Indian Epics Fall 2019

In a lake far from the lake where the Crab now lived, was the brother of the Crane that was killed. In this lake, the Brother Crane chose not to eat the fish, but rather the fruit from the nearby trees. One day, Brother Crane started to miss his sibling who he had not seen in a long time, so he decided to pay Crane a visit. The flight was long, but there was plenty of fruit on the trees for him to eat. After 9 days of flying, Brother Crane finally arrived. He called out to his brother, "Crane! It is I. For I have flown many nights to see you. Why do you hide from me?" There was no response. Again, Brother Crane called out, "Brother, where are you?" No response. Meanwhile, Crab was resting in a shallow area of the lake when he heard shouting. He was angered by the noise and decided to investigate. When he came to the surface of the lake, he searched the trees for the voice until he spotted Brother Crane. Crab was frightened, for Brother Crane looked exactly like hi...

Out of all the stories that I read, there were three that were all very common in how they were told, they characters within them, and the overall theme. These were " The Cunning Crane and the Crab " by W.H.D. Rouse, " The Crocodile and the Monkey's Heart " by Marie L. Shedlock, and " The Crocodile in the River " by Robert Chalmers. (Crane deceiving fish. Source: Jatakas ) The latter two included the exact same characters: a hungry female crocodile, a loyal male crocodile, and a cunning monkey. The crocodiles were not dumb however, for they had a smart plan of themselves to try and trick the monkey, but the monkey just happened to be smarter. This was also the case in the story about the crane and the crab. The crane was extremely smart himself by tricking the fish into thinking that he was kind; however, the crab was able to outsmart even the crane. For each of these three stories, the "villain" (i.e crocodile and crane) was driven ...

I will be reading the novel version of the Ramayana by Narayan. I have always loved novels and find it to be the easiest for me to read. Reading off of a computer screen is difficult for me at times and I never get as immersed as I do when I have a book in my hand. When it comes to comic books and videos, there were a few that caught my eye. The first being Elephanta: The Island of Shiva . Shiva is one of the few Indian gods/goddesses that I have heard of, so I want to learn more because the only thing I know right now is the name. There was not a description of this particular comic book, but the other two about Shiva did not peak my interest. The next comic book that interested me was  Nachiketa: A Collection Of Stories From The Upanishads   because it had variety of stories in it, with the last one getting my attention the most. Seeing a story where all three beings of different power were miserable with their lives relates to the real world a lot, which I enjoyed. The ...

The first article I read on time management was " Eat The Frogs First Thing in The Morning " and I related to this so much. I consider myself an active procrastinator, which is someone who works well under pressure, as the article described. However, this can get the better of me at times and I start to panic about when something is due. This mostly occurs when I have put something that I can do at any point during the day, in the evenings (i.e working out). I really, really, really, really dislike waking up early in the mornings. The hardest part is getting out of bed, but once I am out, I am ready for the day. This is why I need to start putting working out in the mornings so that my evenings can be significantly freed up for homework or other important tasks. (Gym. Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The article I read was " The Important Habit of Just Starting ," which paired really well with the one I described above. As I said, getting out of bed is extrem...

I had no idea about most of the technology tools described! I have always scared to download tools to help me because I have had bad experiences with random tools being downloaded because of a virus. It makes me feel better and like it is worth trying now that Dr. Gibbs has recommended them. Most of the other online courses were made such that I read a book and answered questions based on what I read, so tools were never needed. I love how this course is set up and I am willing to try out some tools to help me along in this course. (Different sources of technology. Source: Flickr )

After one week in this course I am extremely excited for what the semester has in store. In terms of assignments the ones I am most excited for are the reading assignments. The stories told in India and that are part of their religion have always interested me, but they are not as mainstream as some other gods and goddesses stories (i.e. Greek or Egyptian). I always enjoy reading, so I think it will be the easiest for me to get through. (Book being read. Source: Pexels )

When watching the videos on Growth Mindset, I went back through all the times that something was easy for me and when something was hard for me. I remember feeling happy whenever I would get A's on all of the assignments and getting frustrated and angry when it was something I could not figure out. That occurred pretty often throughout my life until I got to college. That is when it all became a challenge. This is when I started to noticed my learning processes changing because everything was so easy before, I finally needed to put some effort in. I noticed that many times I would succeed and many times I would fail, but instead on blaming my failure on the exam or assignment, I would say that I would put more effort into the next exam/assignment. While I agree this helped my learning process grow, I think college often prevents this type of mindset. (Frustrated Studying. Source: Max Pixel ) Because I am interested in professional school, things such as failure are not an op...

Hey all, My name is Jacob, but I go by many nicknames: Jake, Heath (my last name), DJ (it is a long story). You can also just call me Jacob, which is what most people do. My major is microbiology/pre-med. Microbiology is an odd major because the first microbiology course I took was not until second semester junior year, so I am glad I enjoyed it or else I would have wasted my first two years on a major I did not enjoy! I eventual plan is to become a doctor. I still have a long ways to get there, but I am hopeful. People always ask me what specialty I am planning on, and I always hate giving them an answer. That part of my life is sooooo far away that I know my views and likes on different areas of medicine will change. Because most people expect an answer, I tell them sleep medicine because something about sleep and dreams interest me so much. I was the kid who had night terrors and sleep walked (I still do sometimes), so I think it would be a good fit for me. My biggest hobby wo...

There were a wide variety of Storybooks to choose from with topics that spanned way past what I thought the project was. I loved this because it allowed for some extremely creative projects to be made. One example of this is the Storybook HiduLoverOnline ( https://hinduloveronline.tumblr.com/ ). I audibly laughed when I opened this web page up. HinduLoverOnline is a dating site, but not for Hindu people meeting other Hindu people. Rather, it is for Hindu people getting the chance to date and even marry characters from works of Indian fiction. I myself am not Hindu, but I still want to try out this dating website. I have not had any luck from Tinder or Bumble, so maybe HinduLoverOnline will be where I find the one for me. The site itself is simple and easy to navigate, but it does look a little outdated. I saw this in the older storybook posts so I can't blame the technology of the time. ( Image: Indian Couple by Thanwan Singh,   Flickr ) The next Storybook that caught my int...

I only discovered my current two favorite places in the world within the last year. The first one is in Chiang Mai, Thailand. I traveled here while I was studying abroad in Australia. A friend and I spontaneously booked the flight and accommodations only a few weeks in advanced, but I am so glad we did. Something about how spontaneous it was just added to the excitement. I Thailand we were lucky enough to bath young elephants in Chiang Mai. I will never forget it. (Elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaeltk/14889261785) My other favorite place in the world is Uluru in Australia. It is better known as the large rock in the middle of nowhere, but it definitely has a name. I was able to also visit while I was studying abroad (I swear I studied some too). What made this place so memorable is the history behind it. It is worshiped by the aboriginal people of the area, for they believe it is the center of the universe. Being able to hear m...

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