Epics of India

Figure 1:  Bhima  Wikimedia "Bhima! Help me please!" Draupadi swooned like a fair maiden, fainting helplessly, falling luxuriously onto a nearby plush coach, tears streamed down her face. It was the image of perfect feminine helplessness that can only be conjured by the mind of a sexist idiot who doesn't know what a comma splice is. Answering her call for help without a moment of hesitation, Bhima tears his shirt in rage and leaps to the door to meet Kichaka; Bhima's hulking steel body standing before with Kichaka's lean ropy one. "Leave Her Alone" Kichaka shifts his weight like a taunting cat, and his face contorts into a smile, a smile that sent a smug challenge. "Oh... I think I won't" Kichaka hooks Bhima with his left fist, and follows with a tight, compact right jab, but Bhima stands his ground, as Kichaka's blows were merely a test, and so Bhima replies in the only language that men like Kichaka understood. Bhima

Figure 1:  Depiction of The Mahabharata   Wikipedia The segment of this reading that has the greatest possibility for rewriting is Drona's death. This conflict is the most morally complex of all the events in the Mahabharata, as Drona is a good man, but is fighting for bad people, and whether or not the deceit used to lure him to his death is questionable. There is also the clear anguish that Arjuna experiences during the issue. All in all, it is the scene that most resembles modern character based conflict. Mahabharata: Public Domain Edition  Various Authors

Figure 1: Bhima vs Kichaka  Wikimedia I've been having fun re-imagining the combat from these stories. So far I have tried to depict skillful fighting, comical exuberance, and some characterization through combat. This time, I think I would like to make the battle a truly godly one, with influence from the fight between Kratos and Baldur in God of War 4. I would particularly like to rework the fight between Bhima and Kichaka. They are both described as strong and ferocious, and I want to have them gradually devastate the landscape around them in unarmed combat. The fact that they are unarmed allows each to land more hits than with the other fights, which all involved deadly weapons. Mahabharata: Public Domain Edition  Various Authors

Figure 1:  A Barrett 50 BMG Sniper Rifle  Wikipedia Rama and Ravana eyed each other from across the battlefield. These two had been waiting to fight each other for weeks now, and all awaited their final confrontation and the climax of the Seige of Lanka. Rama stood tall, his AR-15 in hand. A 30 round magazine was already loaded, and each was cartridge blessed with the fires of Agni. Ravana gloated and taunted in the shape of the hermit which he had tricked Sita with. He gestures at Rama, telling him to fire the first shot if he so dared. And then the fight began. Rama leaps forwards, leveling his rifle at Ravana and pulling the trigger in a single smooth motion, a motion which had been practiced thousands of times. The 5.56 Agniastra round blasts off the top of Ravana's skull and explodes into a mass of hellfire, scorching the entire battlefield. Roaring from the pain of loosing his first head, Ravana assumes his true form, a terrible demon with ten heads and twenty

Figure 1: Generic Depiction of Prank  Wikimedia The story that I found the most interesting was the episode where Doryadhana has several mishaps in the crystal palace. I think I'd like to rewrite this segment as a comedy scene. I'd keep the existing embarrassment where Doryadhana cannot differentiate between crystals and water. I'd also like to either establish Doryadhana as having poor eyesight or give the crystals unusual properties that make the mis-identification more understandable. Some other things that I would like to add. Make Doryadhana distinctly ungraceful both in his physical movements and manners. Add more jokes, such as misidentifying animals, tripping, humiliation by animals, and maybe a fire crystal that Doryadhana runs from in fear of burning himself. I'd also make it clear that the Pandavaras are having fun at his expense, and find his misfortune amusing. Mahabharata: Public Domain Edition  Various Authors

Figure 1: Drona and Drupada  Wikimedia The Mahabharata is incredibly different from the Ramayana, to the point that they seem to be the products of two entirely different processes. The Ramayana is quite focused on Rama, and feels very much like a superhero story. Rama exhibits almost only positive characteristics, but some of his characteristics feel at times contradictory and almost always generic. In this way, he reminds me of superheroes, written by different authors with input from different audiences, and then edited and retroactively canonized by random editors. Rama specifically reminds me of superman, a mishmash of every value of every subculture that inhabit the larger culture from which he arises. The Mahabharata on the other hand reads like a recent fictionalization of a political struggle. It barely feels like a story at all. Stories are usually written with the purpose of being a story, the Mahabharata begins with an incomprehensible exposition segment that detai

Figure 1: Depiction of the Ramayana   Wikimedia As Rama and Lakshmana journeyed through the jungle in pursuit of Ravana, they came across a pair of monkeys. These monkeys were Sugriva, the former monkey king, and Hanuman, his retainer. And then Sugriva said unto the duo. “Howdy” To which Lakshmana replied. “HOLY COW ON A TRISHULA!” As he exclaimed this, Lakshmana jumped high into the air. “THAT MONKEY JUST TALKED!” And then he tripped over himself and fell to the ground in a tangle of his own bowstrings. “Calm down brother, we have encountered many strange things, this is hardly the most unusual.” Rama then turned to the monkeys and sat calmly, he was puzzled by their words. They were clearly speaking, but he was not familiar with their dialect and greeting. Seeing that they carried themselves in a dignified manner despite their rough clothes, and the quality of the weapons they wore, Rama decided to err on the side of reverence in his response. An

Figure 1:  Sita and Rama  Wikimedia Seeing as the plot is virtually identical to the previous version of the Ramayana, I'll focus on something else this time. I enjoyed the similes and metaphors that Gould used. They actually remind me of how folk stories are passed down, and the stories that my father told me when I was younger. It really gives the feeling that this is a story naturally spread among people. I also find it strange how Gould modified the story significantly. For starters, he provides far fewer details about the final conflict in Lanka. He also tries to reconcile the character inconsistency when Rama exiles Sita, making Rama clearly anguished at having caved to political pressure and having that weigh on him constantly.  I think it would be fun to reconcile Rama's character to make him more consistent (and honestly better written) sounds fun. I'm not saying the Ramayana is bad, but it appears to be an amalgamation of some other stories, which lea

Figure 1:  Illustration of the Ramayana  Wikimedia Seeing as the plot is virtually identical to the previous version of the Ramayana, I'll focus on something else this time. I find the bit where Gould directly addresses the possible origins of the "Monkeys" in his text. In short, he hypothesizes that they may in fact have been tribal people from southern India, and their characterization as monkeys came later. It might be interesting to depict the interactions between Rama's party and the monkeys where Rama does not strictly think of them as people, and the ensuing tensions. Or possibly his first interactions with talking monkeys  would likely cause some shock regardless.  I was also intrigued by Rama's emotional reaction to seeing Sita's scarf. Rama is usually emotionally inert, and his calmness in dire situations is one of his greatest traits. So I wonder why Gould decided to give him a moment of vulnerability here. I'm surprised that he did i

Figure 1:  Cursed Image  Pxhere Link to my portfolio

Figure 1: Depiction of the Ramayana  Wikipedia Alone in his temple, Indrajit sat and rested from his sacrificial rites. He recalled how many of his colleagues relied on the sacrifice of food and wine to maintain their strength. He on the other hand, had long realized that the most crucial sacrifice was not fine foodstuffs, but time and dedication to the art of combat. To Indrajit, the magic invoked from gods was worthless without the combative experience need to use it. Indrajit, though tired, prepared to practice his archery, but as he drew the arrow, he heard the familiar sound muted footsteps rushing behind him: it was a familiar sound, because Indrajit had been the target of many assassinations.  Indrajit calmly turned, arrow still nocked, and loosed his arrow at an his target. He did all this, just asa he had trained for hundreds of thousands of repetitions. He did it without thought, without the need to think, as he had long since ceased to need to think to hit his t

Figure 1:  Depiction of The Ramayana   Wikimedia As the Ramayana is mostly plot focused, I will focus my notes on that. Rama and his army march on Lanka using a magical bridge. They lay seige to Lanka and a massive battle ensues. Rama emerges victorious, and he kills all of his enemies and retrieves Sita. However, he doubts Sita's loyalty, as she has lived with Ravana for over a year now. She sets herself on fire and emerges unscathed to prove her purity. Rama goes home and reclaims his throne. Now some really weird stuff happens.  First, Rama is forced to banish Sita (while she is pregnant), due to machinations within the kingdom that doubt Sita's purity. Lakshmana goes with her for a while too. Rama rules for 16 years, while Sita raises their children alone. A horse sacrifice goes awry and leads to a conflict between Rama and his children, who manage to defeat even Lakshmana. The children are then explained to be the ones who spread the tale of the Ramayana to

Figure 1:  Vibhishana  Wikipedia As the Ramayana is mostly plot focused, I will focus my notes on that. Rama finds allies in the monkey king Sugriva and the Monkey God Hanuman. Hanuman Finally Appears! Sugriva explains how his mistakened imprisoning of his brother resulted in a conflict that deposed him. Rama orchestrates a coup that reimposes Sugriva to the throne. A bit of a side-note here, Rama's coup is distinctly dishonorable, and Vali's frustration is entirely understandable. If I had to write a different story, it would be the story from Vali's perspective. I don't understand how Rama was the good guy at all here. With his new monkey allies, Rama begins to search more fruitfully for Sita. Encountering the brother of Jatayu, he learns that Sita is being held in Lanka. Hanuman recovers his godly powers and goes to infiltrate Lanka. He locates Sita and destroys much of Lanka. Hanuman returns to Rama and informs him of Lanka, and they prepare to march. La

Figure 1:  PID Feedbaack Loop  Wikipedia Politeness and manners are the mechanism by which our society allows relative strangers to interact without degenerating into the uncontrollable violence found in non-human primates. The flaw with manners and politeness is that they can restrict certain forms of conflict and negotiation that may be necessary, especially for growth. The desire for politeness can lead to feedback which is disingenuously positive and unspecific.  The Trouble with “Amazing”: Giving Praise that Matters  covers this topic. Because there was nothing praiseworthy about the exercise session and the instructor felt that it was necessary to give positive feedback, she her praise was inaccurate. Furthermore, she couldn't find anything specific to praise, so she made the most generic comment that she could, and since the comment was so generic, there was no way to act on it. Acting on feedback should be the main purpose of feedback. Hearing about how you did i

Figure 1:  Depiction of Hanuman  Wikipedia I decided to research Hanuman. Hanuman in the Ramayana  Wikipedia In the Ramayana, Hanuman encounters Rama and Lakshmana after Sita's abduction, and scouts out Ravana's city. While there, he also causes significant damage to the city and sets much of it on fire. He then participates in the final climactic battle where he carries an entire mountain of herbs to the battlefield to heal Lakshmana. Afterwards, he proclaims his dedication to Rama through some unusual acts. Hanuman in the Mahabharata  Wikipedia Hanuman later appears in the Mahabharata where he humbles an arrogant god by demonstrating his superior strength. That god is his half brother Bhima, who could not even lift Hanuman's tail, and learned humility as a result. "Hanuman" in Journey to the West  Wikipedia Hanuman is a major inspiration for the character of Sun Wukong. In the Journey to the west, Sun Wukong initially starts off as an ordinary