Alex's Epics of India Blog

NOTE: Portfolio location --  https://sites.google.com/view/crayonandonand/story-two The casino smelled like Kevin's Gramma before she died of lung cancer — like the slap of new pinochle cards as they're shuffled; like the puff of the last cigarette in a pack of Marlboros; like a woman who bet on God instead of chemotherapy and lost. Kevin sat at the blackjack table, blood already thrilling through his veins. The dealer sent two cards across the table and they slid to a stop right in front of him. A Jack of spades, a four of hearts. "Hit me." A ten of diamonds. "You bust. House wins." Kevin played again. This time, a six of clubs and a seven of hearts. "Hit me." "You bust. House wins." He played again: "Hit me." "You bust. House wins." And again: "Hit me." "You bust. House wins." And again: "Hit me." "You bust. House wins." He played until he ...

In this section of the Mahabharata , I found the central conflict -- the games of dice against Shakuni -- to be infuriating. First that Yudhishthira did not object more to the use of Shakuni as a proxy by Duryodhana for the gambling, second that Shakuni very certainly cheated, and third that Yudhishthira did not have the self-control to stop gambling or the awareness to challenge Shakuni's improbable streak of wins. Also, that Yudhishthira was willing to gamble away his family bothered me a lot. The exile -- its length and its implications -- are very reminiscent of the Ramayana. The group of heroes leave for a period of some 12ish years and return to vanquish their enemies (but I guess I am assuming this is how the Mahabharata ends). I still find the even(ish) sharing of the narrative between the brothers, giving them each some time in the spotlight, is odd but nice, since we get to see each of the characters grow. Well, all but the twins. They seem to have been forgotten b...

In the first section of the Mahabharata , I was confused by the number of different names that appear quickly. It seemed that the Ramayana did not have such an immediately diverse cast of names. That said, I thought that the first section was interesting, and I saw some parallels to other, Western mythology. First, Karna being put in a basket and floated down the river was an interesting parallel to the story of Moses in the Bible; however, it is in reverse in terms of parentage: in the Bible a Jew (a common person) floated Moses down the river to be found by the Pharaoh's wife, while in the Mahabharata a royal woman floated Karna down the river to be found by common people. Also, the idea of stringing a bow as a way to win a wife through competition against other suitors came up again, like it did in both the Ramayana and the Odyssey . Interesting is that an archery competition followed the stringing the bow, which reminded me of the archery competition at the end of the ...