I have no prior knowledge of any Indian epics or tales. The little I know has come from popular culture, or the news mentioning something so I only know of Vishnu, as well as Ganesha. I don’t really have any connection with the class besides being interested in learning about this culture and broadening my knowledge of the world! I have a couple friends who are of Indian descent, and as a result I've been exposed a little bit to Indian music, but I have never really listened to it much or watched any movies from India. My freshman year I took an English Composition course called Myth and Hero, which exposed me to some traditional epics (mainly of Greek descent), and I was also exposed to Greek and Roman epics while in high school. I am interested in all types of epic literature because it really helps broaden my world view and give insight into cultures I wouldn't normally explore.
Although I've never been to India I do have a close friend that has been in India for several months on a mission trip and has told me a lot about the culture and his experiences there. My family has no Indian heritage, but I don’t want to live with narrow cultural views and think it is very important to learn all I can about the world! After reading through the resources and flipping through the Mahabharata and the Ramayana I am very excited to dig into the epics of India! After looking into the reading guides a bit I am most interested in Buck’s version of the Mahabharata and learning about the many different characters in these Indian epics.
Although I’m not extremely familiar with Indian epics, the image of Ganesha does seem very familiar to me, and as a result I have chosen to place an image of Ganesha in my post.
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| Image Source: Ganesha |
Although I have never seen this particular image before it caught my attention for some reason! Maybe I like elephants, or the thought of an elephant person is pretty cool, but this was the image that stood out most to me in the resources.
Overall I am excited to take this course even though it is a requirement for my graduation, and I hope to learn a great deal about the Indian culture by reading these stories!
Hello again! Its so awesome that you were so excited to broaden your worldview and cultural knowledge. I myself and a Religious Studies major, so I am learning stuff like this all the time, but it is kind of nice to get right to the heart of the culture (which always influences a religion, and vice versa) instead of catching glimpse of the culture through a religious lens. I hope you enjoyed the class!
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