Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part B

I continued with the reading for the second half of the week. I think it has been great so far. I really enjoy re-reading some of these stories. I think there are a lot of things that are missed when you read something the first time.

• I really enjoyed reading about the battle scenes again
• The Great Battle is going to be a lot of fun to retell
• The Kaurava vs. Pandava clash contains a lot of opportunities for me to write about
• I think the most interesting part of this chapter is Prince Arjuna's decision
• I was surprised to see such a cheap trick used in honorable battle
• Shikhandi played a very interesting and impactful role here
• I did not expect there to exist such a person in the army
• I also did not expect a hero to deceive his enemy like so
• Prince Bhishma was done in by his desire to not kill a woman
• I thought that was the end of the prince in that moment
• The bed of arrows also added a really cool effect to the story
• It emphasized just how dire and extreme the situation was
• I would like to explore what Bhishma was going through during this whole experience
• This is not detailed in the story at all
• I think it would be cool to make up my own story for what Bhishma is experiencing
• I could also explore the rest of the battle
• I will continue to ponder about my writing options for tomorrow

(A photo of books in the library. Source: Flickr)

Bibliography: The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata by C. A. Kincaid. Source: Blogspot.

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part A

So, I began the one week reading of the Mahabharata. I think going through this adventure a second time will really help me understand what is going on within every story. I found that a bit difficult to do on the first read through. Again, I took notes over the story that I liked from the first part of the reading. I should be able to come up with a good story idea from this.

• I think exploring the family dynamic of the Pandavas would be really cool
• I remember taking notes over part of this reading the first time
• However, I want to create a story from this
• I would like to possibly make up stories about Pandu and his time as a prince
• I really like the events that unfold between Duryodhana and the Pandavas
• It is evident that his jealousy drives him to do and think terrible things
• I feel like there is always a deep hatred that drives people to do these things
• I think if I explored Duryodhana and told stories from his perspective it would be cool
• I believe that the escape from the palace fire has a lot of potential for a retelling
• I explored this a bit with the last time reading the story
• However, I would like to flip the script and change some events that happen here
• I know that the Pandavas escape through the secret tunnel
• It would be cool to possibly change their means of escape
• I could also change if they actually survived these events
• I think if I told the story from Duryodhana's perspective it would be really cool
• I could create an internal conflict in his mind on why he is doing these terrible things

(An assortment of books. Source: Pexels)

Bibliography: The Indian Heroes: Mahabharata by C. A. Kincaid. Source: Blogspot.