Week 9 Reading Diary A: Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art

(A depiction of Narayana)

While I did not technically "read" this week, I did watch some youtube videos about the Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art.  I will include the videos below because they are super fun and interesting. I was drawn to them last semester while in Myth and Folklore. One was posted in the announcements and I watched quite a few then.

I love how in the narrator explains why the gods and goddesses in Hindu are widely accepted amongst believers. As a westerner, it is hard for me to get past the decorative images that depict multi-headed creatures or gods with many arms. I do think that if I were raised to believe in these gods and goddesses that I would not second guess the imagery or stories behind them.

Another thing I really enjoyed was how they explained the cycles of Hinduism. The videos go into detail how things that die are always reborn. I like the idea that there isn't a sense of urgency to master all of these things within a religion in Hinduism. You have cycles and its always in phases.

As promised, here are the videos:

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Week 8: Blog Ideas

Originally, I had a completely different layout for my blog. I scrapped it for something more simple, more me. I am always open to a new look or a redesign. I feel there is only so much I can edit in this HTML because I didn't write the whole thing :P

There are three blogs that had small features that stood out to me.

Morgan's and Thomas' location of the labels really changed the blog. One simple feature changed everything about how the blog looks and the feel it gives. To me, Morgan's emphasized the use of labels for navigation and Thomas' made his blog look cleaner and user friendly. I think my blog could use some help in the navigation area.

Whitney's weather widget stood out to me. Last semester, I tried putting a weather widget on my page, but it never had the right location or time. I kept setting it to the correct one, but it wouldn't stay for some reason. it was unfortunate, because I like having them there. It makes it so convenient if you're about to step outside after working on your blog. I hope I can get it to work this time, because I really do want it on my page.

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Week 8: Time

I have been pretty terrible at keeping the schedule I created at the beginning of the semester. I find myself spending time on other activities when I should be doing homework. I haven't been too terrible at doing homework for this class or other classes. I managed to get them done on time, but I know I can be doing better. I had a perfect time schedule set up at the start of the semester, I just really need to follow it.

The second half of the semester I will be actually adhering to a time schedule (and I've also challenged myself to sticking to a budget :P). It will be hard to not procrastinate. I have never lost enthusiasm, but I do think I work really well under pressure. Sometimes, it is that pressure that motivates me. I need to find another motivator to get my work done early. I think I will create a reward system for when I stick to by time schedule (and budget). My goals are to finish this class as early as possible. That way I can focus on my finals in other classes.

I chose this image because it really represents how much I will procrastinate. No more waiting until 9PM to get a human for the next day for me!

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Week 7: Review

This week's favorite post comes from Thursday, March 3. I love that this cat looks so serious with a newspaper. It's both informative and funny. Here it is below in case anyone missed it:

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Week 7: Reading Diary Extra Credit: Mahabharata Cont.

(Bisma on the bed of arrows)

I AM FINALLY DONE WITH PART D!!!!! AND THE MAHABHARATA!! I just had to share my joy with everyone. As usual, I read the public domain and below are two of my favorite stories from part D.

The Pandavas and Bhishma: I thought that this was super noble of Bhishma to tell others how to rule after his death. I also found it interesting that he was able to choose when he died and chose now. When reading this, I felt like I was watching the end of the Titanic or something equally emotional. It seems like many were affected by his death and this provoked a lot of emotion. It was really sad.

The Afterlife: Like everyone is dead and then Yudhishthira has a final test to do?! Crazy. He is brought to the city of eternal bliss and is required to let go of all earthly connections. It sounds like something out of a fantasy movie. It reminds me a lot of myth and folklore where after a major battle a warrior will fall into "eternal bliss" if they leave behind the connections. I love how stuff like this is across cultures and isn't mutually exclusive to one.

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Week 9 Storytelling: Oh, Arjuna

(Ulupi and Arjuna chilling on a cliff)

I am stuck in these stupid woods all by myself.

You may be asking yourself why. Why are you in these woods alone, Arjuna? How did you end up here?

Well, when you’re married to a woman with five husbands, things can get tricky. We had rules regarding living arrangements and… I may have broken the rules. Who cares though?! I caught the robbers. I broke the rules for a good cause!

No one else saw it that way, though. So, I am in exile for twelve years. Can you believe that? TWELVE. Ridiculous.

Yudhishthira did not want me to go. Actually, he pleaded that I stay. I couldn’t though. How was I supposed to stay somewhere and be miserable because everyone was mad at me? So, I left.

Here I am now, in these woods all by myself.

I don’t mind it. I really don’t. The green, dense forests are very beautiful and have given me many stories to tell. I have seen many wonderful places and met many wonderful people. I have visited more holy places than you could ever imagine. I went to Haridwar, a place where the Ganges River flows into the plains, and that is where I met her.

Who is she? Ulupi. She is the daughter of Vasuki, the king of the nagas. She was beautiful. Long, flowing silky hair and smooth soft skin…she was perfection. I fell in love instantly.

Somehow, I managed to get her to love me back. It was probably because of my handsome face or charming personality. Or maybe it’s because of my strength and ability to fight.

Let’s be honest, as long as she loved me, I really couldn’t give a damn why.

She led me to her father’s palace and we stayed there for a while. It was blissful and I was happy. Hell, we even got married and had a kid together. Iravat is his name. He is our adorable, chubby little boy. It was like living in a dream. Life was perfect.

Until she found out I was married. Oops.

You see, Ulupi has a bit of a jealous streak. She doesn't like to share. She was not happy that I was and still am married. I tried to tell her how I only loved her and that the other marriage meant nothing to me. If you couldn't guess… I did not win that argument. In fact, I don't think I even got to speak for more than five minutes during that argument and it lasted for days. Many many days. Stressful, right? 

So long story short, she kicked me out. She even packed my bags for me. Hell, she even broke the news to Iravat before she even told me! I learned from him that I was getting kicked out. Do you know how crazy it is to eat breakfast with your kid and he says "Mom said you're leaving forever today!"? I do.

How am I always finding myself getting exiled when I try to do things right? So stupid. I left and haven’t heard from her since. I don't know what to do really. I suppose I will travel and hope that one day she will take me back. Until then though…

I am stuck in these stupid woods all by myself, again.

Author's Note: I decided to write about Arjuna and Ulupi. It's a pretty simple story about how Arjuna is exiled because of breaking rules regarding living arrangements and is exiled. During his exile he meets Ulupi, they fall in love, get married and have a kid. I decided to make it a bit more complex. When writing I pictured it like Ferris Bueller's Day Off or House of Cards, where the main character breaks the fourth wall and talks directly to the audience. To me, this is a moment like that for Arjuna. I think breaking the fourth wall makes it a bit fun to read and allows it to seem more modern and relatable. 

Originally, Arjuna just kind of moves along from story to story in his exile. I decided to make it where Ulupi kicks him out for not mentioning his previous marriage. I figured I would switch it up a bit to create a reason as to why he was wandering the forests alone, again. 

I chose an image of Ulupi because the story, in a way, revolves around her. I wanted readers to know what she looked like.

Bibliography:

Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

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Week 7: Reading Diary B: Mahabharata Cont.

(Krishna found on Wikipedia.)

Onto part C!!! Will do part D as extra credit. Much to my enjoyment, there were more Arjuna stories.  One again, I am reading the Public Domain version of the Mahabharata.

Arjuna and Shiva: Arjuna is forever going out on adventures by himself. Im starting to think its so he can get as many wives as possible :P The worst thing that kept happening while reading this story is that I kept thinking of that show, The League. It's because their trophy is called the Shiva and whenever I read the name Shiva, I hear it in my head how they say it.

Bhima and Kichaka: I know this story has a lot of battles and stuff, but I feel like when I think about the battles, Bhima is the first characters that pops to my head. Perhaps its because he's pretty darn good at winning!

Krishna and His Army:  I LOVE the stories about Krishna. I love reading about his relationship and the dynamic between Krishna and Arjuna. It's probably the main reason why I love these stories. It amazes me that Krishna is an incarnation of Vishnu, like Rama. So basically Vishnu, Krishna and Rama are the same person but in different life cycles. That's something I always think about when reading about him. I think this week, my story will involve Krishna!

FINALLY going to finish the Mahabharata. Finally. I cannot wait.

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