Story: Just Another Day, Lake Edition

It was just another day in the lake.  I was just swimming along, looking for some little froggy things to eat.  I had just been bubbled by one of my friends who knew a relative of mine in the ocean.  My cousin-fish had an interesting story to bubble.  He had just been swimming around, looking for some ocean-froggies to eat when these silver fish started swimming by, and hurting some of the other fish.  After a few of these fish went by, he claims that the ocean god rose up out of the darkness below him and went up to the light.  After a little while, the god went swimming back by.  I’m not sure if I believe him.  Admittedly, there isn’t much of a darkness here in the lake that a giant fish-god could swim out of.  I’ve been bubbled that the ocean is a lot bigger, but I just don’t know.

Anyway, it was just another day in the lake.  I was just swimming along, looking for some little froggy things to eat. After my friend finished bubbling me the story, he went swimming off to look for some of his own little froggy frogs to eat.  I had just found a really tasty little grouping of the froggy frogs and was getting ready to nibble on them when a giant fish-thing landed right next to me and swept all the froggy frogs away! How rude!

Now, we had some interesting looking fishies that came into the lake from time to time.  There were several fish that always seemed to come in sets of four.  Big gray ones that came with a long skinny grey one, brown and black skinny ones that had a round, hard head, and other skinny ones of different colors that had four little heads.  They all seemed to swim straight down with their heads buried in the sand, would squirm around a bit, and then disappear.  Strange little fishies. 

However, this fishie was really big, with two odd shaped fins and two tails! I had never seen a fishie with two tails before! They still didn’t look really helpful for swimming, especially with how many chunky scales the fishie had.  Then again, it didn’t really do much swimming.  It just kind of settled on the bottom and didn’t move.  Occasionally it would twitch a little bit, but that was it.  It was there for a full turn of light and dark, but it still didn’t move.  I thought that maybe it was dead.  That was the only time I had ever seen a fishie not moving like that.  I tried bubbling at it, trying to figure out where it had come from and why it wasn’t moving, but the fishie just ignored me.  When I tried to swim up to it, it finally moved enough to push me away, which I thought was rude. 

After a while, it finally swam upwards with a great crashing and splashing.  It scared all the froggies in the lake away with all the waves that it was making. How inconsiderate! It stuck its two tails down into the sand and just stayed there for a bit.  I could have caught several froggies in the time it was sticking its head out of the water, if there had been any froggie frogs nearby.  It finally hopped towards the shallow area of the lake and then just disappeared altogether. 

It kind of reminded me of that story my friend had bubbled to me about my ocean-cousin.  Did I tell you about the time that he met the ocean-god? It had just been another day in the ocean.  My cousin-fish was just swimming along, looking for some ocean-froggies to eat…

Author’s Note:

I chose to expand on the story of Duryodhana in the Lake, at least in regards to the time that he spent in the lake.  It reminded me of the story that I had written about Rama when he shot arrows into the ocean and how a certain fish had experienced that particular part of the story.  As I was reading this story, I immediately thought of how this would look to a different fish.  I really enjoyed writing the original story and thought it would be fun to put a little different twist on it.  It allowed me to kind of channel my inner child and just write a light hearted, easy-to-read story. 

In the original, Duryodhana is hiding from the Pandava army and he could remain underwater for as long as he desired. Clearly the lake was the only place to hide! He stayed under the water until Bhima found him and then they fought on the land.

Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). PDE Mahabharata.

Image Info: Northern Pike. Source: Wikipedia; 

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Section D

I feel bad constantly comparing the Mahabharata to the Ramayana, but it is the only comparison that I can really make at this time.  While reading the Ramayana, I wanted more detail about the fighting and the war that Rama brought to Ravana.  However, in the Mahabharata, I almost think we have too much detail.  It kind of got to the point that I didn’t really care anymore, as long as I could find out how the battle ended.  I got tired of the story because it started to feel repetitive.

I definitely had issues keeping up with characters in this epic as well.  Part of that is probably due to the fact that I had no idea how to pronounce the names, so I just kind of made a sound in my head when reading the name without actually reading it.  Lazy, I know, but it would have taken far too long to figure out how to pronounce all the freaking names that are brought up in this epic. 

I also feel like the ‘conclusion’ was rather drawn out. Everything after the end of the battle just seemed to keep dragging on and on.  Admittedly, part of that was because I was starting to lose interest, which isn’t exactly the fault of the epic.  Overall, I enjoyed the Mahabharata, I just wish it had been a little bit shorter.  

Bibliography: Public Domain Mahabharata, link to source.

Image Information: Yudhishthira's journey to hell. Source: Indian Epics. 

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Section C

Well, Draupadi used to be one of my favorite characters.  Now, she’s just annoying.  I know that she lost everything that knew due to one of her husband’s losing a gamble, but come on.  Who cares about her ivory chairs and luxurious beds? The men surrounding her have lived through worse and she’s just lamenting about how bad her life suddenly is.  I agree on the point of her husbands not coming to her defense, but still.  She’s really annoying in the beginning of this section.

You’d think the wife of five men who are the sons of gods would manage to get into a little less trouble.  She was gambled away at the start of the section and now she’s been claimed by another prince. Between her and the problems caused by the Kauravas, the Pandavas will never find a moment’s peace!

I think it could be fun to use the scene from Krishna’s Mission in my storybook.  I can just picture how Charlotte’s husband will react to seeing Vishnu in the All-Form.  I should really give him a name though.  I can’t just keep calling him Charlotte’s husband.

There are several other scenes throughout this section of the epic that I could possibly rewrite for my storybook.  The hardest part is figuring out how to fit my character in without completely destroying the original theme of the story. 

Bibliography: Public Domain Mahabharata, link to source.

Image Info: Draupadi and Mahabharata. Souce: Indian Epics. 

Reading Notes: PDE Section B

The Mahabharata is a much ‘bloodier’ epic than the Ramayana.  The Ramayana had some death in it, but it was definitely glossed over for the most part.  In the Mahabharata, the deaths seem to be almost highlighted.  They’re definitely told in more detail, that’s for sure. 

I think Bhima has a thing for breaking the back of his enemies.  He broke the rakshasa’s back and the back of the cruel chief of Ekachakra.  Oh, AND he broke the back of the rajah Jarasandha.

I love that Draupadi became the wife of the 5 Pandavas.  I think it’s hilarious how it came about, with Kunti making a passing remark about sharing the gift, even though that gift is the woman that Arjuna just won.  It’s great that this came about because she just happened to pray five times in her previous life, which is just great.  That doesn’t seem like something that would happen in a story like this!

Arjuna sure is a hit with the ladies, isn’t he! First Draupadi, then Ulupi, then FIVE water nymphs, and then Chitra! Doesn’t sound like much of an exile to me?  Seems like he had more fun in exile than he ever had as a member of the Pandavas. He certainly saw more action and didn’t have to share anyone with his brothers. And then we moved on to Subhadra, his friend’s sister!

What is with these brothers?!?!

Bibliography: Public Domain Edition Mahabharata, link to source

Image Info: Draupadi and the Pandavas. Source: Indian Epics

The Life of Karna

Have you ever had one of those lives in which you just can’t seem to win? I was born the son of the sun god and a chief rani. I should have had a fantastic life.  Don’t get me wrong, I loved the way I grew up.  My adopted parents may have been low-caste, but they were good to me and loved me with all their hearts.  They taught me how to care for others, to care for myself, and to always remember where I came from, both as their son and the son of royalty and gods. 

When I was a child, I learned how to fire a bow with deadly accuracy.  I spent years practicing until I could split hairs at a hundred yards.  At this time, my father revealed to me the gifts that I was found with: golden armor and celestial earrings.  He also gave me a gift he had bought himself: a many colored bow that he had spent years saving money for. It must have cost him a small fortune and it meant the world to me.

He then told me that I had to leave home to find my blood family.  And so I left, travelling from city to city, in search of the woman who was my mother. My father told me she would recognize me when she was me from my armor and earrings.  Eventually, I came upon a tournament, and almost immediately, I heard a woman cry out.  Kunti, the mother and aunt of the princes that were in the midst of a tournament, had recognized me.  I knew that I had to prove me prowess and claim my birthright as a prince, so I challenged the current champion, Arjuna.  One side of the arena, who I would later learn were the Kauravas, the sons of Dhritarashtra, and the cousins of the Pandavas.  They were also assholes, but hey, they were supporting me, which was new.  I’d always been an outcast as the highborn son of a low caste family. They accepted me into their family.

Over the years, I began to realize just how stupid and crazy the Kauravas were.  They spent every hour of every day trying to destroy the Pandavas.  I tried to thwart their plans as often as possible, but there was one plan that I couldn’t stop and it was the deadliest plan of them all.  Duryodhana was an evil man and he wanted to see all the Pandavas dead, including their mother (and mine).  He built a palace for the Pandavas that was soaked in oil, and then burnt it down while they were sleeping.  Everyone thought they were dead and I was stuck with these morons for life.  Honestly, Arjuna and I may not have gotten off on the best of terms, but we were still brothers.  If I had to choose again, I would definitely have sided with the Pandavas, even if they hated me for challenging Arjuna.

Several years passed, and I spent my time looking for a wife.  I was searching for a woman who would accept my apparent humble beginnings, even if I had the blood of Kunti and a god running through my veins.  It seemed like being raised by charioteers would haunt me for the rest of my life.  I had been accepted into the royal household as an equal, but no woman could look past my adopted parent’s caste. 

Eventually, a woman named Draupadi’s swayamwara came around.  It was said that she would wed the man who could draw a special bow and bring down the golden fish.  I knew that I could do this and win her for my wife.  She would have to accept my birthright as a prince, even if I was the adopted son of a charioteer.

I showed up at the swayamwara and watched many a rajah try and fail to so much as string the bow.  There were even men lying on the ground moaning and groaning from trying to string it while the crowd laughed at them. Finally, I grew tired of the pathetic show and stepped forward, hoping to end the misery of us all.  I easily strung the bow and tested the bowstring.  It seemed like it would hold so stepped forward to pick up an arrow. 

As I took aim, a voice cried out. Draupadi, the woman who claimed that she would accept the champion as her lord, proclaimed, “I am a king's daughter, and will not wed with the base-born.” She publicly embarrassed me because of how I was raised, despite my royal blood.  I would never be ashamed of my parents, but she publicly humiliated me.  I gave her a bitter smile, despite the anger that I felt rising inside me.  I started to stalk away, but out of spite, I shouted to the sky, “O Sun! Be my witness that I cast aside the bow, not because I am unable to hit the mark, but because Draupadi scorns me.”

I just hoped that the Kauravas didn’t catch wind of this.  I was humiliated and they would take any chance they could to rub it in my face.  Honestly, what had I done to deserve this life? Was I that horrible in my last life? Vishnu, but I wished Arjuna and the Pandavas were still alive. 

Author’s Note:

I chose to write about the life of Karna as we’ve seen it so far.  I liked the idea of his character, as he kind of reminded me of Lakshmana. We’ve just seen little bits about him so far, throughout the epic as we learn the story of the Pandavas, so I thought it would be fun to tell his side of the story.    I gave some short summaries of the stories we’ve read so far and included some commentary of my own.  We met him during the tournament between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, when he enters and challenges Arjuna.  He is supported by the Kauravas and was welcomed into their fold.  We meet him again at Draupadi’s swayamwara, during which he is completely humiliated by her and Arjuna ends up winning her hand.  I also gave a glimpse into his life before entering the story of as an adult.  I just wanted to give him a little more depth as a character since he intrigued me while I was reading. 

Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1913). PDE Mahabharata. 

Image Info: Chariot. Source: Pixabay

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Section A

Finally, the Mahabharata! I feel like I’ve been reading the Ramayana for a really long time at this point, so it was nice to move onto a new story.

The beginning of the Mahabharata was really slow to me, so I didn’t have high hopes for the story overall.  Then again, I’ve read stories that started worse and turned into some of my favorites. I really enjoyed the part when Bhishma captured the princesses for his half-brother. He took on the equivalent of an army of the greatest men and just took the women.  That took some serious guts.

 

I also liked the story of Lady Amba.  She was a woman of courage, to return to her betrothed after being taken from her father.  She was also willing to leave her second home, with nowhere to go, because she was being mistreated.

I really enjoyed this first section of the Mahabharata.  It captured my attention a little faster than the Ramayana, and it had more depth and character than the Ramayana.  I look forward to reading more of this epic!

Image Info: Bhishma at the Swayamvara. Source: Indian Epics. 

Bibliography: Public Domain Edition Mahabharata, link to source. 

Feedback (Un)Focused

Feedback on story writing is something that I always struggle with. I get so caught up in the amazing stories that people have written and the intense imagination that the authors have that I forget that I’m supposed to be critiquing their stories.  The only thing that has ever truly stood out for me is grammar problems, but I was a newspaper editor in high school and I excelled at English (maybe not anymore) so it comes naturally to me. 

DELETE!!!

 Of these three techniques, I think the best one to me is the Copy-and-Delete technique. It makes me focus on the story in bits which really helps my ability to give feedback.  I can look at this section and see if there are any useless bits or parts that could be expanded on, and then relate it to the previous comments that I have written to see if my questions have been answered from previous sections.

Personally, I always try to read a story at least twice.  The first time, I read it through for my own personal enjoyment.  I can get into the story and envision it and just revel in the imagination.  Then I reread it for grammar mistakes and other storytelling flaws or tweaks that could make the story better.  Reading stories out loud has never worked for me because I tune myself out.  Like, I’m actively reading the story out loud and not listening to a word I’m saying.  It’s a real problem. 

Image Info: Cyberman. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Story: The Power of Sita

It felt like I’d spent years sitting in that grove of trees waiting for Rama. I know it had at least been a few months since Ravan believed he kidnapped me and took me to that stupid island. Everyone always told me that islands were fun and full of sun and cocktails, but not that island.  Well, not for me anyway. All I did was sit in a stupid grove and wait for Ravan to come with his horde of demon-women to make another proposition to me.  Honestly, any woman, demon or human, stupid enough to say yes to this ridiculous man deserved everything they had coming when my Rama finally showed up. 

Now, I’m sure you’re thinking, ‘well you’re the one who got kidnapped for being stupid and won’t even try to free yourself, so you deserve this situation too!’  That’s where you’re wrong.  I actually chose to be here.  You see, it was my destiny.  When I was a young girl, the gods came to me and told me that I would marry a man who was destined to save the world from the evil Ravan.  They told me that the man would be exiled from his home and that I would have to go with him.  They told me that there would be trials along the way, some involving me, that would test his strength and resilience so they would know when he was ready to face Ravan.  They told me that I would have to essentially orchestrate my own kidnapping by Ravan so that Rama would come to rescue me and finally vanquish the demon. Just before they left, they gave me certain powers that would ensure that I could follow these directions without getting myself killed in the process.  They gave me powers of persuasion and knowledge of how to defend myself, should the need arise. 

 Anyway, so there I was, sitting on my bench in the grove, when Ravan came walking through the gate yet again.  In that squeaky, annoying little voice of his he said, “Once again, lady, I ask you if you will become my queen.”  Why the most powerful of all the demons has such a pathetic voice is beyond me. 

Just like every other time he had come to me, I simply replied “Never.”  Like usual, he tried to convince me that, even though I would be one of a hundred women in his harem, I would be his ‘queen above all his other queens’. How pathetic does that sound? ‘Sure, I’ll become your queen if I’m above all these other women, but you’ll still go around sleeping with them.’  Think again!

However, after our usual little exchange, he finally surprised me.  He told me that Rama would not come to save me because I was going to die.  To be honest, the threat itself wasn’t really what surprised me.  It was just the fact that he actually had the balls to say it to my face.  Not to mention, I didn’t think he would want to get his little manicured hands dirty with the blood of a woman.  But hey, to each their own right? He even went to the effort of raising his blue-steel scimitar, ‘preparing’ to kill me, like he ever could. 

With as much sarcasm and derogation as I could muster, and I could muster a lot at this point, I said, “Yes Ravan, kill me and rid me of my sorrow.” The sorrow of having to look at his ugly face every day.  Just to be safe, I broke out those powers of persuasion that the gods had given me.  To be honest, it was the first time that I’d ever really used them.  I’d always been able to get out of the tricky situations myself before, but I needed to be sure this time.  I let the power rise in me, and he immediately lowered his weapon and walked away muttering.  And they say women are the weaker sex.  I hadn’t even used a fraction of the power that the gods had given me.  It had taken more effort to get Rama to chase after that damn golden deer that had led to this mess in the first place…

Author’s Note:

I chose to rewrite a very small part of The Divine Archer’s Section VII.  The part is less than a page long and is simply telling of when Hanuman found Sita in the asoka tree grove and witnessed Ravan coming in to ask her to be his queen yet again.  When she defies him and he threatens to kill her, it says she stays his hand with the ‘power in her eyes’.  I thought it would be fun to give Sita more control and power in this version of the Ramayana.  She’s kind of just a background player throughout the epic, just being the reason for certain things happening or an accent to the story line. I wanted to have Sita have a significant role in Rama’s destiny, so I made it so she basically orchestrates it.  The gods tell her how it’s supposed to go down, but she uses her wits and skills to ensure everything goes as planned.  I also thought that even though she was given these powers by the gods, that it would be cooler if she had never really needed to use them.  She’s just that good. 

Bibliography: F.J. Gould, The Divine Archer, link

Image Information: Ravana and Sita. Source: Wikimedia Commons. 

Reading Notes: The Divine Archer, Part B

With this half of Gould’s version of the Ramayana, I actually enjoyed the Public Domain edition better.  Certain scenes had better details in the PDE version, such as when Hanuman is jumping/flying to Ravan’s island. 

There was one part of the story that really caught my eye in Gould’s version, however.  When Hanuman is in Ravan’s city and finds Sita, Ravan comes in.  He’s asking Sita to become his queen yet again, but still she refuses.  When he says he will kill her, she basically says fine, but it was the next sentence that intrigued me.  It says, “But there was power in her eyes that held his hand.” It was the first instance in all of the Ramayana that I have read so far in which it says that Sita had power.  Throughout the epic, she is portrayed as the meek woman who is defined by her husband, and yet this time it said she had power.  It may just be the power of a woman waiting for her husband and taking control of her fate, but still.  

Sita and Hanuman. Source: IE: Reading Guides

Bibliography: F.J. Gould, The Divine Archer, link.

Reading Notes: The Divine Archer, Part A

I really liked this version of the Ramayana and kind of wished it had been the one that I read first.  Since I have already read the story, I didn’t get to fully appreciate this version.  I kind of started to skim and was annoyed by all the details.  Usually, I like the details that help me envision what is going on, but since I just finished reading the Ramayana, I just wasn’t getting into it.  Overall, I definitely appreciated and preferred this telling of the story.

I did like getting more elaboration on the celestial weapons that Rama was given and on how the battle in the forest went.  I think it could be fun to rewrite the portion about Sita being rude to Lakshmana.  Maybe she’s the one trying to get rid of Rama and his brother!

If I had the choice, I would have read this version of the Ramayana first, and then read a poetry version.  That way, I would have known what the story was, but could have gotten the more dramatic language and whatnot while still having a strong understanding of the story that was being told. 

Parashurma. 

Source: Indian Epics: Reading Guides.

Bibliography: F.J. Gould, The Divine Archer, link. 

Reading Notes: The Divine Archer, Part A

I really liked this version of the Ramayana and kind of wished it had been the one that I read first.  Since I have already read the story, I didn’t get to fully appreciate this version.  I kind of started to skim and was annoyed by all the details.  Usually, I like the details that help me envision what is going on, but since I just finished reading the Ramayana, I just wasn’t getting into it.  Overall, I definitely appreciated and preferred this telling of the story.

I did like getting more elaboration on the celestial weapons that Rama was given and on how the battle in the forest went.  I think it could be fun to rewrite the portion about Sita being rude to Lakshmana.  Maybe she’s the one trying to get rid of Rama and his brother!

If I had the choice, I would have read this version of the Ramayana first, and then read a poetry version.  That way, I would have known what the story was, but could have gotten the more dramatic language and whatnot while still having a strong understanding of the story that was being told. 

Parashurma. 

Source: Indian Epics: Reading Guides.

Bibliography: F.J. Gould, The Divine Archer, link. 

Reading Notes: The Divine Archer, Part A

I really liked this version of the Ramayana and kind of wished it had been the one that I read first.  Since I have already read the story, I didn’t get to fully appreciate this version.  I kind of started to skim and was annoyed by all the details.  Usually, I like the details that help me envision what is going on, but since I just finished reading the Ramayana, I just wasn’t getting into it.  Overall, I definitely appreciated and preferred this telling of the story.

I did like getting more elaboration on the celestial weapons that Rama was given and on how the battle in the forest went.  I think it could be fun to rewrite the portion about Sita being rude to Lakshmana.  Maybe she’s the one trying to get rid of Rama and his brother!

If I had the choice, I would have read this version of the Ramayana first, and then read a poetry version.  That way, I would have known what the story was, but could have gotten the more dramatic language and whatnot while still having a strong understanding of the story that was being told. 

Parashurma. 

Source: Indian Epics: Reading Guides.

Bibliography: F.J. Gould, The Divine Archer, link. 

Feedback Thoughts

As a Communication major, feedback is one of those topics that comes up a lot.  We constantly talk about how you should give feedback and that you shouldn’t take negative feedback to heart.  It’s a way of bettering yourself by listening to the advice of others.  They may not always be right, but if you never listen to feedback, you can never learn what you need to work on in your life. 

I have one recommendation for feedback that I have tried to use in my life.  Always provide some negative feedback.  No one’s work is absolutely perfect, so there is always something that they need to work on.  It doesn’t hurt them to be told that they need to work on something.  Believe me, it will help them in the long run.  However, if it is someone who doesn’t necessarily take negative feedback well, sandwich it between some positive feedbacks.  It can never hurt to highlight what people are doing right, so provide a little bit of good with the bad.

Now, everyone feels a little put down when they receive negative feedback.  Just remember, they are not criticizing you as a person.  They are trying to help you in the work that they are reviewing.  They are not saying that you are a bad person or anything, but everyone can better their work. One of my professors really taught me this.  It kind of relates to the Growth Mindset viewpoint.  If you listen to negative feedback and keep it in mind as you are moving forward, you will only better yourself.   

Image Info: Feedback. Source: Pixabay

Reading Notes: PDE Section D

This section definitely did not go as I had thought it would.  I figured that Rama would rescue Sita and then they would do something that would cause them to return to their godhoods.  I definitely did not think that Rama would banish Sita for infidelity even after she had proved herself pure.  He followed the will of his people, even when they were truly wrong, without giving Sita a chance to prove herself to them. 

I did enjoy the battle story, although I think seeing into the minds of some of the characters would have helped a little.  It gets a little dry when you are reading the story of the battle and you’re told there is dialogue happening but not what the actual words are.  I enjoyed the twist of the ending and this section overall.  It was probably my favorite section of the Ramayana! 

Bibliography: Public Domain Ramayana, link to online source. 

Image Info: Rama and Brahma. Source: PDE Ramayana

Story: Just Another Day in the Ocean

It was just another day in the ocean.  I was just swimming along my way, looking for some little shrimpy things to eat.  I mean, every day was pretty much the same anyway.  Swish my tail, gulp some water, and search for little shrimpies to eat.  I really like shrimpies.  They are really small, which is perfect because I’m not exactly big.  Don’t get me wrong, I am a perfectly adequate size.  I’m not a great white shark or orca or humpback whale or dolphin or sun fish or…. Sorry I got distracted.  I really like listing out all the amazing things I’ve met over the years. Anyway, I’m not big, but I manage.  The shrimpies taste really good, with that little bit of a crunch that makes them just perfect.  I’m getting sidetracked anyway.

Today was apparently destined to be a day unlike any other.  There I was, swimming around, looking for shrimy shrimpies, when all of a sudden, something went shooting past me.  Now, I couldn’t really see it, considering how fast it went swimming by, but it was definitely not something I had ever seen before.  It was really thin and long and kind of shiny, but not like scales shiny.  When it went past me, I was just closing in on a bunch of shrimpies, but they scattered when this new fish thing went flashing by.

Now, I’m always ready to meet somefish new, but this thing was fast.  I’m a fast swimmer, but it was clearly a just a smidgen faster than I am.  However, another one went swimming by, within a bubble’s width of my eye! These new fish needed to be careful, before they hit someone! Just as I was beginning to consider trying to catch one of those two fish to tell them that they and their friends needed to be careful since there were a few fish swimming around, another one flashed by, this time hitting one of my friends! It had killed Bob! He had a wife and kids and this weird fish had just killed him! Someone needed to stop these fish!

The next flashy fish that went by was different.  It had this stuff on it that made the water hot.  It was really weird and was definitely not normal. Just as it went swimming toward the dark at the bottom of the ocean, something else started rising up out of that dark place. 

Now, some fish think that the bottom of the ocean is where God lives, but I’ve never really prescribed to that faith.  I don’t really think that there is a God, but I’d also never seen anything come out of the dark at the bottom of the ocean. Some giant, ungainly fish came rising up.  It was being pushed by some bubbles, which was good since its fins didn’t look like they would do much good.  Oh, it did have a fishy like tail which would definitely help it swim, but it didn’t look like it would get anywhere very fast.  That’s probably what the bubbles were for.

Anyway, it went up towards the light above me, where those flashy fish had come from.  I’ve never been that close to the light, but this fish went right up there.  After it went up there, I started to feel this pressure, kind of like when the whales are talking to each other.  They always talk so loud, but this fish was talking even louder.  I mean really, what was this fish’s deal?! A little while later, it came back down and went back into the deep. On the bright side, the flashy fishes stopped coming, so that was good.  On the downside, apparently everyone else was blinded when that weird giant fish went by because they didn’t know what I was talking about.  How could they miss that?!

No one ever believes me about anything.  That might have been the god of the ocean and these fish thought I was insane! The GOD of the OCEAN fishes!!! Whatever.  They didn’t believe me when I told them I had met a whale shark either, so that’s their problem. 

Author’s Note:

I decided to rewrite the story of The Bridge.  For some reason, my first thought upon reading this story was “What would the fish think about these celestial arrows being shot into the ocean?” In the original story, Rama shoots arrows into the ocean to try to get the God of the Ocean to help him and the army cross the ocean to get to Lanka.  The God eventually rises to the surface and tells Rama that he must build a bridge to cross the ocean because he could not be ‘forded’. 

Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1913). PDE Ramayana.

Image Info: Herring. Source: Flickr

Reading Notes: PDE Section C

This was an easier section of the Ramayana to read.  The continuity issues were still there, but not as obtrusive as they were in the previous sections.  I really liked the way that this section rolled out, especially with the little battles and adventures sprinkled throughout. 

I found a few possible storytelling ideas, mostly consisting of fleshing out the battles and whatnot that were alluded to or quickly summed up throughout the section.  I might also change the part about Sita and her sitting in the grove completely dejected and useless.  I never understood why the damsel in distress is usually portrayed as completely helpless without her man.  She could at least be coming up with some sort of plan while she’s just sitting there. 

I also thought that the imagery of a giant monkey, his tail on fire, running back and forth across an island setting everything on fire was incredibly entertaining.  That’s just not something that you picture on a day to day basis.  

Bibliography: Public Domain Ramayana, link to online source. 

Image Info: Lanka on Fire. Source: PDE Ramayana