Week 7 Story: The Princes And The Frog

The Princes And The Frog 

Many years ago, there was a young prince who lived in a palace with his mother, father and brother outside Hastinapura. They were very wealthy, so the young boy led an extraordinary life with his family. He was kind-hearted, beautiful and hard - working. Everyone in the kingdom loved him! 

One sunny afternoon, the prince was playing in the gardens of the palace. He was playing with his favorite toy, a ball. This was no ordinary ball, because it was a golden ball, given to him before his mother passed away. It was the only possession that he had left to remind him of the close bond that he had with his beloved mother. The prince loved throwing the ball high up into the sky, where the sun made it shine brightly with flashes of light. Every time, he would try to throw it higher into the air, in the hopes that it will touch the clouds, until one day he threw it so high into the sky that he could not see where it landed. He immediately began to panic and cried out to his brother for help! The prince’s brother saw the ball fall into an old well. They both tried endlessly to get it back, but unfortunately they were unsuccessful. “I want my ball back!” The prince began to cry louder and louder.

Out of nowhere, they heard a voice. “What seems to be the problem, boys?” They both looked around and saw a frog sunbathing on a rock. Not knowing who spoke to them and not seeing anyone around, the two young men ignored the frog and continued trying to reach for the ball in the old well. Again, they heard someone asking them, “What seems to be the problem, boys?” They faced the frog who magically turned into a thin, Brahman, dark in hue. The boys were so shocked and had to blink twice to make sure that they were not dreaming. “My name is Drona, and I am here to help you get the golden ball back, but I must receive something in return for my good deed," the Brahman said. “We will give you anything you want! Our father is the king and he can grant you your wishes. Tell us what you want, O Brahman.” The Brahman spoke and said, “If you allow me a seat at your supper table and give me a meal prepared for a king -I will use my skills and powers to get you your golden ball back.” 

“Absolutely! We promise you all your wishes.” And so, Drona used his magic powers to create a weapon out of a handful of grass to retrieve the golden ball. The boys thanked the Brahman and rushed back up the hill to the castle to deliver the good news to their tutor. “Bhishma! Bhishma! As we were playing in the gardens, my golden ball fell into the well and because I cried so loud, a frog appeared and turned into a Brahman and returned the ball to us!” Bhishma was stunned by the news that the boys delivered and knew immediately, in the back of his mind, who they were talking about. He was, however, confused as to why Drona was in the vicinity and asked the people from the kingdom all about what had happened to the great sage's son. 

Suddenly there was a knock on the kingdom's front door and when one of the soldiers opened it, the frog came hop! Hop! into the kingdom.  The two boys ran toward Drona, the frog, and carried him to to the supper table where they placed him on a chair next to Bhishma. The frog transformed himself into a Brahman and it is then that Bhishma knew he found the best trainer possible, to teach the two princes how to shoot. 

Frog Sunbathing On A Rock. Source:Pixabay

Author's Note: For this week's story, I focused on How The Princes Learned To Shoot. I immediately thought of a childhood story called The Princess and The Frog and that is what I based my version of the story off of. In the original version of the story, the princess was a spoiled girl and nobody liked her. She had a golden ball as a toy and lost it in a pond, when a frog helped her retrieve it, in exchange for friendship. The princess agreed to it, but as soon as she received her ball back, she ignored the frog and ran from him.


I decided to keep my characters as well as the scene of the story the same as the Mahabharata episode, but made the Brahman appear to the boys in the form of a frog, before he turned himself into the royal preceptor. I also kept the plot of the story the same, only changing minor details, such as using a golden ball that had sentimental value, instead of an ordinary play ball. I wanted to give a twist to my story and that is why I made this part up. The golden ball is the main element in my story and focus was also placed on how Drona met Bishma and I also focused on how he is not only rewarded for his good deed, but how he became the princes' teacher. 

Bibliography: Myths About The Hindus And Buddhists by Sister Nivedita. Reading link to How The Princes Learned To Shoot.
The Princess And The Frog Wikipedia reading link.

Famous Last Words: Spring Break

The past week felt very different for me and I cannot quite pin out why. It is possibly because I have so much going on and the week felt like it was passing by fast, but not really. I did not have time to catch up with all my extra credit options and that is why I am spending time now while traveling to complete these activities. I truly enjoyed this week's writing activities and the reading was fun too. For next week, I plan to either finish part B of one of my stories or continue on with a new one. And it is my hopes, if time permits, to work ahead of schedule and catch up on the coming weeks' work. I've read some pretty good stories this week and learned a lot from feedback provided by other students. This class is really interesting and the writing process that I am learning, allows me to be open to new ideas and explore other options which I not only implement in this class, but other classes as well. My second class is starting sometime in June and I am almost certain that a lot of writing will be required in that class as well and I am excited to try my new writing techniques, growth mindset, review notes, etc in that class. I feel that the review notes help in other aspects of my daily routine as well and serves as a great reminder for tasks that need to be completed. I also enjoy receiving feedback from Laura on our stories and I am a big believer in the more eyes you have on your writing, the better, because people have different opinions, views and perspectives. I look forward to Spring Break – It will be much needed. 

 Picture Of Flowers. Source: Pixabay

Review: Shining Light

I read through the past week's assignments and notices and found the post about make your weird light shine bright so the other weirdos know where to find you. This is so true, because each person is different and unique in his /her own way.

 It immediately made me think of Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 

Candles Burning. Source: Wikipedia

 

Wikipedia Trail: From Zen To Tang Dynasty

1. Zen
Zen is a school associated with Buddhism. It originated in China and was higly influenced by Taoism. Zen's roots also go way back to Dhyana among the Indian community.

2. Taoism
There is a difference between Tao and Taoism. Taoism denotes the idea that everything in the universe exists and has an immense influence on people all over the world.

3. Confucianism
Confucianism is different than Taoism and it highly influences China, Hong Kong, Japan, etc. There is so much to learn about this, tat I will have to go back and read more about this concept. I once had a professor who was a Buddhist and he used to talk a lot about this.

4. Tang Dynasty
The Li family founded the Tang Dynasty and was considered a period of firmness, strength. The Wikipedia article about the Tang Dynasty has so much information and it is quite confusing. I am glad that I picked the topic of Zen to strart with, but I feel like I did not get as good information as I would have hoped for. 

Reading Notes: Devdutt Pattanaik -Part F

For the extra credit reading option, I decided to read the notes, instead of watching the video. I would highly recommend watching the video and reading the notes, as this information is a lot to absorb. The videos definitely help, so I might go back and watch the video to get a better idea of what is going on. This is the final section of the reading and I would highly recommend it to others!

* How interesting is it that neither the creator, preserver or destroyer is ranked the same.
* Brahma sounds super overprotective of his daughter and this could be turned into a really good story, if I decide to write about it.
* Even the part where Shiva uses Brhama's head as a drinking bowl, could be turned into a horror story.
* I wonder why they reference that karma "determines all things over which we have no control: our bodies, our parents, the circumstances of our life." This seems unsettling to me - as if some spirit controls one's body. I absolutely disagree with this reference.

Graha Deities. Source: Wikipedia 

 

Reading Link To Devdutt Pattanaik -Part F (Brahma)

Tech Tip: Add an HTML Box to Your Sidebar.

For this week's tech tip, I decided to try out adding an HTML box to my blog's sidebar. This was probably one of the easiest tech tips that I have done thus far. I really like this tip, as I love reading inspirational quotes. Now I can choose weekly quotes to update my blog. This was afun and easy process to do.

Growth Mindset: Don't Hide

Cats Hiding. Created Using Cheezburger 

I created this meme, because so often people try to hide from their mistakes, instead of learning from it. I definitely learned from my mistakes this past week and I faced it, instead of ignoring it.

Reading Notes: The Story Of Lady Amba

* I find it interesting that Bhishma had to find a wife for his brother to secure the succession. I wonder if this was like a rule or something? What made them think that it will definately secure the spot?

* Bidden - order / direct / enter a bid. So were they actually like bidding on them like in an auction?

* Prowess - skill / expertise in a certain field.

* Retinue - a group of advisers accompanying an important person.

* Reading this story, it immediately reminds me of African traditions where the princesses are clothed in expensive, beautiful clothing, etc and the men have to fight for their lady. I can use this element to create a story. I can base my characters in another continent and keep the same plot. This might be a fun story to write.

Lady Amba. Source: Wikipedia

Bibliography; Myths About The Hindus And Buddhists by Sister Nivedita. Reading Link To The Story Of Lady Amba. 

Reading Notes: How The Princes Learned To Shoot

How The Princess Learned To Shoot:

* Bhishma - Archer & warrior. His name means 'fearsome'.
* Vexation - state of being annoyed or frustrated.
*  This story reminds me of the princess and the frog. I might be able to incorporate elements of that story to recreate my own. This story gives me a lot of room to play with and create something interesting.
* I wonder why the boys wanted the Brahman to prove his word?
* I can use the grass and turn it into another weapon form.
* My story can also be transformed and the Brahman can be a young boy living in the forest and he will be recruited as the mighty and fearsome teacher. I will be changing gender roles - making the princes into princesses.

I am excited about the story that I will be writing and have a lot of inspiration.

A Picture Of a Princes Learning To Shoot. Source: Publicdomainpictures

Bibliography; Myths About The Hindus And Buddhists by Sister Nivedita. Reading link to How The Princes Learned To Shoot.