Famous Last Words: Dancing Again

(Winter Mountatin: Pixabay)

This week was literally a blur. I am having a really hard time remembering what all happened in this past week. The biggest thing is that I have started dancing again. Me and a few people I know formed a group to dance at this k-pop event, so we are dancing to a few k-pop songs. I really enjoy dancing, so I do like having something to get my mind off of school and work, but it definitely has been hard because I have been facilitating practice and kind of leading everyone, which can be tiring. I also have been learning the dances on my own and teaching it to everyone else, so dancing in this event is a bit time consuming for me. Hopefully, the end product will be good, and it will make all of this work worth it.

For the assignments in this class, I really enjoyed writing my story this week. I wrote a love story between Arjuna and Urvashi, which is no where close to how the original story went. I used a different story telling method this week, and strayed away from using a lot of dialogue. Usually, I have a bunch of speaking parts in my stories, but I did not want to do that again. Instead, I focused on vivid imagery. I tried my best to use a lot of adjectives and detailed descriptions of the surroundings and the characters. I really liked how my story turned out. It is definitely different than how I usually write my stories, but I am more than satisfied with the final writing. Other than that, my week has been the same, except for the fact I have been freezing my butt off in this cold weather. I am not a fan of the cold, and I hope it goes away soon.

Week 7 Story: Arjuna's Obstacle For Love

Click here for the most updated version of this story!

(Urvashi: Wikimedia Commons)

Arjuna arrived to Swarga, upon Indra's request. The land was ethereal with abundance of vibrant wildlife, the air was filled with the sounds of angelic music, and the city just glowed with a golden-like aura. One of the first things Arjuna did was explore the city. He had never been to Swarga, so he was quite excited to find lively areas filled with new people. Arjuna first went to a beautiful garden filled with every kind of flower imaginable. Arjuna began his tour of this exhibit, fascinated with every color and every shape of the flowers. Suddenly, he heard a women giggle in the distance and began to lift his head. And there she was.

Standing there was a beautiful young lady, with youthful eyes. As soon as Arjuna laid eyes on her, her gazed moved and met his. Arjuna felt something pulling him to her, and he began walking toward her. He introduced himself and learned that her name was Urvashi. From there, they exchanged some words and walked through the garden together, exchanging stories while looking at the flowers that guided their walking path.

Arjuna had told Urvashi that this was his first time in Swarga, and he wanted to travel through the entire city. Urvashi offered her expertise of Swarga, and from there, she became his tour guide for the day. They went to all sorts of places: the town square, the capitol, and even her favorite coffee shop. By the end of the day, the pair was tired but fulfilled. Arjuna walked Urvashi home, expressed his enjoyment of her company, and asked to see her again. At first, Urvashi's eyes lit up with happiness, but then she replied that she knew where this interaction was going to lead to. Then, she proceeded to say that they would never work out because he had no knowledge of the culture in Swarga, and that ignorance would become a hindrance in their relationship in the future. Arjuna did not know how to respond to such a profound and forward-thinking comment, but he did know this.

This disparity was not going to stop him, so all Arjuna did was smirk at Urvashi and whispered, "We will see about that."

With these last words, Arjuna ran home, and the very next day, he started his studies in music, dance, song because, boy, did he have a lot of work to do.

Author's Note
In the story about Arjuna and Indra, a short story regarding Urvashi was included, but there was not much background or detail. I decided to dedicate a whole story to Arjuna and Urvashi and decided to change the dynamic of their relationship. In the original story, I believe Arjuna is the one that rejects Urvashi, so she set a curse on him to live among women as a dancer and musician, and that is how he became skilled in song, dance, and celestial weapons. However, in my story, I wanted Arjuna to be the one yearning for Swarga and have him learn all those things in hopes of gaining Urvashi's interest in him.

Bibliography
Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part D

(Drona: Wikipedia)

• Battle of Kurushetra.
• Bhima found out that the only way to conquer Drona was to kill his son, Ashwatthaman.
• Bhima, instead, selected an elephant named Ashwatthaman and killed him.
• Bhima then shouted "Ashwatthaman is dead!"
• Drona only trusted Yudhishthira and came to him for the truth.
• Yudhishthira confirmed the statement, while saying "Yes, O Drona! Ashwatthaman, the elephant, is dead!", but Drona did not hear that important differentiating detail.
• Drona fell into despair and could not think enough to use his divine weapons.
• At this time, Dhristadyumna, the Pandava general, took advantage of Drona's sorrow state, and chopped his head off.
• Dhristaduymna immediately picked up Drona's decapitated head and threw it at the Kuru hosts.
• The Kuru hosts wearily and mournfully all departed to their quarters.

Bibliogrpahy

Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita

Reading Notes: Mahabharata Part C

(Krishna and Arjuna On Battlefield: Flickr)

• Arjuna's father, Indra, transported his son to his own city, the celestial Swarga. 
• Urvashi fell in love with Arjuna, but she felt like he rejected her, so she cursed him to live among women as a dancer and musician.
• Arjuna was troubled, but Indra used this curse to Arjuna's benefit.
• Arjuna became skilled in music, dance, and song. He even learned how to wield celestial weapons.
• Indra had demon and giant enemies, named daityas and danavas, who lived in the lowest division in the underworld beneath the ocean, Patala. 
• Andra waged war.
• Andra went to the underworld in Indra's car, with Matali as the driver, and killed all the daityas and danavas and destroyed their dwellings.
• Indra praised Arjuna and gave him a gold chain, a diadem, and the war shell.
• Maybe a story about why Arjuna waged war with Indra's long-time enemies?

Bibiliography

Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Tech Tip: Featured Post

I added the featured post onto my blog, and I chose my introduction post, because I think it will be helpful that it is on every page of blog, so other students can easily find it.