Epics from India

                                                                  Image Details: Ahalya, Source: Wikimedia It was a dark, chilly night. Sam looked at Ram, “We’re going to be late!” Ram looked at Sam with an annoyed look. “It’s because of you that we’re in this mess. If we just took the highway, we would have been at the party by now.” Sam averted his gaze away from Ram. He knew Ram was right, but he couldn’t let him have that satisfaction. He threw his hands up in the air, “I give up! I can’t get any cell reception so let’s just wait in the car till the rain stops. Then we can go and find someone who can help us.” Ram nodded and turned the car off. He locked the doors and reclined his chair back, closing his eyes. Sam grabbed his bag, pulled out his book and began reading. An hour later, the rain stopped, hut Ram and Sam didn’t notice as they were asleep. Sam began to wake up and looked around his surroundings. They were parked under a huge tree in the middle of th

Ramayana pg. 62-89: Encounters in Exile: Rama meets Ravana's sister, Soorpanaka, who is disguised as a beautiful maiden. Soorpanaka states that she is in love with Rama and wants to marry him. Rama refuses her and states many reasons as why there union would not work. Soorpanaka sees Sita and becomes jealous. She lets her guard down and shows her true form, frightening Sita. Rama warns Soorpanaka to leave before Lakshmana came back from the wilderness. Soorpanaka decides to kill Sita, but Lakshmana finds out and cuts of her nose. In a fit of rage, Soorpanaka goes to her brother, Kara to wage war against Rama. However, Rama defeats Kara. The Grand Tormentor:                                                    Image Details: Sita and the Golden Deer, Source: Wikimedia Soorpanaka tells Ravana of what Rama and Lakshmana did to her. Soorpanaka tells Ravana about Sita and her beauty to make Ravana jealous. Ravana falls madly in love with Sita's description and decides to

Ramayana pg.1-53: King Dasaratha's Dilemma: The Ramayana begins with describing the setting which is in the country Kosala . Ayodha is the capital of Kosala and this is where King Dasaratha resides. King Dasaratha is known for being a compassionate, courageous, and is loved by his subjects. However, King Dasaratha is childless, so he asks the sage Vasishtha (his mentor) to help him attain an heir. From his inner vision, Vasishtha learns that lord Vishnu had promised to be reincarnated as a Dasaratha's son in order to defeat Ravana and his brothers. Furthermore, lord Vishnu explains that his conch, wheel, and couch would be born as his brothers. After learning this information, Vasishtha asks King Dasaratha to conduct a yagna for a year. After one year, King Dasaratha's wives give birth to Rama, Bharatha, Lakshmana, and Shatrughna. Rama's Initiation: The sage Viswamithra wanted to perform a yagna at Sidhasrama in order to strengthen beneficial

                                                                 Image Details: Feedback, Source: Pixabay In the article " Why rejection hurts so much — and what to do about it ," the author explains that rejection is a concept that we fear and is a common emotional wound that we deal with in our lives. We are constantly surrounded by rejection through many common apps that we see in our daily lives such as social media, dating applications, and even texting. Furthermore, the article explains that we are vulnerable and susceptible to rejection and due to this we are hurt by it. I think this is fascinating that we are constantly surrounded by situations that have made us vulnerable to rejection. The author brings up an important point that our brains are programmed in a way that when we are hurt by rejection then we feel the pain even more than it actually hurts. However, the damage caused by rejection is harmful to our behavior, mood, and self-esteem.  The author sugges

Topic 1: Ravana Ravana is known as the main antagonist in the story of the Ramayana. He is often associated with the terms evil, conniving, and terrifying. In the Ramayana, Ravana kidnaps Rama's wife Sita in order to exact revenge on Rama and his brother Lakshmana for cutting of the nose of Ravana's sister. I picked this topic because I thought that it would be interesting to delve into and try to understand more about Ravana's character. Sources say that Ravana was a great scholar, ruler, and devote follower of Shiva. However, I would like to understand what circumstances had caused Ravana to commit his actions as well as lead to his eventual demise. If I would retell a story, I would like to do it from Ravana's perspective. Topic 2: Rama and Sita Between the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the Ramayana is probably my favorite Indian Epic. It is story about duty, love, sacrifice, loyalty, and how good triumphs over evil. One of my favorite parts of the Ramayana is

The Demon and the Foolish King                                                     Image Details: Turtle, Source: SVG Silh  In a kingdom far, far away, there lived a king with his two sons. One day while traveling through the jungle, the boys wandered off while their father attended to his kingly duties. While the boys chased each other, they stumbled upon a small cottage. The cottage was surrounded by huge trees and vines. The roof of the cottage was covered with a thick layer of moss, while thick vines covered the cottage. There was a small vegetable garden on one side of the house and a huge fountain in front of the cottage.  One of the princes said, “This place looks creepy. Let’s go back.” The other prince looked at his brother with sneaky smirk, “What’s wrong? Are you scared and want to go back to daddy.” The more sensible brother, named Ramu, looked at his brother and said, “No, I’m not Krish. But it’s not right for us to trespass on someone else’s property. D

Week 2: Anthology                                                              Image Details: Baby Turtle, Source: Wikimedia One story that really caught my attention was the story "The Turtle and the King." The story starts out with the king building a lake for his children to play with. However, one day the children discover that there is a turtle in their lake. They call for the father, believing that there is a demon in their lake. Right when the king is about to kill the turtle, an old man tells the king to throw the turtle into the river as it will surely drown. However, when the king throws the turtle into the river, the turtle swims to safety. In the story, the old man is afraid of water; hence he believed that the turtle would die if it was in the water. However, we can see the king as being ignorant as he doesn't realize that the turtle was able to survive in the lake; therefore, he could survive in river. Also, we see the clever turtle, who convinces th

Week 2: Reading I chose to read to the "R.K. Narayan's" version of the Ramayana as I have already bought the book at the beginning of the semester. Also, I prefer to read books in the actual book format as I can mark in the book and make physical notes in it as well. Also, I usually tend to read more if I have the physical copy of a book rather than an online version.                                                            Image Details: Kuchipudi Dancer, Source: Wikipedia Since I was kid, I have always admired classical Indian dancing because it is very intricate, precise and beautiful. For that reason, I was really interested in the comic book " Vasantasena, A Dancer ." Also, I thought that is it was interesting that this story was similar to a Shakespearean comedy. This story reminds me of an Indian story called "Manichitrathazhu," which translates to "the ornate lock" in Malayalam. The story basically is about a young temple d

Time Management:                                                   Image Details: Time Management, Source: Pixabay I think time management is one of the hardest that I have to do during the day. I tend to procrastinate a lot, which ends up stressing me out. Therefore, I need to learn some time management skills. I really like the article "Increase your creative output with 14 time management tips just for creatives." It contained some really helpful tips like managing our energy instead of solely focusing on conserving time. Also, the article explains that it is important to understand when we work best. We don't always have to wake up early in the morning to finish our work. We can choose whatever time we want to get our work done as well as we are productive. The second article that I read was called "3 Steps to recapture time." This article was more based on chunking time and also have time to relax and meditate. Also, the article explains that we need

Technology Tools :                                                                Image: Digital Technology, Source: Pixabay In previous classes at OU, I am used to get most of the assignments and tools that we need for the class on Canvas. At first I thought it was weird that we did not use Canvas for this class, but after reading information about this class it makes sense. It's important that we learn new tools and skills that we actually will use later on in our lives and professional careers. I have never used "Blogger" before except for this class. Also, I have never created graphics nor have I used "Twine" before, so it will be new and interesting for me learn these programs. But I think that this class will definitely give me the opportunity to brush up on my internet and online skills.

Class Assignments:                                           Image Details: Reading, Source: The Blue Diamond Gallery I think that it is really interesting that we are able to choose our schedules for the semester and plan which assignments we can do on certain days. I have never had a class where I have been able to do that and it is kind of nice as I can plan my workload based on my own personal schedule. Also, the storytelling aspect of the class is really new to me and based on the examples I have seen in the class it seems like a lot of fun. It will be a completely new experience for me. I think that the "Growth Mindset" and "Famous Last Words" extra credit opportunities really appeal to me as I have never had an opportunity like this in any of my other classes before. I think that this is a great way to get more involved in the class as well as great opportunity overall. 

The Growth Mindset: Image Details: Growth Mindset, Source: flickr I think it is really interesting that schools would change failing to a statement of "Not Yet." It gives students a good chance to improve their performance and and understand their mistakes. In the Ted Talk, "The power of believing you can improve," Carol Dweck defines the growth mindset is when someone is able to understand their abilities can be still improved upon. I agree with this idea as it is important for people to improve upon their mistakes and to understand that they need to get out of their comfort zone.

Hi everyone! My Name is Rachana Rajala. I was born in Saskatoon, Canada; however, both of my parents are from India, particularly from a region known as Andhra Pradesh. I moved to the United States when I was two years and have been in Oklahoma since then. I am a currently a Senior at the University of Oklahoma. I am a psychology major and I am hoping to be a clinical psychologist who specializes in developmental and behavioral psychology. I think that the best class that I took last semester was a cognitive psychology course because it was really interesting and actually had to do something with my major. My biggest accomplishment was probably giving a five minute speech in one of my classes last semester. Since I was a kid,  I have had terrible social anxiety and have hated public speaking. However, last semester I was able to compose myself and be able to give a somewhat decent speech, so that would be my biggest accomplishment. Over the winter break I really didn't do any

The Epics of Food:                                                  Image Details: Indian Desserts, Source: Wikimedia I have visited India many times, so this topic is very familiar for me. Overall, the title was efficient in engaging me to read the storybook. Also, the title did a good job of informing the reader what the storybook was about. The introduction was very good as it was able to efficient link to topic of food to various stories about the gods from the epics. The layout of the storybook was good as it explained how each food had a specific connection to each of the gods. This layout makes reading the storybook much more engaging. I think that if I did a storybook, I would use a similar layout and design as this storybook. How I Met Your Mother:                                                    Image Details: Yellow Umbrella, Source: Pixabay Overall, the format of the storybook was very good. It was clear and simple to find the different stories as wel

My Favorite Place: Niagara Falls. One of my favorite places is Niagara falls. When I went to Canada, I had the opportunity to visit Niagara falls and it was amazing. It was absolutely beautiful and I really want to visit again soon.  (Niagara Falls

Here are some famous Indian landmarks: 1)  India Gate This landmark is known as a war memorial and is also known as the "Pride of India." This landmark is known as a memorial for Indian soldiers who passed away in the WWI. 2) Charminar   This is a famous mosque that is located in Hyderabad. 3) Red Fort This landmark is located in Delhi and contains many museums and shops. 4) Agra Fort This landmark is known as one of the most finest Mughal forts in India. 5) Taj Mahal This monument is probably one of the most famous Indian landmarks. This landmark was commissioned by emperor Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his wife, Mumtaz.