Reading Diary B, Week 2: Lanka

Hanuman is told of his divine abilities that have been hidden from him his whole life. He is able to grow larger than a mountain and step across the ocean to Lanka. He then reduces his size and moves secretly through the city trying to find Sita. He first finds Ravana's wife, Mandodari, believing her to be Sita but begins to see that her features do not match those told to him by Rama. He continues his search and finds Sita surrounded by female guards who terrorize her. As they walk away Sita plans to hang herself but Hanuman reaches her in time and explains his presence. He presents her with the ring from Rama and she in turn gives him her jewelry to take back with him.

Hanuman runs from the guards and could easily have eluded all but allows himself to be captured by Indrajit, son of Ravana. Hanuman meets with Ravana and explains the situation and request the surrender of Sita. However, Ravana doesn't take this lightly and plans to kill Hanuman who is only spared by the words of Vibhishana, the youngest brother of Ravana. Hanuman's tail is set ablaze and he escapes, running through the city and lighting everything in sight on fire. Maya rebuilds the whole city.

Vibhishana and Ravana argue about his actions and Vibishana retreats across the water in order to join the camp of Rama. Rama's councils believes him to be a spy but Hanuman and Rama allow his entrance and take benefit in his knowledge of Ravana's forces.

The monkey forces move across the ocean into Lanka and the fighting begins. Ravana continually tries to make Sita believe that he has killed Rama. First by creating a decapitated head looking like his and showing it to her, secondly by poisoning him with snake darts that put him to sleep on the battlefield. Ravana is bested by Rama but the fighting ends and Rama allows him to rest and return the next day with fresh weapons.

Kumbakarna is a heavy sleeper, wakes up, and eats a lot of people and monkeys. Rama and Ravana battle one another in chariots, racing through the sky. Rama defeats Ravana with an arrow through his heart.

Rama test Sita in fire to make sure she is still pure. She passes and they are reunited. He gets a wish and all is forgiven. Rama returns to Adoy

Reading Diary A, Week 2: Vali & Sugreeva

Rama continues to look for Sita but his lose is beginning to tug at his heart strings. He meets Sugreeva who was once the right hand to Vali, the monkey king. When Vali left to chase after an opponent the throne was left unoccupied and the elders placed Sugreeva there in Vali's absence. They didn't know if he was dead or alive after he went into a tunnel chasing his prey. Sugreeva attempted to look for his brother but the elders would not allow it and blocked off the entrance. Vali however was still alive and broke free only to find Sugreeva on his throne. He wouldn't listen to his brothers explanations and attempted to kill him. Sugreeva managed to get free and ends up meeting up with Rama who he gets to help him. Sugreeva calls out his brother and they begin to fight. Rama kills Vali and explains to him his reasoning behind doing so in which Vali becomes enlightened and regrets the choices he had made.

The rainy season comes and Rama becomes very depressed and kind of pitiful. After the rainy season ends they wait for Sugreeva to send troops so they can cover the Earth in search of Sita. The troops do not arrive on time so Lakshmana goes to Kiskinda to find out what the issue is. Angry at first his nerves are calmed and the troops arrive later on. They are sent in every direction but the most important group heads south and gets caught underground. They meet a bird and restore his feathers to him. He tells them that Ravana had passed through there with Sita and that she was being held in Lanka.

They sit at the edge of the ocean deciding how they can go about getting across. Rama bargains with the sea god and he helps them to create a path to the other side and into Lanka. This is were the story gets interesting and the battle begins.

Famous Last Words: Week 2

What a crazy week this has been; from the stress of not getting my books on time to the first football game of the season. Starting out with this class I clearly had some issues this week due to a lack of receiving my books required for our readings. This definitely threw me out of my usual groove but thankfully we were provided with enough extra credit for me to make up for the mishap. I can't believe yesterday marked my last first game day at OU; my time here has flown by. Even though it was extremely hot outside I loved being back in that stadium and hearing the roar of the crowd. There aren't many better things than the atmosphere on campus during an OU game. Today, Sunday, I am really looking forward to heading down to Wayne, Oklahoma to spend some time at the farm and get in some shooting practice. Tomorrow is the opening day of dove season and I plan on being up bright and early to hopefully have a successful hunt before heading back to Norman. Today we will also probably go dirt biking and 4 wheeling around the land just for a bit of fun. My girlfriend is also coming down to the farm with us and she has never shot a gun in her life. I'm excited to see how her first time goes and maybe she will just pick it right up. I'm also really looking forward to trying out my two new guns I just received from my grandpa within the past few weeks. He has given me a 12 gauge Ithaca shotgun and a Browning Safari .30-06. I had the chance to shoot the shotgun this past weekend and it being an older gun, kicks like a Clydesdale. However, the .30-06 rifle has yet to be fired and I would really like to check and make sure it is still sighted in and firing correctly. Hopefully all goes well this weekend.

Gift from Mason

Photo taken by Austin Vaughan