Week 12 Reading Diary A: Bengali Folktales Part 1

Bengali Folktales

There were nine stories in the first part of this unit. All of the stories in this half contain multiple parts, so they are long.

I liked the story of The Evil Eye of Sani. It had three parts. (Part 1 Part 2 Part 3) It is the story of Sani and Lakshmi. They are the goddesses of good and bad luck. This story would be too long to use for the storytelling assignment.

The next story was The Boy whom Seven Mothers Suckled. I really liked this story, and I am actually using it for my final project. It is a bit odd, but I like it! It had two parts. (Part 1 Part 2)

The next in this half was The Origin of Opium. (Part 1 Part 2 Part 3) This story was about Ganga a Rishi and a mouse. Rishi changed the mouse into many different animals, because it asked him to. Eventually the mouse was changed into a woman. She ended up drowning. People who use opium will have one quality from each of the animals that the mouse transformed into.

The last story in this unit is the story of The Ghost-Brahman. This was the shortest story of this half of the unit. It only contained one part. I was not as fond of this story.

A Mouse (The Origin of Opium)

Week 11 Extra Reading Diary: Ramayana Part 1

Ramayana

Valmiki tells us the story of The Birth of Rama. The story contains many details and really allows you to visualize the setting. As we have learned before, Dasaratha was unable to have children, so a sacrifice had to be performed. This was the Horse Sacrifice. Rama was born to Kausalya. Bharata was born to Kaikeyi. Lakshmana and Satrughna were born to Sumitra.

Next is the story of Vishwamitra, Rama's Teacher. One night, Rama saw the full moon and wanted it for his toy. No one could soothe him. Dasaratha's chief counsellor gave Rama a mirror that reflected the moon. This comforted Rama. I found this story very humorous. The boys education began at the age of five. Rama did the best. When the boys were sixteen, Vishvamitra talked Dasaratha into letting him take Rama and Lakshmana with him. Vishvamitra taught them a lot.

The story of Rama and Sita is a love story. They fell in love at first sight, and Rama broke the bow of Shiva to be able to marry her. They fell deeply and love and were married. Rama was chosen to succeed Dasaratha as king.

The story of Kaikeyi's Plot tells the story of how Bharata became king instead of Rama. Manthara was the slave of Kaikeyi. She hated Rama. She went to Kaikeyi and talked her into using her wishes to put Rama in exile and make Bharata king. King Dasaratha did as Kaikeyi wished, but he was filled with grief.

Dasaratha and Kaikeyi

The story of Rama's Exile talks about Dasaratha telling Rama about the exile, and Rama leaving with Sita and Lakshmana. 

The Death of Dasaratha occurs while Rama is in exile. He was so full of grief that it killed him.

The last story in this half of the unit was Rama and Bharata. Bharata finds out the news of his father, and that he will be king. Bharata goes to Rama, and tries to convince him to come back. Rama said he won't come back until after his exile is over.

Week 11 Reading Diary B: Twenty-Two Goblins Part 2

Twenty-Two Goblins

I enjoyed reading The Snake's Poison. The king's answer at the end was what I thought it should be.
I found the story of The Girl and the Thief very humorous.
I did not like the story of The General's Wife very much. It makes it seem like women are viewed as property, not people.
I am enjoying trying to figure out the answers to the riddles in these stories. I was wrong in the story of The Four Brothers.
I liked the story of The Old Hermit. I answered the riddle correctly for this one!
The story of Father and Son, Mother and Daughter was The Great Puzzle. It was confusing.

Mother and Daughter

Week 11 Reading Diary A: Twenty-Two Goblins Part 1

Twenty-Two Goblins

In these stories, a goblin is telling stories to a king. At the end there is a riddle that he must answer.

The story of The Three Lovers was interesting, and the answer to the riddle was one that I didn't expect.
The story of The Brave Man, the Wise Man, and the Clever Man was good, but I don't think it would be good for the storytelling post.
I liked the story of Food, Women, Cotton. It had an answer to the riddle that I did not expect.
The Three Delicate Wives story really got my attention. It was kind of strange.

I really like the aspect of the king having to answer the riddles at the ends of the stories.

The king with one of his wives

Week 10 Storytelling: A Family Reunited

Bhishma and his mother, Ganga, were together at the beginning of his life. They had to be separated, because he was cursed to live his existence on earth. He lived a long life of celibacy, and died in battle. Arjuna shot him from behind, which was fatal to Bhishma. Before his death, Bhishma talked to Yudhishthira about becoming king, and then asked him to return him to his mother.He needed to return to his family. Yudhishthira had Bhishma cremated on the shores of the Ganges. Ganga watched this event as it occurred, and she could not wait for her son to return to his true home.

Ganga was so pleased that her son could finally return to her. They had to spend their lives apart, because he was forced to live on earth. She hated that he had to die to be able to return to her, but it was the only way. She washed up onto the shore to take her son's ashes away from the wretched earth. They could return to heaven now.

Ganga took her son up to heaven. They finally got to speak to each other again.

"Oh my son, how I have missed you dearly," Ganga said.
"I have missed you too, mother," Bhishma said happily. "It was horrible to have to spend my life on earth without you."
"It was horrible for me, as well, Bhishma. Your brothers and I missed you so much," Ganga replied.
"Now we can all be together again. This time forever!" Bhishma said excitedly.

Ganga took Bhishma to his brothers. All seven of the brothers were so happy to see their brother. Bhishma was also pleased to see them. It had been so long. They talked for hours and hours filling each other in on what they had missed throughout the years. Now the whole family was reunited and they lived together happily in heaven forever.

The death of Bhishma

Author's Note:

I chose to tell the story of Ganga reuniting with her son because I was intrigued by their story in the beginning of The Ramayana. I thought that it would be interesting to explore Ganga's feelings about her son's death and his return to her. I retold the story of Bhishma's death from the book, and then added my own details about him reuniting with his mother and brothers. This part was not told in the book.

Bibliography:

Narayan, R.K. (1978). The Mahabharata.

Week 10 Reading Diary B: Finishing Narayan's Mahabharata

-Krishna sees Kunti in Hastinapura and tells her about her sons. Duryodhana refuses Krishna's plea for peace.
-Krishna speaks to Karna and tries to convince him to leave Duryodhana. Karna doesn't, but promises Kunti that he will only attack Arjuna in the battle.
-The war begins on the field of Kurukshetra.
-Arjuna shoots Bhishma in the back and Bhishma dies. Karna now wants to fight because of this.
-Drona dies because he is tricked. They make him think that his son is dead.
-Karna and Arjuna fight. Karna's chariot wheel gets stuck and he begs for mercy. Arjuna kills him.
-Bhishma is cremated on the shores of the Ganges. Many, many deaths at the end of the story.
-Arjuna's son is the king of Hastinapura at the end of the story.

Arjuna and Bhishma

Week 10 Reading Diary A: The Thirteenth Year of Exile

-Dhritarashtra has people spying on the Pandavas. He wants to humiliate them, but this ends up backfiring.
-The Pandavas find a lake and want to drink from it. Nakula finds it first and a voice tells him he must answer questions first. He ignores it, drinks the water, and dies. Yudhishthira is the only brother to answer the questions. It was a test from his father, and all the brothers are brought back to life.
-The brothers receive the gift of being unrecognized for their 13th year of exile. They use this gift to be in the court of King Virata.
-Draupadi is raped by the brother of the queen. She gets Bhima to avenge her. He kills Kichaka. The king and queen want to send Draupadi away.
-Karna lost a fight with Arjuna.
-The Pandavas try to make peace
-Bhishma calls Karna conceited and boastful. This makes Karna very angry.

Bhima avenging Draupadi