Week 2 Reading Overview

I decided to choose Narayan's Ramayana as it seemed to be the more straight forward option of the two stories. I also really enjoy the fact that there is a reading guide that comes with it, I think that will help me keep track of the story, schedule out my reading accordingly and understand the story better.

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Comics of interest:

1. Ganesha: In one of the week 1 assignments I read a story that told a little bit about the relationship between Ganesha came to be and I want to learn more about how that happened in detail.

2. Hakka and Bukka: I really enjoyed the cover art of the comic so I thought that I might enjoy the story. I look forward to reading the full story because the summary on the blog post looked interesting.

Videos of interest:

1. Symbols of Divinity: Most people can understand what another person is saying through emoji use and what that emoji stands for. I think it is cool that we as people are able to understand what something means or represents just by looking at a small drawing.

2. Who created the universe? Everyone at some point in their life asks how did we as people get here and how was life/the universe created. Growing up in a Christian home I learned that creation through God was the answer. It was extremely interesting to hear a different point of view and idea as to how the universe and life were created.

Week 2 Reading Anthology

Source Material: The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse.
The Crane and the Cunning Crab

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Plot: The first important moment of the story was when the fish finally trusted the crane after the crane took the one eyed fish to the cool pond. This proved to the fish that the crane could be trusted and that the cool pond was real. The crane used the fishes' faith against them and ate them all one by one. Another important moment was when the crane ran out of fish in the first pond to trick so he became desperate and hungry and tried to fool the crab. The crane before would not have tried to fool the crab, but now with all the fish gone he had no other options.

Character Focus: I really enjoyed how smart the crab was. He seemed prepared for every scenario that could go on with the crane. The crab seemed to be in a situation where he was going to win no matter what. If the crane was really worthy of trust then the crab would get a free trip to the cooler pond and if the crane was lying the crab already had his claw around the cranes throat as it played out in the story.

Ending a story: "So perished the treacherous Crane, caught by his own trick. And the Crab lived happily in the beautiful lake for the rest of his life." I thought this was a great ending as it wrapped up the story with the crane being killed after being fooled just as the crane killed all those fish by tricking them. Wraps up the story nicely and comes full circle.

Beautiful Sentence: "Now not far away there was a beautiful lake, always fresh and cool, for it lay under the shadow of great trees, and it was covered all over with waterlilies. And a Crane lived on the banks of this lake." I really enjoy the word choice and just how detailed the author gets into describing the lake. Making the lake sound this beautiful would be a great reason as to why the fish would even think about risking putting their trust in the crane.