Week 7 Story: The Bond

It was time for battle between the Dosteps and the Calihans. In the Dosteps army, there was a tough, powerful, fearless warrior named Alex. He was the best bet that the Dosteps army had in defeating the Calihans.

In the Calihans army, there was five brothers. These brothers were tight knit and lived with their mother, Ashley, or raised them well.

On day, Ashley bumped into Alex at the farmer's market. They did not know each other, but they did give each other a polite, gentle smile. Later that day, Ashley and Alex ran into each other again, but this time at a shoe shiner. Ashley was a customer and Alex worked there. Alex was both a shoe shiner and warrior so he could afford to support himself.

As Alex shined Ashley's shoes, they had really good conversations. For both of them, it was easy for them to talk to the other.

Days, then weeks passed, and Alex and Ashley became very close.

One day, Ashley's private investigator approached her very frazzled saying, "I have found your long-lost son!"

Ashley became anxious all of a sudden. "Who is he? Am I going to finally meet him?" she thought.

As the private investigator told her who her son was, Ashley began to feel faint.

It was Alex.

She always felt very comfortable around Alex, but she did not think that he was her long-lost son. Then she became torn. She knew Alex was fighting for the Dosteps. How could he though? That would mean he would be fighting against his own brothers, the Calihans.

Ashley searched for Alex. When she did find him, she expressed to him what the private investigator told her and asked him not to fight the Calihans.

Ashley watched as Alex's face went from surprised, to saddened to angry.

Alex revolted against Ashley! He said, "How could leave me! You see my life now! I work two jobs so I can make sure I have something to eat, while your other sons are having a feast every night without lifting a finger. And to think that you would ask me to not fight against them in battle? You have never been a mother to me and your sons are not my brothers!"

After saying this, Alex ran away as Ashley wept.

This image is an artistic representation of the torn bond between Alex and Ashley that is hanging by a thread. (Image Source)

Author's Note:
I wanted to create a twist to the episode "Krishna and Karna." In my story, Alex is Karna and Ashley is Kunti. I wanted to provide a different setting for them to a more present time. The foundation of the story is the same. Ashley appraoches Alex and confesses her identity to him, then she begs him to not fight her other sons which he just found out were his brothers. This is the same situation between Kunti and Karna. However, I have changed their characters a little bit just to add my own creativity. This was my favorite episode of PDE Mahabharata, Part C of the reading (refer to bibliography) so I wanted to reiterate the story but in my own way.

Bibliography: "Krishna and Karna." Public Domain Edition of the Mahabharata, Part C.  Multiple Authors from Various Sources: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part C

Public Domain Edition of the Mahabharata, Part C

By:Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore

Reading Notes - Favorite Episodes:

• Bhima and Hanuman
• Hanuman was in the epic Ramayana; therefore, it is interesting to see the same character in a different context. 
• Bhima came across Hanuman.
• Hanuman was a monkey on the ground that would not get up.
• At Bhima's request, Hanuman told him of his extraordinary identity.
• When Bhima did not believe Hanuman, Hanuman became a giant. 
• Hanuman shared much wisdom to Bhima. 
• Both found out that they were both sons of the god, Vayu. 
• Krishna and Karna
• Karna tries to convince Krishna that if he comes with him, then Krishna will be regarded by the Pandavas as their older brother and Krishna will be king.
• Krishna is not convinced by Karna and says that he must stay and fight for his friends. 
• Krishna knows he must stay to fight Arjuna in battle.
• He believes that fate will decide who is greater when they fight.
• Even though, Krishna did not do as Karna wishes, they were still in good terms,
• Both Kunti and Vidura are distrought about the idea of war breaking out between Duryodhana and the Pandavas.
• Karna is Kunti's eldest son that she hid.
• However, it is Karna supports Duryodhana. 
• Therefore, Karna, in a way, is planning to go to war against his brothers.
• Kunti searched for her son, Karna, in order to apologize about hiding him. 
• She confessed to him that she was truly her mother and Radha, who found him, was not his mother. 
• Furthermore, Kunti seemed to plead with Karna to not fight a war against his own brothers, the Pandavas. 
• Karna was known of having a lowly birth, so Kunti used this opportunity to convince him that he should come back with her and not go against his brothers and that he will be no longer known of lowly birth. 
• A voice from the sun spoke and confirmed that what Karna said was true. 
• Karna could not easily forgive Kunti.
• Karna believed that Kunti was never a mother to him; therefore, he does not see her other sons as his brother.
• Karna said that Kunti was "too late" in coming forward towards him and request a favor from him.
• Kunti respected Karna's decision and respectively bid him farewell. She told him to remember that he pledged the lives of his brothers while he is in battle, while also wishing him good health.
• Karna agreed with Kunti.
• They both departed from each other. 

This image represents the reaching of Kunti to her son. Similar to this image, their hands do not clasp and they go their separate ways. 

(Image Source)

Bibliography: Public Domain Edition of the Mahabharata, Part C  Multiple Authors from Various Sources: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore

Reading Notes: PDE Mahabharata, Part B

Public Domain Edition of the Mahabharata, Part B

By:Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore

Reading Notes - Favorite Episodes:

• The House of Fire
• Prince Vidura has an interesting character.
• His mother was a slave girl
• His half-brother was a king.
• I wonder how he felt coming from both two two extremes of royalty and slavery. I wonder if he felt just as worthy as his half-brothers for the title "king."
• He played a really important role in the episode.
• Prince Vidura was the one who guessed the cruel plot discussed below of Prince Duryodhana. 
• Varanavata palace:
• had beautiful furniture and decor
• was built of wood so it would easily burn
• Prince Yudhisthira was warned by Prince Vidura of the evil plan of Prince Duryodhana. 
• Prince Yudhisthira shared with his mother what was told to him by Prince Vidura and told her that he feared that his, his brothers', and his mother's lives were in danger by living in the said palace.
• He pointed out to his mother that the palace would be set on fire that is why the furniture and tapestries were soaked in oil and the walls and roof of the palace were made of only wood. 
• Prince Vidura hired a miner to build an escape route in the form of an underground passage for the Pandavas and their mother. 
• The minder did this very sneakily as he worked at night and covered the passage with wooden planks by day. 
• Prince Bhima set the guard-house on fire which, through the wind, blew towards the palace. 
• Therefore, both the guard-house and palace were up in flames. 
• Coincidentally, a low-caste woman and her five sons came to beg for food and slept at the palace.
• Unfortunately, this woman and her sons died in the fire.
• However, the next day the people of the community believed that the low-caste woman and her five sons were Queen Kunti and the Pandavas, and that they died in the fire.
• The Burning of the Forest
• Krishna visited the Pandavas and a huge party was thrown.
• Agni, the god of fire, visited Krishna and Arjuna requesting food. 
• Agni wanted the two heroes to help him.
• The two heroes to agreed to help Agni if he got them celestial weapons.
• Agni got a bow from the god Varuna and many other weapons. 
• This ignited a battle.
• Therefore, Indra was defeated.
• A fire arose and many animals died in flames. 
• Only a few animals escaped.
• Agni, in a result, became powerful again.

Image Source

Bibliography: Public Domain Edition of the Mahabharata, Part B  Multiple Authors from Various Sources: Arnold, Besant, Devee, Dutt, Ganguli, Kincaid, Macfie, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Seeger, and Tagore

Extra Credit Biography: A Christmas to Remember

Tall trees are hitting against each other so hard that it seems like they are fighting. Rain pellets are banging against the windows. The wind is howling as it weaves around the house. We are in the middle of a Signal #2 typhoon. At the house, my lola (meaning grandma), two aunts (named Nene and Mabelle), mommy, daddy, sister, 15 year-old cousin (name Miguel), and two year old niece (named Andrea) are preparing for Christmas Mass. This is my first time being in a typhoon. I am so confused at why no one was freaking out. However, I just go along with the flow. With our makeup done, we begin taking family pictures. This is a Christmas for me to remember because it is my first Christmas spending it with my relatives that I can ACTUALLY remember. Living in the U.S. has brought me so many blessings; however, when holidays roll around everyone seems to be having big, family dinners with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., I always felt a little bit of sadness. As we are taking family photos of all different poses, I realize I forgot about the typhoon encircling us. Family is everything. They are ones who will stick by us through the sunshiny days and the typhoon, rainy days. I love my family!

(Personal image of my family on Christmas 2019)

Front Row: Andrea, Nene, Lola, Mabelle, Miguel

Back Row: Mommy, Sister, Me, Daddy

Note:

In this biography story, I wanted to showcase the importance of family. Growing up, I had lots of friends who had grandparents, aunts, or cousins who lived across the street from them. However, about 90% of my relatives live outside of the country. While I absolutely love my immediate family, sometimes I wish I also had my relatives to spend important moments with. More so, I wrote the story in present tense because I wanted the reader to feel my same emotions, especially being in a typhoon for the first time.