Feedback Thoughts and Ideas

The first article I read was 6 Bad Mental Habits that sabotage your success. This article made some good points about not making exusses and seeking approval. This whole artice could be boiled down to it is important to be confident. If you are confident in what you do there is a good chance that will translate into you doing things well or a least better. Another article was Eight things students should do when they make a mistake. This talked about how it is important not to let criticism get you down and if needed use it to grow and get better. Personally I think feedback-both positive and negative- is vital. If I am doing something wrong I do not want my feelings protected, I want to learn to do it right, otherwise I'm just going to continue to sabotage my success by doing it wrong It is also nice to know when you are doing something correct. I think that as long as feedback comes from a place of respect for the purpose of improvement, then no matter how bad it is it needs to be shared. It is also great when feedback includes how to improve or what could make something great even better.

A Guy giving good feedback

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alaina_marie/4050479709

Topic Brainstorm

The first topic that interests me is the creation stories. I do not have much knowledge about Indian ones but these are almost always interesting and fun to learn about. I think this is a topic that is open to a lot of creativity when it comes to making a storybook. Perhaps a modern adaptation or set in a different culture. Creation Stories.

The next topic that caught my eye was Epic Battles. I have taken a lot of military/battle heavy classes so this is right in my wheelhouse and expertise. I am interested to learn about Indian War culture and how it compares to other parts of the Ancient world.  I think this is another topic that has a wide range of where I could go with my stories.

The third topic I would potentially want to write about is Epic Heroes. I have always enjoyed reading about the heroes of old, whether it be from Vikings, Greeks, or ancient China. It would be interesting to learn about India. I also think how a hero is embodied says a lot about a culture and I could learn a lot. This topic also has a lot of room for creativity.

The last topic that I was interested in was Ganesha, The Elephant-headed God. Anyone who is an elephant headed god is going to catch my interest and be someone I want to read about. I have seen this God portrayed a few times in literatures, but I know little about him. This would be a fun topic to write about but I think it would have a little less creative freedom as the others.

Statue of the Elephant-Headed God, Ganesha

https://pxhere.com/en/photo/636739

Week 2 Story - The helpfull Alien

On July 22 2123, a group of scientists and a space commando landed on a previously unexplored moon. The moon was a lush jungle planet and they hoped to determine if it was safe for a colony. After landing a horrible storm completely destroyed their ship, leaving them stranded with no food or drinkable water. After the storm passed a large Lizard man creature walked up and said "Hello, I saw you land and came to investigate. I have my own ship nearby and would be happy to give you a lift back to your planet." The scientists were skeptical and Sebastian the space commando outright refused because very few aliens are helpful and he was confident at least the radio could be fixed. . Finally Paul, the bravest of the scientist agreed to investigate with the alien and would report back if their was indeed a ship. He figured they were all dead anyway and even though he might end up eaten at least they had a chance. The scientist was lead away with the alien following close behind. After a brief hike he saw a small shuttle craft belonging to the alien. The alien said " here she is, its only made for two but I can ferry your crew up to my ship one by one and then we can be off." Paul was satisfied and hurriedly returned to the crew to tell them they were safe. One by the scientist were lead off and ferried up to the aliens ship. Upon arriving the helpful alien helped the scientists onto the ship and lead them into the ship kitchen. "It will be a long journey help yourself to anything in the fridge.", said the alien. He would then lock them in the fridge as he indeed had a long journey and needed all the fresh meat he could get. Finally only Sebastian remained, feeling hopeless he also agreed to be rescued and was ferried up to the ship. Upon arrival Sebastian was very suspicious of where all the Scientist were and did not believe they were off settling in. When asked if he was hungry Sebastian responded "absolutely, would you mind going in first to show me what you have, I don't want to be in there any longer than I have to be." The alien was overcome by his greed for meat and went into the fridge only to be locked in by Sebastian in his own fridge, leaving him to die by the same deception he used to kill others. Sebastian was then able to fly the ship home where he was able to live a long and warm life.


Authors Note: My story was inspired by "The Cunning Crane and the Crab". I replaced the setting with that of a futuristic setting. I also replaced the animals with people who were also trapped in a place they could not live long and needed a rescue. Instead of a crane coming to the rescue is a large alien who wants to eat them as well. much like the crane the alien would also meet his end by being deceived in the same way he deceived others, getting what's his.

"The Cunning Crane and the Crab" From The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse, online at:Internet Archive.

Space ship over planet. 

http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Space-Forward-Science-Fiction-Sci-Fi-Space-Shuttle-2690279

Reading Notes - Jataka Anthology

This reading was a series of short stories. All of the short stories involved animals or creatures. A theme that all of the stories seemed to share was that being wise and clever was important. the protagonists in these stories, whether they be a crab, monkey, or man were not exceptionally strong or heroic, however they were all clever and wise. a quote that summarizes this is "People who try to deceive others often pay for it themselves, and that is what happened to the Crane."The Cunning Crane and the Crab. This was my favorite story and also summarizes the themes of this reading chapter. When writing my short story it will be about an animal that escapes peril from a predator by being wise or having a silver tongue.

crane transporting the foolish fish to their death

The Cunning Crane and The Crab

Bibliography

https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/home

The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse

https://sites.google.com/view/jatakas/crane-and-crab

Reading Options

I am looking forward to the readings in this class a lot more than I usually am. It is refreshing to take a class that has such a wide variety of content sources and mediums, rather than reading a plain textbook. The first reading option that caught my eye was The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic. I always find modern versions easier to read than old texts. This one is also available for free in the library. The next thing to catch my eye was the comic book readings for the second half of the semester. Browsing what's available online these comics seem to be a relatively light read and sometimes humorous. The pictures will also help make the reading more enjoyable. The last to catch my eye - while not actually reading - was the YouTube music playlist. I have listened to Indian music before and it was far from my favorite. Despite this I can appreciate it and know it will be a great addition to understand the course material.

Example of comic book by Subba Rao & Nandini Das

                                                     https://www.amarchitrakatha.com/us/uc-kumbhakarna