Week 10, Reading Diary B. Narayan's Mahabharata

•   After a long talk over if a war is necessary, war preparations are made.

•   Draupadi is made commander of the troops.

•   Arjuna is the only son of Kunti's that Karna will attack in the battle.

•   Krishna preaches the song of the lord in order to calm Arjuna and prepare him for battle.

•    Karna joins the fight after Bhishma is killed by Arjuna.

•   Arjuna's son, Abhimanyu, is killed after breaking through the enemy's formation.

•   Arjuna kills Jayadratha in revenge for the death of his son.

•   Drona is killed by Dhrishtadyumna when he is stunned by the idea of his son being killed.

•   Once the battle is over, all the Pandavas go to Hastinapura.

•   Karma is blamed when looking back at how Karna killed a hermits cow and then in battle had his wheel stuck in the mud causing him to get killed.

Yudhishtira becomes king.

Week 10, Reading Diary A, Narayan's Mahabharata

• Dhritarashtra has his spies inform him of the Pandavas actions.
• He is informed of the weapons they acquire. 
• Once captured by the gandharava, the Pandavas then rescue him.
• Nakula dies after drinking water from a mystical lake.
• Sahadeva, Arjuna and Bhima all die after drinking the water.
• Yudhishthire answers the mystical lake and in turn revives his brothers. He then finds out it was his father death.
• Arjuna defeats Karna in battle. Arjuna wants to keep the Pandava's identity secret so he tells Uttara not to say anything.
• In a misunderstanding between Virtata throws dice at Yudhishthire which draws blood. Virata gives his daughter for marriage to Yudhishthire's son in return.
• A war begins to brew between the two factions. It is proposed that this war will be the end of both Vyasa and Dhritarashtra. 

Week 9 Reading Diary B:Narayan's Mahabharata

• War is in the air when the Pandavas are found to still be alive.
• The king makes peace and gives the Pandavas a portion of the city to do what they like.
• Arjuna is exiled for 12 year.
• He marries Ulupi, a naga prinses, and also Sabhadra.
• Yudhishthira becomes king of Indraprastha.
• A game of dice is challenged between the two waring factions. They play at the new crystal hall.
• Yudhishishtira, the Pandava, ends up loosing everything, including himself and his wife.
• His wife has her cloths ripped off but Krishna keeps replacing them.
• Everything is returned and peace ensues. 
• A second game is played and the Pandavas loose again. this time they are exiled to the Ganges.
• In exile, the Pandavas acquire weapons and mantras from the gods in preparation of defeating the king.

Week 9 Reading Diary A: Narayan's Mahabharata

• Shantanu goes  to the river and finds a girl that he falls in love with.
• She drowns 7 of her 8 babies.
• Shantau soon gets over the other chick and starts hitting on this fisherman's daughter.
• They get together and have two sons, Chitrangada and Vichitravirya.
• Bhishma becomes king and takes a neighboring kingdoms princesses.
• Two of the girls marry Vichitravirya.
• Dhritarashtra marries a blind guy but covers her eyes to be like him.
• Pandu can't have sex or he dies.

Week 8, Reading Diary

Over the course of this semester I have been posting a reading diary on my blog, which I have found to be most helpful and foresee it becoming even more helpful in the future.  The way in which I have found the posts to be most helpful is how it allows me the opportunity to briefly organize  all that has happened in the allotted reading. There is always so much action happening in the story it is difficult to keep track of all the events and keep a coherent timeline.  After a couple weeks you are bound to forget a few details from the story, but the reading diary allows for a good refresher. It is also a good reference when it comes to writing the storytelling blog. The reading diary makes it so easy to go back and recall past events you may want to elaborate on.  The main strategies I use in my reading diary are bullet points  and a focus on major events. I found that if I write down the most important parts of a section and give a brief explanation in bullet point form, I can recall past events in better detail.  The length of these reading diary posts range from 11-15 bullet points and contain one to two sentences.  One thing I might start doing which I have not done in the past is start adding images to the post. I am more a visual learner and believe the addition of images should help make my  reading diary more effective. In the past I have added one or two quotes that I found to be interesting or motivational and I think I might start adding more quotes or phrases as well. Plus, I already have a file full of my favorite quotes and phrases I’ve come across over the years and I am always in need of more.  

Week 7 Reading Diary A: Buck's Ramayana

• After Indrajit's funeral, Ravana has all his troops prepare for a massive offensive. 
• Malyavan leaves the battle to visit his mother, Shiva.
• Hanuman and Sugriva kill the demon magicians.
• Ravana blows off Kala and continues to dance around causing a massive storm.
• Matali is hit by Ravana's mace and is killed but Rama is able to revive him. 
• Ravana is thrown from his chariot and faces Rama on the ground.
• Ravana tricks Rama into thinking he is Indra but Matali helps see through the trick and tells Rama to attack. 
• Ravana was shot through the chest and was killed.
• The arrow that shot Ravana was so powerful it ended up imbedded in the earth.
• Shuka gives Rama a letter from Ravana which tells him to take Sita back.
• Rama makes Vibhishana king of Lanka.
• There is a funeral for Ravana where he is burned.
• Rama sends Vibhishana to fetch Sita.
• She walks into the city gathering and meets Rama.
• Rama tends to a couple last detailes in Lanka and then travels back home to keep his brother from killing himself.

Week 6 Reading Diary A, Buck's Ramayana

• Hanuman tells Jambavan a series of stories.
• They consist of Rama's life and his hardships.
• Sampati helps direct Hanuman to where Sita and Ravana are.
• Hanuman decides he must jump all the way to Lanka.
• On his way, up a mountain named Mainaka helps him make the jump.
• Hanuman runs into one of Ravanas demons, Sinhika, and is swallowed. 
• He then punches his way out of her ear after crushing her heart.
• On arriving at Lanka, Hanuman changes his shape to a cat.
• He then roams around looking for Sita and eventually finds her in a ashoka grove.
• After insuring Sita help is on the way, Hanuman starts destroying Lanka.
• He is caught by Indrajit where Ravana orders Hanuman's tail to be set on fire. 
• Hanuman runs around Lanka setting the place on fire.

Week 5 Reading Diary A, Buck's Ramayana

• Dasharatha was found dead in his bed next to his queen. He died of a broken heart.
• The body was placed in a vat of oil  to preserve it while Bharata could be fetched.
• Bharata is displeased with his mothers actions.
• Bharata then takes a massive army of queens and servants into the forest to find Rama.
• Bharata learns from Bharadwaja that Rama is at the city of Chitrakuta and heads that way.
• Bharata tells Rama of their fathers death and how he wants Rama to return and rule. 
• Rama decides not to return but to finish his exile.
• Rama, Sita and Lakshmana go and visit Agastya where he gives Rama a more powerful bow. 
• The three then plan their journey into the Randaka demon forest.
• The three build a house at Panchavati where they are visited by Ravana's sister, Shurpanakha.
• After being denied marriage by Rama she attacks Sita. She then gets her but kicked by Lakshmana.
• The demons of the forest then retaliate against Rama and Lakshmana but are beaten back. 

Week 4 Reading Diary B, Buck's Ramayana

• Rama begins planning his coronation after his brother Bharata leaves to visit his grandpa. 
• Like in the previous story Kaikeyi has Dasharatha fulfill a couple of his promises and ends up banishing Rama and making Bharata king.
• The people don't want Rama to leave.
• Lakshmana leaves with Rama and Sita.
• On their way out of the city they drive a chariot and ignore the kings pleads to come back.
• They meet up with Rama's old friend Guha.
• Guha smokes a cigar made of nutmeg, sandalwood, and goat butter.
• The group travel along the Ganga. 
• The three are told to build a house in Chitrakuta by the sage Bharadwaj and do so.

Week 4 Reading Diary A, Buck's Ramayana

• The story teller Sauti is telling the story to a buddy. 
• Ravana is once again the demon King
• Lord Vishnue decides to be reincarnated as a human,Rama, in order to defeat Ravana. 
• Rama, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna are all Dasartha's sons.
• Indra is the king of the heavens.
• King Dasartha makes a fire sacrifice to Vasistha and is granted his sons.
•  Valmiki is called out of his home in an anthill by Narada.
• Valmiki in turn saves Sita from committing suicide after she was exiled by Rama.
• After being saved by Valmiki, Sita gives birth to two of Rama's sons. 
• Sita was exiled due to supposedly being unfaithful.
• Ravana marries Mandodari.
• Gautama blames his wife's beautiful looks for her impure acts. 
• He scatters her looks around the world so she becomes invisible. 

Week 3, reading diary B: Ramayna

• ·      The army comes across a fallen goddess which they help break out of her imprisonment.
• ·      A giant monster by the name of Sampathi turns up and startles the army. He turns out to just be curious about his brothers death, Jatayu.
• ·      Sampathi ends up magically growing his wings back and in turn tells them Ravana took Sita to Lanka.
• ·      On arriving at Lanka, Hanuman started searching the city. He shrunk himself in order to not be noticed.
• ·      Hanuman found Sita being kept in a garden with a squad of angry warrior women guarding her.
• ·      Hanuman warns Ravana of his eminent destruction if he does not turn Sita over. After saying no, Hanuman sets the capital on fire.
• ·      Ravana rallies his generals and army to defeat Rama and his monkey army.
• ·      Vibishana abandons his brother Ravana and joins Rama.
• ·       Hanuman convinces Rama it is a good idea.
• ·      Rama offers Vibishana the crown if they win.
• ·      Vibishana gives Rama details on Ravanas army and weapons.
• ·      Rama builds a bridge and begins a siege of Lanka.
• ·      Rama and Ravana battle it out.
• ·      Rama won but let Ravana go.
• ·      The second time they met, it was a show of magic weapons.
• ·      Ravana sent volley after volley of magical weapons at Rama.
• ·      Rama shot one last arrow at Ravana and shot him through the heart, killing him.
• ·      Rama in turn regained Sita and Vibishana gained the Kingdom of Lanka.

Week 3, Reading Diary A: Ramayana

• ·      Ravana has enslaved all the gods.
• ·      The enslaved gods do minimal work such as sweeping and lighting candles.
• ·      Soorpanaka comes back to Ravana after she is defeated and injured in battle.
• ·      She had been fighting Rama in order to steal Sita, which would leave her able to win Rama’s heart.
• ·      Ravana falls in love with the idea of Sita being his.
• ·      Ravana goes out to the forest to ponder his love and how he should defeat Rama.
• ·      Ravana ends up doing away with all the seasons and doing away with the moon.
• ·      Ravana talks to Mareecha who used to be Rama’s villains.
• ·      Mareecha warns Ravana not to trifle with Rama.
• ·      Mareecha tells Ravana he must steal Sita by trickery.
• ·      Mareecha turns into a golden dear and lewers Rama away from Sita.
• ·      Lakshmana guarded Sita but was told to leave after a falls call of distress from Mareecha was given.
• ·      With Lakshmana gone, Ravana stole Sita.
• ·      Ravana ended up killing Jataya, which was carrying the chariot, with his magic sword…Chandrahasa.
• ·      Ravana flew off with Sita.
• ·      Vali is blessed by the grace of Sheva.
• ·      He is the brother of Sugreeva.
• ·      Vali has powers that can sap others energy and he can walk across oceans.
• ·      Rama came to Sugreeva for help and in return for his help Rama would help him regain power.
• ·      Sugreeva was hesitant as to who this guy was but ended up trusting him.
• ·      Sugreeva ends up killing his brother, which makes almost everyone really sad.
• ·         He was in turn made king.
• ·      Lakshmana invades the monkey capital in order to find out why Sugreeva has not sent reinforcements.
• ·      The armies arrive and total innumerable amounts of men.   
• ·      Hanuman and Angada take the army in such of Sita.