Skip to main content

Best for Rest

Reading for pleasure is not something I get to experience often. So when I was asked to read rando short stories for class, I experienced something I haven't in a long time. Relief? Joy? Excitement?
Anyway, here is a brief report on all my thoughts of my favourite stories I discovered!

The first story was titled "Stories For Your Unruly Children" by an unknown author.


Karma as an Action and Reaction; Web Source: Wikimedia Commons

This story reminded me a lot of my own childhood. Even though I grew up in a very Christian household, Hinduism always trickled into our lives through very common things such as popular books and movies. My family was never against us asking questions about the stories we would hear and this is very similar to how children's books were set up. Even the artwork on the cover resembles the storybooks I grew up with.
The story itself would have been very appropriate for someone much younger. While I don't know who exactly the target audience, I think this is a story I would have reached for over and over when I was younger. Something about the repetition of words and how the movements were described made me remember just how much I would read books with similar styles.

The second story was titled "Rate My Rishi" by Kira Godinet.

1. Durvasa. Web Source: Antaryamin's Blog
2. Indra with Airavat. Web Source: Victoria and Albert Museum
3. Lakshmana Kills Indrajit. Web Source: Lakshmana Wikipedia Page
4. Shiva. Web Source: Pictures of Hindu & Buddhist gods
5. Kunti. Web Source: Kunti Wikipedia Page

As you can see, it is set up for people (or gods) to find the correct mentors for their rishi. I find it hilarious because my mind automatically goes to middle-aged women who stress out over the topic of rishis, especially their children's. Most younger kids and teenagers don't put any stress in any of it so the satire really hits homes. Even the characters that are reviewed and found to be more humourous if you have any knowledge about them. This is a great way to know what certain characters in the culture would have thought if they were in this day and age.

My last story was "The Girls of Spring" by Jennifer Nygren.


Artwork done by Raja Ravi Varma provided by Wikipedia.

This was by far my favourite story. I have always been fascinated with Greek mythology and how it coincides with Roman mythology. To have found another blend of a religious character just adds another layer of interest. I'm sure people in the past have compared the two stories of Persephone and Sita but I have never seen such a well-blended story. I like that it doesn't force the endings by creating a sudden "happy ending". Instead the story retains the true characteristics of the well-known women and simply makes their story a happy encounter. 

Overall, I love how people write their own stories and retell their imaginations through stories we may already know of. The release of creativity through art and literature is unmatched. 



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 2 Story: Snip Snap Fish Crab

Photo by pieceoflace photography on Flikr.   The pond had been the home for generations of fish. The pond had seen generations of schools, all swimming up to feel the warmth of the sun after being burrowed in eggs on the deep floor. As the years passed, the pond kept losing water, kept losing fish. What was once a booming pool of abundant creatures slowly became a warm puddle with fish that were slowly suffocating. The wild crane, the old and cranky one near the bay, watch the water line dip lower and lower every year. Instead of working hard to catch a few fish every day in a deep pond, he waited. Patiently. He watched the waters evaporate from the now shallow pond and saw the booming schools of fish starting to panic. He smiled to himself, knowing his long-awaited moment was almost here. "I don't know what much else we can do, sir," said Lole, the wisest fish in the pond. "I've never seen anything like it," said Boe, the oldest fish in the pond....
5 comments
Read more

Week 6 Story: Bhima and Hidimbi

Ghatotkacha  by Unknown.  The story of Bhima and Hidimba actually made me feel a bit different compared to all the love stories from the Indian Epics. I wanted to focus on more of the emotional aspect of the couple and decided to write it up!                                                                                                                                                                     This felt different. He felt different.  The large family, in the tattered garment and heavy eyelids, took a seat under the tallest tree in my forest. F...
7 comments
Read more

Brief Introduction Production

Hi! This is what I look like! Photo by Melanie Foster, personal use.  Cheers to a new blog! Ideally, you, the reader, and I, the writer, have never actually met before. Lucky for the both of us, there's much to learn! I truly believe that writing about anything makes one more knowledgeable than before they wrote about it.  While I don't have an eight-course thesis about myself, there are some basic components I would prefer people to know about me before the rest of who I am. Let us begin.  -I hate frogs.  I do not know where this originated from since this feels like a recent phobia. I remember I was not frightened or even close to crying when I dissected a frog in my 7th-grade math class. In fact, I was the leader of my group that did most of the dissecting and identifying of the innards. Now, however, if I see a frog after a rainy day in Norman town, I will cry. Immediately. It's not like anything traumatic happened, I'm just like this now....
5 comments
Read more