Famous Last Words: The Beginning

Happy Valentine’s day everyone! I hope you are able to celebrate it with your loved ones!

I do not have a valentine, but I do have GALentines! They were so sweet to bake me cookies and chocolates, definitely something I did not need, but something that will make this week bearable!

(created on Canva.com)

I am starting to begin my storybook of Parvati's life. I think the idea that I have is interesting, but I hope I can pull it off! I have seen other people's projects and stories, I think they are all wonderful. Sometimes, I feel like I am lacking on writing skills. I hope that the more I create stories and edit them, they will sound good. I think what makes their stories successful is the well articulated and detailed sentences. Dialogue has also made some stories sound more realistic rather than have the story told. I think I will try to do third person point of views and include dialogue in my next stories. I am still a little unsure on which direction I want my storybook to go.

This week has been a little stressful. Last week was more stressful with all my exams. However, after exams, I normal have an injured brain that needs time to recuperate, so I fall behind in some of my studies. In anatomy, we have consecutive tests which I do not like, but understand on why they are structured that way. On Saturday, I have a very important interview that has been looming over me this entire month. As it comes closer to the date, I worry I won't have enough time to prepare for it and stay on top of all the homework and studying. Luckily, in the beginning of the semester, I was able to get ahead on the Connect homework in two of my classes. 

Final note, I think I am addicted to Canva.

Week 5 Storytelling: Lava and Kusha

Boys will be Boys

Sita

When Rama declared my exile, I knew I was pregnant. I decided not to tell him so he could rule his lands in good conscience. For if I told the people, they would think I was trying to escape banishment. I decided to travel down the road to my home village, where a friend sage by the name of Valmiki took me in. He had no one. I had no one. He took care of me as if I were his own. I, too, took care of him like he was my father.

            When my twins were born, I named them Lava and Kusha. The time was never right to tell them of their heritage. Although, Valmiki told them stories of the great Rama.

            One day, Rama announced that he was doing the infamous horse sacrifice. My twins begged me to go. Rama was their hero. I allowed the kids to go with Valmiki, but without me. I did not want to attract the wrong attention. My heart yearned to see my Rama again, but the consequences were too great. As Valmiki and the boys were headed off, I stayed to tend to the chores.

Valmiki

            An old sage and rambunctious twins are never a good combination. As the twins have gotten older, they have calmed down a bit, but never enough for me. From the moment they were born, I could see, I could feel their greatness radiating. Even when Sita was pregnant, she had a glow to her.

            In the bustling kingdom, we were able to find housing with an old friend of mine, Saliki. The day of the horse sacrifice, the boys were playing the streets along with the other village children. I could see the people murmuring the uncanny resemblance of the twins with their King. By the end of the night, the talk of the town was the twins from the far village. When we got to Saliki’s house, a messenger from the palace had come to invite us to meet Rama. The boys were excited to meet Rama the hero.

Rama

            7 years ago, I banished the love of my life for my people. She understood my decision and willingly left me. 7-year-old boys are running around the streets of my village. At first, I ignored the remarks, but a part of me still wondered, hoped for them to be my children. I was doubtful. I did not want to be disappointed or mislead. Throughout the years, I had many women claim I was the father of their children. However, when I looked at their children, I did not see me. I did not see any of my features, I only saw the woman’s and a stranger’s.

            The twins walked into the palace with an old sage, someone too old to be their father. The excitement of the boys’ faces shone when they set their eyes on me. My heart warmed. I immediately saw Sita’s kind eyes, Sita’s raven black hair and my mischievous smile. There was no doubt that I fathered these children. I was still processing the information. When Valmiki offered to retrieve my wife, I had no objections. My beloved wife and children, we were going to be reunited and live a long prosperous life. 

(Valmiki, Lava, and Kusha - Image Source)

Author's note: This story was about Rama and when he meets his children. Sita found refuge with Valmiki who took her in when she was pregnant. As the boys grew older, Valmiki retold the legends of Rama. Rama decides to have a sacrifice and invite the whole kingdom. Upon hearing this, the boys and Valmiki go to the village. The villagers notice the resembalence and Rama meets his twins. Valkimi tells Rama the truth and fetches Sita. I wanted to tell this story between the different perspectives and the thoughts that may have ran through their minds.

Bibliography: "Ramayana" from Divine Archer by F.J. Gould. Web Source. 

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part B

Sita and the Twins

Main Characters:
Rama
Sita
Kusha
Lava
Valmiki

Plot:
Even though Sita passed the test of fire, the people were not happy. Rama felt that his only choice was to exile Sita. A sage named Valmiki takes Sita in where she births twins, Lava and Kusha. When Rama decided to do a horse sacrifice, people come all around, including his family. Lava and Kusha recite a sanskrit version of the story, Ramayana. When Rama asked the boys where they heard the story, the boys tell him it was from Valmiki. The next day, the boys are out playing and the villagers notice that the twins look very similar to Rama. Valmiki told Rama that the twins are his and then offers to bring Sita the next day.

Setting:
The town plaza

Story Idea:
A story idea that I would like to explore is the perspective of Rama when he sees his twins. I know that Rama deeply cared for Sita but exiled her for the best interest of his people. But, people change when they view their children. I could only imagine the amount of emotions that rushed through him when he met his kids that he didn't know. It would also be interesting to do the story in Sita's or Valmiki's to the horse sacrifice and knowing that the possibility of Rama seeing his children would be high.

(Rama, Sita, and their twins - Image Source)

Bibliography: "Ramayana" from Divine Archer by F.J. Gould. Web Source.

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part A

The Death of Dasharatha

Main Characters:

Rama

King Dasharatha

Kaushalya

Plot:

As the King laid on his death bed, he recounted to the moment that caused his son to be exiled which fulfilled a curse. He tells his wife, Kaushalya, that when he was a young hunter, he was called Shooter in the Dark, because he was able to kill a creature with just his sense of hearing. While he was waiting one night, he heard a splash. He assumed it was an elephant and shot his arrow. Sadly, it was a boy. The boy told him to tell his parents of what had happened. His parents weeped and the father cursed Dasharatha to feel the agony that he felt of losing a son. From all that happened, his son, Bharat, assumed the throne as king from the help of Mantra and his mom who drove his other brothers away. Bharat's heart is not as selfish as Mantra and his mom, therefore he sets to bring back Rama. 

Setting: 

The death bed of King Dasharatha

Story Idea: 

For this story, I think it would be interesting to either retell the story as a flashback moments before King Dasharatha's death as he thinks about the wrong doing he had done and what happened or I would tell the story in the poor, blind parent's point of view. I could imagine that the parents would be devastated to know that their son, probably their only pair of eyes, passes away due to someone they already think is arrogant. 

(Death of Dasharatha - Image Source)

Bibliography: "Ramayana" from Divine Archer by F.J. Gould. Web Source.

Famous Last Words: Already Stressed

Although this week is not quite over yet, I am already dreading and stressing about next week. I was able to survive the first round of exams this week. It was crazy! Last Wednesday, I had an anatomy practical. On Monday, I had my anatomy lecture exam. I had a bone quiz on Wednesday. Finally, today, Friday, I had an exam in Genetics and Macroeconomics. I might have survived, but I barely scraped by. It seems like it is one task after another. Although I finished the exams, I should feel relieved. However, I feel the opposite. Next week, I have a very important interview which worries me. Doubt and fear run through my mind. My stress of this week is only gone to be replaced by another week’s stress. Due to the exams and quiz, I fell behind in everything. I hope to use this weekend and this week to catch up. At this point, I feel like I will be unable to get caught up. But, I will try my hardest. This semester has a good mix of hard and easier classes. I did not think economics was going to be so hard, but I was mistaken. It might be because I have more of a science mindset rather than a business mindset. It is sad, I am getting used to this feeling. I have had this feeling every semester. The beginning of the semester is always upbeat and full of promise.

I read someone’s introduction and story this week. It was really well written. I was honestly jealous of how eloquent the writing was. I strive to be that well articulate with my words. With every good thing, it requires practice. I think this class will be able to give me reasons to increase my writing capacities.

It may feel like everything is downhill, but I think I am going uphill to the top of the mountain.

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Learning Challenge: Sleep zzZ

Currently my sleep schedule is all over the place. Prior to this semester, I planned on waking up at 8 am to get into a routine. However, I don't have classes on Tuesday's and Thursday's which makes it hard for me to wake up that early. Another problem I have is I am a snoozer. I press "snooze" at least two times before getting out of bed. I do know that being sleep deprived is unhealthy. There are times when I notice the difference of being well rested and running on caffeine. In the article "How Sleep Deprivation Decays the Mind and Body," explains the effects of sleep deprivation. I knew that sleep deprivation causes a slew of health related problems. I learned that mood and sleep use the same neurotransmitters. I find this interesting that the chemical changes from the lack of sleep mimic bi-polar symptoms. Like many of the scientists in the article, I am curious on why sleep is a crucial necessity. Learning this new information, I would like to see how being sleep deprived feels but I don't think that would fair well. Therefore, I decided to the opposite. I would like to get into a more routinely schedule and sleep on time. When bedtime comes, my body will know rather than fall asleep between every other blink. 

(Sleeping Red Panda - Image Source)

Learning Challenge: Reading out LOUD

I do not normally read out loud because my throat gets scratchy. I do prefer to read out loud. When I read silently, I tend to read faster and sometimes I skim instead of read. I like reading out loud because the pauses between sentences has a natural rhythm to it. I especially like dialogues so I can pretend I am an actor at a table read. It makes the stories more enjoyable and I  pay more attention to the story. Some downfalls of reading out loud is the slow reading and the location where the reading is done at. I normally only read out loud when I am at home in my room by myself. I do see myself reading stories out loud in the future since it is so much fun to get into the story and character. 

(Reading out loud - Image Source)