Week 9 Reading Diary, continued: Pattanaik's Calendar Art: Part B (Ardhanari, Shiva)

In Chapter's 3 and 4 of the Seven Secrets from Hindu Calendar Art by Devdutt Pattanaik, I felt a huge amount of equality between the male and female forms of the Gods/gods and Goddesses/goddesses. In the first video, I felt that the lesson to take away God is Universal and is never in one form. I can agree with that concept because I too believe that God is all around us and knows everything, only difference is the visualization. I did not realize how close religions can get. Watching these videos really make me appreciate the Hinduism. It is very accomplishing to know exactly who came from what God/god. As well as, knowing the difference with God and god. Every detail is significant. It is astonishing to see that femininity was important way back then. Equal opportunities were not as equal but still had a very important weight. There is another concept from chapter 3 that I was intrigued by. The concept was about the way Hindus related between the different types of trees and grassland. I liked knowing that that spiritual shade is unbearable. That spirituality lies within us. I feel like that is a concept we all can learn and teach from. Pass it down to the following generation that spirituality is important to hold on to because it can bring a sense of serenity. I feel like adding a sense of serenity in my story will allow to reach a different side in the reader’s. I want to be able to relate emotions using symbolism. Overall, there were plenty of lessons I learned from Part B and I can’t wait to learn more from the following.

gif of trees. Source

Week 9 Reading Diary: Pattanaik's Calendar Art: Part A (Ganesha, Narayan)

The two videos that came from Devdutt Pattanaik's SevenSecrets from Hindu Calendar Art was very entertaining. I was very excited to watch the overall concept of Ganesha and how he came to be. Being a Muslim, I always kept an open mind on other religions purely to curiosity. Growing up with a knowledge of Indian culture, I assumed too often when it came to Hindu Gods. First being that I did not know that there was a difference between god and God. There were so many connections with all of the gods and goddesses, I kind of got overwhelmed. Although, I do have the upmost respect for Hindu’s who do not see this being a factor in their religion and only being faithful. I was drawn towards the love story of Vishnu on how he went to find his wife Shri but ended up falling in love with Padmavati. I feel like that storyline is very common and will be fun to be creative with. I also adored how the parrot and lotus were symbols of love. I think symbolism is very useful in any genre.

In the second video of Part A. I was eager to see Lakshmi’s story again. I knew she was always considered the goddess of wealth but never a cow also known as Go-Mata. That makes more sense in the factor that Vishnu being Gopala the keeper of cow. I honestly did not know that Vishnu and Narayan were the same person but only difference was whether their eyes were shut or open. It really intrigues me that the smallest detail can change a God. Another story that I took away from this video was Tumburu and Narad. I think it can be comically when you find out that the friend helping the two guys actually ends up with the girl.

Overall, I enjoyed learning more about the Hindu religion. I have had respect for the culture and all the traditions beforehand but now knowing the background of everyone, it all makes sense. I think the concept of God can be pulled in many ways but one common thought I agree with Devdutt Pattanaik is that, “Everything is God.”

Funny meme of when God made me. Source.

Week 8: Reading in the future

I honestly love videos over any reading. So it was an automatic choice for me to choose a film to watch in the next few weeks than the other choice of reading. I ended up choosing the
Pattanaik's Calendar Art. I feel like I better understanding when seeing the characters act out their roles. I am very excited to learn more about this because it features the God Ganesha, who I have always had an interest towards when relating the Hindu religion. 

Lord Ganesha. Source.

Week 8 Blog Ideas

Looking throughout all of my classmate’s blog I now know that there is never a limit into being creative. I adored all the different themes that I saw and was ungrateful for choosing my own but then I saw that Bayan had the same theme and I was glad again. Obviously her blog is very flawless so to speak and I envy her but I liked how she had the weather widget on the side. I mean living in Oklahoma all my life, I am more than used to the bipolar weather we have and having a tool to keep you in the know is really nice.

Second blog I came upon was Nikita’s. Needless to say, I too found her blog way more interesting than mine. I mean just browse on it, you will agree in a heartbeat. I love the whole vibe she puts off. It does not even feel like a blog. It feels more as of a one on one conversation- kind of atmosphere. It is nice to be treated more as of a friend than a stranger.

Lastly, I randomly chose Savannah’s blog and I am glad I did so because it is simply breath taking. I love how she chose WordPress as her source for her blogs. I wish I did so too! I just love the layout and how interesting the font. My favorite part would have to be the recent activity seen on her page. I think it is a better insight on the progress of the blog itself.

Week 8: Time Management

It is truly terrifying how fast time flies, and I cannot even blame it on 'fun'. Granted this semester is probably how I pictured my last semester at OU to be, not too easy but somewhat relaxing. I am grateful for courses like this as well as Art Therapy to reflect back at times and acknowledge them which equal as relaxing to me. For this class I chose the typical MWF schedule but I have taken advantage of the grace period repetitively. I work on the weekends and so I have a hard time to get the weekend items turned in on time. As of now I usually do both my readings on Tuesday and if I'm lucky then do the storytelling the day before it's due since it takes me longer to get in the zone for those. Every other assignment I do on the same day, which is Sunday to Monday grace period. Overall, I need to adjust my schedule. I write everything and anything into my 'black book', as my friends call it. I love writing down all the things I need to accomplish because I like crossing them out one by one with different colored pens. I don't even know how I got to doing so until a friend pointed it out for me. The only problem are the days that I don't open the book. That is when things get crazy. It's already half the semester so I know I have to set up my game and really get my schedule down, I just rather sleep. 

Rory contemplating homework versus sleeping. Source. 

Week 7 Reading Diary, continued: Mahabharata videos, Part B

Watching Episodes 18 through 34 on the Epified channel on YouTube, really intrigued me to look into more in depth of each characters story. For example, the reoccurrence of Karna. Despite knowing the actual history, I thought starting out he was going to be a hero since he so nobly did not want to be associated with the Kshatriya and disguised to be a Barhmin in order to be taught by the almighty Drona. In the end, Karna turned out to be the most dynamic character of all. Being the son of the sun, I would have put the two together and added a metaphor like, (in a deep voice) he shall brightens everyone's day, but that was not the case at all. He instead, slowly but surely, built up the small bits and pieces of jealous until one day he was green as the leaves with envy towards the Pandavas brothers.

Envious meme. Source

In Episodes 24 and 25, Bhim displays a characteristic that made me adore him even more. To be humble like Bhim is definitely something every character, good that is, should carry and pass around. Him carrying his brothers and mother, finalized that I would love to add a story about how to be innocently humble. The 25th episode being that Bhim finally gets a chance to strengthen his muscles and defeat the one monster that terrorized the village of Ekachakra once and for all. Humble and a hero, what more could you want? Bhim is my favorite from last part and this part of the series.

Week 7 Reading Diary: Mahabharata videos, Part A

Watching theYoutube videos over Mahabharata really made a difference than reading it from a writer. I enjoyed the illustrations especially. I find that with writing and visualizations, detail is key. I kept pausing the videos to see if the artist really was drawing them or not but I remember seeing this technique used in my gateway class years ago so it was nice to see it again. I appreciate that the creators of these videos really took the time to find out about all the characters and their backgrounds when introducing them. It honestly cut my time in half since I did not have to look them up myself. The videos honestly did not take as long as I thought. I kind of wanted to keep on going into the Part B but I think I take a break or something.

All in all, these stories took a while for me to fully appreciate them since it took longer than expected to recognize the characters. My favorite in these illustrations were the Pandavas brothers but more specifically Bheem or Bhima. I used to be the girl who only read the Harry Potter books and compare them to the movies. Although nowadays, all I look for are video options. I wish I knew the PDE version better to see if they were similar with the narration but I totally didn’t or forgot about Bheem's journey with Vasuki. To be in that situation, having snakes surround you when you are all tied, I hope to unleash some kind of Dragon Ball Z powers too. 

Super Saiyan gif. Source Tumblr