Overview: Indian Epics Course

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.

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!

Storybook Favorites

My Storybook Favorites

Epic Brothers:

I initially chose to look at this story book simply because the title caught my interest. After reading into the introduction I grew even more interested. I am not familiar with any Indian mythology, and the story the introduction laid seemed like a good read. The introduction gave a good outline of what would be in the storybook, and was written very well. The layout of this storybook is also very neat, easy to read and well organized. This was definitely my favorite of the several I looked through.

Tales of Strength and Struggles:

Once again, this topic is unfamiliar to me because I have no prior knowledge of Indian mythology, but the concept of strength and struggle interested me. The cover page of this story book is very interesting, and definitely caught my attention and led me to read through the introduction. I really like how the introduction is written in the voice of Durga, rather than in third person. The emotional connection of Durga with the women in the story is really touching and drew me in to read this storybook. The introduction was written very well, and had a good flow to it that made it easy to read. The layout of this storybook is very similar to that of Epic Brothers.It was easy to read, easy to navigate and looked very presentable.

Image from the cover page of Tales of Strength and Struggles

Every Lover a Soldier: Tales of Epic Love

This last storybook I chose to look at because the title once more drew me in. Initially the layout threw me off a little. It’s fairly cluttered and is difficult to read, but not impossible. The cover page picture didn’t draw my interest as much as the previous two storybooks, but I chose to read the introduction simply because I thought the topic was interesting. I had chosen one topic that had to do with brotherhood and loss, one topic to do with struggle and making it through, so I felt like a topic to do with love and perseverance would be a good third choice. The introduction of this storybook didn’t flow as well as the previous two, but was still written well and wasn’t difficult to read. The concepts of Indian mythology such as karma, and perception of the afterlife was interesting and the imagery present throughout the introduction kept my attention.

Introduction: A Bit About Me

Hi everyone! My name is Brandon Hennessy and I am an Electrical Engineering Senior. This is my last semester at OU and I’m extremely excited to graduate. I’m from the Dallas area and have recieved a job offer from AT&T when I graduate which will let me move back to that area this summer. I’m very excited to have a job, but am definitely a bit nervous to really get out there on my own!

In my spare time I like to workout, read books, play video games with friends or go on adventures. I usually will go to the gym three or four times a week because it helps keep me from getting too stressed out. I’m a big fan of fantasy books like the Lord of the Rings when I’m reading, but I also really enjoy reading biographies. The most recent biography I read was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s and it was actually extremely interesting. Whenever I play video games with friends I almost always stick with Nintendo stuff like Super Smash Bros or Mario Kart. And lastly I enjoy going out hiking, camping and climbing around wherever I can find a good place to go!

This winter break I had the chance to go on a couple fun adventures. First, I went camping and hiking over a weekend in the Wichita Mountains with several friends and had a great time. We climbed around the mountains for four or five hours each day  before heading back to our campsite. It’s always fun doing semi dangerous things like climbing mountains just for the thrill of it, and camping always gets me in touch with my inner lumberjack (I even grew out a beard for the trip).

Me in the Wichita Mountains

Second, I drove wth a few friends to Pagosa Springs, Colorado and did a little bit of snowboarding as well as hiking. We were there an entire week, but due to an unfortunate car accident we were only able to get to the ski area one day. We actually rolled a car off a cliff! It was a fairly small cliff and everyone was thankfully unharmed, but it was still scary. Instead of going to snowboard we went to the hot springs in town and did some hiking around the area. Even with some unfortunate events I had a great trip with my friends.

The group I was with in Colorado 

The car after the flip

That is a little bit about me as well as my adventures this winter. I ended the year with a crazy car accident (it actually happened December 31st!), but I am absolutely looking forward to what 2015 has in store!

Week One Storytelling: He Caught Fishes in Other Men's Ditches

He Caught Fishes in Other Men's Ditches

The once was a little man named Tommy Tittlemouse. He moved into a small home in a rural area one summer. The move was quick and subtle. None of the neighbors saw anyone or anything go in or out of the house except for Tommy. All of Tommy's neighbors thought he was exceptionally strange, and it was assumed that Tommy lived alone in his small home. Tommy didn't reach out to his neighbors when he arrived in the area, so they assumed he wanted to be left alone.  Each day he would wake up at exactly 6 a.m., walk onto a neighbor's property (uninvited) and begin fishing in a large ditch until sunset. Each day of the week Tommy would rotate between three of his neighbors, but he followed a strict pattern. Monday and Tuesday he walked east one mile to the property of Frank Wellington, Wednesday and Thursday he walked one mile west to the property of Elijah Smithson and Friday he walked six miles north to the property of Gerald Barnsworth. The three men all knew that Tommy came to their property but could do nothing about it because they had to work, so instead they avoided him altogether. The men began growing suspicious of Tommy after several months of him trespassing on their property. They began planning to find out what exactly he was doing. The men kenw that Tommy was not catching substantial amounts of fish in their ditches, but they did not like Tommy constantly coming onto their property uninvited. One day the three men got together and decided to see what Tommy was up to. Frank, Elijah, and Gerald took a day off work and went to “fish” with Tommy on Geralds property. When they approached the ditch Tommy began to hurriedly pack his things and took off towards his home. The men pursued Tommy and arrived at his small house. “Surely he wants to meet his neighbors. Let’s invite ourselves in just as he has done with our property!” Gerald said. The other two men agreed and they began to open the door to Tommy’s home. As soon as the door was cracked they smelled a wonderful aroma and grew very hungry. They saw a large pot of fish soup cooking over a stove and Tommy tending to a sickly woman on the other side of the tiny home. The three men knew immediately that Tommy had been fishing to provide warm soup for his sick wife and approached him with great sympathy. They learned that Tommy had lost his job and had to move to a small home in a rural area just to put a roof over his wifes head. He was too embarrassed to reveal his situation to anyone so he avoided the neighbors and instead fished in order to feed his wife since he couldn’t find a job. He revealed that if he was lucky he would catch a fish every two days and that food was scarce. He ate only one meal each week just so his wife could eat every day. The three men were grief stricken after hearing such a sad story and devised a plan. Each night the men go out and secretly release live fish into their ditches so that Tommy will catch several each day. They even mix up the types of fish so Tommy has a little variety! Now he and his wife now eat a full three meals each day, and Tommy is still seen catching fishes in the other men’s ditches.

Tommy fishing in a ditch

Author's Note. This story is based on the nursery rhyme "He caught fishes in other men's ditches". You can find the rhyme in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang (1897), as well as quoted below:

LITTLE Tommy Tittlemouse

Lived in a little house;

He caught fishes

In other men's ditches.

As you can see, the rhyme simply states that Tommy Tittlemouse lives in a small house and catches fish in other men's ditches. I wanted to expand a little on that and express why he lives in a small house, who these other men are and why Tommy fishes in their ditches! There was a lot of room to make up a cool story, which is why I chose this nursery rhyme. 

My Favorite Place: The Wichita Mountains

One of my favorite hobbies is hiking and exploring outdoors. Since I don't time to travel far away and explore I like to go to the Wichita mountains. Hiking helps clear my mind and is also great exercise! The Wichita mountains are also a fun place to go with friends and explore. It is a peaceful place where I can go on an adventure and explore the natural beauty of Oklahoma, which that is why it is my favorite place.

View from the Wichita Mountains
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