Thoughts About Comments

Going back through the comments I've received on my posts allowed me to review some of the suggestions my classmates and instructors have made, and consider how they have been implemented in my writings. A lot of the feedback I've received has been positive, and most of the comments have been students telling me what they liked about my writing. Most students say they liked how I turned old stories into modern and relateable ones, and appreciate the integration of quotes from the original story. I have enjoyed comments from Professor Gibbs that have guided me to other resources or made recommendations for my future reading plans. This has allowed the course to become more "personalized" and has allowed me to focus on the areas of the reading I am most interested in.

I also enjoy the comments on my introduction, and have enjoyed making comments on other students introductions. This allows the virtual classroom to feel more "real" and has fostered a greater sense of community between the students in this class. It is definitely less awkward to give constructive criticism on someone else's writing when you've already introduced yourself to them and have taken the time to get to know them a little better.

I have also enjoyed leaving comments on others students stories. My only worry is that I am too general or vague in my comments. I hope to work on being more specific in my feedback to other students in the weeks to come.

Week 5 Storytelling Kunti and Karna

There once was a teenager named Kunti. She had a spotless reputation and was set up for success. The world was her oyster! She had endless opportunities in front of her, and more resources than she could ask for. She worked hard in school, played sports, and had great friends and family. That’s why she couldn’t even bear the thought of what had happened to her. She kept imaging the look on her parents’ faces when she told them she was pregnant.

She couldn’t go through with it. Honestly, it wouldn’t be fair to her or the child. What did she know about being a mother? Would she resent the baby for changing the whole course of her life? She knew there were families out there who were so desperate for children, and she knew that she was in no way equipped to be a mom. Kunti was a small thin girl, and could hide the pregnancy fairly well at first with baggy sweaters and oversized t-shirts. However, as her belly grew, so did her worries. She knew she had to find the right family for her baby and fast.

One of her good friends, Jane, worked as a receptionist at the local fertility clinic. One evening Jane and Kunti passed a beautiful, yet disheartened couple at the movie theater. Jane greeted the couple, and they did their best to smile back at her. Jane turned to Kunti and said, “Sometimes the work at my office is the most rewarding work in the world. And other times, well… things just don’t work out.” Kunti realized the couple must have come in for treatment at the clinic, but were still unable to have a child. A light bulb went off in Kunti’s head. Kunti replied, “Uhhh…. I forgot I have to go home for something… bye!!” and ran out of the theater.

Kunti followed the couple at a safe distance. They walked all the way to their cozy home. It wasn’t much, but it was well taken care of. It wasn’t big, but Kunti could tell it was full of love. Kunti peaked in the window, and saw the wife sobbing in her husband’s arms. Kunti knew these people would be amazing parents to her son.

Towards the end of her pregnancy, Kunti couldn’t hide her belly any longer. She forged a letter from the “Society of Science-Minded Women” which said she’d been accepted to a three-month long conference in Washington, DC. Her parents gave her enough money for the trip, and Kunti set up camp at a small motel about an hour away. Finally the day came, and Kunti gave birth to her beautiful son, and named him Karna.

Kunti cleaned up the baby, and wrapped him in sheets from the hotel. She rushed to the beautiful couple’s home. She laid Karna on their doorstep, rang their doorbell, and hid. The couple came out, confused, but overjoyed. They knew this child was to be theirs.

Author's Note;

This is a story that has been told in many different ways and in many different cultures. When I first read this story, I was reminded of Moses being laid in the river by his mother. Various circumstances can lead a woman or a couple to adoption, and many happy families are created because of adoption. In this story, Jane takes the place of the river. She is the one who leads Karna to the family that is destined to raise him. The beautiful couple is obviously a representation of Radha and Adhiratha. I added more details about concealing the pregnancy that were left out in my reading. I left out exactly how Kunti became pregnant, because I wanted the story to focus more on Kunti and Karna.

Boon of Indra to Kunti,

Date unknown, Author: Ramnadayandatta Shastri Pandey, Source: Wikimedia

Bibliography:

"Kunti and Her Son" by Donald A. Mackenzie, from Indian Myth and Legend (1913). Web Source: here

Reading Diary A- Public Domain Edition of Mahabharata

This week I chose to read the public domain edition of Mahabharata that was provided by our professor. The names and places are hard to keep straight at first, but links embedded in the reading along with the audio version to follow along with help a lot.  As I was reading, I tried to keep an open mind to characters that could fit in to my storybook project for this class. Amba was probably my favorite character, although I realize that she is probably supposed to come off as evil and crazed to the reader. She was treated unjustly, despite her noble actions, and is seeking revenge against Bhishma. I look forward to finding out how the rest of her story unfolds. In my version of her story I might leave out the part about her having to be reincarnated as a man. This takes away from the power she already possesses in her womanly form.

Two other characters I found to be intriguing, although they would probably not make an appearance in my storybook, are Drona and Drupada. The two were friends growing up, but then Drupada essentially hurt Drona’s feelings when they got older by telling him he wasn’t good enough to be his friend any more. This apparently cut Drona so deep that he makes it his life’s mission to make Drupada eat his own words. In the end, Drupada is forced to accept Drona’s “friendship” but in reality the two are more like enemies.

Dronacharya as commander-in-chief of the Kaurava army,

Author: Ramanarayanadatta astri, Source: Wikimedia

Those were the three characters I was most entertained by so far, I look forward to seeing how the rest of this epic unfolds.