Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata, Part D

Notes:

• Yudhistira really does not want to go to war but keep peace within the family.

             - Krishna is going to Duryodhana to make one last plea for Yudhistira.

• Out of the 4 brothers, Sahadeva wants war and tell Krishna to provoke the Kauravas. 
• It would be fun to write a song like the 14 days of christmas but instead have the days of Krishna on his way to Hastinapura. page 136
• I could write a story about Duryodhana and a moral of the story is you are not alway right.
• I could write a story about a family fight at like the Christmas table or Easter dinner or just a family gathering

              - one crazy cousin causes all this drama by taking all the turkey legs and not sharing then
                takes all the pecan pie and whip cream. At this point the family is fed up but the dad just
                sits there and does nothing.  page 140

• I could write a story about he preparations for the war. How they chose Dhrishtadyumna as Supreme Commander. page 146
• Arjuna see's his kinsmen on the other side of the war line and losses heart.

              - He cannot kill his kin folk he admits to Krishna his chariot pilot.
              - It was just a lapse of judgement. Krishna gives him a pep talk
               - maybe I can write my story of Krishna's pep talk but this time it would be to the whole
                   army...... or maybe football team.

• War raged for 18 days

         - at sunset each side retreated and recouped, I could write a story about what the troops did in
           the evenings between battles page 148-149

• Abhimanyu, Arjuna's son, targeted his great- grandfather, Bhishma. 

            - Arjuna pierced him with arrows. So many when he fell down he laid in a bed of arrows
              - Bhisma was able to decide when to die. Its kind of grim but I could write a story about
                being able to choose when to die. Like some deadly ill people are allowed to do in a few
                states

Bhisma dying pierced with many arrows from Wikimedia

• Duryodhana thought now that he could have victory if Yudhistira was captured alive

           - I could write a story about how two cousins got in a fight and they never meant any harm but
            someone always gets hurt in the end. page 156

• Arjuna cuts off karna's head with an arrow. 
• Duryodhana has lost everything and goes to a lake with his mystic powers

         - Duryodhana fights Bhima to try to be a King a gain
          - I would like to write a story about this fight and his thought process on choosing who to fight.
              --> kind of like pick your poison page 165
        - Duryodhana lost

• i could write a story about Narada and Vyasa visiting the Pandavas after war

Bibliography: Narayan's Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic

Reading Notes: Narayan's The Mahabharata, Part C

Notes:

• Dhritarashtra has spies following the Pandava brothers so he knows how well they are doing and about Arjuna's weapons.

           - as always he is torn between his nephews and sons

• Duryodhana wants to keep closer tabs on the Pandava's b/c he knows his father is iffy. 

            - Duryodhana sent a messenger to invite the Pandava brothers to the festivities he was having
                but the messenger was denied passage by a watchman (a gandhrava) sent by the gods

• Fight broke out and Duryodhana was taken prisoner

           - Bhima and Arjuna go and rescue him

• I can tell a story about Yaksha the god who killed Yudhistira's brothers

           - the dialogue between Yaksha and Yudhistira. All the questioning.
           - The Yaksha revived Yudhirstira's brothers after answering the questions
           -The Yaksha was actually Yama
           - He also gave them the power to remain incognito for their last year of exile

• They decide to live in Matsya

           - each of them are taking on an alias
          - but Draupadi was molested by the Queens brother, Kichaka <--The Maury show story
           - Bhima killed him

(The Pandava brothers)

• Duryodhana wants to find the Pandava brothers because he is afraid they will bake the thirteenth year.

         - he figures out the Pandava brothers are probably  in Virata
         - he wants to wage war on them

• Arjuna takes Uttara to the Kauravas but stops to get the Pandava's weapons
• I could write a story about the proud father of Uttara page 110
• Story about the wedding of Uttarai and Arjuna's son, Abhimanyu.

• The Pandava brothers and Duryodhana both prepared for war after the 13 year exile was over

            - I could write a story about how Duryodhana tricks all of Yudhistira's allies into becoming

               one of his pg119

• I could write a story like kids fighting on a playground with the two groups sending messengers back and forth. 

Bibliography: Narayan's The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic

         

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata, Part B

Notes: 

• It is now known the Pandava brothers did not die in the house fire but it must have been another family with 5 sons. 

            - this news made Duryodhana very uneasy
            - Duryodhana fears now that the Pandava brother has married Drupada's daughter they will           find a common enemy in him.

• Drona, Vidura and Bhishma agree the Pandava's come out of exile.

• Dhritharashtra lives with his son Duryodhana in Hastinapura.

             - his cousins are the Pandava brothers who have married a single wife

             - he invites them back to Hastinapura

             - they are given land and they create a city with a palace to live in called Indraprastha

• I could write a story about Narada narrating the story of Sunda and Upasunda.

              - page 45

• Duryodhana envied the Pandava's brothers new city of Indraprastha

                - Duryodhana feared too many people liked the Pandava brothers

                    (Sakuni thinks Duryodhana should leave the Padavas alone because they have a lot of 

                      allies)

• I could write a story about how Arjuna (a pandava brother) was given with his great bow, Gandiva, and with the gift of an inexhaustible quiver.

                     - it was a gift of Agni 

                     - Arjuna is favored by the gods

                     - page 48

• Duryodhana says the servants made un of him while he was at Indraprastha.... but he is just making it up
• Sakuni suggests to Duryodhana that instead of challenging the Pandavas (Yudhistira) to war to challenge them to a dice game in order to humiliate them. 
• I could write a story kind of based on Varooka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 

              - Dhritarashtra would give anything to his son Duryodhana. 

              - page 51

• Sakuni (for Duryodhana) plays Yudhisira during the first dice game.

             - the stakes in the game keep getting higher and higher and Yudhisira keeps losing and losing 

             - I could write a story about a rigged dice game

• Voider suggests to Dhanajaya to to kill Duryodhana in order to keep peace.

                 - he refuses

• The wife of the Pandava's (Draupadi) refused to go to Hastnapura. She is forced

             - I could write a story about Draupadi 

              - page 61

Draupadi is presented in the dice game after Yudhisira has gambled her away from wikimedia

• Dhritarashtra feels bad for Draupadi and gives her wishes

1. Yudhistira is freed
2. his brothers are freed 
3. nothing 

          - he gives all their possessions back

          - instead of Dhirtarashra giving them wishes maybe it was a genie like in Aladdin (pg 66)

• The Pandava brothers are summoned again for a dice game and Yudhistira accepted... again!!!

              - he lost of course and they are all banished for 12 years

               - the Pandava brothers all promised revenge in their own way

• Sun god gave Yudhistira a copper bowl that gave him an inexhaustible supply of food

             - maybe write a story about the Sun god and the copper bowl!!! pg 72

• Vidura is banished as well 

             - could elaborate more on his banishment page 73

Bibliography: Narayan's The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic 

Story: The Fishing Trip

"Hey Dad! Car's all loaded up. Let's go!"

You see, every year since my mom left us my dad and I go on an annual fishing trip. At first I think it was more of a " I'm sorry this happened to us but now it's me and you against the world" kind of a trip but now it has turned into our thing. The big annual fishing trip to the Ganges River!

The drive is really not that far but I say "big" because my dad happens to be the king of a city called Hastinapura. As the only son I am the heir to the throne and having both the king and heir to the throne gone to the wilderness is stressful for my father's advisors.
Every year the advisors to the throne come up with some baloney excuse as to why we should not go but every year my father and I head to our favorite fishing spot on the Ganges against their will.

This year is different. My dad is usually the one pushing me out of the door so we can get a full day of fishing in but this year I practically packed the car all by myself. I also have noticed the staff attempting to make as little contact with him as possible, even avoiding his eye, as if they are afraid if he catches their glance he will fire them or something extreme.

I guess he has been rather moody and gloomy lately but I have been so busied with matters in preparing me to become king for when my father decides to step down that I have hardly noticed.

"Dad! Did you hear me? Daylight's awaistin'!"

"I heard ya, I heard ya. I just have to finish signing a few more letters and I'll be ready."

The car ride to the Ganges seemed longer than usual.  The limited talking and the no listening to music made the car ride drag on. The silence was a killer.

River Ganga at Hersil Town from Bipin Gupta

After a few hours of fishing I couldn't take it anymore. "What is eatin' at ya, Dad? Even the staff are afraid to glance your direction these past few weeks."

"I will get over it in time, son. I simply want something I can't have."

"What is it??"

"I've fallen in love with a woman but her father will not allow her to marry me because I already have an heir to the throne."

This information took me a few moments to digest considering it has only been my dad and I for so many years and I have never heard him talk of another woman besides my mother.

"Well, does she make you happy, Dad?"

"She does indeed, but you are my son and prince of Hastinapura. You are the future of our dynasty."

"Father, you have sacrificed so much for me. Let me step down as heir to the throne and the next son you father will be king"

"Son, I would never ask this of you in a million moons!"

"My mind has already been made up. I will visit the maiden's father tomorrow and hash out the fine details."

Authors Note:
In Narayan's Mahabharata, how and why prince Davavratha steps down from the throne is skated over I felt like. I wanted to bring that story to a more modern-day father-son fishing trip to really understand the relationship of king Santanu and his son Davavratha. In Narayan's portrayal, king Santanu instantly falls in love with a beautiful fisherman's daughter while hunting in the woods. The fisherman was willing to let his daughter marry Santanu but only under the condition that her son would be Santanu's successor. Santanu knew he could not accept this condition and left them.
Davavratha, noticing his father's gloomy state of mind, questioned him and when he found out the reasoning went behind his father's back to the fisherman to make the negotiation for his father. Davavratha agreed to never have children of his own and from then on took the name, Bhishna.


Bibliography: The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic by R.K.    Narayan.

Reading Notes: Narayan's Mahabharata, Part A

Notes:

• Would be interesting to write a story about how Santanu (the Ruler of an ancient kingdom, capital at Hastinapura) met the maiden by the river who turns out to be Ganga the deity of the river. 

                   - do more of a dialogue type of a story

Santanu and the maiden by the river from Wikipedia

• Could write a story about how Prince Devavratha steps down as successor of the throne to please his dad.

                   - there had to be drama with it

                   Devavratha changed his name to Bhishma because he vowed to never marry and have           children. 

                  - maybe base the story on a father, son fishing dream.

• I could write a scene from a soap opera explaining who slept with who and had who's baby.

               - refer to page 5 for further explanation of who is who. 

• I previously wrote a story about Yama and Vayu so it would be cool to write a story about their children
• I could write a story about the Pandava boys

               - it could be from when their dad dies

               - about their quick get away in the tunnel from the fire.

               - One of the Pandava brothers (Arjuna) wins Draupadi as his wife but has to share her with his 4 other brothers.

• I wanted to do a day time drama kind of show with who is married to who since Draupadi is shared among the brothers. It is also very confusing just like a soap opera is about who's child is who's. 

Bibliography: R.K. Narayan's Mahabharata

Feedback Focus

1. Reading Out Loud

The only problem I have with reading out loud is you cannot read out loud in a public place. I often find myself nestled in the Youngblood Energy library and if I read aloud in there other students might give me mean glares. On the other hand if I am at home or a place other people are not near me reading out loud does tend to help me focus on what I am reading. Now that I think about it, when I read a passage or sentence that is confusing or difficult to understand I catch myself reading it out loud to help me comprehend it.  What I acknowledged most while reading "Why Dog and Cat are Enemies" out loud is the language used. Language may not even be the right word but more the arrangement or sentence structure made you think about the sentence a little more.

Focus by Dimitris Kalogeropoylos from Flickr

      2. Copy- and- Delete

This is probably my favorite technique of all three. It seems to take a little longer than reading out loud and using a timer but much more affective, at least for me, when it comes to comprehending what I am reading. I catch myself reading but not paying attention to what I am reading more times than I would like to admit but stopping at the end of every paragraph to jot down notes is a great way to catch myself falling into a habit of not focusing on what I am reading. Even if I do fall into that familiar trap I will catch it at the end of a paragraph and not a few pages in. For this particular reading, "What Makes the Lightning" stopping to take notes at the end of every single paragraph may have been a little extreme but when reading a book I think at least stopping at the end of the page would even be extremely helpful. 

    3. Use a Timer

First, "Midterm Madness" is a hilarious story! Savannah did a great job telling a story based on the Ramayana in modern days. As far as the timer technique goes, it is my least favorite of the three. I found myself constantly looking at the clock to see how much longer I needed to read. This caused me to actually pay less attention to what I was reading than if I just read and did not use any of the three techniques. Maybe this technique would work better with reading novels that I find myself invested in and forget what time it is. It would be nice to have that ten minute reminder to write important events down that occurred in the reading during the allotted time. 

Story: The Sea to Lanka

"Do you know how infuriating it is Hanuman!?" Rama yelled furiously throwing his hands up. "Sita is so close but we are no closer to saving her than we were when we did not know where he had hidden her".

You see, Ravana, a ghastly man with ten heads was a very jealous man and when he heard of Rama's great triumphs and strengths he wanted him dead. When Ravana seeked Rama to take care of him himself he became distracted by the beautiful glow of Sita. Ravana became so distraught with love for Sita he completely forgot about Rama and his triumphs and snatched Sita without a thought.

Ravana and Sita painting from Wikimedia

"You will be my Queen in the city of Lanka" Ravana exclaimed to Sita as he approached his castle. Ravana never thought someone would not want to live a life of luxury but Sita refused everyone and every fine meal. After a while Ravana became tired of her antics and sent Sita off to a garden on the outskirts of Lanka.
"Finally", Sita sighed. "Maybe Rama will have a chance of finding me now."

Sita knew Rama had to be searching for her and that he had to pick up on her trail she tired to leave on her journey to Lanka.

"Sir, please." Hanuman trying to calm Rama down,  "let me call upon Nala and Nila, they can construct us something to get all the army across the ravaging sea and this will take us to Lanka where Ravana has hidden Sita".

"Fine, fine the sooner the plans take place the sooner we get to Sita", Rama replied impatiently.

Nala and Nila built the city the monkey clan lived in and were known far and wide for their architectural techniques.

"Sir Rama, a bridge only makes sense!"Nila said exasperated, he had been arguing with Nala about what type of structure to make for the sea crossing for hours now.

"I'm telling you Nila, a boat will move much faster than what the army can walk!"

Tired and ready to start building Rama interrupted the two, "We will build a fleet of ships! and this is how we will cross the sea to Lanka and retrieved my dear Sita who has been waiting on me long enough!".

Nala and Nila, intimidated by Rama's loud outburst nodded politely and left the tent to begin work on the ships for the army.

Nala and Nila proved the rumors true and provided Rama with a beautiful  fleet of ships suited to carry him, Lakshman and the monkey army across the tossing sea.

The trip across the sea to Lanka was a difficult one with the crashing cold waves and and strong Northward winds. The Ocean God, Varuna, was relentless and sent gigantic waves almost overturning the ships.

Rama Conquers Varuna by Wikimedia

The fleet reached Lanka after five days at sea and Rama announced, "we make camp here, on the shore! And in the morning, we fight!!"

The army cheered and hollered so loudly Ravana heard them in his Kingdom while watching musicians with his wife and knew the battle was to begin.

Bibliography: The Divine Archer by F. J. Gould. 1911

Authors Note: In the story Nala and Nila build a bridge across the sea to Lanka and the Ocean God, Varuna agrees to make the trip for the army as easy as possible. I thought it would be interesting if everything went wrong for Rama instead of in his favor and see how he would handle the situation. I really enjoyed the idea of having a story about Nala and Nila to see deeper into their characters and learn more about who they are.