Indian Epics Blog

 The Last Son      Once upon a time, there was a prestigious family with five sons. Each of the sons with a chance to succeed their father and become king of the realm. A War was starting and each of the sons and King got ready for the battle in order to defend the realm. The youngest son Thorfinn was meant to stay home and protect his mother and sisters. Thorfinn was very stubborn and loved to hunt with his brothers. Of course, he was extremely upset by this and decided to actually sneak on his family ship and go off to war too. As soon as he realized the ship was far enough to not turn back he revealed to his father and brothers he was on board. It wasn't until later that this would become a problem. Not even a full day at sea and the ship came under attack from enemy forces. Abruptly, Thorfinn's brothers and father were overwhelmed by the enemy and killed. Since Thorfinn was just a child the enemy decided to take him in and raise him as their own. Many years later...

  Krishna: Victory Over Kamsa Author: an Amar Chitra Katha Publication Again, Nanda, Krishna's foster father is in danger and gets attacked by a python. Krishna reveals that the python is actually a celestial being and was turned into a python by a curse. Shankhachuda the demon kidnaps the gopikas but is stopped by Krishna and Balarama. Narada reveals to Kamsa that Krishna is still alive so Kamsa plots to kill him. Krishna battles more demons and of course comes out unscathed. Then, a demon disguised as a cowherd kidnaps the boys herding sheep. Krishna goes to rescue them and Kamsa sends Akrura to find Krishna, when he does find them he reveals Kamsa's plot to kill them in a wrestling match. He takes them to Mathura where he sees Krishna's divine manifestation. When they arrive Krishna heals a woman and snaps the enormous sacrificial bow. Krishna topples the elephant sent after him by Kamsa and he and Balarama defeat the wrestlers Chanura and Mushtika, as well as, kills Kam...

  Krishna: The Upholder of Govardhana Author: an Amar Chitra Katha Publication The story starts by telling that the gopikas which are actually cowgirls are enchanted by Krishna's flute. Then he steals their clothes while they are bathing (wth lol) and makes them chase him. After being refused by the priest to receive food Krishna gets the wives to give them all of theirs. Krishna questions the point of sacrificing to Indra and even suggests they make a sacrifice to the mountain they live by instead (Mount Govardhana). Indra is infuriated and begins attacking people. Krishna lifts up Mount Govardhana to protect the people and save them from Indras rain (no pun). A demon tries to drown Krishna's foster father. Krishna had to call upon the water god to restore his life. Finally, at night the gopikas are drawn to dance with Krishna in the moonlight and become fully absorbed in his being. In the (Ras-Lila) afterlife I'm assuming each gopika has their own Krishna to dance with. I...

 Krishna: The subduer of Kaliya Author: an Amar Chitra Katha Publication Following the story from Part A after the people relocated. Krishna and Balarama take cattle through the forests and defeat a demon in the form of a calf and a demon in the shape of a crane. Then there is the demon Aghasura who tricks the boys by taking the form of a serpent. Krishna defeats him. Next, they confront another demon, this time in a form of a donkey, and defeat him as well. Then Krishna decides to challenge the illustrious water snake Kaliya who has 101 heads. He gives the demon an ultimatum: that if he promises that he no longer poison the water in the watering hole he will spare him.  The last demon is the asura Pralamba who can disguise himself as a cowherd. He tricks the boys in a game and flies away Balarama, but Balarama fights back and kills the asura. Krishna saves the boys and cattle from fire by sucking all the flames. *pause* Watering hole (Source: Needpix )

  Bhagawat: The Krishna Avatar Author: an Amar Chitra Katha Publication The Darling of Gokul.: Story begins with introducing Parikshit, the grandson of Arjuna. He wanted to hear the story of Krishna. Following that the story goes on to talk about how it began with the marriage of the prince of Dwaraka and Devaki. A known prophecy tells that the eight born of Devaki will slay Kamsa (her cousin). Kamsa takes over and puts both the prince and his bride in prison and kills their children one by one. By way of a miracle, the 7th and 8th children are smuggled away to live in Gokul, one of them being Krishna. Krishna is an incarnation of the god Vishnu. Kamsa sends Pootana to kill the newborn babies but Krishna defeats her. Krishna does enormous feats simply as a toddler. Krishna also reveals his divine form to Yashoda but later makes her forget what she saw. The different supernatural events occurring in Gokul forced the people to move.     Funny meme about erasing memory....

  How the Turtle Saved His Own Life Author: Babbitt In this story, there was a king who had a lake made for his young princes to play in. The king one day decided to have some men put some fish in the lake. Along with the fishes, there was also a turtle. When the young princes were playing they really enjoyed the fishes but were quite frightened by the turtle. They had never seen a turtle before and thought it was a demon, the young princes ran to the king crying.  The king ordered his men to go catch said demon and bring it back. The turtle was caught and brought to the palace where the young princes again cried and ran away. The king's fondness for his sons led him to order his men to kill it. The men asked how they should kill it, and a bunch of ideas had begun to be thrown around.  Then one old man who has always been afraid of the water suggested they throw the turtle into the lake where it flows into the rocks and that should kill him. Then the turtle took advantage...

The Elephant Girly-face Author: Babbitt This story discusses the time of a king owning an elephant named Girly-face. The name was derived from the elephants gentle and kind looking nature. It was often said that Girly-face never hurts anybody. This was until one night some robbers were outside of where Girly-face slept discussing how they would break into the house and kill anyone who wakens. Specifically, they said “A robber must be cruel and have no pity. He must never be good, even for a moment.” Girly-face took those words and decided this how he should act. The next morning when the elephant keeper arrived he killed him by throwing him with his trunk. Another keeper arrived and was killed as well. This went on for days to the point people would not even approach Girly-face.                               He picked him up in his trunk and threw the poor keeper to the ground. This triggered the K...

 The Rat     A group of little elves was camping in the woods when a rat appears. The rat walked on two feet and could speak fluently. At first, the elves were beyond confused then the rat began to speak and told an eloquent story. He told the story of a group of four turtles who lived off pizza and would fight crime and evil. The rat said, “This was until one of the turtles had fallen in love with a human.” The elves were in awe because in this world it is inadequate to even think of falling for a human. The rat then began to unfold the rest of the story. He says that the human woman with whom one of the turtles had fallen in love had convinced him to stop eating pizza, which is the one thing he loves. He was the leader of the group and so the rest of his turtle friends followed and skipped out on eating too. They would each give their share of pineapple pepperoni and mushroom pizza to the woman. This continued and the turtles began to grow weak and this beginning to aff...

  Mahabharata-   The Five Tall Sons of Pandu Author: Richard Wilson (1914) Part B: 7. Duryodhana objects to Yudhishthira being named king of his own realm and prepares for war His decision is absolute and Duryodhana insists on war despite what others say 8. The great armies meet in the battlefield Bhishma leads Duryodhanas army and they have the advantage Bhishma informs Duryodhana that the gods are not on their side because their cause is not just Arjuna beats off all attacks Bhima slays many of Duryodhanas brothers but barely escapes with his life 11. Karna and Arjuna face off in battle and result in a draw Following day Karna vows either he or Arjuna will die that day  Karna encounters Yudhishthira and they fight and this too results in a draw Arjuna then rides out to face Karna Karna breaks Arjunas bow and by the rules of war asks to retain another weapon but Karna continues to attack him In the middle of fighting Arjuna fixes his bow and Karna and Arjuna continue to ...

Mahabharata- The Five Tall Sons of Pandu Author: Richard Wilson (1914) Part A: 1. Pandu is the father of five tall sons and when he dies his brother Dhritarashtra becomes king He has 100 sons and Duryodhana is the oldest and he hates his cousins the sons of Pandu Drona trains the princes in the arts of war  Has tournament when they are of age  During the tourney Karna a mysterious warrior arrives and challenges Arjuna A charioteer arrives and Karna bows to him as his father this makes Bhima outrages 2.  Duryodhana tries to trap the Pandavas in a burning house Drupada has heard of Arjuna and wants him to win tourney To be sure hill win Drupada sets a target he thinks only Arjuna can hit All but Karna was able to string the bow but Draupadi declares he is low born and wont accept him Arjuna in disguise hits the target Suitors are angry and begin to attack the hermits Krishna puts a stop to it Yudhishthira becomes king. (Source: Yudhishthira’s Rajasuya) 3.  The Pandavas...

 1. I am very happy with my progress so far. I am really proud of how much better my writing has become. My weekly routine is decent, if I have extra time I try and get ahead for the week. The class assignments I enjoy the most would probably be these reflection posts. I have not used any extra credit but I also have not missed an assignment yet. 2. For the second half of the semester I cannot say I’d make any changed I have been managing to do really well so far. A few pitfalls I want to avoid are verb tense errors when writing I have been struggling with those. Something new I want to try in my writings and have started this week is adding more dialogue. I may want to try a new theme for my blog going forward but I am really liking how my site has turned out. 3.  Motivation to keep pushing/moving forward (Image information: Personal Image from Meme Collection)

Week 8 Comments and Feedback   1. Feedback in .  The quality of feedback I have received this semester from other students is really great. Genuinely all of the comments have helped me in some way. Being able to apply even the smallest advice in my revisions have furthered my stories.   2. Feedback out .  The quality of feedback I have been leaving other students I would say has been great so far as well. The different techniques we have learned have been instrumental in leaving productive feedback. I have definitely been able to get some good ideas from other writings to apply to my own.   3. Blog comments .  Definitely have got a good sense of getting to know people from there intro blogs and the way they style their sites/blog. I was very happy with my introduction post and the feedback I received on it. 4. Looking forward .   Personally, looking forward I wouldn’t make any changes to the comment or introduction. One thing I need to do is go ba...

Week 8 Reading and Writing Looking Back:          The reading and writing assignments so far are fairly easy and manageable. There are some times during the week where I have other stuff going on since I am in 19 hrs where writing stories on top of that is stressful. I am very happy with my blog and how my writing projects are going so far. One of the biggest accomplishments so far is becoming a better writer as each week goes by. My favorite reading so far definitely has to be Gambling Match which I wrote a story about.    Image: I chose the image below from one of my first stories. It was also the image I used on my first story post on my site and the most revised story of the semester. Looking Forward:     Something I want to do in order to get more out of this class is to try different writing styles. I feel like I need to branch out more in that regard. Adventurer's Boat (Image Information: Photo by Jessie.Devera Source: Flickr )

 Mr. Finesse Chris was a common lowlife and drug dealer in his neighborhood. He wanted badly to be able to get out of the drug game and go clean. However, the man who runs his block told him if he were to leave he would kill him. They called this man Ghost because not a lot of people knew his true identity. Only Chris and a few other close associates knew of his true identity, which is why Chris could not just go to the police and snitch. Chris had been plotting all kinds of ways to get out of his situation. He contemplated murder but knew of the consequences he may face. Then, his best idea had surfaced as he remembered that Ghost was a big fan of gambling. Chris also remembered his Uncle was a big-time gambler and somewhat of a finesser out on the streets. He could finesse his way out of anything and he was known for it. They called him Mr. Finesse on the streets. It did not matter the circumstance, whatever challenge he was faced with Mr. Finesse like his name could finesse it. ...

      Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition Author: Multiple Part D: The Mongoose A mongoose appears, his body is half golden and he spoke His audience was confused and so he began to tell a story He told the story of a Brahmin who lived off of corn and ate it once a day at a fixed hour A famine occurred, forcing the man his wife, and kids to grow weak until they were living skeletons One day the brahmin had sum barley and divided it into 4 portions to get ready to eat Right before eating a guest arrived and they welcomed him with water and a seat The brahmin gave him his share of food and the guest ate it but was still hungry The wife then brought her share to her husband and ended up giving it to the guest as well Though the guest's hunger was still not appeased Next, the son brought his share as he wanted to share in his fathers hungry The guest took the sons share and was still hungry The last person remaining was the daughter in law, reluctant at first gave her s...

    Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition Author: Multiple Part C: The Battle Begins Both armies awaited the sunrise and when the air cleared the battle began Abhimanyu  perceived that there was a strong advantage was with the Kauravas because of Bhishma Bhishma advanced to make an attack upon the Pandava army The two heroes Bhishma and Arjuna fought until dusk until Bhishma retired and the first days battle came to an end The second day Bhishma attacked the Pandava forces again and Arjuna drove him back Arjuna forces were shortened though The third day the army of the Pandavas using a different formation Headless men rose up and fought against one another  Duryodhana, after seeing the carnage told Bhishma that he should yield to Karna because of Arjuna Bhishma thought he was foolish and exclaimed that he would lead the Kauravas until the triumph Bhishma took his charioteer and drove back the enemy and even Arjuna Bhima was the hero of the fourth day of battle On...

  Week 6 Lab     For this week's story lab, I decided to explore EmpoWord. Specifically, Chapter 2: Telling a Story. Chapter Two: Telling a Story: Narration is an important aspect of storytelling and choices during narration can create an impactful beautiful and interesting story Important vocabulary words: characterization, dialogue, dynamic character, epiphany, flat character, mood, multimedia, narration, narrative pacing, narrative scope, narrative sequence, plot, pov, round character, static character, & tone scope refers to the boundaries of your plot: where/when does it begin and end? whats its focus? it is important with scope to drive a story and prune out extraneous situations You can say more by digging deep into a few ideas or events instead of trying to relate every idea or event The most impactful stories are those that represent something  In media res  refers to starting your story with action rather than exposition (an antagonistic, imagistic...

  Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition Author: Multiple Part B: The Gambling Match Duryodhana knew he cold not overcome the Pandavas in open conflict  He plotted with his people to accomplish their fall by artifice Shakhuni plays with loaded dice and is renowned for his skill as a gambler Duryodhana went to his father and requested that he plan a friendly gambling match Pandava brethren were at first reluctant to the gambling match but came to pass and journeyed to Hastinapura All the princes and great chieftains gathered at a pavilion decorated by gold and lapis lazuli for the gambling match Yudhishthira announced that having been challenged they cannot withdraw and wanted to know who claims this challenge  Doryodhana announced he will provide the stakes but his uncle Shakuni will throw the dice Yudhishthira exclaimed that this request is odd and different from normal practice but will abide by these rules Rajah of Inda. Knew the match would not be played fairly but...

Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition Author: Multiple Part A: The Arrival of Karna There is a tournament where warriors can display their skills Right before the tournament is ending and unknown warrior arrived The unknown warrior was Karna the son of Surya and of Kunitz Karna approached the youngest son of Kunti, Arjuna. And they are both unaware that they are actually brothers Karna vowed to surpass any challenges that Arjuna faced today in the contest if permitted by Drona Drona gave the warrior permission to display his skills, where he then completed each that Arjuna was given Duryodhana embraced Karna while Arjuna detested the idea of him showing up and making this display Both brothers cried out eachother, Karna told Arjuna that field of combat is free and that is where you win by strength and skill Imagery created by the sun god Surya and the mighty Indra Kunti the mother of the Brothers was divided as she knew who Karna was by his voice and armor Duryodhana and his group ...

The Streets Tyrone and Sasha were a very loving couple and have gone through a lot together. They were together when Tyrone was arrested and sent away to live on his own. Tyrone and Sasha were together when Sasha was kidnapped by her crazy ex-boyfriend. This may have been one of the worst tragedies this couple has faced. However, through it all, they have stayed together and have managed to keep their relationship intact. This was until the rumors had started. Many rumors were surfacing that Sasha was not kidnapped by her crazy ex-boyfriend, but that she had left on her own accord to be with him. Tyrone did not want to believe the rumors and so he did what any man would do. Tyrone made a secret plan to test her. He decided he would have his friend slide in her DMS to see if she was loyal. To Tyrone's surprise, she had passed the test with flying colors. His friend did all he could to shoot his shot but in the end, she still turned him down. Tyrone felt guilty and even ended up tell...