Reading Notes: Secret's of Vishnu Part C

This week I am continuing to read the Secrets of Vishnu by Devdutt Pattanaik.

I really liked this week's first video on Lakshmi. It goes into depths about what all she is in control of, wealth and prosperity, as well as some different aspects about her. I think it would be very interesting to put together these concepts with my characters Jonathon and Mr. Piddles.  There are also lots of other characters introduced in this video, so many that I actually lost count. That would be the one negative thing for me about these videos. They introduce a lot of concepts and characters without thoroughly explaining some of them, as well as speeding through a lot of names that I have never heard of before. Some of which are names for types of demons and other versions of Lakshmi.
I may try and watch the second video for tomorrow, but I may try and explore other options provided to expand the topics I can write about. I am glad to have the opportunity to be able to explore the other options in Indian culture as well as learning about new famous characters from another culture.

Lakshmi

Story: Grammy Ronni and Jonathon Back in Action

Grammy Ronni patiently waited for Jonathon to pack up his bag so that they could leave for her house. Jonathon, Grammy Ronni’s grandson, was staying the night.

Mr. Piddles

“Don’t forget Mr. Piddles, dear!” Grammy Ronni knew that Jonathon would never forget his favorite stuffed polar bear.

“Okay, Grammy, I’m all ready to go!” Jonathon had a small backpack in tow and a large polar bear in his arms. They got into Grammy Ronni’s car and made the short drive over to her house.

Once at her house, Grammy Ronni made hot chocolate with marshmallows. It was Jonathon’s favorite treat. The boy was excited to enjoy the drink and began to tell Mr. Piddles why it was his favorite drink as Grammy Ronni went to work sewing on new curtains for her house.

“Mr. Piddles, you just don’t know what you’re missing here, buddy. This stuff is liquid gold. I mean you just can’t beat the taste!” Jonathon took a satisfying sip and smiled with a hot chocolate mustache on his face.

“Jonathon, I’m a bear. We don’t drink hot chocolate. Plus we have more important plans to work on right now! Did you bring the stuff?” Mr. Piddles was always up to something, and this time it was serious.

“Of course, Mr. Piddles, why else do you think I begged Dad to let us stay the weekend with Grammy? Here are our plans right here.” Jonathon pulled out a large piece of paper with sketches and notes strewn across it. There were the occasional small hearts and frantic arrows drawn around one girl’s name, Sarah.

“Good, so how do we plan on winning Sarah back? We’ve tried almost every trick in the book… pulling her hair, tripping her, making fun of her… Oh! We haven’t tried gluing anything to her yet!” Mr. Piddles had a very poor sense of what love was supposed to look like.

“No, I have to show her that I’m better than stupid smelly Steve. He’s been talking to her all week because they were reading partners and that’s not fair! So I’ve found a way that we can totally win her back!” Jonathon had a big smile all over his face.

“How?!” Mr. Piddles was very excited to hear Jonathon’s brilliant plan.

“We will both make pencil and rubber band crossbows and whichever bow shoots further wins! That ought to prove to Sarah how cool I am.” Jonathon nodded and crossed his arms, satisfied that he had devised the best scheme ever.

“Oh my gosh! That has to work! I don’t think anyone else in fourth grade has done that yet… We could make a new world record!” Mr. Piddles was already thinking ahead to the next day’s adventures.

Jonathon and Mr. Piddles started working on the crossbow designs and slowly, through testing and testing, came up with the best design possible.

“This has to work, Mr. Piddles! We have it all planned out and Steve won’t even know what hit him!” Mr. Piddles and Jonathon high fived and carefully packed the bow into their backpack, awaiting its use Monday morning.
Grammy Ronni shook her head at her grandson, knowing very well that his large imagination would get him into trouble someday.

Author's Note:

 This story was based on part of the Ramayana, the public domain version that is an anthology, that discusses Rama's fighting for Sita's heart with a bow and arrow! I really enjoyed that story because it showed some fairy tale characteristics in an Indian tale. It also allowed me to have a little freedom and bring back life to my characters from last semester. I realized that I wrote this story early on in the semester and missed adding it to the Portfolio, so I am adding it now to give more background to my characters and to add Grammy Ronni! I am sure she will have lots to say when it comes to meeting Sugriva or Hanuman so I will have to tie them all together in the next few weeks' stories. I have enjoyed using these characters again and being able to create more stories with them with new myths! Particularly it reminds me of the Magic Tree House stories written by Mary Osborne, which I loved growing up. Perhaps I will add a time traveling element to my next story with Jonathon and Mr. Piddles; that could be a lot of fun! I am also interested in the upcoming readings for the semester and where they will lead.  

Storytelling: Mohini's Diary

Dear Diary,

               Today I found out that I am the female version of Vishnu! Who would have ever thought that girl like me would be representing our gods? I am not sure what this means for my future however, mother and father seem quite proud though.  After I found out, I have been hiding in my room with Bun-Bun my dog. She is always so comforting to me! I plan to keep writing in the hopes that some form of clarity will come to me soon.  I could certainly use some about now!

Sincerely,

Mohini

Dear Diary,

               I talked with mother and father today about my future plans. I will go and learn how to slay demons. According to the pandit that told me I was Vishnu’s female form, I have powers that I have not fully realized as of yet. I think that I may enjoy becoming an enchantress and helping people. Father does not think I should go away, and has warned me of the many dangers. As a woman, I think he would prefer for me to become married to Harishnu, our neighbor’s son. But how can possibly get married to him when I have just been told I have all this power? Does he expect me to not explore my options? I wonder what Vishnu would do in my position? Perhaps I will meditate and try to think as Vishnu would! I will tell you if I figure anything out!

Sincerely,

Mohini

Dear Diary,

               Vishnu has spoken to me! He says that I must learn to defeat demons to become my true form. So I am going to talk to my mother and see if she can convince father to see things from my position. Or perhaps Vishnu can speak to father and show him what I can become! I cannot simply become a wife without living first! I hope that he can see this and believes me when I ask to go to learn how to become an enchantress. I think that I could do a really good job with this, and that this could be my true calling! I will have to try and discuss this with them tomorrow before Harishnu comes over for dinner. I cannot believe my parents asked him to come over, without telling me! Bun-Bun and I will simply hide in my room if it comes to it. However, Harishnu is a fairly nice guy… I just don’t see myself marrying him!

Sincerely,

Mohini

Dear Diary,

               Father has said yes! I can go and train to become an enchantress! I cannot believe that today has been so lucky for me! Harishnu was very kind after we explained what I would be doing. He was very excited that I would be going on to such an adventurous future! He even played with Bun-Bun for a while before leaving to go back home. I will be leaving for schooling next week so mother and I will be going shopping for some new dresses! I cannot wait to see what my future holds!

Sincerely,

Mohini 

Author's Note:

  This week I took inspiration from a video on the Seven Secrets of Vishnu. The videos I watched focused mostly on Mohini, Vishnu's female form. In the stories they are actually the same being, but I thought it would be interesting to write a few diary entries from the perspective of a girl finding out she was the female form of Vishnu. Mohini does hunt demons in several stories and also acts as an enchantress seducing many! I liked making her a little more excited about a new future and escaping the normal route of marriage.

Reading Notes: Seven Secrets of Vishnu

This week I watched videos on the Seven Secrets of Vishnu from Devdutt Pattanaik.  These videos were very interesting to me for several reasons. The first is because they talk about metaphysics, a concept that is not commonly discussed in the western hemisphere. Hearing this mentioned piqued my interest to watch more of the videos. They also discuss Mohini in great length for the first section of the videos. According to mythology she represents the female form of Vishnu.

In this mythology the female forms represent material reality and male forms represent spiritual reality. I like how the videos explained what this means in depth. That the female form representing material reality comes from the fact that women give birth and are physically giving life on earth, whereas men are giving to life from outside their bodies. They do a good job of explaining why the female form representing material reality is not a bad thing. Rather that both realities need each other to survive and succeed. I really liked this concept and may have to try and include it in my reading for this coming week.

There are many concepts intertwined with Vishnu and learning more about him has been a lot of fun. I took a peak at some of the other video options about the Hindu calendar and may read those next week. I look forward to writing my story this week because Seven Secrets of Vishnu gives me a large range of topics to write about. They are mainly focused on the different forms of Vishnu, so I may have to include a couple of them throughout my story. This will be tricky while also tying them to my characters, Jonathon and Mr. Piddles. Although, I may be able to convey this with different stuffed animal forms!

Mohini