Tech Tip: Cheezburger

I had a little time before class today, so I figured I'd do a quick tech tip. What better to do on a Monday morning than make a meme at cheezburger.com. I thought this was appropriate:

Monday Mornings
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Brainstorming Storybook Topics

Possible Topic - Yama: Yama is the god of time. He's actually present in several ancient Indian religions, but in Hinduism, he is the son of Brahma. He is also the god of death, something very closely connection to time in Hinduism. I was primarily interested in him because I love the idea of using time as a literary device. I particularly like the idea of a fish out of water story, with a character traveling to a different time. Also, the ideas of death and reincarnation could give a story like that an interesting twist.

Research so far: For this topic, I'll have to do a lot of research into the Hindu concepts of time, death, and jiva (the soul). Other gods are apparently referred to as gods of time, but in Hinduism, time is relative, and Yama seems to be most associated with human time. I also just sometimes associated with Dharma, which could be useful, but I'll have to see how prevalent this is. I did some reading on his Wikipedia page, and I also found an article on time that discuss him briefly. The Wikipedia page also had a pretty good picture of him:

Yama (Imra) standing on a buffalo
Courtesy of Wikipedia

 

 

Possible Topic - Krishna: Krishna is one of the avatars of Vishnu. He's extremely popular, and one of the most powerful of Vishnu's avatars. I'm particularly interested in his exploits and pranks as a child and his participation in the Kurukshetra War as a young man. I think the idea of a mischievous childlike god could make for an interesting story, and from descriptions of Krishna's abilities as a brilliant tactician, I thought it might be interesting to take a closer look at some of his tactics.

Research so far: Krishna's Wikipedia page has a ton of information. I focused mostly on the sections of his life mentioned above and depictions of his appearance. As I said before, he's very popular, and there is an abundance of info on his exploits.  He's done so many things that it's hard to nail down a particular area that I want to focus on. But, I think I'll have a better idea after reading the Mahabharata. Likewise, I can read the first part of the Harivamsa to learn more about his childhood.

Possible Topic - Rakshasas: I think that the demons of Hinduism have some of the most interesting imagery. Likewise, the stories involving are often grandiose. I've found their powers to be very interesting and sometimes completely unexpected, like when Ravana walks outside and turns off the weather in the Ramayan. I would like to do a storybook that involved several of the demons. So far I've been toying around with the idea of exploring the punishments of defeated rakshasas, or looking into the stories of the good rakshasas.

Research so far: Of course, I've read about some of them through the Ramayana, and I looked little deeper into Maricha's background while I was brainstorming for my last story. I've been reading over the the Rakashasa page. In particular, I looked into the Wikipedia pages on Vibhishana, Prahlada, and Hiranyaksha. I thought Prahlada's resilience, and the various trials he went though were quite interesting. I also looked at the Wikipedia page on Naraka which has some brief summaries of the 28 hells.

Possible Topic - Brahma: Brahma the god of creation and one third of the trimurti. He is actually the least popular of the three. I thought he was an interesting character to look into, coming into my attention mostly from the boons he granted. It seems like most demons get their powers/semi-immortality through boons from Brahma in particular. I thought it might be interesting to explore the idea of boons. I also enjoy creation myths, and thought it might be cool to explore the creation of the universe.

Research so far: I wanted to look into the trimurti, and I found Brahma to be particularly interesting, probably because I'm an engineer. On that note, Vishwakarma is the god of engineers, and from what I can tell they reference the same entity, but there isn't a whole of  material on them, particularly Brahma. I've looked on both of the Wikipeda pages (linked above), and I've also seen Brahma referenced in most of the Rakashasa pages I looked at.

Picture of Brahma, the god of creation
Courtesy of Wikipedia

Week 2 Storytelling: The First Ramayana

"Why has Master Rama forsaken us? He leaves us behind even though we have served him so faithfully for all these years..."

"Don't be so dramatic. You know that King Dasaratha order the young prince to leave behind Ayodhya to live in the forest for the next fourteen years. Besides, Rama will have no use for servants such as ourselves while living the life of an ascetic. It is our duty to serve Bharata faithfully while he rules in Rama's stead and to prepare for Rama's return."
 
Although the latter spoke words of reassurance, he too was already missing their master. They had been apart for a matter of mere minutes, but a feeling uneasiness fell over him as he gazed back at the prince. He wasn't sure why, but he felt that future events in the forest would change Rama for the rest of his life and not necessarily for the better.

"I suppose you are right, as always brother. Our master gave his word that he would serve this penance, and one as honorable as the young master would never go back on his word. As he said himself, 'A word given is like an arrow, it goes forward. You cannot recall it midway.'"

As the pair traveled back to the palace, they each reminisced on their time with the prince. They had been with him for many a year, having come into his service shortly after Rama travels with the great sage Viswamithra, but each could remember when they met him as though it was yesterday.

"Remember when we met the young master?" said the former, " We were sold to him in Mithila, and though anyone else would have looked upon us as simple belongings, objects to be used and tossed aside, he immediately treated with such kindness and care. I knew immediately that he was different, that he would make for a wonderful master."

"Ah, yes," stated the latter, " Even then, Rama had become well known for his strength, kindness, and unflinching honor. Do you recall the story of how he defeated the the terrifying Thataka and her demonic sons?"

"Oh, that was a wonderful story. When the young master met Thataka in the desert. Though most mortals would have cowered in terror, he swiftly struck her down and freed the region from her awful reign. Then, during Viswamithra's yajna, her sons attacked in order to exact revenge, but our master was ready. With one arrow he struck down Subachu and with the other he send Mareecha flying all the way to the ocean."

"What a wonderful story indeed! The prince's feats seem to become greater with each of your tellings. Don't misunderstand me, he is a great warrior who demonstrated immeasurable power in his defeat of the demons, but I distinctly remember that Mareecha fled into the forest after Rama's arrow narrowly missed his head."

"Don't be silly! No one knows the young master better than myself, and I know that he would never miss a shot," exclaimed the former. In response to the latter's seeming apprehension of this sudden boasting, he continued, "You don't be believe that I know him best? I can prove it. Do you remember when the young master first laid eyes on the princess? He gazed upon her for only a moment, and to the passerby he would have seemed unaffected by her beauty. But, I knew better. Our master shifted slightly from his normally rigid posture and set back slightly onto his heels. It was the closest I have ever seen him come to being knocked off his feet. It was love at first site."

"I remember that as well. The princess did always have a strong affect on the princess. He seemed to spend every night gazing at the window thinking of her, right up to their wedding."

"The wedding! We had to prepare for the journey home at the time, but I wish we could have been in attendance. I heard that the entire population of Ayodhya came to see it..."

Even as they entered into the palace, into the throne room, the pair continued to recall their many experiences with their Master, as well as the stories they heard along the way. As they were placed upon the throne, each secretly hoped that these memories would last them as they began the long wait for Rama's return.

Bharata asking Rama for his footwear
Courtesy of Wikipedia

Author's Note:
This story was a lot of fun to do. I came up with the idea while searching through some of the other story telling styles. The premise is for the story is that Rama's sandals, which were taken from him by his brother Bharata at the start of his exile from Ayodhya in order to symbolize his eventual return to the throne, are recalling some of his various exploits while they are being taken back to the palace of Ayodhya, including his defeat of the demon Thataka and her sons and Rama's wedding. I didn't make many changes to these stories. In fact, the disagreement about Mareecha, between the two, comes from the fact that that story has been told in both ways, and there isn't a definitive version. Of course, I made up the part about Rama buying the shoes, and the story is very colored by the sandals' perception.
 I chose the title 'The First Ramayana' because Ramayana roughly translates to "exploits of Rama," and the story is a recounting of his most prestigious exploits. In my mind, the two sandals would continue to discuss all the stories of Rama up to that point while they wait on his return. The characterization of the two sandals was an interesting challenge given I only had a few lines of dialogue to build them upon, but I really wanted to try to make them distinctive characters. Likewise, I enjoyed the challenge of hinting at their true nature while never revealing that they are sandals.


Bibliography:
Narayan, R. K. (2006-08-29). The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (Penguin Classics) (p. 16). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. link

Week 2 Reading Diary, continued: Narayan's Ramayana

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

After going through the whole story of Rama leaving the city and trying to get away from all of the people, I think it might be interesting to look at the story from the viewpoint of a commoner standing in the crowd.

The battle between Rama and Kara's army was really glazed over, but it sounded like a pretty big deal. It could make an interesting story. It would also be a good place to expand on the very vague info supplied about Rama's asthras.

There are some pretty powerful gods serving under Ravana. It could make for a pretty interesting story to discuss how they came to work for him. On that same note, it could be pretty interesting to look at how the moon came to fear Ravana. The sudden weather changes might also make for an interesting story from another perspective.

Jatayu is an interesting character. There isn't much info given on him, but he early life, maybe how he met Dasaratha, could make for an good story. On wikipedia, I read an interesting summary of how his brother lost his wings while protecting Jatayu from the sun's heat.

Looking at the whole of the reading so far, it could be interesting to look at all of the interactions between Marica and Rama, maybe even tell the entire story of Marica's life as a demon. I think that his conversion from a terrible demon to an ascetic (kind of) would make for an interesting internal struggle. Maybe I could do a sort of demon mafia story:

Godfather mafia quote
from Destructoid.com

Week 2 Reading Diary: Narayan's Ramayana

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

The story of Rishya Sringa reminds me of the first episode of Dragonball, when Goku meets a girl, Bulma, for the first time.

The fights Rama has with demons seem very anti-climatic. Thataka and her sons are given a pretty long backstory only to be taken out almost in a single hit. Although, after reading the introduction, this might just be from Narayan's writing style, worth looking into.

The story narration seems to have a lot of very sudden events, from Rama's point of view, either preceding or following a flashback with an explanation. There is also a huge of amount of hyperbole. Everything is thousands of years old or taller than the clouds.

I think the story of how Rama very quickly goes from being crowned to being exiled is interesting. It seems like the King tried to be a little devious, and almost, immediately his chickens came home to roost.

I think this quote goes well with the King's story, I also like how this is a form of foreshadowing for the flashback, about the King shooting a young man, that comes later.
"A word given is like an arrow, it goes forward. You cannot recall it midway. . ." -- Rama

I really liked the imagery of Vishnu embodying a small man to trick Mahabali into giving up his lands. It's also a very classic God in the guise of a beggar story. Odysseus pulled a similar trick, and I think I remember a story about a ruler/god/prophet trying to enter a palace as a beggar.

Kooni reminds me of Gollum from Lord of the Rings. Her outside seems to reflect her inner personality. She is like the devil on Kaikeyi's shoulder. If Kaikeyi is the trickster of the story, then she is the trickster's trickster.

Reading the first part of Rama's journey reminded me of a quote by Lao Tzu:

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Lao Tzu
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