Tech Tip: Embedded YouTube

I added a video to my introduction post. I realized I'd never mentioned my main hobby, contra dancing, so what better way to introduce it than with a video? It's pretty hard to explain adequately otherwise.

Week 10 Reading Diary, cont.: Palace of Illusions

reading: Part E of The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (2008)

I'm starting to really dislike Draupadi. As a complex character, she's up there in development; as a likeable person, she's not so great. Her pride, anger, and whininess get pretty annoying in the last chapters. She makes several mistakes as a queen that will have major consequences, because she can't always control her emotions and inclinations when it's better for the situation for her to behave better. It gets a little confusing for me to see her true character at this point, because in hindsight she recognizes where she should have done things differently and is describing events as they unfold from this retrospective-but-present-tense voice.

I also don't understand her whole thing with Karna. She saw his portrait before her swayamvar and apparently fell in love with him, though she never verbalizes her attraction to him in quite this way. But it's been how many decades since she got married, and she's still bothered by this?? I realize how important the Pandavas' relationships with Karna are (and how these relate to Draupadi and the course of events), but I don't think Draupadi's feeling so drawn to him for no discernible reason is the strongest base for how things play out due to their bungled interactions.

It's interesting, though, to see how Divakaruni portrays Draupadi in exile as different than Sita in exile. The Ramayana pictures Sita as the perfect wife, uncomplainingly going along with her husband in what turns out to be a fairly nice stay in the forest (until Ravana's sister shows up). Draupadi in this book, however, is whiny, trying to goad her husbands on to vengeance (for her own hurt pride's sake) by complaining the whole twelve years they're exiled. This could've been a great time for the family to bind together and build up their relationships, but instead, Draupadi's behavior comes closer to making them all miserable.

the Pandavas brothers and Draupadi go into exile

(Wikimedia Commons)

Week 10 Reading Diary: Palace of Illusions

reading: Part D of The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (2008)

I'm halfway through Divakaruni's novel now. Overall, I'm enjoying it, though knowing what's coming it's more of an appreciation of how the characters develop and the story is explored rather than an oh-gosh-isn't-this-just-fun feeling. There's this dark undercurrent coming through beneath the narrative that I don't really want to see fully unveiled.

Part D covers a lot of ground in not a lot of pages. The Pandavas' fantastic palace is built, Draupadi has her five sons, and at least ten years go by. I think this period could probably have a novel of its own about all the court intrigues and drama going on, a la The Tudors and similar shows about the royal and wealthy that are currently popular. Unfortunately, there's not space for all that here, not to mention it would be a significant departure into sideplots off of the main epic frame.

Still, it's weird how little attention is given to some parts of this time. It looks like the episode of Arjun being exiled for walking in on Draupadi and her husband of the year is completely left out, and while Draupadi mentions having sons and them later being raised by Arjun's favorite wife, she largely ignores that she has children. There's so much going on in the source material that could be developed into fully fleshed-out stories, but I guess those would relate more to an entire series of novels rather than just this one.

Krishna orders Mayasura to build Pandavas' palace

(Wikimedia Commons)

Week 9 Reading Diary, cont.: Palace of Illusions

reading: Part C of The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (2008)

So...that went differently than I expected. I could see it heading that direction (partly because I'd skimmed ahead through the next chapter), which curtailed my Storytelling for this week, actually. Originally I was going to have Draupadi offend her father by coming out as polyamorous (hence the five husbands), but that's not really how the story goes.

In Divakaruni's version, there's an undercurrent of Draupadi actually being in love with Karna -- not that she's ever truly met him. At this point, the brothers are distant from her, and Kunti is more of a monster-in-law who just wants to maintain emotional control over her sons. I'd envisaged Draupadi's relationships with the Pandavas as like that between Rama and Sita (at least before Sita's kidnapped), where they're all loving and devoted to each other and help each other through tough times. The reality is completely different, at least in this novel, which is kind of disappointing and depressing.

On the other hand, the palace intrigue angle is likely more realistic. True to the rest of the epic, the Pandavas and Draupadi have more to worry about than their true interpersonal relationships, given that one side of the family is trying to kill them and the outcome of the family feud determines the fate of an entire country, etc. I had a fairly idealized view of the Pandava family going into this novel, and it's pretty well crushed now.

scenes from the Mahabharata surrounding the Pandava brothers' marriage to Draupadi

from manuscript, c.1800 (Wikimedia Commons)

Week 9 Storytelling: On Raising Children

The worst thing a child can do is defy their father.

This doesn’t apply to all of my many children; most grew up well-behaved. They followed the family’s rules, they did well enough in school, they married a good spouse, settled down and began to raise their own families.

But then Sandy ran away. She was towards the younger end of the pack, a quiet girl. I thought I knew her well, until she left. None of us heard anything from her for years. She was just sixteen, and we didn’t even know why she’d run off.

She eventually came back, years later, but she said she was no longer Sandy. She came back as Sam, a tough, slightly troubled…man. We were shocked. Sandy had run away to change her identity. I tried to welcome her back – she is my daughter, after all – but it was uncomfortable. The family couldn’t – I couldn’t – see her as who she’d become.

My two youngest, though, they accepted Sam without much question. I guess they hadn’t really known Sandy before, as they were the “surprise babies,” born when all their siblings were already teenagers and older. They were thrilled to meet this new sibling, someone who could talk to them of far-off travels and life outside our small, rural town.

The twins were, of course, our last two children, and on them rested all the expectations of perfection. We’d raised so many other good children, how could these two possibly go wrong? We just knew they would do us proud. As Drew and Dede grew up, they proved to be whip-smart and generally well-mannered, respectful kids.

I could tell that our expectations for Drew didn’t sit well with him, but he manned up and accepted them anyway. With Dede, it was more difficult. She could be quarrelsome, resistant to authority, impatient to the point of rudeness. She was a tomboy. She wanted to do everything her twin brother did, even the things that weren’t meant for girls.

I despaired of her making a good match, once she was old enough. I figured she’d resist me against anyone I nudged her towards. But I was wrong. She liked this Cameron guy who she’d met online, a kind of brooding man with a past he didn’t want shared. I thought a much better match for her would be Arthur, someone local who we’d known of for years and whose business acumen would be both a good alliance for our family and provide a strong financial basis on which to raise their own children. I could tell Dede didn’t really like the idea at first, but eventually she dropped Cameron for Arthur.

I guess my children aren’t that defiant after all.

(image of Draupadi)

Author's Note: I based my story this week off of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's retelling of the Mahabharata, a novel called The Palace of Illusions. I was struck by her descriptions of King Drupada's children, contrasting the normal girls of the palace with the character depth and unconventional bents of Draupadi and Shikhandi. Dhri is a bit more conventional, but still he's troubled by what he knows and accepts is his fate. It occurred to me that for Drupada, these three children are probably difficult for him to understand. They're not like the others; they're more complex, more questioning, possibly more defiant, and these characteristics can't sit well with a deeply traditional, authoritarian father, be he a king or any other regular patriarch.

Bibliography:

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Palace of Illusions (2008). 

"Pleasing," by Raja Ravi Varma, undated (Wikipedia). 

Week 9 Reading Diary, cont.: Palace of Illusions

reading: Part B of The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (2008)

This novel is everything I question in the Mahabharata. The gender roles -- especially the position of women -- the inevitability of fate, the devotion to following conscience, morals, rules. She captures perfectly the melancholy sense of feeling in the epic of having to go along with fate and what's dictated/proper, knowing that doing what's right is going to lead to unforeseen consequences further on. It's depressing and excellent all at the same time.

I was thrilled to see Sikhandi pop up. I'd pretty much forgotten about her; I think the Narayan version just kind of dropped that whole Amba side plot, but the Epified videos included her in more depth. Her story is the epitome of the epic literature's sense of "this may seem unfair, but it's necessary," given the cultural context and way things have to eventually play out. She's stuck in terrible situations, is still a strong figure, and doesn't seem too bitter about everything even as she's dedicated to seeking revenge. It's a crazy kind of mindset to think about, but it's so typical of the characters in these epics.

The Karna angle is also interesting. There's so many hints for what's coming for Draupadi, but at the same time, her attraction to Karna is a different twist. I want to helpfully warn her and smack her all at the same time. Divakaruni does a great job of bringing out both the princess's strength of independent will and also her flaws of impatience and pride. Draupadi isn't the most perfect or likeable character, even as readers root for her. It's a pretty realistic portrayal.

Dhrishtadyumna announces Draupadi's swayamvara

(source)

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

I followed Laura's directions to add the Weather Sticker gadget to my blog's sidebar. It was pretty simple to do, once I figured out how to get the town name to show up on the gadget and not send me to another page on the website. I used my current hometown of New London, NC, to do something different than Norman.

Week 9 Reading Diary: Palace of Illusions

reading: Part A of The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (2008)

I'm sooo happy to have an excuse to read novels for class!!! Really, it's a nice way to finish up spring break. I haven't been able to do fun reading in a while, so I appreciate the chance to combine novels and classwork. I've read one of Divakaruni's more recent novels, Oleander Girl, and enjoyed it, so I've been looking forward to starting this one as well.

Divakaruni is a writer after my own heart with the premise of this book. She questions the portrayal of women in the Indian epics, how they are strong figures but brought out only when they have important interactions with the men. Draupadi is like every other historical fiction heroine: modern before her time, feeling like she's socially on the fringes, questioning women's roles, education, etc. -- but at the same time, isn't that what we want to read about her challenging?

Annnd it looks like Divakaruni is, perhaps inevitably, going to start exploring the whole fate thing. Draupadi is already questioning how unquestioningly everyone goes along with what their roles should be, with what the characters are told they must do according to prophecy and whatnot. I can't wait to see how this question is resolved, if it can be.

Also, I've discovered that I cannot for the life of me keep all these names straight. Three versions of the Mahabharata in, and I couldn't remember everyone's relationships and even had to double-check that Arjun is one of the Kaurava oops, Pandava (see??!!) brothers...

Draupadi Amman figure from Alandur (Wikimedia Commons)

Note: I originally planned to start the second half of the semester with Breaking the Bow, but I acquired a copy of Divakaruni's novel before I could get the anthology, so I'm swapping the two in order.

Week 8: Famous Last Words

At the halfway point in the semester, it seems appropriate to do one of these posts. :) I'm mostly keeping up in this class, despite having to switch to doing things according to the daily due dates instead of being a week or more ahead. Again, maybe I can use this weekend to forge ahead into Week 9 and buy myself at least a little space? (But who am I kidding; I'm also trying -- and not really succeeding -- to get ahead on research papers right now, too.) I'm getting more selective about the assignments I do; for example, I intentionally skipped the blog comments assignment for this week but made up the points with two tech tip extra credit things.

I'm super excited for the readings in the second half of this course! I've already started in Palace of Illusions, and up after that is Breaking the Bow and then, hopefully, allowing enough time, I'll read The Missing Queen. I love being able to work fun novels into my readings for class! Not to mention, these are all books I'd either run across before and wanted to read, or that were mentioned earlier in this course and sounded intriguing.

The Storytelling and Storybook assignments are hit-or-miss for me. I was surprised by how my first Storybook story turned out. I had expected to put in more detailed information about festival celebrations, but I ended up having a difficult time finding much more than surface descriptions. On the other hand, I felt like Sita's voice really took over as I was writing, which is the first time I had that authorly character-writes-own-story feeling. For the weekly blog assignment, meanwhile, I loved the idea of telling Krishna's story as a revitalization movement, but I felt like the idea fell flat as I tried to actually write a version pulling out those elements. Eh, on to the next week!

(source)

Tech Tip: Google Site Video

I added a Rama Navami song to the page for my first Storybook story. I searched YouTube for Rama Navami videos and found lots of stuff, but most of it I selected against including. There's several videos of past festivals that are interesting, but I figured readers wouldn't really want to watch them in the middle of reading. There's also some long devotional songs. The video I chose, however, is a cheerful song about Rama that uses an ancient text but is set to music for a movie, so it's relatively short, sounds pleasant to Western ears, and is fun to listen to -- and also to watch the dancing.

Week 8: Reading Plan

Weeks 9-11: I've been wanting to read Breaking the Bow: Speculative Fiction Inspired by the Ramayana for several years, as I enjoy both sci-fi and retellings (and finding them in combination is unusual but always awesome!). I've been looking forward to reading this since the semester started. :) Because I've typically been doing the extra credit readings as well, my plan is to do Parts A-C during Week 9, D-F for Week 10, and finish on Week 11.

Weeks 12-14: Again, since I like retellings, I want to read the novel Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. I think I've read a book by her before and I enjoyed it, and I'm interested in a retelling of The Mahabharata from Draupadi's point of view. As with Breaking the Bow, I'd likely complete the reading in three weeks, doing the extra credit assignments in addition to the regular ones.

cover of The Missing Queen (GoodReads)

additional: Continuing with the retellings theme, I'd love to get to the mystery novel The Missing Queen by Samhita Arni if I get a chance. Assuming I do all the extra credit reading diary posts, I think I'll be able to get partly through this one as well before the semester ends.

Week 8: Blog Ideas

I'm pretty happy with my introduction from the beginning of this class, and no one's really asked questions in the comments, so I'm letting that be for now. I'm glad people are using the "correct" pronunciation of Appalachian...I wish some of my professors this semester would learn the Southern way, too, so that I'd stop cringing every time they say it in class!

I really like how clean Christina's blog looks. I noticed it earlier in the semester and appreciated the wider space given for text and how clean, neat, and professional her blog template is. I was surprised to realize just now that it's also hosted by Blogger -- I had assumed it was a different host! I should play around with the templates for my own blog, to see which good options I might have missed/been too impatient to find when I first created this.

I also liked how Thomas had his labels as tabs at the top of his blog. I'm surprised at how much easier it is to read and navigate these than when they're in a list on the sidebar, but the separation and larger text really helps to skim and find what I'm looking for.

Finally, I love Nikita's header for her blog. The design is simple enough to not be ostentatious or too much, but it also adds a special spark to the overall look of the blog. As a bookworm, I also appreciate the books on either end of the title, and they seem very appropriate for this class. :)

Week 8: Time Strategies

I started out with good time strategies for this semester -- I got over two weeks ahead in this course because it opened up so early, and I opted to maximize my spare time before the semester started full-force to give myself a lot of room for assignment deadlines in Epics. Overall, I've been doing well managing time when I have it to do homework for both this class and my others, in that I'm generally able to focus and get things done rather than procrastinate or get distracted.

What I haven't done so well is make time in which to do homework. I thought I'd have plenty on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and into the weekends, but my schedule has a way of filling up with school things during the week, and on the weekends I've been off to folk dances and really prioritizing my time with that community over schoolwork. By this point, I've lost the extra weeks I'd bought myself for this class when I worked ahead, and I'm sometimes struggling just to keep up with the daily due dates (including choosing sleep over completing a few assignments during the past two weeks -- I had enough extra credit to pad these out, though).

 Despite being super busy this semester, I feel more energetic than stressed most of the time. I'm currently towards the right side of the yellow part of this meter -- edging towards too much, but still overall enjoying what I'm doing.

(source)

My goal for the second half of this semester, then, is to really, really maximize the time I have over spring break to get ahead again in this class and also to work on research papers that are coming up due in April. If I can get just a week ahead again in Epics, it will make my workload during the weeks easier to manage. I like the schedule I had set for the first part of the semester, doing most of the week's work on the weekends before it's due, but if I can't get ahead again, I'll be stuck doing most assignments the day they're due instead of before. I want to get back to my earlier schedule, and I also would like to finish this course early, as the week before Dead Week is when things get rough for me with research papers and such.

Week 7 Reading Diary: Epified Mahabharata

reading: part B of the Epified Mahabharata

Watching over what I've read in The Mahabharata, I'm starting to find it humorous how really abnormal things are treated as perfectly normal in the world of the epic. It's stated so straightforwardly that Karna was found as a baby, floating in a basket in the river, complete with armor and jewelry that grew to fit him as he aged. Or how a passing sage conveniently knew Draupadi's past-life story. Perfectly normal, right?

One again, I'm appreciating the details in this series that aren't mentioned in great depth in Narayan's version. I think some of them were at least glanced over, but I didn't get much sense of the backstory. One episode went into Karna's teacher killing all the Kshatriyas, over twenty times. It's a good reminder to me that Narayan is giving a very much abridged version of the epic, and also that stories about characters in The Mahabharata and other epics extend past only a single text and are found in multiple sources.

Arjuna draws the bow, from the Epified Mahabharata, episode 20

Then there's the bow test again. Is there any other way to decide royal marriages in these tales?? On the other hand, it makes it much simpler to find the perfect match by taking any question out of it! If only life were so simple now... Characters dealing with fate is an interesting recurring theme across these tales, like I've noted before. This time, what struck me is that major characters will insist on going into exile, even when those also involved with the rules beg them not to, because they personally feel like they must abide by the rules. That's dedication to proper behavior.

Week 7 Storytelling: A New God in Brindaban

I was nine when I first became aware of Hari. There had been talk, sure, of a strange child in our small town of Brindaban, and I’d sometimes overhear tales of miracles as well as tricks and tomfoolery. Krishna must have been ten or so years older than me, though, so I’d mostly just paid attention to friends my own age and not observed what else was going on around me. Those older folks had a world to themselves, and I wasn’t yet part of it.

But when I was nine, I started paying more attention. Talk of Hari increased as well. People were really dissatisfied with our ruler, Kansa, a tyrant whose greed and harsh laws were destroying the kingdom of Mathura from the inside out. People wished for a major change. Times were hard, and not even our religion seemed to offer much hope anymore. Could this supernaturally strong, wise, kind Hari be the answer to everyone’s prayers?

I began following reports of Hari with interest. He was said to have defeated the Demon-Sheep that had long plagued our pastures. He rescued our cowherds and their cattle from a monster cave. He brought back to life his comrades after they were killed by Kaliya Snake. One could not help but love him; his charisma enveloped all in a sense of contentment and communion. Even our people’s leader, Radha, pined for him at the same time that she raised this simple cowherder to an intellectual and spiritual companionship with her.

Hari’s influence increased. People sought his advice, his company, his aid. We told each other we would do anything he said – and so we did. When Hari told us to cease worship of Indra and the other old gods to follow him, we did it. And when Indra, angered, sent great rains and floods upon us, we ran to Hari and he saved us. This solidified our worship of Hari. Surely someone who could accomplish such feats was a powerful god.

 Krishna holding up the mountain to protect against Indra's rains and floods

But Hari did not just want to be worshiped; he wanted to rule. He challenged Kansa and won, to our great joy. We finally had a righteous and just king! We were disappointed that he chose not to return to Brindaban, but he had many larger concerns now than our little community. We took great pride in his being from our town. We were warmly welcomed whenever we made pilgrimages to visit Hari, and that recognition was enough for us.

We watched with happiness as word of his exploits and wisdom reached across India. Much of this we spread ourselves, but the more people who learned of Hari, the more his fame spread. We cannot tell for sure what the future may bring, but it is our hope that worship of this god, incarnated on earth and raised right here in our humble hometown, will live on far beyond our own lives and region.

Author's Note: When I was reading more about Krishna's life in Sister Nivedita's book, I was struck by the time he calls for the end of worship of Indra and other older gods. It struck me that this story could be read as that of a revitalization or new religious movement, according to Anthony F.C. Wallace's five stages of revitalization movements. The first "steady state" stage is skipped, as the community is already under stress (the second stage) from Kansa's tyranny.  There's also not really a third-stage "period of cultural distortion" where the rules break down, but there is a "revitalization" period (fourth stage) where a prophet -- Krishna, known in his home region as Hari -- rises up with a new set of beliefs and practices. He gains power and his influence spreads, leading to the fifth stage of routinization and a new steady state.

So when I was retelling Krishna's life for this week, I tried to focus on his story as seen by an early follower if Hari is viewed as a prophet who revitalizes his culture. The prophet's fame rises through his works and words, and he makes major religious changes. These then spread beyond just the initial impact area. The details of my story, such as names, places, miracles, and other events, as well as the visit of Brindabandans to Hari once he has defeated Kansa, are all drawn directly from Sister Nivedita's book of tales.

Bibliography: 

Sister Nivedita, Cradle Tales of Hinduism (1907). 

Mola Ram, attr., Krishna Holding Mount Govardhan, c1790 (Wikipedia).

Week 7 Reading Diary, cont.: Nivedita's Krishna

reading: Part B of the Krishna chapters from Cradle Tales of Hinduism by Sister Nivedita (1907)

Once again, I'm struck by how much Krishna resembles a hero rather than a god. There's the enumeration of the challenges set for him, much like the testing of heroes in other tales. He's also able to be cursed by a mortal, his family doomed to self-destruction the same as any non-divine group found in the epics.

The motif of the bow pops up again! Rama breaks the bow in The Ramayana, Arjuna in The Mahabharata, and even the divine Krishna in Nivedita's tale! It reminds me of the sword in the stone found in Arthurian legend, and I wonder how often this kind of test occurs for culture heroes in world epics.

Where Krishna does seem to differ from other culture heroes, however, is his view on life and fate. Unlike Kansa and other characters in the epics, Krishna never tries to avert his fate. Instead, he encourages others to go along with whatever life is supposed to bring them, as expressed in his conversation with Arjuna that becomes the Bhagavad Gita. Perhaps this is one way that he is characterized as a god rather than simply a mortal hero?

Krishna reveals his universal form as revealed to Arjuna

statue in Singapore (Wikipedia)

For storytelling this week: I find New Religious Movements and revitalization movements fascinating, and it occurred to me that Krishna's rise to influence and replacement of Indra in the tales I read this week can perhaps be matched with Anthony F.C. Wallace's stages of revitalization. Anyway, I thought telling of his ascendancy through the eyes of a devotee and according to the religious movement model might be interesting. I find it particularly interesting that Krishna never returns to Brindaban, but that his "peasant friends" make a pilgrimage to see him at the harvest sacrifice

And an interesting sidenote: on page 230, Nivedita uses "kine" to refer to cows, which is a very antiquated term drawn from Old English originally -- does this have anything to do with her dialect of English?

Week 7 Reading Diary: Nivedita's Krishna

reading: Part A of the Krishna chapters from Cradle Tales of Hinduism by Sister Nivedita (1907)

Again, as I read this week I'm primarily noting similarities between these stories and others from mythology and folklore. There's the theme of major characters fighting against tyrants or ultimately being their downfalls, with the attendant motif of the king killing rivals (particularly through the method of simply murdering all newborn children/boys) so that the prophecy can't be fulfilled.
Of course, this never works -- divine plans will always win out in the end!

 Krishna with his foster mother Yashoda

Tamil Nadu, early 12th cent. (Wikipedia)

Other common motifs I picked up on were the drinking of poisoned or enchanted water, particularly from a lake controlled by some kind of supernatural being. This happened to the Pandava brothers in The Mahabharata and also to Krishna's companions in one story this week. It seems a popular way to test characters or otherwise set up obstacles they must overcome. The description of the lake area in this week's reading also reminded me of the Waste Land theme again.

I find the idea of Krishna as a deity interesting as well. He seems like a mixture of hero and god; his earthly exploits are the primary focus of these stories, and they read much like Odysseus's adventures and those of other culture heroes worldwide. Yet at the same time, he is a deity (or at least the incarnation of one) to be worshiped. Sister Nivedita presents a very idealized version of him, where the Gopis are completely enamored of him as a person. I'm wondering how this portrayal plays into trends and changes in Hindu religion, especially when Krishna tries to end the worship of Indra and other older gods! This last part reminds me of how dynamic religion is, where even such seemingly codified religions and mythologies can change to privilege certain beliefs and practices over others.