- If Ramayana Characters were on TikTok...
Tiktok is a new social media platform centered around short videos, often with a song or other audio playing over the video. It has a wide range of content from comedy shorts, dance trends, challenge videos, and sometimes just hot people staring into cameras (which somehow gets huge amounts of likes). If the characters of the Ramayana were on TikTok, what would their accounts look like? Would Hanuman create original funny skits? Would Ravana make "social experiment" prank videos as an excuse to do something mean to strangers? Would Sita have a makeup tutorial account? Would Rama film himself trying to learn the hot new dance? I think there is a lot of potential in this idea, and perhaps they all share their scripts with each other for feedback. Or maybe someone else is writing a review of all their best videos?
This project would be similar to this Dating Profile storybook in that each character would have their own page in the storybook to develop their personality, their connection to the theme, and their connection to each other.
Potential Lineup of the four main characters? : The Live Mirror
- Sanskrit and Indian Epics
The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the two great Indian epic poems, and they were both written in Sanskrit. As one of the oldest still-spoken languages in the world (the most ancient form dates back to the second millennium BCE), Sanskrit is intimately tied to the history of India. Just as a study of ancient Romans like Caesar or Cicero is enhanced with a little bit of knowledge about Latin, I think that this class over the Indian epics would be enriched by a little understanding of Sanskrit. As a linguistics major, I love learning about other languages, and this would be the first language I study that doesn't use the Latin alphabet. What a challenge!
Links: Sanskrit Introduction | Sanskrit Revival
- Ancient Aliens
I don't really subscribe to conspiracy theories, but I find them so fascinating. Because these conspiracy stories often start with an unexplained phenomenon, such as myths of flying vehicles, I find these explanations interesting (think the Ancient Technology video from Youtube playlist of India-related videos). I think for this idea, I could try to place myself as a time traveler in these stories that have unexplained phenomena, and then I could "explain" all the phenomena as a modern-day scientist. I would love to find modern-day inventions and studies that relate to the fantastical topics that are described in these ancient texts!
Ancienct Aliens Meme, self-made : ImgFlip
- Italian Ramayana?
This is probably my least developed idea (hence why it is last), but I have a lot to work with. I rewrite several stories from the class, but it in modern-day Italy. Having spent a few months immersed in Italian culture as much as I could (and since I have several Italian friends), it might be interesting to put those characters and stories into an Italian context (leaning into some Italian stereotypes). Instead of traditional Indian food, the characters could eat pasta ragu or lasagne. Instead of the Indian social hierarchy, there would be the Italian familial system where all family members live together until you are married after turning at least 30. I can even write in some dialogue, phrases, or short stories in Italian to keep it interesting! I guess maybe I am just looking for an excuse to practice my Italian in some way, but it's definitely an idea with some substance!
---
Those are my top four ideas for a storybook project, and I can't wait to hear some feedback about it! If you're in my class, let me know which storybook you'd read! If you're not in my class, you're probably my mom so hi mom! Thanks for loading me up with groceries and doing my laundry last time I visited home!
Alright, Vaga-bye for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment