Epic Things

Drabble version (100-words): The Call  (Based on True Story) " Hi Nana ", I answered the phone. " Hey Kiddo! How are you doing? ", she answered. " Just waiting for my next class nana. I- " Before I finished my sentence, she interrupts " I got to go kiddo. Just wanted to say I love you. Tell your mom and dad I miss them! " I thought it was odd but didn't give it much thought. An hour later, I went home and found my parents in the living room. My mother's face was swollen, from crying I presumed. She said, " Honey, we found out nana passed away last night. " Phone Call (Source: PinClipart ) Dribble version (50-words): The Call  (Based on True Story) I haven't been able to stop crying when my phone rang. " Hi Kiddo, I don't really have much time. Just wanted to say I love you. Tell your mom and dad I miss them! " My heart sunk as I was hearing the voice of the woman I am mourning.

You can learn from criticism (Source: Cheezburger ) I am completely in love with the term feedforward . It is such a good positive outlook on the traditional term, feedback. Marshall Goldsmith explains it the best in his article Try Feedforward Instead of Feedback . As Goldsmith states, the reality is that none of us like receiving negative feedback nor giving them. We could all benefit a lot from learning the "right" rather than proving the "wrong". The problem with feedback is that it is focused too much on the past rather than the future. I recommend this article as it really convinced me of the large impact on saying feedforward instead of feedback,  Alfie Kohn reports in his article Five Reasons to Stop Saying "Good Job!"  on how a simple saying could be detrimental to the growth mindset. In my opinion, the saying is just so so boring! Kohn makes an excellent point in emphasizing how the saying can create a large amount of pressure to "keep up th...

Focus Character: Ashwatthama is the son of Drona and the grandson of Bharadwaja. Storybook idea : I am hoping to place Ashwatthama as a character in the Marvel universe. I really think this would be a cool story as he has all the aspects of a Marvel Character. Important stories: 1. Death of Drona Ashwatthama's father, Drona, was an undefeated commander who loved his son more than anything in the world. However, this also makes his son his one weakness. His enemies used this as an advantage. Drona's death was gruesome. This event changed Ashwatthama forever.  I am hoping to use this story as a backstory for Ashwatthama. This explains why he is the way he is. The death of his father was very sad, especially since all his father ever truly loved was his son. I want to emphasize their relationship in my story.  Source:  http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/pde-mahabharata-death-of-drona.html 2. The Massacre of the Pandava Camp Ashwatthama slaughtered most of the Pandavas camp...

As a child, Sita would listen to the same bedtime story told by her father, a story of a princess gifted to him by the goddess of the earth. Every time, he would end the story with "and that princess is you" as she falls asleep. Sita is King Janaka's precious daughter whom he adopted and loves dearly. She is the definition of beauty and purity. She had a wonderful childhood filled with love and joy. Finally, the time has come as Sita has become of age for marriage. King Janaka is preparing for the social season to arrange matches and possible suitors for his daughter.  He announces to the public, "The man who is able to lift any of these bows will be the one worthy of my daughter." Little did the public know, the king ordered bows made of compact sand that would disintegrate immediately if not held delicately. Only one person has successfully done so and that person was Sita. Sand (Source: PxHere ) Suitors from the whole land would line up awaiting the challenge...

Bibliography.  "Ramayana Part B" from Tales 51-100 of Tiny Tales from the Ramayana by Laura Gibbs.  Web Source.  Ravana disguised as an ascetic approaching Sita (Source:  Wikimedia ) Focus Character:  Sita, who in Part B, grows closer to her husband Rama. As she is devoted to Rama, she follows him into exile with Lakshmana. The journey was long and she was kidnapped by Ravana at the end of part B.  Synopsis from Part B: As her husband was sent into Exile by King Dasharatha after Kaikeyi (whose mind was poisoned by maid Manthara) forces him, Sita follows him along with Lakshmana. Their journey during exile was long. After the king passed away, Ayodhya was in desperate need of a new ruler. Bharata and Shatrughna returned to find Rama gone, and threatened Manthara for what she has done. Three of them went to beg Rama to return, but he refuses as he is devoted to upholding his father's wishes. Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana visit a few places during the exile. They ...

Bibliography.  "Ramayana Part A" from Tales 31-50 of Tiny Tales from the Ramayana by Laura Gibbs.  Web Source. Sita by Raja Ravi Varma (Source: Wikimedia ) Focus Character: Sita is the adopted daughter of King Janaka. Janaka claimed she was gifted to him by Budhevi, the earth goddess. Her love story with Rama is what drew me to her. She is unlike the other female characters as she is powerful as well. Other stories from the Ramayana :  - Sita is a reincarnation of the goddess Lakshmi, given birth by Ravana's wife Mandodari. She buried the baby away from Lanka. This was found by Janaka. - Padma, an incarnation of Lakshmi, had a father King Padmaksha who was killed by Ravana. She entered into the king's pyre and transformed into a jewel. Ravana kept this jewel in a box but when his wife opened it, she found a baby. The baby threatened to destroy Ravana. The box was then buried away from Lanka and was later found by Janaka. Synopsis from Part A : The story begins with a...