Portfolio Guideline

First, let's explore a dark tale about Thataka's fall from grace in The Case of Thataka.

Next, read about he devastation of the Rakshasas in The Valakhilyas' Plea.

Here is a tale that shows how Sita lost trust in the man she loves in Sita's Trial.

Now, read a story about a man who remained silent while his wife drowned seven of their children in Shantanu's Misfortune.

Famous Last Words Week 10

Well, I am so happy that this will be the last Famous Last Words that I will be writing for the semester because after this week I will be pretty much done with this class.  I am so happy that this semester is almost over.  Now I have enjoyed my time at the University of Oklahoma, but I am so happy that I will no longer have to do homework.  Speaking of homework, I got pretty much nothing done over the break.  I did a few small things but as far as big papers go, I did not do anything.  It is not that I needed to have these things completed by this week or next week, but if I would have, it would have made my life so much easier for the rest of the semester.  Oh well, I’ll just have to do it the hard way.

            So last night was a little crazy with the tornado in Moore.  I went to my night class at six o’clock that evening.  We were watching a movie, and were only about forty minutes into it when my teacher kept walking in and out the room several times.  At first, I did not notice this at all until several times later.  Finally, she rushed into the room and shouted for everyone to leave because there was a tornado in a panicked voice.  Now, usually, I stay pretty calm, but I was a little freaked out at first.  I had no idea where this tornado was and my professor acted like it was right outside.  Also I was being a good student so I did not have my phone or computer out.   Well, everyone was freaking out.  It was not until someone checked and saw that it was in Moore.  Now, Moore is close, but it was definitely not close enough to come running into the room shouting and causing a panic.  

A tornado.  Source: Wikipedia.

Resize Tech Tip

Image that I re-sized with PicMonkey.com.  I chose this image because I really liked the look of the temple. Source: Wikipedia.

Storytelling Week 10: Drona's Despair

           At first, the words do not fully hit you until a few moments later because you cannot believe that something so horrific could actually be possible.  A million terrible thoughts crawled through my mind as I was told that my son had been killed.  A father should never have to see his son die before him.  To lose a child is one of the most painful experiences that no one should ever have to experience.  It was as if I had lost apart of myself.  In a moment, I had lost everything that I had to live for.  My mouth became dry, and I was unable to speak.  I do not believe that I even had the will to cry because I was so incredibly shocked.  I had no desire to be on this earth any longer.  I was fully prepared to die and leave this world that my son had so cruelly been evicted from.

Before this incident, I was invincible.  Nothing could stop me—no man, no beast, no weapon, no god, and no amount of power could stop my destruction.  However, it was this very instance that broke me.  It broke my will to live, my spirit, my hopes, and my plans.  I shriveled into nothing, absolute nothing.  There are no other words to explain how I felt in that very moment.  No word, no matter how powerful, could describe the type of pain that ran through my mind.  No measurement could be taken to understand the amount of pain that came with this terrible news.  The only word that comes to mind when I try to describe how I feel is nothing.  Nothing to live for and absolutely nothing left to die for.  With that thought, I began to take off my armor as tears stung my eyes and began to silently roll down my cheeks and onto the floor.  I noticed a man quietly standing behind me, waiting for the right moment, and I knew that he would have no hesitation in taking my life.  In a funny way, I was thankful.  I was thankful that someone was there to end my suffering and misery.  I had no desire to breathe the air of this world unless my son was also inhaling it.  Once I was finished with my amour, I got to my knees and bowed my head waiting for that final blow to bring relief.  

Drona during the war.  Source: Wikipedia.

Author’s Note

For this story, I wanted to give Drona a voice when he hears that his son was killed.  I know that within the original, Drona would never have had time to have much inner dialogue with himself besides the obvious despair of losing his son.  However, I just wanted to elaborate on a father’s thoughts after he has lost a child.  The story is true to the plot.

Bibliography

Narayan, R. K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

Reading Diary B: Vaka

The part about Vaka is so interesting.  It reminds me of that old fable or maybe it is a parable about the grasshopper and the ant, which was later turned into that kids’ movie A Bug’s Life.  I know that in the parable, the ant helped the grasshopper willingly, but in the movie it was their job to feed the grasshopper, and if they did not do that, it was suggested that death and destruction would be involved or something along those lines.  I know that this took a weird turn, but the dynamic of this situation reminded me of that film and parable.  Possible storytelling blog.  Why were these human sacrifices made?  Was it to eat?  Was it to keep the village in fear?  How long has this been going on?  Who were the people that were sacrificed?  How were they chosen?  Were any them women or were any of them children?  Was it only men?  Did anyone offer themselves to be a sacrifice?  What did Vaka do with these sacrifices?  How did this entire situation come about?  What is the history of the village?  Inner thoughts of Bhima as he was sent to fight them?  Inner thoughts of the villagers as he was sent to fight them?  Were they scared or elated?  If he was triumphant, it would be a great thing, but if he failed, Vaka would surely be very angry at this attempt.  So I am sure that there would have been tons of mixed emotions.  

A rakshasa,  Source: Wikipedia.

Reading Diary A Week 11: Ocean Churning

The part about the ocean once being milk is so interesting.  I also find it interesting that it was a way to obtain immortality.  I think that speaks a lot about the power of milk and how it was looked upon.  It must have been upheld very highly in ancient times.  I am sure that milk was seen as a tool for survival because it is a very caloric drink and meal, especially full fat milk.  I am sure that in times of a drought or a shortage on food, milk from cows or goats was greatly appreciated because it allowed people to survive.  For these reasons, it makes sense that milk is seen as a tool to gain immortality.  A snake churning the ocean water seems very odd.  Where did this snake come?  Is there a significant reason why this snake was chosen or why a snake was chosen at all?  It is odd that poison erupted from this though.  How did this poison come about?  (This is a possible storytelling blog post.)   What kind of form did this poison take?  Possibly a liquid?  Was it from the snake?  Why did it turn his throat blue? Was the poison blue? Is there any significance in the color blue?  Does it have to do with turning the ocean into salt?  Became blue because it is the color of water, not milk?  Salt water depraves life.  Salt absorbs water so for this reason it is not a good source of water or hydration.  

The churning of the ocean.  Source: Wikipedia.

Reading Diary B Week 10: Drona's Son

The part about them using Drona’s love for his son Ashwatthaman against him is so interesting. I mean I think that it is really cruel to do this. I know that they really did not kill him, but they used someone so dear to him to trick him into his downfall. How cruel. It reminded of that Spiderman movie with the Green Goblin or Dr. Octopus. In this movie the villain decides to kick Spiderman where it hurts the most and that is in his loved ones. I just remember that the villain tried to kill Aunt May. Well, I know that this was an odd way to go in this reading diary, but honestly that is what this made me think of. I do not know why, but this whole situation just rubs me the wrong way. Like it was the use of a father’s love to go to his downfall. Perhaps it is because it is not black and white. The characters are not inherently good or inherently evil, which just confuses my emotions even more. I know that the good guys did not kill him but it is still really messed up for them to use such emotions in such a way. It is just not cool or right. It is sort of disgusting. Something is so vile about using someone’s emotions in such a way. Emotional violations are just so wrong because it uses what every human being has—emotions and feelings—to gain something. It’s gross.

The battle between Bhima and Duryodhana