Story: The Ultimate Question

Draupadi couldn't remember then last time she had gone to bed before three in the morning. She worked 30 hours a week (and she still needed more money) and balanced that with classes somehow. After an afternoon of working at a local company, she spent her remaining hours on schoolwork. Her friends were whoever sat next to her in class. She wasn't always in this predicament. Another classmate she had befriended last year had taken the scholarship she depended on for money. Draupadi and Yudhishthira had been chatting one day before class when Draupadi mentioned that she had made a much higher grade on their statistics test than Duryodhana had.

"What did you make on that test last week?"  Yudhishthira had asked Draupadi.

"I made an A, what about you?" Draupadi responded.

"I also made a pretty good grade." Draupadi nodded and said,

"Most people did really well. Those people who made lower than an A should probably just drop the class, honestly." Unfortunately, Duryodhana had been sitting behind them.

"How did you do, Duryodhana?" Draupadi asked.

"I made a C." Yudhishthira and Draupadi started snickering. A few people from around the lecture hall looked over. That was the moment that Duryodhana, exhausted from sleep deprivation and motivated by his competitive nature, vowed to get back at Draupadi for insulting him.

Duryodhana worked all semester to make better grades than everyone else. He stole answer keys and even e-mailed professors for extra work, telling them that he had terrible circumstances that made him more deserving than the other students. He applied for the same scholarships as Draupadi, giving a sob story to the scholarship donors so that he could receive what she depended on.

Now, Draupadi was suffering through the worst year of her life without the money she needed. Often she would call home in tears, asking why good things happen to people like Duryodhana. I mean, everyone knew he cheated on tests and copied homework. Her parents had no answer except that she should persevere and forgive Duryodhana, but that was too difficult for Draupadi. She thought back on her life before the ordeal. She had time for friends, extra money for eating out sometimes, and at least 8 hours of sleep every night. It was a dream. Now, she was getting four hours of sleep per night. Her friends had eventually stopped inviting her to functions when they realized that she would never say yes. Duryodhana continued to do well in school so the professors all liked him and recommended him for special projects and internships. All the students, meanwhile, knew how he had achieved his status. Everyone knew he was a cheater, but it didn't matter. Duryodhana continued to prosper, while Draupadi and her friends suffered. Though all of this, she just had one question for life or fate or whoever controlled the universe: Why did the evil do well while the good suffered?


A/N
I wrote this in response to reading about Draupadi's moment of despair in the forest with the Pandava brothers. She is thinking back to how the evil Duryodhana, who tried to make her his slave, is now prospering, while her and the brothers, who are good people, are stuck in the forest. She remembers how she used to have such a luxurious life-- full of beautiful clothing, good food and a comfortable bed. Now, she's in a forest--wet, sleeping on the ground, and merely surviving. She asks Yudhishthira why the evil prosper. This question comes up a lot even in our lives. We wonder why the bad people around us are doing so well while we suffer. I connected a lot with Draupadi's question and decided to make a parallel story in which Draupadi and Duryodhana were students. I like to write what I know, so that's what I did.

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata 

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Part D

The last part of the epic concerned the war that the Pandava brothers are still waging. I'm going to be completely honest; reading about people fighting can be extremely boring. It is difficult to remember which person chopped off whose head, and which person has a new problem with another. So, in writing my notes, I only wrote about specific people who stuck out to me. The first part that seemed really dramatic was  Abhimanyu's death. He was killed "like a forest lion surrounded by hunters" which really conjured up a picture. After hearing about how his son was killed, Arjuna vows to avenge his death.

At least there was one, not exactly funny, but witty moment to give the reader a break from all the dying and killing. The part where Bhima tries to convince Drona that his son Ashwatthaman had died by saying over and over "Ashwatthama (the elephant) is dead" was actually kind of funny, since it was actually an elephant by the same name that was killed. And Bhima just kept saying "the elephant" really quietly after saying Ashwatthama's name. Of course, it wasn't funny that an elephant died, just funny that he found a way to tell the truth.

The only part of the battle that seemed to make sense was the dramatic match up between Arjuna and Karna. Rules of battle came into play several times during their fight. At one point, Arjuna's celestial bow was broken and so he begged for a pause in the battle. Karna refused. So later, when Karna's chariot broke, and HE needed a pause, Arjuna refused as well, and ended up killing Karna. I thought it was interesting that Arjuna wanted to allow the pause, but his advisor Krishna made him reconsider having mercy on Karna, since he was responsible for Draupadi's harsh treatment and Abhimanyu's death.

On a random note, I wished that they went into more detail about the jewel on Ashwatthaman's forehead, like what it did and what they stole it to use it for.

The last part of the reading really captures the imagination. The scene of all the fallen warriors coming back to embrace their living relatives was magical. Wives were even allowed to go back with their dead husbands if they wanted to. The moment of dawn when the dead had to return to heaven was beautiful to imagine.

Vyasa summons the dead warriors: Wikimedia

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata 

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata Part C

A common plot element that carried over from the Ramayana was exile. In this story, the Pandava princes and Draupadi (who follows them) are exiled into a forest for 12 years. They suffer through bad conditions, but also see really beautiful parts of the land. At one point, Draupadi has a little breakdown because she realizes that she was living so well back in the city being royalty, and now has nothing except grass to sleep on and rags to wear. She brings up a common complaint among us non-storybook people: Why do bad people prosper and good people suffer? This part really captured my attention because anyone could relate to having it really well and then having it all taken away. She ends up getting really angry about the exile, ad has to be calmed by Yudhishthira. He explains how anger makes it worse, and that she needs to embrace forgiveness instead. I liked their dynamic conversation because it sounded like any friends comforting another when something does not seem fair.

                                           Image: Wikipedia

The other part of the exile that I liked reading about was Indra's celestial city, Swarga, in the clouds (there were even cloud spirits who took Arjuna there). It was such an interesting and unexpected twist that Arjuna's "punishment" was to stay in Indra's city and live among the street dancers and singers as a nobody. And he goes straight from this weird life of dancing to battling demons. For my story this week, I think it would be fun to explore this time in Arjuna's daily life.

The last part I will talk about is the contrast between Duryodhana and Arjuna. Many times in the story, their actions are compared, and eventually it is revealed that Arjuna usually makes the wiser choice. He's also less self-absorbed, which makes him seem more favorable to the readers. The choice between Krishna and the army was interesting to read about. It is similar to a part in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, in which the main character has to choose which chest to open-- the gold, the bronze, or the lead. If he chooses the correct chest, he is allowed to marry the King's daughter. The obvious choice would be the gold chest, since it is prettiest right? Well, it's actually the lead chest. In reading this part of the Mahabharata, I think that Krishna is the equivalent of the lead chest.

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata

Story: The Proposal

Image: Wikimedia Commons

There was a young girl named Satyavati and she lived with a fisherman who had adopted her. As she grew up, she became the prettiest girl in small fishing town they lived in. Her father was poor, and hoped for a marriage proposal to come from a rich king from out of town. Soon, a king named Shantanu came from the mainland to see her. As his boat approached the shore where she stood, he saw her and immediately fell in love with her beauty. However, the closer he came, the stronger the fish smell became.

“why is the smell of fish becoming stronger as we leave the ocean?” Shantanu questioned his servant. The servant, perplexed, guessed that it was the fish that the fisherman was keeping by the shore. Shantanu became more and more infatuated with Satyavati as the boat grew nearer to the shore. However, the smell also became worryingly stronger. As he stepped out of the boat and kissed Satyavati’s hand, he realized that the strong smell emanated from her. At once, he shouted to Satyavati’s fisherman dad,

“Where are the fish kept?!”

Like a madmad, the king ran to the area outside the home where fish were kept in large containers of chilled water. The smell became weaker.

“Is this all the fish?” he demanded of the fisherman.

“That is all we have,” the fisherman answered.

As he walked nearer to where Satyavati stood smiling, he realized that she was the source, not the fish. He looked longingly at her beautiful face, but he could not overlook her odor.

“I cannot go through with this.” The king said solemnly. He and his advisors and servants packed up their belongings and returned to the mainland. As they left, Satyavati stood by the shore, her eyes following the boat as it disappeared into the sunset.

“Why not me?” she sobbed over and over. “Why can’t he love me?”

She knew that her smell was difficult to accept. Her own father, who sold fish for a living, could sometimes not bear to be near her because her smell was stronger by far than the actual fish.

She sat in a shallow part of the water, continuing to cry to the ocean. But then it answered.

“Why are you crying?”

“He doesn’t want to marry me!” She was now crying so hard she could barely breathe.

The ocean answered again.

“I have heard you crying for many hours here. I am aware of your plight. I was meaning to ask why you are crying when many are waiting to make you their wife.”

She looked out into the ocean and then looked behind her at the home where her family was eating dinner, looking for the body that belonged to the voice.

“You are looking in the wrong direction.”

She looked down at the water and saw a beautiful fish right below the surface of the shallow water.

“There are many below the sea who wish to marry you. They have seen your beauty and have been captivated by your fragrance. All you have to do is come with me and I will lead you to our kingdom in the water.

Satyavati looked back at the fisherman’s house. She didn’t want to leave her family, but she didn’t want to cause them more pain. She dived into the water and followed the brilliantly colored fish to the kingdom. 

A/N

Background: Satyavati actually was the daughter of a fish, but was adopted by a fisherman. She had a fish smell until she promised a I wanted to write a story about Satyavati because her smell seemed like a curse (like from a princess movie). I wanted to make a story where her smell wasn't taken away because she saved herself for the sati, but rather it was celebrated by fish. 

Bibliography: Mahabharata Public Domain Edition

Reading Notes: Mahabharata

One part that seemed really cool in beginning Part A of the Mahabharata was the fact that Ganesha would only write it from dictation if hi pen couldn't stop during the entire time of its telling. Sometimes, I found myself having to stop and look up words (or people), for example, asceticism (which is the avoidancce of any indulgence ). I liked the story where Satyavati was raised by the fisherman's wife and smelled like fish due to a sort of curse. I also really liked the part where she was allowed to lose her fish smell if she saved herself for the person she met on the river. The part when she gives birth to Vyasa but he leaves her is another favorite part of mine. As he leaves, he tells Satyavati that anytime she needs help, all she has to do is think of him and he will be there.

Another story that caught my imagination was the part with Shatanu and Ganga. He see Ganga in human form and immediately falls in love with her. She agrees to marry him as long as he promises to never question her. They get married and she gives birth to their first child. However, Ganga throws her new son into the river. She does this 7 times to her and Shatanu’s children, and he breaks the promise he made when they agreed to marry—he questions her actions. She leaves, but later comes back and tells him why she threw them into the river. (Which is still unclear to me, besides the fact that they are supposedly “the vasus”. When she comes back to tell him this, she brings Shatanu her last child named Devavrata.

Ganga trying to drown last child, Wikipedia 

I also liked the story where Shiva tells Amba to slay Bhishma but she questions him because she is a woman and thinks she can’t fight. I think it’s interesting that she had to change form (into a man) in order to fight Bhishma. Couldn’t she do it as a woman?

The last story that I want to write about is Kunti and her son. She gives birth to her son (whose father is the sun god) and sets him in a basket on the river. He is protected and eventually found by Adhiratha and Radha, who adopt the baby. It is similar to a biblical story where Jochebed sends her baby boy, Moses, down the river to protect him from the killings of baby boys. He is also found (by the Egyptian royal family) and adopted.  

Bibliography: PDE Mahabharata

Feedback Focus

Some of the techniques turned out better than the others. I'd rank them in terms of usefulness as:

1. Copy and Delete

2. Reading out loud

3. using a timer

Copy and delete is good because it requires you to actively pay attention since you have to write notes after every paragraph. It forces you to look at writing style, as well as plot details. I realized that I naturally do a variation of this strategy when going through stories each week. Before reading about this technique, I would normally write notes as ideas or questions came to me. Copy and Delete is therefore a more organized version of what I'm used to doing. 

Reading out loud was less helpful than copy and delete because it didn't necessarily prompt you to think about the details as you're going through them. However, it was nice to hear it out loud, especially since I work best when information is read out loud to me. It was like having an audio book (well, except that I'm the one who is reading it). 

Using a timer set for 10 minutes is a good idea in theory, especially because these days people seem to try to be doing ten things at once. So limiting yourself to one task for a specified amount of time is ideal for studying. However, I found that this technique had too little structure for me. In the future, I'll probably continue using my technique of reading and simultaneously jotting down ideas and comments as I read. 

Source: Wikipedia

My favorite story to read was the one with the King and his bird. I like hearing about how sometimes animals have better senses than humans, and they have their own ways of communicating that to us. Like how they are sensitive to changes in atmospheric pressure, and therefore can sense storms. The King's bird's final act before dying was saving his master from the poison, which was both sad and uplifting. 

Story: Midnight at Perry's

It was 10 PM, and Devon had just set out the last of the coffee pots at Perry’s Convenience Store. He glanced up at the cameras he’d installed and tested out the new doorbell he had created for the store. Looked good. His solder work could have been better, but the bell worked perfectly just the same. He didn’t mind working the late shift. Barely anyone came in, with the exception of the occasional truck driver or student getting snacks before an all-nighter. Just then, Devon’s bell rang as two girls walked in. He quickly finished setting out the last pot of coffee before they approached. As they poured themselves drinks, he shuffled back behind the register.

“I can’t believe we waited until the last minute to study for calc,” the brunette one complained.

They came up to the counter, and he realized that they were regulars. Never had they actually exchanged words though. He felt them staring as he simply calculated the sum, including tax, in his head, promptly giving them change. He hadn’t looked at the register computer since he had started working there a couple of months ago.

“Maybe should be doing our calc homework,” The blonde one said. Apparently they had noticed his swift calculation.

He laughed. “I’ve been done with homework since I graduated high school.”

“Are you not a student?” the blonde asked. “We’ve always assumed you were.”

“Nope, just work here.”

“With your talent you should be studying engineering,” the brunette told him.

“Nah, I prefer to just learn and build things on my own, it’s more me. I’m not one for institutions.”

The blonde girl introduced herself. “By the way, I’m Beth, and this is Sabrina. We see you in here a lot.”

“Good to meet you both. Good luck with your studies.”

Beth turned back to look at him on their way out. “You should consider going back to school. You’d be good at it.”

“Thanks.” They left, but thought little of what they said. His parents had already expected him to study engineering the day he had shown them his first robot. Since then, he’d made it a hobby to take apart his family’s electronics and put them back together but with new improvements. They’d expressed their disappointment in his going against the norm. Sometimes his parents would stop in, pretending to say hi, and once they’d left he would look down and see a pamphlet from the nearby community college. Every time, he would throw it away. And now tonight when the girls came into Perry’s. He had to tell them the same thing he told everyone over and over again. He didn’t need the acceptance that a university education brought. To him, learning was spending his hours off comparing his schematics for automated doors with others on the internet. Learning was the joy of going to the library by himself, looking through a new subject he’d never seen before. Learning wasn’t turning in homework. It wasn’t pulling all-nighters. It was watching the sunrise and knowing which chemicals were responsible for the brilliant colors and looking down at his phone and knowing that electromagnetic waves were all around him even if he couldn’t see them. He didn’t need a university to tell him that.

A/N

I based this off of a story from Ganesha Goes to Lunch. Guha was an unconventional man who had a lot of tatoos and lived in the forest. Instead of worshiping statues of gods like the nearby townspeople did, Guha worshiped the forest. He believed the best representation of God was in a tree, since it was alive and gave air and food to those around it. The townspeople would always place statues near the tree to try and get him to change, but he never stopped worshiping the way he believed was right. I wanted to capture the same kind of feeling, except instead of the topic being God, I chose knowledge. Devon is also an outcast, since he chose not to go to college like all the other young people around him. His parents, like the townspeople, constantly try to get him to go to college and change his ways, but it never works. They don't realize that Devon is truly happy in his freedom to learn what he pleases. He sees learning not as an institutionalized thing, but as a personal pursuit. 

Bibliography: Kapur, Kamla K.. Ganesha goes to Lunch.

Image: Wikipedia