Jesika's Blog

For this week, I decided to do a story lab and watched a Ted talk video about stories and storytelling. It was called "The Danger of a Single Story" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I really enjoyed this Ted talk because it opened up my perception on how a single story doesn't represent a place entirely. She mentioned her personal experience dealing with this when she came to America for college, and that her roommate was shocked to know how well she spoke English since she was from Africa. She talked about how her roommate only had these assumptions of Africa because of the negative and one side things she's read or seen on different media platforms here in the U.S. At the end of the talk, I really liked what she said, "When we reject a single story and realize there's never a single story about a single place, we regain a kind of paradise." In addition, she talked about you could change this by writing the story from the other side's perspective. For i...

Shibi and the Hawk Shibi was a king, who was know for his unselfishness and love for God's creatures. At a park, this pigeon fell into his arms. The bird was tired from trying to get away from a hawk. Shibi managed to revive the poor bird, but then the hawk told him to hand over the pigeon to him. He told the hawk no that he couldn't do that to the pigeon. The hawk explain how he had the right to do so because the pigeon was its prey, otherwise he would starve.  Realizing the hawk was kind of right, Shibi offered himself as food for him if the hawk let the pigeon go free. Hawk agreed and Shibi prevent both the birds from suffering. I found the ending quite odd and couldn't believe he offered himself without hesitating.  I think I would want to change the ending where Shibi doesn't get hurt and instead finds another source of food for the hawk. The hawk that was trying to eat the pigeon. (Source: Pixabay ) Bibliography: Indian Fables and Folklore - Part...

Yudhishtir's Dog Yudhishtir was the eldest Pandu brother of the 5 of them.  Him and his brothers won a battle against the Kuru family with the help of Krishna, who is the equivalent of the Indian Hercules. However,  Yudhishtir refused the throne, and his brother and his wife set out a journey to Mount Sumeru (Indian version of Olympus). He had his faithful dog accompany them. Unfortunately, he and the dog were the only ones to make to Mount Sumeru. King of the Gods, Indra, wouldn't let Yudhishtir enter to heaven with his dog. Yudhishtir refused to come in if his dog wasn't allowed to come with him. Yama, the God of Death and Justice, agreed to let Yudhishtir come to heaven with his dog because how faithful and true their relationship was to one another.  I liked this story because it was just a simple story of how a dog stayed loyal to his owner. I could change this story and make it more modern.  Yudhishtir and his dog trying to get into heaven. (Sou...

How The Antelope Was Caught      This story was about how this antelope kept wandering through the gardens of the King. The King asked its gardener to capture it. The gardener told the King he needed honey in order to catch it, which he was granted by the King. Very carefully and slowly, the gardener was able to gain the antelope's trust. He put some honey grass and sprinkled it on the ground leading to the castle. The clueless antelope followed the trail and into the castle. They closed the doors behind the animal and instantly it freaked out. The King said how the taste of lust could blind side even an animal. In the end, he let the antelope go back into the forest.      I liked the end of this story and how the King let the animal go instead of killing it or holding it captive. Also, I thought the message of this story was clear and nicely portrayed. Giving into greed could lead to trouble. I could change the setting of this story and use other charac...

The Faithful Friend There was an elephant and a dog who became great friends. Everyday they would eat together and just hang out. One day a peasant wanted to pay the elephant keeper for the dog. The elephant keeper didn't care for the dog, so he took the money. The elephant became depressed after losing his friend and wouldn't eat for several days. They told the king about the situation. He made an announcement to his people that whoever took the dog would be fined.  The man who took the dog turned the dog loose. After, the dog and elephant were reunited and lived happily.  King honored the Bodisat for knowing how the animals felt.  The elephant and dog hanging out. (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The Monkey That Saved The Herd A buddha was reborn as the King of the monkeys. They lived in a forest near a lake.  An ogre lived at the lake and would eat any animal that would go down to the lake. The King of the monkeys told his people not to drink or ...

The Man Who Worked to Give Alms There was a buddha born as merchant named Vissaya He loved to give back to the community and help people who needed food or anything.  He set up charities all over the city and at his own house. Sakka, the King of the gods, got kind of jealous and worried that he might be replaced by this merchant. Sakka made all the merchants stuff disappear including his charities. As people came to the merchant asking for help, the merchant realized his stuff was gone except a mower. He would mow the grass and tried to use that to give back to his charities. Merchant eventually grew weak, and Sakka asked him why he kept giving alms. Merchant replied that he didn't want to replace him or become a brahma, and just wanted to help. Sakka eventually gave the merchant's wealth back. I think I could rewrite this story in a more modern way in where someone misjudges the others' intentions.  The act of giving alms. (Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Bi...

The Great Elephant There was this great beautiful elephant in the sandy desert. The elephant heard voices of men and went to go see what was up. The men told the great elephant that they've been lost in the desert for days with no food or water and how they lost a ton of men. The elephant noticed how weak and desperate these men were for food and water. He told them to go to this hill where an elephant will provide them of food and there will be a stream nearby. Next the elephant just started to run towards the hill really fast, making the men confused why the elephant ran in such a rush. Elephant climbed all the way to the top of hill and jumped killing itself. By the time the men catch up, they notice the great elephant dead on the ground.  They were amazed and shocked on the fact how the elephant gave up its life to save theirs, so they can get strong by eating its meat to make it to the nearest city. This had a happy ending but also a very sad one. I think I might ch...

The Golden Feathers There was a man with a wife and 3 daughters. The family was really poor and barely had any money, so the father left to go find stuff that go bring their family some money. As he was walking through the woods, a fairy came upon him, and asked him where he was going. He said to look for fortune. She then turned him into a goose with golden feathers. The father goes back to his family and gives them a golden feather, so they can sell it to get money. He only gives them one feather at a time until they run out of money from the last one. He never told his family that it was him. The mother decided to grab the goose and take all his feathers. She did this because she thought that one day the goose might never return.  Daughters did not like this idea. When mother plucked all the feathers off, the golden feathers turned to white because the fairy charmed them to where if they were taken from goose forcefully they would turn back to normal. The mother trappe...

There was a man named Kansa, who was this cruel king of Mathura. He had a beloved sister named Devaki. Even though he was this tough king, he loved his sister very dearly. She was to marry one of the king’s noble named Vasudeva. The two were in love and King Kansa couldn’t be more happy than he was for the couple. He threw a huge wedding for the couple and they celebrated to a new beginning. However, after the celebration, the King heard a strange voice in the wind. The mysterious voice said, “The couple you adore so much their eighth child will be the reason for your death.” This gave King Kansa the chills and immediately he became so paranoid. After hearing this, the king commanded the guard to imprison his sister and her husband to the dungeons of the castle. As the guards were taking the couple to the prison, Devaki yelled out to her brother, “Oh dear beloved brother, how could you do this to us? I am your sister, please I beg of you.” King Kansa did not even look once towards ...