Week 3: Backup and Review

After one crazy week, and heading into another, I really appreciated one of the images in the announcements that really seemed to hit the nail on the head for how life's been going lately...

I really enjoy playing board games like Catan, and I'm a fan of video games, though I'm fairly casual about it--they provide such a great escape to pretending to 'adult'. The link to the announcements for Thursday, the day this picture was posted, is located here. 

Week 3: Curation

Here's the rundown of the three most interesting things I found over the last week!

The first is, again, from Kid World Citizen. It's an interview with the author of a book who writes about a young Indian Princess traveling to different countries around the world. I really like this for a couple reasons--one, kids from all over the world, regardless if they're in India or France, can learn something about another culture through this book. Two, it really encourages a global mindset from a young age.

The second thing I found was more related to writing than anything else. I got stuck for a while on curation, because I wasn't sure how to relate everything back to India, but then I realized that there's a ton more we're doing in this class besides just reading Indian Epics, and that writing is a huge part of it too! So here I've got a link to someone who wrote up several tips on how to make dialogue more effective. I've already tried reading mine out loud, and it's really helped!

Lastly, another writing resource. This one is from a Tumblr called Writing Prompts. It's got a ton of interesting ideas and pictures to start a story from, all you have to do is supply the writing! Next time I'm stuck and can't think of a creative idea, I think I'll look here first!

Week 3: Storybook Styles

The Ordeal of Queen Draupadi from Wikipedia

Topic:

After reading more about Draupadi, I think I'd like to do a storybook about women in Indian Epics. I think it would be interesting to showcase the strong (or otherwise) women that have a large role to play in these stories. It would be cool to focus on four different women, with a connecting factor, to supply four different stories.  The first story I'd like to do something with is The Game of Dice, which deals with Draupadi and her being gambled as a last resort by Yudhisthira. She gets dragged by her hair to the game, which, there's tons of potential there. I love graphic novels, so I'd like to do something with the stories in Sita: Daughter of the Earth, or something akin to that. Both women are limitless as towards stories that could be retold!

Bibliography: 

"Sita: Daughter of the Earth" by Saraswati Nagpal. Website: Reading Guide

Draupadi. Source: Wikipedia

Styles: 

Letters Home: I recently wrote a storytelling blog post in a style of a soldier writing home during WWI, and I really enjoyed writing it. I think this could work well, if a character is writing home about her experiences, or keeping touch with people elsewhere--maybe even a pen pal situation. I'm definitely more comfortable writing in third person, and that's how I'd write this style of storybook. I'd like the women to be the storytellers here, since we don't often hear their point of view. 

Bedtime Stories to Daughter: An interesting frame tale might be to have a mother telling her daughter about the strong women of days past. I think this one probably gets used a fair bit, but if it's done the right way, it could be interesting. Whenever I have offspring, I plan to tell them, regardless of their gender, about the great men and women of our society and societies past. Having a mother--maybe a sister--telling a younger daughter stories that inspire her. These could be done in flashbacks, too, as the now older daughter comes across events in her own life that remind her of the stories, and she could take inspiration for action from them. 

Western: This is purely, purely because I think it would be great fun to write and design an old-timey Western storybook. A storybook with saloons, gunfights, and feisty women would suit these stories quite well, I think. Gambling happened often enough, so that would tie in with Draupadi fairly well, as well as several other facets I'm sure I haven't thought of yet. I like Westerns, especially ones with a futuristic element (tastefully) tied in, a la time traveling, maybe space... Magic? Westerns of ye olde time periods? All good things.

The Resistance: I accidentally inspired myself with the Bedtime Stories style--if the women together were part of a loosely formed resistance against some government, past, present, or future, the tales could be the stories of how they further their cause, or how they became legends within the ranks. This might have a good way to tie the story together with a plot line--told through the eyes of the young girl mentioned earlier, how she interacts with these women and how the women interact with the world, this could tie together really nicely. 

Week 3 Storytelling: Dearest Sarah

Infantryman by Henry Ellis Townsend 

     Dearest Sarah,
          
          I write with the anticipation I may see you soon--though surely not soon enough. Each day here it is cold, and wet, and where I am not soaked to the bone, I am covered in mud. It's tiresome, this rain, and the war, though I'm told we've only survived barely half of the rains, and even less of the fighting. I am more concerned with the strength of our men to survive this rainy trial than I am worried about the enemy. 

     Most of all, my concern is for you. It feels as if you've been taken from me, kidnapped by some wretched demon who thrives on our separation, and yet I know this is not true. It's I who have been taken from you, by the monster we fight each day. I send my steadfast love, and dream only-

"What's this? Writing letters again?"

Remy was jerked out of his letter by a close comrade's words, Lawrence. Rather, the letter was jerked from Remy, as Lawrence snatched it and made to read what Remy had been writing.

"Give it- stop- that's not yours to read!" Remy grasped for the letter, finally tearing it from Lawrence's hands. Smoothing it out, in a smaller voice, Remy followed, "it's private, and I'd ask you to stop interrupting me while I'm writing her. "

Lawrence smiled. His smile was easy, a bit crooked, and could warm an entire room. The man himself was strongly built, taller than Remy by several inches, though a touch younger. "I'm only teasing, you know. Someone has to do something to liven the atmosphere around here."

Remy knew in his heart Lawrence was right. Remy had been in a mood for days, and frankly, the rest of the troops had as well. They had been stuck in the trenches for weeks. When they weren't fighting the enemy, it was certain to be raining, and when it wasn't raining, they were fighting.

"Well lighten up elsewhere, if you please. I'm busy." Remy shot back his reply, surprised to hear his own words so sharp against someone he was so close to.

Lawrence and Remy were almost brothers, and often joked to be as much. In fact they were extremely similar in personality and look, but no familial ties bound them together. The ties they had formed were much stronger, weaved in the trenches during their first days together, and were brotherly of another nature, if that nature was being threatened within an inch of life on the daily.

Hearing Remy's reply, Lawrence was a bit deflated, but changed tactics nonetheless. "Remy, do you know what happens after the rain?"

Remy had been trying to pick up his train of thought in his letter, but Lawrence wasn't having any of it.

"Well, do you know?"

"Lawrence, I know what'll happen to you if you don't quit being a pest."

"Well, I know what happens after the rain. Most of the fellas here, they say that the rain is the cleansing part of the season. The rain comes and washes it all away, but the cleansing happens after you thaw out a bit."

Resigning, Remy nodded. "Sure. Just like mum washing clothes."

"Exactly," Lawrence affirmed. "Except the clothes aren't really clean until they're on the line and the afternoon sun dries them. That's the cleansing bit--peeking back out into the world and having the sun shine down on you."

Remy sighed. "Lawrence."

"I know. It's difficult for all of us."

"She's my wife. We only just married-"

"I know. You can't help her by dragging yourself further down in this mess. Keeping alive's what matters."

"I know."

"Finish your letter. I'll go pester the others for a while."

Remy gave a half smile, nodded once, started writing again.

...and dream only of you. You, my sun, my stars. I'm on my way, sweet Sarah, and I promise, I'll come back whole.

Yours,
Remy

*****

Author's Note:

     I've more or less decided I'm going to pair each story with a song, and so this week, my story was partially inspired and mostly written to Glenn Miller's Moonlight Serenade. I really liked the sweet moment between Lakshmana and Rama during the rainy season in the forest, where Rama is particularly plagued by his demons, and Lakshmana helps him out of it. Sometimes, it doesn't take a great act to turn someone's day, week, or month around. It's the small things that count, and I really wanted to spend time on that moment. I changed the names to make them sound a little more WWI authentic, but the characters and who they relate to should be fairly obvious.

I chose to reset the story during World War One because there needed to be something to take Rama away from Sita, and to have a brotherly bond between the two men. I had been thinking of the Christmas Truce earlier in the day, and how on Christmas Day German and English soldiers called an unofficial truce between themselves and spent the day playing football and singing carols. Usually for my stories I get inspired by something happening or thinking about something earlier in the week or the day, and want to use that as a basis for what I'll write.

Narayan, R. K. The Ramayana. New Delhi: Vision, 1987. Print.

Week 3 Reading Diary B: Narayan's Ramayana

Image of Ravana and Sita from Wikimedia

This week I continued my reading of Narayan's Ramayana, and finished the epic. I've listed and explained some things that intrigued me below.

Sita, Period: Sita, again and again, proves her strength throughout this portion of the epic. She's been cooped up with Ravana for ages as a prisoner while Rama's been hanging out in the forest. Women as well as Ravana come and torture her to give up information about Rama, or to sacrifice her purity, of which she does neither. Sita gets points because of that. After all of this, Rama (albeit somewhat guided by cultural expectations) has the gall to not immediately welcome her back into his arms. Sita, you deserve better.

The Battle: The entire battle is interesting, with each side taking wins and losses, though it's definitely more weighted towards Rama. Rama is constantly looking for ways to save Ravana, to not have to kill him, which is in Rama's nature. He's always trying to do the right thing, but often has to kill the enemy in order to complete his task. A scar on Ravana's back that Rama notices as he is dying worries Rama as to whether he did the noble thing--surely, fatally wounding an enemy from the back while he was running isn't noble. He's reassured that this is an old wound, and everyone's happy.

Maya:  This is a fairly trivial point, but it was interesting that there were two sides of this brought out. Ravana fights with Maya, illusionary tactics, but after he does that, Rama fights back with wisdom, which could be said to be the exact opposite of Maya. Only a fool would be taken in by these illusions, but Rama is no fool. Just an interesting point I liked seeing.

Week 3 Reading Diary A: Narayan Ramayana

Rama Chastises the Dying Vali from Wikimedia

This week I continued reading Narayan's Ramayana and really enjoyed it. Some points I found particularly interesting follow below.

Jatayu's Death : Jatayu is very confident going into this battle, and it's interesting to me that he tells Sita to not worry, because he's going to save her from Ravana. The battle is intense, but in the end Jatayu is killed, and cannot even tell Rama where Ravana took Sita. This isn't a martyrdom, so I wonder what purpose Jatayu's death has, besides the appearance that his older brother makes later. The Ramayana hasn't had many 'senseless' deaths that I've noticed, so the fact that Ravana beats Jatayu ends up being a testament to Ravana's power. It's a good reminder of why Rama is going through the world and purging it of evil, and really shows the reader how terrible Ravana is.

Vali's Death: Narayan begins this story with an interesting sort of aside, saying that this is a strange chapter morally in the Ramayana, and I have to agree. Rama kills Vali, while hiding, and ultimately takes sides in a familial argument because of this. Granted, Vali seems pretty terrible, especially since the whole thing was a misunderstanding, but for Rama to take part in his death was odd. It really reminded me of a Shakespearean death scene, where a character is fatally wounded but still manages to deliver a wonderful monologue before actual death sets in. Rama and Vali have a whole conversation. Not even a conversation, but an actual debate for several pages before death actually sets in. Things that make you go 'hmm'...

Hanuman Mistaking Almost Every Woman He Finds For Sita: Alright, it only happens twice, but really Hanuman? One of the women he meets isn't even named, it's just said that she's being punished until someone finds her. Maybe the individual elements of beauty in these women are also a part of Sita, but more pure in her, and that's why he keeps mistaking her. I know he's just eager to find her, but with a description like Rama gave, how could he not tell immediately that these other women weren't her? I might be biased towards Sita.