Week 2 Reading Diary A: Ahalya's Story

Although I am thoroughly enjoying this story, I see so much sexism in this story and male-bias. The story of Ahalya is one prime example. For one, she is made of pure beauty. The text does not reference her intellect or her kindness, simply her beauty. That is all that is valued. Then, when the god Indra took her, she was helpless. There was nothing she could do about it, yet she was still punished. She was turned to stone for a millennia until A MAN came and relieved her of her punishment, which may I mention that after she had undergone this she was instructed to go back and serve her master, the one who had inflicted this upon her without even pausing to hear her side of the story. I adore this epic already but I am sincerely saddened by the amount of sexist views in this epic. Every villain is a female. Soorpanaka (Ravana's sister who tries to seduce Rama), Kaikeyi (The king's wife who makes him give up his son and eventually causes his death), Kooni (Kaikeyi's maid who convinces her to enact her evil upon the king, and Thataka (a demon). It gets a little frustrating when we oscillate between female villains and "thousands of women eager to serve their master in any way". Okay. Rant over.

Ahalya by Raja Ravi Varma (1848–1906)
Web source: Wikipedia

Famous Last Words- Week One

This week was a lot of introduction for me, and I have already learned a lot about blogging and Pinterest that I did not know. I am really excited for next week when we get to delve into the Indian epics. I really have no idea what to expect. I know I have a very americanized, commercial idea of what Indian culture is truly like, and I really hope that this class can change that. I want to be educated and worldly and I think this class is the way to get to that. I really liked reading everybody’s introductions this week. It seems like we have a variety of students in this class, but they all share one common interest with me: they want to know more about these two epics and the Indian culture. Everyone seems to come from a variety of majors and backgrounds too, which is really nice. I expected everyone to be a humanities major except me (I am biochemistry). So it was really nice to read about someone who was an engineering major and someone who was a political science major. Everyone seemed to be an accomplished writer from the stories I read. I read one that was a metaphor of an old riddle, and it turned into this elaborate story about eggs waiting to be cracked into a frying pan. It was fantastic. I read another one about Jack and Jill, but it was not just an everyday Jack and Jill retelling. There was purpose and life to this story. There were details that made it seem modern and realistic, and something that could happen any day. I was really impressed by the level of writing I have already seen in this class and I look forward to more specific and intense writing from my peers as we continue this semester.


My favorite god that I have read about so far, the Hindu god Ganesha.
From FullStopIndia

Overview

This whole course is completely new to me! I do not know anything whatsoever about Indian culture and that is what prompted me to take this class. I am not just attending OU to get a piece of paper saying I am allowed to go to dental school. I am attending OU to get an education. I am really excited to study these epics.

I have always been interested in the god Ganesha.

Ganesha with two consorts,
Riddhi (prosperity) and Siddhi (spiritual power);
Web Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consorts_of_Ganesha

Storybook Favorites

The first storybook that caught my attention was The Tales of Dr. Love by Dillon Duke. I thought the title was interesting and that is what drew me to investigate the storybook. The first thing I noticed when reading the introduction was how engaging it was. It felt so realistic and I was able to picture really being in Cupid’s factory where he manufactures arrows to make people fall in love. It was fascinating. The little details are what really made the whole thing seem so lifelike. I really liked the font that Dillon used as well. It fit the topic well. The second storybook that I investigated was Ravana by Sheeba Aga. The first thing that struck me was the deep purple they used as the background for the site. I thought it fit well with the “devil” theme. The introduction was really informative too. Sheeba did not use any terms that would have been foreign to me without defining them, and I really appreciated that. This topic is something that I am familiar with, but purely from the Anglo-Christian perspective. There were many terms and concepts that Sheeba used that were completely new to me and the introduction did an excellent job of showing those and elaborating on them. The third storybook I found, and my favorite out of the ones I explored, was Yama’s Tattoo Parlor by Melissa Bishop. The originality in this story was stunning. She incorporated so many gods and terms into a modern spa setting. Her writing was extremely engaging and it was very clever to elaborate on multiple stories by telling them in a beauty salon. I really enjoyed the layout of the website as well, it looked exactly as I would imagine the God of Death’s spa/tattoo parlor would look if it existed.

Yama on his buffalo, as shown in Yama's Tattoo Parlor
Web Source: Land of Yama

Storybook Sources:
Dr. Love
Ravana
Yama's Tattoo Parlor

 

Introduction

Hello! My name is Marielle Crowell and I am a sophomore here at the University of Oklahoma. I am nineteen years old and was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma. My major is Biochemistry and I am minoring in Psychology and Italian. I have a vast array of interests and trying to cram it into one major just did not work for me. J  That is what led me to this class. When I am not dying in super hard science classes I like to take humanities courses to broaden my education. I ended up taking enough psychology courses that it is easy and convenient for me to go ahead and get a minor in Psychology. I started taking Italian just last year and have grown to adore the language and the culture. I plan to go to dentistry school and become an orthodontist. I have 10.5 years of schooling left, and about 9 now. So I better get used to science classes. I am one of four daughters. I have an older sister who goes to Rose State, a twin sister who goes to OSU (yes, I know. We are all appropriately ashamed of her treachery) and a younger sister. There was a lot of estrogen in my house growing up. I am an avid piano player. I have played for ten years and am studying the instrument at OU as well. I plan to continue playing all my life. I am a devout Christian and my faith and church are a large part of my life. I have always been fascinated by myth and folklore but have never studied anything but the standard fables. I am excited to learn about epics of which I have no knowledge. I hope to get a broad overview of a culture I regrettably know nothing about and a deep understanding of two historic epics.

This is a picture of my twin sister and I taken by my grandfather.

 

Storytelling Week One: The Beauty Queen and the Nerd

Once upon a time there was a gorgeous girl named Brittany. She was homecoming queen of her high school and adored by all the boys. She became very narcissistic as she grew up being showered by attention from all the jocks, including the high school quarterback, Rick. Rick was a very kind and gentle guy, wise beyond his years, yet even he was powerless to Brittany’s beauty. They began dating and were the cutest couple in school. All of the girls were jealous. Yet as Rick and Brittany continued their relationship, things got worse and worse. Rick slowly started to discover how cold and dark Brittany’s heart was. All of the beauty in the world could not mask how vain and selfish she was. Rick encouraged Brittany to work hard at her studies and apply to prestigious colleges, like he was, but all Brittany could see was high school and how she ruled the school.

            Then there was Heather. Heather was quiet and shy, with ratty hair and no concept of makeup or how to wear it. She had grown up with Rick, and they were neighbors. She had secretly loved him for years, but had always been too scared to tell him. He was tall, charismatic and gorgeous, and she was timid and nerdy. As they grew up and Rick focused on football and Heather on her studies, they fell apart. Their relationship soon consisted of a friendly hello when they caught each other coming to and from their homes. Heather missed the childhood closeness they once had, however she had created her own life. She was happy, and on the fast track to a full ride to any college she wanted. Heather was brilliant at mathematics and science and had hopes of being a research scientist that changed the world. She knew high school was only temporary and was looking far beyond that. Heather knew of Rick’s girlfriend, and was secretly disappointed that he had been shallow and chosen the Barbie doll that everyone wanted. He never seemed happy with her, and Heather secretly did not care for Brittany. She had never had any escalated encounters with her, but she had always been snooty and Heather knew she and her friends secretly laughed at Heather’s plain clothes and flat mousy hair.

            One day all that changed. It was graduation, and everyone’s emotions were on high as they hugged each other and said their goodbyes to their childhood friends. As Rick came in to hug Heather, his heart began beating fast. He realized he cherished this sweet girl and did not want to end like this. He looked at his materialistic girlfriend, standing there barely acknowledging people’s heartfelt goodbyes, and saw his mistake. Rick made a decision. He walked up to Brittany and stated, “Brittany, you are beautiful. But your heart is hard and all you care about is yourself. I will not be with you. All you have are your looks and that is all you will ever have. I found a girl who is smart and driven and has worked hard to be successful in life, the kind of success that lasts. She is who I want”. Rick looked at Heather and added, “If she will have me?” Heather’s mouth dropped open. Then suddenly she ran up and kissed Rick, and everything, including Brittany’s frantic shrieks, drowned out as they only felt each other.

 

Authors Note: This story was adapted from "The Peacock and the Crane" where a vain peacock tries to impress a crane with his beauty, but is outdone when the crane is able to use his ugly wings to fly. I found it far more useful in high school to work hard at my studies than to chase guys, and that has helped me significantly since I started college. That is what prompted me to write this re-telling.
"The Peacock and the Crane" by Aesop, from The Aesop for Children (1919). Web Source: The Project Guru

 

Gate in Central Park by Paul Manship depicting The Peacock and The Crane fable. Web Source: Flickr

Favorite Place

My favorite place is Italy. I have been studying the Italian language for two years now, and have grown to love the culture and the country.

Picture of Breakfast in Italy
Source: FreeFoto

The Baptistery, Florence, Tuscany, Italy, ca. 1897
Source: Flickr

Picture of San Gimignano, Tuscany, Italy
Source: FreeFoto