Week 10 Storytelling: Sita Still Sings the Blues

Sita sat silently and looked out the window. She didn't know how long she had been here but she knew that it had been a while. She missed Rama so much and she knew that he would be coming to save her. Ravana had been begging her to be with him but she knew that she couldn't do that to Rama. It was Rama that she loved and Rama was the only one that she would be with.

Something outside of the window caught Sita's eye. Upon further examination, Sita could see that somebody was approaching the palace. It was Rama! She knew that he would be there to save her. She watched as Rama fought all the rakshasas and defeated Ravana. She couldn't have been happier.

After she saw that it was safe, she opened the doors of the palace and ran. She wanted so desperately to be in Rama's arms.

"Rama, my love!" Sita yelled as she approached him.

The look in Rama's eyes made her stop. She hesitated to go any closer.

"Rama? What's wrong?" Sita asked.

"I have done my part and saved you. I can't, however, bring you back to be my wife. You have been unfaithful. You have dwelled with another man. I can't bring you back to the kingdom. What would everyone say about me if I were to accept you back after this?" Rama replied, rather harshly.

Sita looked at him with tears in her eyes. She couldn't believe what he just said. Why would he go through all this trouble for her when he didn't want to be with her anymore.

"You know me. You know that I would never be unfaithful to you! I have always been pure and I have remained that way. Ravana wanted me but I refused!" Sita screamed back at him.

Rama made no reply. Sita realized that even though she loved him, she was not going to let anyone treat her this way. She knew the truth and so did Rama.

"I have always loved you Rama. Deep down, you know the truth and you are going to regret this. I have nothing to prove to you so goodbye Rama." Sita replied calmly. She knew that she loved him but her loving him wasn't enough. Rama didn't love her anymore. If he did, he would not treat her this way.

Sita turned from Rama and began to walk away. She didn't know where she was going, but she knew that she had to figure it out. She was all alone but it would be better to be alone than to be with someone who didn't trust her.

Sita continued on. She wanted to turn around and look at Rama one last time but she knew that if she did, she would change her mind. She would beg him to take her back.

"It's better this way," she told herself, hoping that if she says it enough times, that she will believe it.

Sita from Sita Sings the Blues

Author's note: After watching Sita Sings the Blues, I realized that Sita allows Rama to treat her horribly and she keeps taking him back. The majority of the movie shows Sita begging Rama to not leave her. I focused mostly on the part where Rama sees Sita after she has been kidnapped. In the original story, Rama tells Sita that he can't be with her anymore because she has been in the house of another man. He knows that it wasn't by choice but it didn't matter because people will still talk. Sita then begs Rama to stay with her and she even proves her purity by fire. Rama is able to take her back now that she has proven her purity. I think that Sita should have had more self-worth and not let Rama treat her so badly. That is why I changed the story to show Sita being able to stick up for herself. I know that Sita loves Rama still and that is why she is still upset. I wanted her to show that even though she loves Rama, it was best to let him go in the best interest of herself. I wanted Sita to care what happens to herself.
Bibliography: Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley

Reading Diary B: Sita Sings the Blues Part B

For this reading diary, I finished the second part of Sita Sings the Blues.

What I realized finally was the connections between Nina and this movie. She is the writer so I'm guessing that was a rundown of the events that led her to create Sita Sings the Blues. I was really racking my brain trying to figure out the connection. It didn't even occur to me to pay attention to the name but anyways, this part focused on after Rama takes Sita back and then finishes with Sita returning to mother earth.

I found this movie to be quite entertaining. It had such different types of animation that it actually seems as if there are numerous different stories that are just pieced together but I did find it enjoyable. I still hate that Sita let Rama treat her so badly and yet she still praised him and showed her love to him until she departed. I would have left him at the beginning. She should have had to prove anything to him and yet she kept debating on whether or not she would kill herself over him. He was so not worth it.

I think this movie told the story quite well. It focused on the details that went with Sita's songs and I like seeing things more from her perspective.

Opening scene in Sita Sings the Blues. Source: breathedreamgo

Reading Diary A: Sita Sings the Blues Part A

For this reading diary, I decided to watch the part A of Sita Sings the Blues. I was a bit hesitant to watch this because it looked a little chaotic but I am really glad that I did. The first part tells the story of Rama and Sita up to the point of Rama finding Sita after she has been kidnapped. It is also intertwined with the story of Nina and Dave. I am not quite sure how that story fits in with this movie but I guess I will find out in part B.

I have to say that I love how this movie is turning out. I was very confused at the beginning because I wasn't quite sure what was going on but the more I watched it, the more I understood what was happening. I love the narrators. It feel like I could just be sitting in a room listening to three people trying to tell a story. I like how they argue about some parts and mess up a couple other ones. I think that it helps remind us that these stories have been told over and over again which is why some of them know different versions.

As much as I love to read, I am enjoying the small break from having to concentrate so hard. I can just relax and watch a little movie. As a matter of fact, I am about to start part B... I'll update back on Reading Diary B when I finish.

Sita Sings the Blues. Source: Amazon

Week 9: Famous Last Words

My readings for this week: I did not manage to do any reading for this week. I had made big plans on how I was going to get a head and then found myself running out of time for everything this week. It was one of those weeks that made me wish that I had done more last week. I also wanted to get ahead using this weekend but lucky me, I got sick... and not only did I get sick but my one year old and my five year old also got sick... and then my husband got sick. Lets just say that it wasn't the best weekend to get a head of schedule.

Your best writing for this week: Although I did not do any writing in this class during the weekly assignments, I did do some work for my storybook. I really feel as though it is going really good. I found that my new story was a bit harder to write this week, mainly because the story of Sita's kidnapping occurs over numerous stories. I had to narrow it down some to figure out what I was going to focus on and I feel like it turned out pretty good. I'll see how well I did when the comments start coming in though.

My other classes: I have been doing pretty good in my other classes. I am currently taking 15 credit hours in order to graduate in December so I stay fairly busy with school. There are not really any connections between my other classes and this class.

Outside of school: Besides getting sick, I have been prepping for Halloween. My son is going to be a transformer and my daughter is going to be a fairy. We already had to miss one Halloween event that happened yesterday due to everybody being sick but they are looking forward to the upcoming week. Which is another reason that I wanted to get a head start.

I had big plans for this week and let myself get off track but I am ready to keep going and hopefully get myself on a schedule like I had planned to do already! We will see how the next week goes because I would consider this week to be a big FAIL! I do feel like I am getting things together though.

 

A cool looking pumpkin because its almost Halloween. Source: www.brit.co

Tech Tip: Weather Widget

This week's tech tip that I decided to learn was Add the Weather to Your Sidebar.

I feel like having a weather widget is a necessity in Oklahoma. You can never tell what type of weather we are going to have here so I figured I'd add the weather to my blog post to keep myself informed. I have to say that my favorite weather is when its cold outside. I love bundling up next to a fire with some hot chocolate and making smores. It is one of my favorite things to do with my kids. I like the hot weather but I don't like when it is miserably hot and in Oklahoma, that tends to be how our summers are. I definitely prefer snow.

Winter Beauty by Garen Johnson. Source: michaelfrye.com

Reading Plan

Since there are 6 weeks of reading left, I have planned out some readings that sounded interesting to me. There were so many options!

Dharma. Ramayana.- this is the modern version of the Ramayana. I actually found the Ramayana that I read earlier in the semester to be quite interesting but the way it was written was a little confusing. I am thinking that the modern version might be good to read since it is written in modern language. It also has 4 weeks of reading so the majority of my reading plan could consist of this one.

Sita Sings the Blues - I actually was thinking about watching this earlier. I am definitely looking forward to watching it as one of my free options for the remainder of the semester. Its also only one week long but it would be a nice break from reading.

Nivedita. Kali the Mother- This is the last of my reading plan. I think it would be interesting to hear the story for Kali's point of view, from a mother's perspective to see how she feels about the events.

Sculpture of Kali. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reflections: Looking Forward

After doing the Reflections: Looking Back post, I realized that I have a lot that I need to work on going forward. The main thing that I plan to do is the extra credit. I am set for a B in the class right now and there is no reason that I shouldn't be well into an A. I have been a little lazy so my plan is to make a better schedule. I no longer want to be doing the assignments on the same day that they are due. I want to make it a point to work ahead as much as possible. I also plan on doing at least a couple of the extra credit assignments a week. It would be nice to have a little leeway when it comes to due dates.

I plan to do enough extra credit assignments so that I am able to be done with the class early. It is always nice when you don't have to worry about a class during finals week. I am also going to make sure that I make a schedule that will allow me plenty of time to finish everything that I need to so I don't have to skip some assignments due to a time issue. I think these two things could make a huge difference in the rest of the semester.

Source: Blog called Candid Caroline

Reflections: Looking Back

I love having online classes. That is one of the main reasons that I took the mythology and folklore class last semester. After taking that class, I loved the way that it was set up which is what brought me to this class. I love being able to be creative and also being able to create a schedule that works for me.

 I work on this class for a couple hours normally four days a week. I do Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday. Sometimes I feel rushed but that is only because I have created a schedule that causes it. I have every intention of creating a schedule that works better for me. I am currently taking five online classes and I work two jobs so my mornings are completely taken so I only have the evenings and weekends to devote to my classes. This week is definitely going to help me create a better schedule though.

I normally do all my work at home. If I have some free time at work, then I will sneak some homework in their. Shhh... Don't tell my boss! However, most of my work is done at my house after my kids go to bed. I have a laptop so it varies on if I am at my desk or lying on my couch to do work.

I have not currently worked on any of the extra credit and I am quite disappointed in myself for it. Last semester, I was able to finish the class early because I had accumulated so many points. I plan on fixing that for the rest of the semester, especially since the extra credit assignments always teach me something that helpful.

I have been slacking a little on the storytellings also. I tend to not give myself enough time so I feel like I have made myself rush through most of the ones that I did and there were many weeks that I didn't write any at all. My favorite one that I wrote was the Week 6 Storytelling. I feel like I did a pretty good job on that one and I took my time more than I had been. Below is the image that I used for this storytelling.

Hidimbi approaches Bhima in human form. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Week 7: Reading Diary A:Mahabharata Online 61-80

For this week's reading, I chose Mahabharata Online: Public Domain Edition. These are some of my favorite stories.

Abhimanyu and Jayadratha: This story is about the revenge that Arjuna takes against Jayadratha for killing his son, Abhimanyu. Abhimanyu fights against Jayadratha and Jayadratha defeats him. Once new travels back to Arjuna he decides that he is going to seek revenge. He says "May I never reach heaven if I do not slay Jayadratha on the morrow". Revenge for his son's death is the only thing that he cares about. I think that the father's love for his son is so strong that he had to seek revenge for his son's death.

Bhima and Duhshasana: Its been quite a long time since the Pandavas were exiled because of the poker game. Bhima had vowed that he should never get into heaven if he doesn't kill Duhshasana and drink his blood. Many years after this vow, Bhima was finally able to make it come true. He does kill Duhshasana and does drink his blood. This of course has everyone freaking out saying that Bhima must not be human because he is drinking the blood. I think drinking the blood may have been going a little overboard. He could have just vowed to kill him and let that be enough. The image that I found is quite graphic but the story itself is pretty gruesome anyways so I guess it fits.

Bhima drinks thee blood of Duhshasana. Source: Wikimedia Commons