. I really just wanted King Dhritarasthtra to take a stand, even if it was against the main characters, the Pandavas. Instead he just bent to the will of whomever he was talking to, usually his son Duryodhana. Duryodhana, meanwhile, is a selfish jerk that is bent on revenge, refusing to follow any good advice that doesn't involve hurting the Pandavas. For someone who was supposed to be a really good king, Dhritarasthtra does not seem to be a very good or powerful king now.

Another thing that bothered me about this reading was Yudhishthira's baaaddd gambling addiction. For someone who is supposed to be the wisest of the Pandevas siblings, as well as the leader of the group, I would have assumed him to be impervious or at least resistant to foolish actions like that. Instead, he seems to go against his characterization and gamble away everything he has, including his kingdom, brothers, and wife. Even if it is disrespectful to decline a game invitation, Yudhishthira could have simply played a few rounds at lower stakes and then ended the game early. That would fulfill his obligations as a member of the kshatriya class, while also making the smart decision.

Surya offering Yudhishthira the bowl of limitless food: NY/NJ Bengali

Basically, I dislike characters that make foolish decisions. In this reading, even though he was more vengeful and morally bad, I liked Duryodhana much better, because he was clever and was able to abuse Yudhishthira's weaknesses in order to win. But also he refused to take smart advice, which was not a smart decision.
VagaBuon Voyage for now.

Mahabharata. Narayan. R.K. pp 41-83

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata Part A

Hello VagaBuddies,

This week we ventured away from the Ramayana and into another classic piece of Indian epic literature: The Mahabharata.
Before I started reading though, I needed to pick what version I wanted to read! I settled on Narayan's Mahabharata, mostly because I had access to a physical copy from a friend. I enjoy reading physical copies of books because it's a lot easier to take it around with you and not have to worry about internet access, charging, etc. In addition, reading from a computer has a good chance of letting you get distracted by other assignments, games, incoming emails, etc, so a book seems to be a good option!

The actual reading for this week was very name heavy. It felt like the beginning of the Ramayana all over again, but so much worse. The fact that there was one king, then a first generation of princes and kings, then another generation of princes and kings, and then finally the generation of the Pandavas (5 brothers of various godly fathers; main characters) and the Kauravas (Duryodhana and the hundred other sons of the blind king Dhritarasthtra), was just too much too handle. This is also not even mentioning all the other confusing intertwining stories such as Ganga drowning the first seven sons in the first generation of princes and kings, Karna being set adrift in the river, and other small side stories. It's so hard to keep straight!

Family Tree in the Mahabharata: Mythical Musings on Blogger

I actually originally found this image as part of this reading, but it is actually so good that I will continue to use it as a reference for further on in this story. Glad I found it!

In terms of stories that I liked, I enjoyed the story of the sage/trainer Drona's revenge against his childhood friend. I can appreciate a good revenge arc, and I thought that Drona was very morally good in this to leave his old friend alive and take half his kingdom, using his own words of being equals against him. Definitely foolish because I think that will be another source of tension and conflict in this already complicated web of relationships, but moral nonetheless. I also enjoyed the secrecy and spy-themes throughout the story, exemplified best in the Pandavas' escape from the burning house. So exciting! 

Since I had such a good time reading the Ramayana, I am excited to get invested in this story too, and the names (although super difficult) are slowly getting set in my mind! 

VagaBuon Voyage!

Narayan, R.K. "The Mahabharata" pp. 1-39

Week 5 Story: Hanuman Meets His Biggest Fan (OC don't steal)

PRESENT DAY, 9:22 PM, NORMAN, OK, USA: 
A young man sits at his desk in his room. It just so happens that today, the 26th of April, is this young man's birthday! And yet he is spending it sad and alone in his room. What is this young man reading?

Dan Plaff reading his book like a nerd: Personal Image

Narayan's Ramayana!?!??!1 The classic adventure of good versus evil and the cornerstone of Indian mythology? You are unimpressed. Who does this nerd think he is? Some kind of scholar? You think that you're probably smarter than him, and you're right. You're always right.
The young man looks around, as if he could hear some kind of narrator talking around and about him. You say, "What's your name?"
He looks a bit scared but responds, "Dan Plaff?" into the void. You then realize he had old name tags hanging up in his room, but no one needs know that.
He shrugs, blames the weird voices on a lack of sleep, and continues his reading.
"Hanuman..," he dreamily whispers to himself. "What a monkey."
You get the sense that this Dan kid really likes this monkey character. You wonder what he would do if he met this monkey guy, and then you realize that you're an omnipotent narrator and can make that happen. So you snap your fingers that don't exist and bring Dan into the world of the Ramayana.

UNIVERSE CYCLE #271273, 9:39 PM KISHKINDHA KINGDOM, INDIAN SUBCONTINENT (about 7000 years before present day)

Hanuman reading in the forest: BlogSpot

A large monkey-man hybrid is studying diligently in a library in a forest. The title of his book is something along the lines of "Ten Asthras that Ravana Can't Live Without - And Why You Need Them." He is all alone in the building, and seems to have sequestered himself in the corner.
Suddenly, a void is ripped in his world and out pops our favorite young nerd, Dan. He looks around,  completely bewildered at his sudden displacement.
The monkey-man reacts to this development by quickly hiding the book behind his back, and holds it there with his tail as he folds his hands in front of them to seem more put-together.
"And who are you?" The monkey-man asks, quickly running through the list of gods in his head, comparing their descriptions to this scrawny boy in front of him. Well, he must be important, he thought, there's no other explanation for this sudden appearance.
"Uh" is all that Dan can utter in his dumbfoundedness.
"Are you a god, a demon, human, yaksha, or some other creature?"
"Uh"
Maybe this creature cannot speak, or cannot understand me. The monkey-man thought. "I am sorry to dismiss you, but I must return to my, uh, research."
"AREYOUHANUMAN? OMIGOSHYOUARESOCOOLANDICANTBELIEVEIMHERE-" Dan shouted at once.
"Slow down, boy. I can hardly understand you!" Hanuman seemed a bit worried from this sudden outburst. "I must return to my research."
"(this is so cool) What are you reading?!" Dan asked, excited to be talking to this miracle of a monkey.
Giving up completely with understanding this interaction, Hanuman responded, "I am researching the weapons of that evil Ravana for my lord Rama. I spend my entire days know in pursuit of any knowledge that could help defeat Ravana. In only a few months, we will begin to search for him in order to reclaim Rama's wife."
Dan nods knowingly. "Yeah, Ravana has some deadly weapons. So you haven't fought him ye- I mean, you haven't found him?" Dan patted himself on the back for his quick thinking and not ruining the timeline.
Hanuman, the great scholar and god-incarnate, immediately understood that this boy was from the future, potentially as some sort of omen. But good or bad, he still could not tell. "No, we are patiently awaiting the conclusion of the rainy season, as was decreed by my lord Rama."
"Why do you go on with all that 'lord Rama' stuff?" Dan did indeed use air-quotes as he spoke.
"Because Rama is Vishnu-incarnate, and I have pledged my life to serve him."
"But why? You are- I mean, you seem so powerful. Why not adventure on your own?"
"Because what glory is there in personal fame? What fulfillment can be found in worldly riches? I seek the highest service in life: a life spent in devotion to the gods. I consider myself lucky to be blessed with so many gifts, the greatest of which is serving my lord Rama."
"So its a cult thing or what?"
Hanuman sighs. "It is not a 'cult-thing.' It is my deepest belief that this is my purpose and I seek to fulfill it." As the true scholar he is, Hanuman did not use air-quotes.
"Huh." Dan had not considered Hanuman's loyalty as a purpose before. "I guess that makes sense."
And on that abrupt note, you snap your metaphorical fingers and return Dan to his own time. Hanuman looks you in your eyes and asks you to never do that again. He returns to his 'research,' and you, indignant, go to leave a comment on this site saying how much you hated loved this story.
------
Author's Note: That was fun! A huge departure from my earlier stories, I had a lot of fun with a more self-referential, meta-narrative style of writing this week. Since he was my favorite character, I knew I wanted to write more about Hanuman, so I delved into how he spent the rainy months in between seeing Sugriva take the throne and leaving to search for Ravana. I decided to write Hanuman as a devoted scholar to serve as a cool parallel against my nerdy main character Dan (of no relation to me, Daniel Pfaff, also a cool scholar). I also took a lot of inspiration from an online webcomic called Homestuck (often referred to as the Ulysses of the internet for its length). If you've heard of Homestuck, I am sorry. That's it. Just I'm sorry. For bringing it up and for whatever trouble any misguided fan has given you. But its writing style is so unique and felt like a fun style to try for this story. Hope you enjoyed it!

Narayan, R. K. "The Ramayana"

Extra Credit Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blue, Part B

Hello VagaBuddies,
Welcome part to Sita Sings the Blues review Part 2! In part one,  I also forgot to mention that I noticed that the movie took certain liberties with the story of the Ramayana, which kept it interesting, but one of the more controversial changes (in my mind) was leaving out Lakshmana in Rama's exile into the forest. In Narayan's Ramayana, Lakshmana was there to protect Sita when Rama went to catch the golden deer, but in the movie Sita was left by herself.
In addition to the Lakshmana removal, I also found it odd that the battle between Rama and Ravana was very oversimplified and frankly unsatisfying in this movie. In Narayan's Ramayana, Ravana and Rama battle furiously with different weapons on the ground and in the air on chariots, with tons of trickery and magic throughout the whole fight. In the movie, Rama shoots one arrow that flies straight into Ravana's chest, killing him instantly. This was after all the build up of Ravana as this powerful evil king who was Rama's wife's kidnapper, his arch-nemesis. And his death seemed way too easy for Rama.
Anyway,  story changes aside, I loved loved all the songs in here. Honestly! "Who's that Knocking" was such a bop that I am thinking of just listening to that song anyway!

Trigger Warning, Dave being an absolute d*ck: Sita Sings the Blues

Ok, another thing that I liked (and yet also hated in this movie) was the "real-life" portions of the film about Nina and Dave's relationship. First of all, Dave is a complete asshole. It is a testament to this film's storytelling ability that I disliked Dave so much, that I became so sad when he broke up with Nina over email while she was away in New York. It was interesting to learn that this story arc of the movie was based on real-life events between Nina, the creator of the film, and her boyfriend. The movie has a whole then seemed to be a very cathartic exercise for Nina, and I was happy to get a good film out of it! Overall this movie is a fun, fresh, and exciting adaption of the Ramayana (with only a few questionable choices), and I would recommend this to anyone wanting to learn more about the Ramayana, or just wanting a good story in general.

Vaga-Buon Voyage.

Nina Paley. "Sita Sings the Blues." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzTg7YXuy34&feature=emb_logo

Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blues, Part A

Hello Vagabuddies,
Today I am reviewing the first half of the the beautiful movie Sita Sings the Blues. I watched it with two other students from our class (and a past student who just wanted to rewatch the movie!), and it was such a fun movie. I really enjoyed the different art styles that were used for different purposes throughout the movie. First, there was the art style of a chalk-style rough animation on flashing cut-out real-world images such as hearts or the sun. Then, there was the art style of the characters talking to each other, which was just a simple animation, and this was separate from the animation during the songs, which was a very distinct cartoon-style animation that over-emphasized the character's body types such as Sita's very very skinny waist and Rama's Dorito chip body. Then there was the style of animation during the narrator's parts that had more realistic drawings but a choppier style of animation. Finally, running parallel to the whole story of the Ramayana, there was the drawn cartoon on real backgrounds animation for the "real life" story between Dave and Nina. This constant switching between animation styles sometimes made the story a little difficult to follow and feel a little disjointed, but overall it kept the film interesting and fast-paced.

Onto more things I liked about this half of the film specifically, the interaction between the narrators among themselves was hilarious! It felt like an episode of Drunk History, and they disagreements and confusion parallels what a first-time reader of the Ramayana feels during their read-through. I especially liked it when the narrators discussed why Sita never escaped with Hanuman, something I had also wondered. The female narrator explained (and I agreed with her) that Sita wanted Rama to save her and prove himself to the world by defeating the evil king Ravana. Other things like the comedic timing of the camera panning to Ravana every time Sita explained her devotion to Rama was hilarious and a definite laugh-out-loud moment!

Ravana's Shock at Sita's devotion: Sita Sings the Blues

In the extra reading due this week, I will discuss what I thought of the songs too (spoiler, I loved them)!

Vaga-Buon Voyage!


Nina Paley. "Sita Sings the Blues." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzTg7YXuy34&feature=emb_logo

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Sanskrit written in Sanskrit: Wikipedia Commons

Hello VagaBuddies!

Excited to have you all review my blog: Sanskrit in the Indian Epics

Storybook Plan: Sanskrit in the Indian Epics

LINK TO MY STORYBOOK HERE

Hello VagaBuddies!

Storybook from Shrek: Shrek Wiki

First of all I want to say I am excited to begin this storybook process! I am excited to learn a little bit about the Sanskrit language, and deepen my understanding of these Indian Epics in the process!
Organizationally, here is how I imagine my Storybook going. I will be focusing on a few words of Sanskrit in total, one or two for each story. I will provide the definition, a pronunciation guide and maybe even some other interesting uses or etymology of the word if it applies!
Next, I will connect each word to a mantra that focuses on that word. (ie - if the word is devotion then I will find a mantra about devotion). The mantra (or mantras) will then lead into a story from an Indian epic like the Ramayana or the Mahabharata.

For the first page, I want to cover the Ganga origin story from the Ramayana as the main story. I really admired Bhagiratha's devotion to his family, and the interplay between Shiva and Ganga as gods. For my Sanskrit words, I would choose either 'devotion' (for Bhagiratha) or 'goddess' (for Ganga). Both of those would have great mantras to choose from!
For the second page, I want to focus on the word 'purity' or 'faith' (or 'dharma' and compare Rama's dharma as a king vs. his dharma as a husband), because I want to talk about the story of Rama testing Sita's faithfulness at the end of the Ramayana. That scene in particular always interesting me, because Rama seems too harsh, so maybe the mantras I use will help explain Rama's actions.
For the third page, I want to do something with Hanuman, because he is literally the best. I would probably focus on something such as 'loyalty' or 'intelligence' or 'strength' since those are some of the most defining characteristics of Hanuman that come to mind for me.

Overall, I hope to convey a little bit of understanding and appreciation for Sanskrit through my Storybook. I aim to enrich an understanding of the Indian epics with an understanding of the language that it was originally composed in.

Language:
Alphabet: Omniglot
How many Ramayanas are there? : UC Press


Story References:

GANGA
Ganga Storam
- भगवति  Bhagavati: Goddess (Wikipedia)
- Devotion


-जय Jaya: Victory (Wikipedia)

Images:

Sanskrit in Sanskrit (Wikipedia Commons)


Top10Central


Ceas Yoga

Week 4 Story: Ravana vs. Rama (Ramayana retelling)

Ravana charged onto the battlefield on his powerful chariot, wielding a different fearsome weapon in each of his twenty hands. As others saw the king of the asuras' assault, they quickly moved out of the way so as to not be trampled in the chariot's path. The gods too witnessed the ferocity of Ravana's assault and gifted Rama with Indra's chariot and skilled charioteer.

Rama and Ravana meet each other chariots: Detechter

When the two powerful foes met on the battle field, their greeting was one of floods of arrows towards the other. Every arrow Ravana shot from each of his ten bows was expertly deflected or negated by arrows shot by Rama.
Seeing that his physical attacks were going nowhere, Ravana called upon his magical weapons and abilities to wage a second wave on Rama. Ravana shot a magical arrow called 'Danda', gifted to him by Shiva. It was capable of locking onto a target and pulverizing it into a thousand pieces, but Rama intercept the missile in mid-air, snapping the arrow. Then Ravana deployed 'Maya', a weapon that induced hallucinations and illusions on the battlefield. This weapon made it appear to be that all of the vanquished enemies began to rise again from death. Rama's army began to despair. They too had suffered terrible loses, yet they were apparently meant to defeat the same enemies twice and with a weaker force. Matali, Rama's charioteer, then guided Rama to tap into his own divinity and past lives,  deploying his own weapon called 'Gnana' (meaning 'wisdom'). This rare weapon dispelled all the illusions and revealed them to be simply mirages. Next, Ravana deployed an asthra called 'Thama' who plunged the entire world into darkness. These arrows each also had heads with tongues of flame and fangs of sharp metal. They engulfed the world and Ravana was sure that this feat would arrest Rama's attention enough for him to destroy Rama's army. But, Rama immediately understood this newest attack, and deployed 'Shivasthra', a weapon that brought light into all the dark places in the world. This completely countered Thama and rendered it useless. Ravana then hefted one of his most deadly weapons, a trident empowered with destructive capabilities gifted to him by the gods. Today, we would say that this trident had the power of ten atomic bombs. Ravana launched this trident with deadly accuracy at Rama, who immediately understood the danger he was in. To counter, Rama deployed one of his most powerful tools, a single-use shield called 'Carminasthra' that had the ability to neutralize any attack that hit it, no matter how powerful. With this shield in hand, Rama braced himself and the trident hit the shield with a dull thud and dropped to the ground. It was at this moment that Ravana, before so sure of his victory, began to understand how formidable his opponent was, and both sides of the war could feel favor tipping to the side of Rama.

Ravana wield several different weapons against Rama on the battlefield: Quora

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Author's Note: This week was a good palate cleanser for me. I decided to depart from the style of my previous two stories and go back to something more basic: a simple retelling with a few minor corrections. This story is based on the magical weapons wielded by Rama and Ravana against each other in their battle. I really enjoyed whenever Rama countered one of Ravana's attacks with the perfect magical counter, but sometimes the story did not justify quite how Rama was able to neutralize some of the attacks. One in particular, the trident, left something to be desired. In the original text, Narayan's Ramayana, Rama just uttered a mantra and the trident just suddenly stopped an inch from his chest. This was unsatisfying to me,  because it felt like a copout instead of an actual counter. So in my version, I have Rama counter the trident with a weapon called 'Carminasthra', single-use invincible shield. 'Carmin' is the Sanskrit word for shield and it seemed fitting to me to name the tool something along the lines of its purpose.

Narayan, R. K. "The Ramayana"

Reading Notes: Narayan's Ramayana Part D

Hello VagaBuddies

Time for the biggest reading in the whole Ramayana because Part D included the climax of this story!
At the start of this reading, my love of Hanuman was overwhelmingly confirmed when he sneaked into Lanka, Ravana's capital city, to find Sita. To do this, he mastered his supernatural shapeshifting powers, first becoming big enough to cross the sea in a step and then small enough to explore the evil city unnoticed (My monkey dude is magic too!!). He found Sita just in time, because she was close to committing suicide out of despair. Hanuman, who also has a way with words, comforted her and gave her Rama's ring, a token of his commitment to her. Then, Hanuman destroyed much of the city, allowed himself to be captured, and, when he was set on fire for being a spy, spread the fire all across the city, burning much of it down to the ground. I KNEW I LIKED THIS MONKEY FOR A REASON! Much later, after returning back to Rama, while Rama's camp was debating on whether to receive the defecting Vibishana, Hanuman was the sole voice of compassion of Rama's advisers. Hanuman remembered that Vibishana saved his life when he was captured by Ravana, and could feel that Vibishana was virtuous. Basically, Hanuman joined Lakshmana as the strong, wise sidekick who dominates everyone.

More Hanuman. Just cuz : Pinterest

Rama vs. Ravana : Dazzling Goa (WordPress)

Besides other amazing things Hanuman did, this reading also had the climatic fight between Rama and Ravana! Rama, who defeated enemy commander after enemy commander, had enraged Ravana so much that he tried to fight Rama, but was immediately shut down. After recovering, and even bringing in some extra forces and using magic/trickery, Ravana was still losing every battle to Rama and his allies. One thing that did bug me a slight bit though, was when Ravana sent out Vishnu's trident that was supposed to be super destructive, but Rama just chanted a mantra and the trident was useless. I liked it much better when Rama countered Ravana's attacks with a specific asthra that could counter it. He could have easily had a single-use impenetrable shield or something, but instead the trident just failed because Rama said some magic words that had never been mentioned before.
Anyway, I also thought it was interesting that after the battle, Rama made Sita prove herself again, which even Narayan pointed out as self-contradictory based on his response to Sugreeva or Ahalya, who could both return to their spouses after explicit acts of infidelity.
Regardless,  I still really loved the ending, with its heart-pounding action, last-minute saves, and giant party to end it all. Narayan's commentary really came out on the last epilogue, describing how the author tries to draw out the end of the story, and I really liked learning that little bit.

And for my last reading notes for the Ramayana, VagaBuon Voyage!


Narayan, R. K. "The Ramayana" pp 131-171

Reading Notes: Narayan's Ramayana Part C

Hello VagaBuddies,

For this reading in the Ramayana, I was introduced to my new favorite character: Hanuman! But before I get to that beautiful monkey man, I have some honorable mentions.

The beast Hanuman himself: YouTube

First, here is where I finally get a mention of the UFO "Ravana's flying chariot." Although it isn't talked about in great depth, I can still easily see how some conspiracy theorists would latch upon this vehicle as evidence of UFO's in ancient texts. I am just surprised how the 'Ancient Technologies in the Ramayana' video didn't mention how Ravana could fly just by himself (jetpacks anyone?). In general though, this seen was very action packed and exciting.
For my first honorable mention, I want to praise the OG Big Bird: Jatayu. I loved Jatayu's final stand in this reading, which had him give his life towards trying to stop Ravana's kidnapping of Sita. Not only was this translation excellent (having great flow, pacing, and sense of action), but it was also just an incredibly moving scene. This bird, through his devotion to their father Dasaratha, destroyed Ravana's chariot in order to try to save Sita. Although he was ultimately unsuccessful, he died a hero.
NOW IS THE TIME TO TALK ABOUT THE MONKEYS. Ok so backstory: Monkeys are my favorite animal. I read every book about monkeys that was in my grade school's library. Twice. I made a whole monkey-themed activity book, fitted with acrostics, crosswords, word searches, drawings, different monkey-animal combinations, etc. And though I've since grown out of my main monkey-craze, imagine my inner childlike joy at having a smart, strong, and cool monkey character in the form of Hanuman appear in the Ramayana. Not only is this guy incredibly wise, but he is also the son of the wind god, which gives him immense powers besides being a giant monkey. As Rama's greatest devotee, he clearly sees Rama as the incarnation of Vishnu that he is, and is eager to serve him.

This is a Hanuman stan blog now:  Free Wallpapers

Now that this is basically going to be a Hanuman stan account, I am so excited to read more Hanuman stories and see him fight in battle next to Rama.
Bye for now.

Narayan, R. K. "The Ramayana" pp 89-131

Feedback Strategies: Why You Suck and How I Can Say That Better

Hello Vagabuddies!

Here is some helpful feedback: Be honest. I read two articles this week on how to give better feedback: How to Provide Great Feedback When You’re Not In Charge and How to Give Bad Feedback Without Being a Jerk.
One of the most important things someone can learn how to do is give and receive great feedback, and use that feedback to improve. One characteristic of great feedback for me is being honest. It sounds ridiculous, but people often see right through the classic "Compliment Sandwich" of a complaint coming before and after a compliment. This was echoed in the second article I read that also found fault in the Compliment Sandwich.

Compliment Sandwich (BAD): LifeHack

I work as a math tutor to kids (usually in grade school but some high schoolers), and the one thing that I think I do best over other instructors is I never sugarcoat the students' mistakes. I don't treat what I say lightly, because saying the wrong thing to a child can be devastating, but I also treat them like they can handle it (which they can). Through this and other experiences,  I have learned that people take feedback much better if you're honest with them. This can certainly be awkward, but I think the first article did a great job of explaining how to phrase your feedback so it is less awkward. For example, opening yourself up to any feedback, and asking if the other person would want to hear your feedback, is a great way of leveling the playing field. This lets any advice given as coming from an equal peer, not a teacher or a boss.

Overall, the articles gave great advice on phrasing certain types of feedback, and I can't wait to put it to use!
Goodbye for now!

Topic Research: Understanding Sanskrit and the Sounds of Sanskrit

Hello VagaBuddies,

At much encouragement, and with genuine curiosity, I have decided to do a storybook focusing on Sanskrit! (probably a death sentence but we will see!)
For this week's research, I decided to just focus on some of the sounds of Sanskrit and becoming familiar with how the language sounds. First, I started at Valmiki's Ramayana, which gave a wonderful page that allowed me to see the original Sanskrit, the romanticized Sanskrit, an English language, and English commentary about the passage, all at once! For about 15-20 minutes, I just tried to follow along the romanticized script! Even just that was pretty difficult!

A necessary phrase after trying to follow along Sanskrit : Illumine

After struggling through this a little bit, I decided to try to find linguistic descriptions of the sounds that Sanskrit uses that aren't in English, so I could try to familiarize myself with those sounds before I went back to trying to follow along. English already has a lot of vowels, so luckily I didn't have much to learn there, just a few consonant-vowel mergers such as ɽɪ (think of a classed rolled 'r' but only doing one tap instead of the full roll, and saying the vowel from 'sit' at the same time). For my own notes (or for other interested people), here are all the vowels of Sanskrit:

IPA Nagari IAST English approximation

ɐ अ, प         a         comma

aː आ, पा ā         bra

ɪ इ, पि         i         sit

iː ई, पी         ī         feet

ʊ उ, पु         u         look

uː ऊ, पू         ū         loot

ɽɪ ऋ, पृ         ṛ         as rri

ɽiː ॠ, पॄ         ṝ         as rrī

lɪ ऌ, पॢ         ḷ         as lli

liː ॡ, पॣ         ḹ         as llī

eː ए, पे         e         wait

ai ऐ, पै         ai         hi

oː ओ, पो o         old

au औ, पौ au         h'ow

◌̃ ँ         ◌̃/m̐ nasal vowel [ɐ̃], [ãː], [õː], etc.) *

*ok I have only like half an idea what this vowel is supposed sound like. 

The consonants of Sanskrit were a bit trickier. For the non-linguists, we describe consonants with three characteristics: where the sound is made with the tongue (the place of articulation), how the sound is made (manner of articulation), and whether you use your vocal cords or not (voicing). For example, the [p] in 'pit' would be described as a voiced (vocal cords are engaged) bilabial (made at your lips) stop (you one puff of air and then none more). One important note about Sanskrit is that it makes a distinction between aspirated consonants and un-aspirated consonants. In English, this would be like if the [p] sounds in 'pie' and 'ripe' were completely different letters. In 'pie' we also release a little bit of air when we make the [p] sound (called aspiration), but we don't when we make the [p] sound in 'ripe.' That tiny difference to us would be as clear as the difference between [b] and [p] to Sanskrit speakers, so it's something that I should watch for.

For next week's research topic, I want to delve further into what stories I could use. Right now, I still really enjoyed the Ganges Origin story that I talked about in my Ramayana Reading A Notes and the Story of this week, so I would like to use that story. Potentially focusing in-depth on a couple words to discover the full breadth of their meaning, or using a couple short mantras to describe broad trends in the stories! We will see next week!
Vaga-Buon Voyage

Week 3 Story: The Faucet vs. the Milli-Q

Once upon a time, in a research lab far, far away, a Scientist was conducting a very important experiment. At one point, the unthinkable happened and the Scientist accidentally poured a whole bottle of sulfuric acid into his reaction! They needed to save the reaction, and fast! If left uncorrected, the reaction, and maybe even the experiment, would be ruined forever. They consulted the heavenly Primary Investigator for guidance, and she suggest to dilute the solution using water from the Faucet.

The Faucet : PSA Laboratory Furniture LLC

So, They prayed for 0.271 teraseconds (Ts) to the Faucet to dispense some of this lifesaving water. Finally, the Faucet answered in the guise of a small vapor cloud that said, "You need my help, sure, but can you withstand the full force and raw quality of my water? Surely, you know that I should not be put into your reaction, the water I give is much too impure and would taint your reaction."
The Scientist looked crestfallen. They lowered their head thinking that there was no hope for their experiment, but the Faucet offered some wisdom.
"Go forth and pray to the Milli-Q, the device that can bear the force of my water and transform it miraculously into the purest water imaginable."

The Milli-Q in all its glory : Fisher Scientific

And so the Scientist prayed and prayed to the Milli-Q, and, after 0.008314 Ts, the Milli-Q responded thus: "Let the Faucet come down," the Milli-Q decreed. "I will help you. I will see to it that no drop of that water is wasted or allowed to trouble any experiment."
And so for 6.626 gigaseconds (Gs), the Scientist made the necessary preparations to connect the Milli-Q to the Faucet. They assembled tubes and gears, sinks and drains, and all manner of equipment. At the end of the Scientist's preparation, the Faucet, who was bringing water from the farthest reaches of the plumbing system, began the outpour with a roaring deluge of impure water. However, the Milli-Q, true to its word, was in place and received the impact and the deluge vanished within its chambers. For a while, the Faucet kept flooding more and more water into the Milli-Q, yet nothing came out the other end. The Scientist waited with bated breath, and worried that all their prayers had amounted to nothing. When, suddenly, the Milli-Q let out a small, calm stream of water that looked clearer than any water the Scientist had ever seen.
"Thats what a 22-micron filter can do for you," the Milli-Q said, grinning from tube to tube.
"It's beautiful," the Scientist whispered. "It's so pure."
Thus, the Scientist saved the experiment just in time to discover the answer to the question that no one cared  no, a hot dog is not a sandwich.

Author's Notes:
Whew! Second story in the books. This story is based on the Ganges River origin story where Bhagiratha is seeking salvation for his ancestors who died without receiving the proper funeral rights. At this time, there was no Ganges River, and even no oceans. He prays for many years to Brahma, who directs him to seek the help of both Shiva and Ganga (the goddess of the Ganges) to direct water down to the earth. After praying for tens of thousands of years each to both gods, and living an ascetic life subsisting off of practically nothing, Bhagiratha finally witnesses Ganga release the flood onto the earth and Shiva absorbs the force, releasing just a small stream that eventually becomes the Ganges. Bhagiratha saved his relatives, and India now has the holy Ganges River because of it.
To help understand my story, one Ts is equal to about 32,000 years, and one Gs is equal to about 32 years. A Primary Investigator is the title for the professor that is in charge of entire research topic, usually a senior tenure professor who has associate professors, grad students, and undergrads working under her. A Milli-Q, in short, is a device that purifies water to such an extent that it is practically only H2O with no other chemicals in it. In my lab, we use a Milli-Q to remove even microscopic DNA from the water.
I really enjoyed the original story, and maybe because of that, I am not very happy with my story. It's ok but not great. Maybe I needed better characters than just a couple inanimate objects.... anyway I think next story I will try something else besides the science-children's story mix that I've done for the last two.

Bibliography:
Narayan, R. K. "The Ramayana"

Reading Notes: Narayan's Ramayana Part B

Hello VagaBuddies!

I can definitely tell that I am getting very into reading the Ramayana. The first reading was tough just because of the names (which all felt like the started with V-I-S then 20 more letters), but now I am getting a hold on the names (mostly) and I am loving the story! It still feels like a classic myth (duh) but that doesn't mean I don't find it new and interesting!
Some of my thoughts on Part B:
Lucy (Kaikeyi)  got what she deserved! Even her own son Bharata, shames her for her actions, and is more concerned with distancing himself from her plot than he is about claiming the throne. I thought that Bharata was especially noble for venturing out on foot to find Rama in the same ascetic clothing (of tree bark?? That seems very uncomfortable, but I guess that's the point). Even when he is unable to convince Rama to return, he still does not claim the throne but uses Rama's sandals to hold Rama's place until his return. During that whole conversation, I also enjoyed how comedic it was to have two people saying "Yours, not mine" instead of fighting over whose kingdom it is. I really liked how the narrator himself got involved with a little commentary on how strange it was.
Soorpanaka (Shurpanakha), who I will now call Sour Pancake based on her appearance after her run-in with Lakshmana, was also a very interesting character here. She reminded me of sirens that would attract sailors to jump overboard with their sweet voices before the sailors realized that all the sirens were monsters. Sour Pancake pretended to be a sweet, beautiful creature who was shunning the ways of her family (which would honestly be a compelling story), but in reality she was a monster who wanted nothing more than be subservient to Rama. When I was reading this story, I was acutely aware that we (the readers) were meant to dislike Sour Pancake from the start. She was definitely very forceful and acted with hostility towards Sita, but Sita hardly did much better when she first laid eyes on Rama. Remember, when the first shared that little glance, Sita had acted rudely to all her attendants and became distraught at the very thought of never seeing Rama again. Sour Pancake is more forceful and hostile, sure, but never very violent. (I am also curious why the Dasaratha the king could have multiple wives and Rama cannot, but it is probably a cultural thing that I don't understand). However, my views definitely changed when she was caught stalking Sita by Lakshmana. She probably should have been killed for that, or when Kara attacked them with his army.

I like this image because it shows Sour Pancake clutching her chopped and bleeding nose : SmileMakerKrishna

Speaking of armies, it was really interesting how what seemed to be a huge fight between Kara and his army vs. Rama and Lakshmana was reduced to the same amount of sentences as the damage dealt by Lakshmana to Sour Pancake. The short description made what I assume was a huge battle into something that didn't seem to matter so much and didn't have much action. Maybe that's the point though. Maybe the point is that the battle was so trivial to Rama and Lakshmana, even if it was a whole army of demons against two people.
Overall, this reading was the one where I got into the story, and I am excited to keep reading!
Vaga-Buon Voyage!

Narayan, R. K. "The Ramayana" pp 53-89