Wikipedia Trails From Indian Folk Music to Oriental Star Agencies

(Hira Devi Waiba- Pioneer of Nepali Folk songs in India: Image from Wikipedia)
Indian Folk Music - I chose this as my first article because I had just watched an eplified video on it for my last reading notes. While watching this video I learned that music and dance both have deep roots in the Indian culture.
Bhangra - This is a type of Indian folk music. This is a type of upbeat popular music associated with the Punjab region in the northern part of the India.
Bhujhangy Group - the world's longest-running bhangra band. The band is from England and formed from two brothers. They have appeared on TV, the radio, and Guinness Book of World Records.
Oriental Star Agencies - A British based record label, based in the Balsall Heath area of Birmingham. This record label signed the Bhujhangy Group and it was confirmed in January 2017 that Oriental Star Agencies would be closing their doors to the public and wind down the business which would see the business totally closed by mid February 2017.

Tech Tip: Countdown Widget

This week for my tech tip I did a countdown to graduation. To do this I added a countdown widget.

Famous Last Words for Week 13

                              (University of Michigan: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Famous Last Words for week 13

I don’t know how but I am surprisingly still alive. I don’t know if I will be after this week because I have two exams and two quizzes coming up. This past week has been a crazy and life changing one! I decided to accept my offer to the University of Michigan’s school of public health. I am really nervous about moving away and starting all over just as I did 4 years ago when I came to OU from California. I keep telling myself that I did it once and I can do it again, but it’s still nerve racking. This week wasn’t so bad school wise, no exams or quizzes, just a project. The readings are getting a little more difficult because a lot of them require you to by them or check them out from the library which is different then what we have been doing. I am almost done with the class and I am excited but glad I took this class. It was my first online class and I think it went really well. I thought it was going to be difficult and confusing but everything was very well explained and laid out. I am always so impressed with the quality of writing from the other students in this class. They have surprised me with there imaginations I wish I could come up with the ideas that they do. I think my best writing for this week was my project story. I always enjoy writing my project stories because I like doing the research behind them. I like being able to research places to travel especially places I have never been before. My plans for this next week include surviving my last exams and quizzes while also observing Passover.      

Extra Reading Week 13

                         (A group of Indian Musicians in 1870: Image from Wikimedia Commons)
Folk Dance and Music by Epified

My reading for this week is a little off topic and unconventional but it kept popping up on the YouTube side bar and it was made from Epified so I thought I would try it. The video talked about music and dance. They describe how rich the Indian culture is and how it is in everyone’s roots. Whether the person be a farmer, businessman, or doctor, everyone is musically inclined. A lot of the folk music in Madhya Pradesh tells a lot about its history and people. The music is often about love, duty, and sacrifice, all things people lived through. It is really cool and different to hear that a lot of people practice this music together because it is not something you see in the US a lot. It reminds me of the native American culture. It is also really interesting to hear that different tribes that were all close to each other have different traditions and produced different types of music. It sets the different tribes apart but also gives them something to share in common which is their love for music. These people wanted to make music so badly that they would make instruments out of so many different things. It is inspiring how much they just loved to make and listen to music with their neighbors, they didn’t care if it wasn’t a real instrument, as long as it made sound. One example of this music being played and loved is when Krishna played the music to stop the demon. This example just explains what the Indian people think that music can do and what kind of impact it has on their daily lives. Not only is music important to them but also dance. Many tribes and cultures in India have special dances to go with their music. I enjoy reading about things that are different then the western culture I was raised in.                

Week 13 Story

                                  (Young Krishna: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

The 8^th child has been born and Devaki and Vasudeva were waiting for the King to come and take the baby. They waited and waited holding the child close as they knew they wouldn’t have much longer with the baby they named, Krishna. Vasudeva was wondering why no one had come to kill his son yet and decided to peak his head out of their cell and see if anyone was coming. He noticed the guards at his cell were asleep and did not know the baby was born. He decided that this would be the one and only chance to save his son, so he reached his arm through the cell and stole the guard’s keys. He, very quietly, opened the cell door and slipped out with his son and escaped the castle. Vasudeva walked miles and miles, more then we could count, to a village he had once heard about. He knew the people of this village were good and highly respected.

Amongst these people was Putana, who was also a new mother. Putana had earlier that day gave birth to a baby girl. Vasudeva knew this and knew Putana was going to be a great mother so he left Krishna with her during the night. Vasudeva left no explanation only a note on this son that said “Krishna”. Vasudeva found his way back to his cell before anyone realized he was gone and he was content knowing his son was safe.

Putana awoke from her sleep to find her beautiful daughter and a newborn son. Putana did not question the fact that another baby accompanied her daughter, she new what she needed to do. She had a feeling she needed to care for this child because he was special and alone. So Putana cared for the two children as if they were her own.

King Kansa finally discovered that his sister had birthed he 8^th child, the child that was to be the downfall of the evil king. The king headed down to the cell to kill the baby, however he was surprised to find no baby……

Read my next story to find out what happens.

Authors note: This is the retelling of the story Krishna by Epified TV (India). The only difference between this story and the original is the fate of the two children. In the original story Vasudeva drops of Krishna but steals Putanas baby. He knows he can not show up to his cell with no baby. The king then tries not kill the baby girl but fails.      

Reading Notes Part 2 Week 13

(Lord Krishna & Kalia: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Dreams and Music by Epified TV (India)

I wonder if Krishna knows he is a god. He does these things that know one else can do like play music without learning, kill demons, and show people the world. No one tells him he is a god, although only his birth parents, king Kansa, and Yashoda knows. It must be confusing for him as to why he is like this but it is not mentioned that he has any strange feelings. I wish the video would explain more why everyone left their town and moved. All that is said is that there was a feeling that they should leave and then everyone did. Did one person have this feeling or was it the many? If one person had the feeling then how did they convince everyone else that the feeling was true. Also why did they pick the town that they settled in? Where their other people living there already? Was there conflict with the people that were already living there? Did they know about the demon that lived in the water before they got there? There are many unanswered questions in some of these short videos. I wonder what kind of music Krishna played to get rid of   

Kalia? Does the Indian culture at the time of this story have snake charmers because it seems that that is what Krishna is doing? The town now knows that Krishna is a god/Avatar but does Krishna know. No one has told him but he must know by now that he is special and there is something different about him. I like that the demons and the kids are illustrated because it makes it easier to invasion what they look like and how many of them there are and what they look like.

   

Reading Notes Part 1 Week 13

                              (Demoness Putana: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Krishna by Epified TV (India)

I am very confused as to why the characters in this story are not questioning anything that happened. Yashoda did not question that she woke up next to a boy when she gave birth to a girl. She was confused but she did not question this fact. In fact, she went with it and did not wonder where her baby girl went. She also does not question the fact that her husband brings her another son to care for. Whose son is it and why is Yashoda so willing to take the boy. Are the parents of this boy not worried about him? Yashoda also does not question how close Putana gets to Krishna. Putana inserts herself into their lives and know one is concerned about it. Yashoda then does not question the fact that she finds her stolen baby next to a dead corpse of a demon. I understand that the audience knows that Krishna is a god but Yashoda does not know this so why is she allowing her child to do these things without question. Once again, I enjoy that this is in video format and it makes it much easier to follow along too. Another thing that I question/wonder about this story is that straight of the bat the village people love Krishna. Why? Did he do something special that was not said or is it just because he was born? I am curious to see how King Kansa tries to find and kill the baby. The baby is far away and how will he know that he has found the right baby? Is there a distinct make that Krishna has to allow people to recognize him, like Harry Potter? Or will the king just get a feeling that it is the right baby, and what happens if he kills the wrong one?

Reading Notes Part 2 Week 12

Vasudev Meets Yamuna by Epified TV (India)

Ill start of by saying how much I enjoy listening to these stories in video form. I think presenting these stories with a video and a narrator is such a good idea. For me personally it is very difficult to follow along with these stories when just reading them. This is because there are so many words I don’t know and can not pronounce that it takes me a long time to read the whole story. It is also very difficult to follow all of the new characters and their names without having a face to put with the name. These are problems that are solved when a video is used to tell the story. Also Epified did a great job in this aspect because they also give the viewer something to watch that is not distracting from the story so it is easy to watch and listen. I think having one epic being read and the other in video format would be a good idea for this course, instead of having both of them as novels.

As for the story, this was a very interesting story to listen to. The father and mother continuously have their children killed by the king, the child’s uncle. The king keeps killing the babies after birth because the legend says the 8^th baby will be the downfall of the king. The day came and the 8^th child was born, a boy and a god. The father noticed that after the child was born the door to their cell was open and the guards were asleep. The father slips out and goes to a village where another baby had just been born. The father switches the babies and returns with a girl to their cell.

This is an awful concept portrayed in this story. I can understand why the father switched the babies but that is not justified. The father stole someone’s baby to save his own. He was fully aware that the king would kill this baby girl that he stole. I think that the father of the baby is just as evil as the king who kills the newborns.  

     

(Krishna: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Extra Credit Reading

                                            (Buffalo: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

The Patient Buffalo by Noor Inayat (Khan)

This story follows a few of the common themes I mentioned in the last set of reading notes about the guilty dogs. It involves a lot of nature as part of the scene and the story. It also includes one superior human and one superior animal. Some new themes were introduced that are seen in some western stories that everyone is familiar with. The first being that wisdom and being polity is rewarded. It is funny/ironic that this is a theme here and I mentioned it as being western since our western ideals and actions do not match the theme in the present day. Another theme here is that the fairy asks the buffalo why he did not hurt the monkey with his great strength. Here the fairy is analyzing strength as only being a physical attribute. However, in this case the buffalo has even more mental strength then physical strength for dealing with the monkey and his bad behavior. It is common for people to react poorly and angerly when they are displeased and angry. This theme conflicts with a lot of western society today because mental strength is not focused on and is not rewarded. In this story there is a monkey that is pestering a buffalo. After all of the constant pestering the buffalo does not give into the monkey and does not get angry. I think this is a good lesson for the children who are reading and learning from the story. This is a good lesson to teach siblings, as much as your brother or sister will drive you insane you need to ignore it because if you do not you will end up with a bad relationship. I say this from experience because it took my bother and I a long time to build up or relationship again after having a not great relationship when we were kinds. 

Reading Notes Jataka The Guilty Dogs

                                            (Dog Nose: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

 The Guilty Dogs by Noor Inayat (Khan)

There seems to be a very common couple of themes in all of the Jataka stories. The first being that human and other animals are always included, nature in some aspect is usually included as well. The next theme is that there is always a king of the humans and always a leader of the animals. The next theme is that the animals are always avoiding death from the humans for either sport, resources, or false accusations. The last theme I have noticed in the couple of stories I have read is that the animal king always confronts the human king and amazes him. The human king always stops harming the animals and gives them good treatment after that.

This is exactly what happened in this story. The palace dogs destroyed something valuable to the king. This king finds outs and orders that all dogs in the city, except the palace dogs be killed. The dog chief then encounters the human king before the killing starts and asks him to reconsider. The dog chief explains that the city dogs were not involved in destroying his chariot and should not be killed. The king unsurprisingly does not believe him and asks for proof. The dog chief also unsurprisingly proves the king to be wrong and himself correct. The human king then feels so bad that he not only tells the dog chief that him and his followers will not be killed but will be treated like royalty. The story does not mention if the palace dogs will be punished.

This story is better then some of the others in teaching kids, the targeted audience, life lessons. It shows them good leadership on the dogs’ behalf and it shows courage. However, it also shows that leaders may respond with violence even before they know the whole story. It also shows that someone can act poorly and get away with it.     

Reading Notes Jataka Banyan

                                         (Golden Deer: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Banyan by Noor Inayat (Khan)

In this story there are three kings, one human king and two deer kings. The two deer king reside in the forest, and they are a beautiful golden color that stands out from the others. The deer encounter a problem, the human king is to have a feast and has sent his soldiers out to kill the animals of the forest to bring back as food for his feast. However, the king as warned the soldiers that they must not king any of the golden deer and so the soldiers listened and followed orders and they never shot at one of the golden deer. The deer were being very badly injured and shot hundred of times before they would die and be taken from the soldiers. The two deer king could not stand to see their followers being so brutally injured and killed. They came up with a compromise, they would send one deer a day to the king to be sacrificed and they would alternate the days from which kingdom this deer would come from. One day it was the turn of a mother deer, her doe was very young and would not be able to survive alone. The mother went to her king to ask if she could go later when her baby was grown, the king denied her and told her she must go today. The mother was desperate so she went to the other king and asked if she could go later, the king told her yes and to raise her child and she could go when he was older. The mother was so happy and thankful, but the king thought someone must go today in her place, he thought it should he him. So, he went to the human king to be killed but the human king refused. The human king was so touched that he spared every animal in the forest and vowed not to kill another animal.

I think this story is a little unrealistic and not the best for children. There are some valuable lessons about nonviolence and compassion but not many about strength and courage. Yes, the king was willing to risk his life for his followers but why did they not fight back. Why did the deer and the other creatures living in the forest fight back? This story also does not show good leadership until later, the deer king willingly sacrifices their followers to keep the human king happy.      

Story Lab Week 10

Notes over Chapter 2: Telling a Story in Empoword.

This chapter focuses of techniques in writing.

 The first technique it mentions is the plot, it is important to have a plot because it is the basis of your story. The plot encompasses many other techniques because it is so broad.

The second technique is scope. The scope is the boundaries of the plot. The scope defines the outline of the story. The scope answers the questions When, Where, Who, and What but not Why. It is important for the story that the scope be defined and not too long. If you don’t focus in and cut things from your story the readers will get lost. It is hard to find a balance between enough detail but not to lengthy.

The third technique is sequence and pacing. In this chapter they describe this with Freytag’s pyramid. This is a pyramid that consists of most of the story building up to the climax and ending quickly after the climax. This occurs in 5 steps: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

The fourth technique is point of view. This is the way in which you tell and write your story. The way in which you tell your story and which point of view you use shapes the readers perspective on the plot.

Lastly, they mention finding a medium. Stories can be told though all sorts of medium, it doesn’t have to be a written story on a piece of paper in a book. Stories are told everyday through books, movies, TV, social media, in the newspaper/journal, having a conversation, plays, blogs, etc. Anything can become a story, your life is a story and it is your job to tell the readers what you want them to know about you and your journey.           

                                            (Book: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Extra Credit Reading The Monkey Bridge

The Monkey Bridge by Noor Inayat
I really enjoyed reading this story. The writing of it was beautiful and very easy to read, it flowed like a story should. I like the idea of this story better then the last two, especially if it is being targeted for children. In this story a worried king tells his followers to not let the beautiful fruit from their tree fall into the water of the river. If a piece falls it will travel down the mountain and into the village with the humans. The humans will then want to find the tree and steal all of the fruit. Not only did this exact thing happen but when the humans found the tree and saw the monkeys living in it, they waited around until daylight to kill all of them. They wanted to kill the monkeys for meat and then take the beautiful ripe fruit with them. The king of the monkeys saw the fear of his followers and new action had to be taken. All the other trees were to far to get to so all of the monkeys were stuck. The king leaped as far as he could and made it to another tree where he tied a rope to his foot. He then jumped back across to the tree with his followers but the rope was a little short. The king had to stretch his body to make the rope long enough and his followers ran across his back, onto the rope, and into the forest. The strength of his back gave out and eventually broke after the last monkey crossed safely. The human king at the bottom of the tree saw the generosity of the monkey king and treated him as kindly before he died. The monkey king with his last couple breaths explained to the human king that he was willing to die for his followers and that he should learn from him. He also explained he should lead by love, as if all of the followers were his children. I think this story teaches a lot about what being a leader is about, some notes others can take from this story. 

                                 (Golden Gate Bridge: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Reading Notes Crab and Crane

The Crab and the Crane by Ellen C. Babbit

               This story, I also think, is meant to be a children’s book. Although, I don’t think it is a very nice read for children and I do not agree with its message. In the story there is a pond with very little water because of lack of rain and over consumption from other animals. In that pond lived many fish that were beginning to struggle because there was no water in their pond. The crane showed compassion to the fish, or at least that’s what they thought, and offered to take the fish to a new pond that had lots of water. At first the fish were hesitant because they thought the fish would just eat them all but the crane took one of the fishes to check out the new pond and when they came back the fish told the others that the pond was great and full of water. So, all the fish trusted the crane to take them to the pond one by one but instead he took them to a different place and ate them one by one. Eventually all the fish were gone and the crane became hungry again. He saw a crab by the pond where the fish once lived and he decided to play his game again. He told the crab there was a pond in a different place he could take him to with more water and food. The crab agreed to go and check it out, but the only way the crab could travel was to hold onto the cranes neck very tightly with is sharp claw. The crane took the crab to the place where he ate the fish instead of the pond where he promised. The crane said he was going to eat the crab and leave his shell with the fish bones but the crab still had a hold of his neck. The crab then killed the crane to avoid being eaten. I think this lesson teaches kids that even though you are smart and ask the right questions you still can trust people which I don’t think this should be taught to the young, no matter how true it is. I also don’t think that teaching the lesson that you should kill the problem instead of fixing it should be taught to the young.       

                                              (Crab: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Reading Notes The Ox

                                                             (Ox:Wikimedia Commons)

THE OX WHO WON THE FORFEIT by Ellen C. Babbit

The story of the ox that pulled the 100 carts was interesting. It seems that it was written as a children’s story because it teaches the fundamental act of treating someone nicely.  It was very easy to read with not very difficult wording or sentence structure. In the story an owner owns an ox that he enjoys telling all of the other people in town about. The owner loves his ox but mostly for his strength and never seems stop talking about it. He is always very kind to his ox and feeds him well so he can remain strong. One day while in town he began to gloat about the strength of his ox and bet that his ox could pull 100 carts. The gentlemen accepted the bet because they thought the ox could never pull 100 carts. The owner brought his ox out the next day to prove to the others how truly strong his ox was, and to collect his money. They tied the ox to the first cart with 99 following and the owner began to whip and yell at the ox. To the owners surprise the ox did not move even though he knew the ox could and the owner lost the bet. Once they were home the owner was very upset and asked the ox why he did not pull the carts. The ox responded by saying he did not like the way his owner was speaking to him and that he did not like being whipped. The owner apologized and said it would never happen again and the ox trusted him and forgave him. The next day the ox went to town and pulled the 100 carts to win the bet for his owner. I think this story is told in this way to teach kids its not okay to bully someone to get what you want. And if you need something to ask for it and not force it.      

Famous Last Words: Survive the last month

                                                   (Graduation: Wikimedia Commons)

This week was a bit more hectic then other weeks. I had a large project due in another class and I only had time to do one of the readings this week. Although the reading I did do I enjoyed. I like reading the stories about the epic we just finished by other authors. It makes the idea that the epic resonates with everyone a bit differently so real. Surprisingly I think my best writing this week came from one of the extra credit assignments. It was the HEART extra credit assignment, I wrote about being successful and what that means. Success means a lot of things to different people and its not about how society defines it, it is about how you define it for yourself. My other classes are getting pretty difficult and are moving very quickly. I just got into my number one choice of graduate schools, The University of Michigan, so focusing on school is getting harder and harder. I have one exam the week we get back from spring break and two the following week so life is very stressful right now. Although I am very excited to graduate, I picked up my cap and gown this past week and it made everything a bit more real. I am a bit scared to move to another new place where I have no family or friends just like I did 4 years ago. However, I know that if I can do it once I can do it again. Also, what is keeping my mind at ease is that moving to Oklahoma brought me so many memories and lessons and I know moving to Michigan will do the same. I just better remember to pack some warm jackets. For next week I hope to do well on exams, get ahead in this class, and get some sleep!   

Learning Challenge "Success"

                                            (Dictionary: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

This week I read an article titled The 9 Principles That People Who Feel Successful Say They Live By by Bill Connolly.

This article talks about redefining what success means since the word and society are constantly changing. I agree with the author when he says that success is a abstract concept that means different things to different people. Since the author and most of society today does not accept what success used to mean they completely redefined it. However, since success means different things to different people I decided to explain why the old way can still be used today!

The dictionary defines success as “the attainment of wealth, position, honors or the like.” The author states that like the old version of success this is also societies norm today. The author says that this is a bad thing but what if it was not? Its all about how you interpret the words, sometimes not everything is meant to be taken literal.

Wealth is being assumed to mean money, therefore if you have money you are successful. However wealth does not have to mean money. One can be wealthy of friends, family, food, or more importantly you can be wealthy of time. Time is something most of us with we had more of so why cant a persons wealth be measured by the time they have to do the things they want to do.

Next is position, this is assuming that a person must have a high position in their career to be successful. However why cant position be defined as mother, father, brother, sister, friend, volunteer, etc. A position is a spot in which you put yourself in that can make you happy, it does not have to mean to be in a spot to earn the most about of money. It can also mean a position to earn the most wealth like the examples above.

Last is honors or rewards, this is also assumed to mean a person who receives praise from a superior. Why does it need to mean something negative. To be honored is a positive thing. Someone can be honored to buy you lunch, someone can be honored to be called a grandmother. Someone could be honored to wake up every morning. Honors and rewards dont have to be pieces of paper with your name on it or a sum of money.

Like I said earlier I agree with the statement that success is an abstract idea and difficult to define. However I do not agree with the idea of having to through out the whole idea of success because based of the first read of the definition it sounds like it is all about money and greed. Not all of us in society are searching for money or power, most of us want the same things. Success is but a word and everyone can interpret it for themselves. So I challenge people to not redefine the word and its dictionary meaning but to find out what success means for you. Dont get all hung up on the words and what society thinks.         

Growth Mindset with my Mom

                                                 (Growth Mindset: Image from Pinterest)


This week I shared the Growth Mindset concept with my mother who is an elementary teacher in Southern California. After I had finished sharing what the concept was and a few of my thoughts about it she responded. She had already known about the concept for a while now, but her and the other teachers in the area did not call it that specifically. She said she had learned about it at a teaching conference she went to a while back and since then her and the other teachers at the school have tried to implement it as much as they can. She said the teachers continue to push the students and at the own level. Each student receives classwork based on what level they are at so they are always being challenged. 

Tech Tip Canvas Mobile App

Prior to this tech tip I already had the canvas app downloaded! I will start by saying I use this app on a daily basis, it is really handy and easy to use. I found it very easy to download as well. I just downloaded it from the app store like any other app and then logged into it with my 4x4. I use it often to check a grade that was posted that I cant wait to see if I don’t have my laptop with me. I also check due dates with it as well. When I am in a hurry or forgot to do an assignment on the app like a quiz, I can also use it for that! The only thing I wished it did was tell me the class average but it will only show the grade you got.

                                            (iPhone: Image from Wikimedia Commons)

Week 9 Extra Credit Reading

Exile in The Five Tall Sons of Pandu by Richard Wilson
Gandharva - is a name used for distinct heavenly beings in Hinduism
Chitrasena - taught music and dance to Arjuna. He was a Gandharva king.
Jayadratha - was the king of Sindhu Kingdom. He was married to Dushala. He was killed by Arjuna with the help of Krishna.
Virata - was the king of Matsya Kingdom with its Virata Kingdom, in whose court the Pandavas spent a year in concealment during their exile. He was killed during a Kauravas attack in the Kurukshetra War along with his sons
The Pandavas have been exiled from their kingdom and are residing in the Matsya Kingdom. Duryodhana pays them a visit and all he does is mock them and ridicule them, however, this is not surprising. However, when Duryodhana tries to leave the kingdom he runs into trouble with the gandharva. He then needs help from the Pandavas, pretty ironic. It amazes me that family would treat each other like the way Duryodhana treats his nephews and vice versa. I feel like this could be a life lesson not only for the characters but also for those reading the story. Although for the circumstances of the characters in the story they chose to ignore this life lesson and continue on with the family hate. Duryodhana then takes the hate a step further and involves other people. He takes with him Karna and Drona to steal Virata’s cattle. This not only continues to prove how awful Duryodhana is but how he uses his leadership and persuasiveness to convince others to do harm. The Pandavas then retaliate, especially Arjuna, and convinces a chariot-driver to take him to where they keep their weapons. He then disguises himself as a corpse in order to surprise the attack Duryodhana, Karna, and Drona. Based on past stories and foreshowing this battle does not seem like it will end well.

                               (Pandavas go to Battle: Image from Wikimedia Commons)