Reading Notes: The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata - The Princes of Elephant City, Part B

THE DEATH OF KING KRISHNA

Out of the Part B readings, I chose this one because I enjoyed the foreshadowing. I haven't really written a story with too much foreshadowing, but I think that this could be a good example of a story to base one off. I think that foreshadowing is a very strong tool in telling stories, because it can either go as unimportant in the first mentioning or it can be made a strong warning. In this case it was a strong warning, which I feel was made perfect by the King's realization. I felt that by the king explaining his reasoning that men only fight and kill each other when they are drunk and then coming towards his ban on wine showed that this was a developed idea. If I am going to write a foreshadowing that is intentionally supposed to be noticed at first, I think that it should be explained why this point is being made just as this story does. One thing that I didn’t like about this story was the change of events seemed to be very un smooth. I feel that while things did connect, there should be more description into why certain events take place. This story is a reminder that if I want to write a story that leads into sub plots, I must explain how they connect either at the beginning of the end.

In terms of writing my own story and keeping with the dog theme, I struggle to truly pick such a foreshadowing event. I was thinking that maybe a dog could be warned not to drink out of the toilet for dogs only get sick from this action. I’m not necessarily sold on this idea but I think that it could be great way to foreshadow as well as show symbolism between drinking wine in the story. I would like for there to be a confrontation involved like the men fighting and killing each other, but I might just have to settle with a simple sickness and “I told you so” message.

I found this on Flickr.

Bibliography: 

Title: The Indian Heroes:Mahabharata - The Princes of Elephant City
Author: C. A. Kincaid

Year: 1921 

Reading Notes: The Mahabharata by C. A. Kincaid, Part A

Hidimba and Baka

Out of the stories in the Part A section, this one stuck out to me mainly because I had an idea for my own version of the story, but also because I enjoyed the descriptions throughout it. 

In my idea, I would shorten the story to mainly the part where it involves Hidimba,Hidimbi, and Bhima. As I have done all semester, I would relate this story to dogs to fit in with my portfolio by making Bhima be a dog handing out in a country setting where two coyotes (Hidimba and Hidimbi) want to come and eat the animals. I was thinking that instead of the Hidimbi (or the coyote that represents her) transforming into another form like a woman, I would have her try to get a hair cut and look nice like a dog in order to approach Bhima and make them fall in love. I was thinking that I could have Hidimba and Bhima still fight like they do in the original story, but instead of Hidimba dying, I was thinking of a more peaceful ending like making some kind of deal. I think this would allow for a more modern style of this story as well as a better story fit for a younger audience which I have tried to reach out to. I probably wouldn’t continue to story and involve the Baka though.

This is an image of two coyotes I found on PxHere.

In terms of the details that I enjoyed in this story, I really enjoyed the part where Hidimbi first sees Bhima and describes how handsome she thinks he is. I felt that I could truly picture what he looked like and also through the detail was able to understand the attraction level she had. I also felt that I could imagine the action of Bhima killing Hidimba by throwing him against the ground. These details made the story great and remind me how a story can truly capture emotion by being descriptive and adding details.

Bibliography:

Title: The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata - The Princes of Elephant City
Author: C. A. Kincaid
Year: 1921

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part D

Horse Sacrifice

What I really enjoyed about this story was the excessive amounts of detail that lead towards the sacrifice. The author did a great job of describing why they were doing it, who was involved, the scenery, and the event. I felt that things were so detailed in a sense that you could actually see things like people dancing and gathering. I also felt that you could picture the setting perfectly with the full moon and different characteristics. While sometimes I feel that it is better to have not as much detail when you are trying to get to the point of something, in stories like this I feel it is a must. When I describe a scenario of reverence and beauty, this is a story that I should look to for trying to make as much vivid imagery for the reader as possible. The way the author described things truly sold how special this event was going to be.

In terms of creating my own story from this one, I thought about how I could incorporate dogs into a sacrifice. I was thinking about a group of Dogs performing a sacrifice of toys, bones, or even their own kin. I would make this more of a giving aspect, instead of killing, but I think it could be a good lead into a funny story. I would try to resemble all of the details of course and I was thinking maybe having a toy be glow in the dark to resemble the shining of the horse when it was cut open. My only problem with this is the fact I'm not sure exactly what I would have the dog's sacrificing to. Maybe instead of a God interaction like in the story, I could make it more of a king of the neighborhood or so.

Overall, I really enjoyed how beautifully written this part of the story was and think that detail can make or break a story especially if one is trying to make it seem like a big event.

This is a picture of a Dog with a bone which he could possibly sacrifice in my story. I found it on Pexels.

Bibliography:

This part of the story comes from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). The link is above.

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part C

Riddles At The Lake

I chose to write my reading notes on this part of the Mahabharata because it was so much different. I felt that this was clever in the sense that it showed results in the threats yet people still didn't listen. The seriousness of the voice comes with repetition. I feel that is one aspect I could take into my own writing. I feel that if I were to try to tell a moral story this is a good way to show the seriousness or at least the power of a character. I also enjoy the idea of a character proving worthiness through riddles. This can be seen in multiple stories but I like the format in this story as in each time there were multiple parts along with multiple answers. I think that if I were going to try and write a story based off this one I would try to make it be Dog trying to get a treat from his master. I was thinking about how I could make it into riddles, but I don't want a talking relationship between the two. I was thinking maybe the dog must have to perform a bunch of tricks which other dogs couldn't before him in order to get a bone or what not. One thing I would do in masking this story is try to replicate the repetition to show the seriousness. I was trying to think of a way to make a punishment but I wasn't able to think of one. I thought about however the dog getting a treat for each trick he performed but instead of eating all of them, he gives them to his dog friends kind of like how Yudhishthira wished that his brothers would come back to life.

Overall, I like the style of this story but the writing didn't necessarily impress me other than the great use of repetition to lead to the climax.

This is a dog doing a trick with a ball that I found on  MaxPixel.

Bibliography:

 This is from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). The link to the story is above.

Reading Notes: Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art, Part C

Ardhanari's Secret

This week I did the third part of the video extra credit reading. Although I didn't really take much from this on how I could create my own story, it did give me one possible thing that I thought about trying to approach in a story for my project involving dogs. As the video talks about the different God's and how people view them, I thought what if I had a story that involved a Dog talking about his own form of God's. I was thinking about a Dog talking about his master being like a worker for his Dog God but then splitting the God into three aspects. I was thinking it could be into a Survival, Love, and Sacrifice. I was thinking the Dog could talk about how these are the different style of God's but they tie into each other. I was thinking it could even be a example story where the dog gives examples of each of his God's work. This is a very strange concept and could be difficult to write, but I thought it could be fun in the sense of trying to create a story of belief based off an animal telling stories.As the video even talks about how beliefs apply to political aspects I was thinking about having a code of a Dog. This could even be a Ten Commandment type idea. 

In terms of the video itself, I found that it did a good job describing each of the God's and what they do and represent. I find it hard to keep some of these people straight so it was nice to have detailed descriptions. Overall, this is a very abstract idea but it could possibly be done if I don't think about any other ideas for a fun Dog themed story. This could be a good opening topic for my portfolio, but then again it doesn't necessarily fit in with my other stories. 

This is a Dog being an Angel, which I felt describe my idea for a new story. I found this image on Flickr.

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part B

PDE Mahabharata: The Story of Nalayani

Although I found this story to be very bizarre and unsatisfying to read, I also had what I believe to be a good idea for recreating this story. I think that I could tell this story using a dog instead of people but my version will vary quite a bit from the original because I don't want to include the husband or desire for sex like this story did. Instead I was thinking about having two dogs: 1 being very adventurous and the other being a homebody. I was going to have them be best friends but the adventurous one wants to run away together while the other refuses. As the one leaves I was going have the dog pray for a new best friend to which he receives a bunch of cats. I think this could be a fun story to write and this is just the idea that went through my head but what I would like to try to do in terms of masking the reading is also use the exactness of the words in the praying. I think that as a writer this was a clever way to develop the story as well as show the emotion of the wife. By having her repeat the words it shows how bad she lusted for a new husband. 

I imagine this to be the group of cats that come in my story idea. I found this on Wikimedia Commons.

In terms of just writing style that I would like to pick up from this story, I think I could be better of relaying who is interacting in my speech. I like how this story shows the action through conversation yet it is in third person most of the time rather than dialogue. I think this allows less detail, but it is direct and indicates who is doing what. Sometimes in my writing I feel I don't convey who is doing what very well so I need to start more with pronouns like this story does in the second to last paragraph.

Bibliography:

The Story of Nalayani (link above) from  Notes of a Study of the Preliminary Chapters of the Mahabharata by V. Venkatachellam Iyer (1922), but I have adapted the passage to read like a story. In the original book, it is presented as a mixture of story and analysis.

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part A

PDE Mahabharata: The Contest

Because I have been wanting to write a good action story, I chose this part from the reading. What I enjoyed about this story was the lead up to the climax. As the action is described between the mock fight you can feel a build up which I think is important in action stories like this. You can see the excitement being described through the dialogue and setting, but the action and tone is what truly builds the story towards the climax. I think the way that this is done is by setting the importance of things through actions like the father whispering and the people praising the two. I think that this sets the tone of glory for the winner which makes the two serious, and then as Arjuna comes in the detail changes slightly. In this change of detail you start to hit the climax where you realize that he is the ultimate warrior for the contest. I think that the details for this is the describing of his actions in a confident manner being direct. One aspect that I think I could take away from this is the directness in my writing. I think I could sell the importance of characters and actions by being more direct and confident in the words I choose. Another thing that I liked was the random word plays like him using a few alliterations and some reoccurring sounds. I think this is a good way to describe events of importance. 

In terms of what I could take away in creating my own story, I was thinking about having two dogs wrestle playfully but it turning serious as one gets mad. I'm not sure if I would want to bring in another character, but if I did, I was thinking of maybe having it be the owner of the dogs showing power he had as a human. I like this idea for a story because I can finally get a full action scene described in my writing.

This is an image of two dogs playing together which I found on Wikimedia Commons.

Bibliography:

The contest (link above) from Mahabharata, Epic of the Bharatas, by Romesh C. Dutt (1898).