Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana, Part D

Source: PDE Ramayana

The Bridge

Story telling- The God of the Ocean accepted the sacrifice and joined the fight

That’s a very quick bridge

Rama Attacks

Very smart attacking Sita to get to Rama

So who gets to shapeshift and who doesn’t?

Indrajit

Story telling-Indrajit wins

Kumbhakarna

How did they break Brahma’s decree?

Shocking… Rama used magic weapons again to beat the beast

Kumbhakarna Sleeping
Source: Mewar Ramayana

Hanuman and the Mountain

that’ s a really powerful jump to move mountains and then also cast everyone into the sea?

Indrajit

Yay for magical, sacred places that enable the hero to do things that have little to do with his actual ability!

Ravana’s Lament

Story telling- Indrajit is somehow revived much like the monkey army has been revived multiple times

Lakshmama

Why would he offer to die as well

Indra’s Chariot

Yet another exmaple of Rama doing absolutely nothing but still receiving a huge boost

Rama and Ravana

Sounds like the Hydra

Ravana’s Death

Hold up, has it been fourteen years? Can he enter a city?

Mandodari’s Lament

Sita and Rama

You’ve got to be kidding me.

Sita Tested

Wait, Rama gave his permission for the pyre to be built?

SO HE KNEW ALL ALONG?

Pushpaka

Rama and Bharata

Story telling- the people rebelled after being ruled over by sandals

Rama Crowned King

Valmiki’s Hermitage

DUDE. STOP IT. THE GODS SAID SHE WAS PURE.

Sita Departs

You don’t get to be upset when she disappears. You sent her away.

Rama Departs

Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana, Part C

Source: PDE Ramayana

Sugriva and Hanuman

That didn’t take him long to throw off his disguise

Why can’t the song of a Wind God lie?

Sugriva’s Story

Time is such a loose concept in these stories… everyone has years to just sit around and wait

How did he move a mountain on top of the hole? If a mountain was moved there, wouldn’t the elder brother have greater strength and be able to push it off?

Why does Vali have the authority to take away Sugriva’s wife?

Sugriva and Vali

So being respected by Rama is enough to end a blood feud?

Vali’s Death

Apparently Rama invented guerilla warfare pretty early

King Sugriva

I wonder why monkeys are so popular in India

EVEN AFTER HE KILLED THE KING, EVERYONE STILL PRAISES RAMA

The Rainy Season

The Armies

Story telling- Sugriva has actually kept Sita to himself this whole time

Sampati

Story telling- Sampati’s sight is broken, and while his vision is partially true, Sita and Ravan only stopped in Lanka

Sampati and Jatayu

Very Icarus-like

Rama just seems to fulfill all prophecies ever. He’s like the most “chosen” chosen-one of all time. He’s like the spice that suddenly makes a dish work. A key that gets into any lock.

Hanuman’s Leap

Seriously everyone is just born or given these amazing abilities… it doesn’t seem like people work for them.

Hanuman in Lanka

Story telling- Hanuman disguises himself as Sita

Ashoka Grove

Story telling- Sita fights them all off

Sita and Ravana

Hanuman and Sita

Come on Sita. Let the dude take you home

Hanuman Captured

The description of the demons as heroic is interesting

Hanuman and Ravana

Lanka Burning

But Hanuman didn’t get any special powers otherwise than the fact that the tail wasn’t on fire…

The March on Lank

Why wasn’t he afraid of magic before?

Ravana’s Court

Story telling- Ravana’s Court say nah to the war

Vibhishana

So demons can be good?

Vibhishana Bows Before Rama- A Watercolor from the 1970's
Source: Wikipedia

Review: Google Like a Boss

List of Google tips found on the announcement blog
Source: Class Announcements 

Famous Last Words: Temporary Comas

Sometimes, you turn in sub-par work. It just happens. You get distracted, deadlines approach, stuff falls through the cracks, distractions take your time away from the work you should be doing... there can really be any number of things that detract from your goals. This week, I took a quiz in my LGBTQ Movements class that I was entirely prepared for and ended up turning in awful work. I had done the reading, I had thought critically about the arguments the author made, I had questioned what his purpose in writing it was... I had done everything that I was supposed to do.

However, when my professor gave us twenty minutes to answer the question the author poses to himself at the beginning of his work, I couldn't recall any of that awesome thinking that I had done or understand the notes that I had taken. I had a momentary coma, where the world around me kind of stopped, and despite the fact that my body was there, in the room, my brain was on break, out to lunch, on vacation. When she called time, I stared, kind of dumbfounded, over the incredibly incomplete and unsubstantiated answer that I had typed up. I turned it in, but I also wish that I could reach through cyberspace and pull that e-mail back to the safety of my hard drive, where no one can ever see it.

But hey, there's no use dwelling on it now. These things happen (or, as Carlotta from Phantom would say, "THESE THINGS DO APPEN"), and it's important to recognize them for what they are: temporary mistakes. I'm not sure what to do next time to rectify the situation... maybe bring a cup of coffee to wake me up, or talk to my classmates to stimulate my ideas. My takeaway from this situation is that sometimes things won't turn out as planned, and it really sucks, but you have to just keep on keeping on.

Photo of Anna Gigiel in the role of Carlotta in The Phantom of the Opera at the Roma Musical Theater
Source: Wikipedia
Image generated by MemeGenerator

Wikipedia Trail: From Rama to Throat Singing

1. Rama

I originally went to this article to learn more about the role of Rama in Indian mythology and as a figure within the Indian canon of storytelling; the article did not disappoint! I loved learning about all the ways Rama is represented in Indian culture, which led me to my next page.

2. Rama Navami

This was originally under a section of the Rama article called "Rama Worship", which really intrigued me because I didn't know that Rama was a deity, or considered close to one. Reading about the festival spent honoring Rama provided some more context for reading the Ramayana.

A Home temple with deities of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman, on Sri Rama Navami by Vijay Chennupati
Source: Wikipedia

3. Chanting

I chose this article because I'm always interested by non-traditional (in the Western sense) forms of musical expression. Chanting as an art-form was something I explored lightly when I was in choir, but I enjoyed reading a more complete article about it.

4. Throat Singing

I ended up on this article because I actually attempted to learn how to throat sing in high school for a song in choir. The song, Past Life Melodies, is a beautiful composition that brings overtones into the main melodic line, requiring throat singing to produce two different distinct notes at once. It's pretty awesome!

Growth Mindset: Self-Esteem

Image created with MemeGenerator

Learning Challenge: Time Tips

Between two part-time jobs, 17 credit hours, campus involvement, scholarship applications, and family/friend obligations, I'm someone that believes very deeply in the important of managing time effectively. As such, I have a few tips below that I follow pretty fervently that help me get everything done!

1. Automate what you can
Sometimes, in an attempt to get things done quickly, I think that some of us sacrifice the quality of our work. In order to prevent that, see if you can create a process by which you're able to focus on the creative aspects of a project/task (the part that can't be automated), and see what you can do to automate the rest of the work. For example, I'm a huge proponent of using Google Forms, bit.lys, and spreadsheets to organize and disseminate information. Learning how to use those tools effectively allows me to do my job as the Secretary for the Undergraduate Student Congress much more efficiently and accurately.

2. Plan out time to plan out time
I have a recurring appointment with myself on Sunday evenings to sit down for 30 minutes and organize my to-do lists and schedule for the week, which really helps me to know what's coming up during the week.

3. Set "office hours" for yourself
Some of you might have jobs that require you to hold office hours; if so, ignore this post. However, for those of you who don't, it's helpful to plan a certain time every week that you devote to working on random/miscellaneous tasks. Personally, I know that I often get a lot of random "to-dos" from people as a week goes on, and I often distract myself from my immediate goals by completing the tasks that were just given to me. To avoid this, use your "office hours" to do all the tasks you hadn't planned to do for the week. That way, you're planning for the unexpected.

Volunteers working in the office of 38 Degrees, posted by 38 Degrees' Flickr account
Source: Flickr