Epics of India

Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition from M. Dutt , R. Dutt , Gould , Griffith , Hodgson , Mackenzie , Nivedita , Oman , Richardson , and Ryder . Notes for Part D #61 In this Ramayana story, we learn about a great feat of engineering - building a bridge from the mainland to Lanka (reminder from the previous reading note, this bridge must be at least 345 miles long) entirely out of stones. I thought it was cool to find out that this is an actual place! The real life version is much shorter than 100 leagues long, but it is a former land bridge that was good for crossing. When the Ramayana was written, it probably was the purpose to explain such a land bridge, and the motivation behind building it. Monkey engineering at its finest, building the bridge to Lanka. Source: PDE Ramayana #65 Hanuman has to save the army by getting the medicinal herbs mentioned earlier when Rama and Lakshmana were thought to be dead. Using his jumping ability, Hanuman goes to the Himalayas,

Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition from M. Dutt , R. Dutt , Gould , Griffith , Hodgson , Mackenzie , Nivedita , Oman , Richardson , and Ryder . Notes for Part C #49 After learning about Sampati, Jatayu's brother, we get to learn more about him. Sampati lost his wings because he and Jatayu flew too close to the sun, and to save his brother, Sampati shielded Jatayu with his wings. Sampati sacrificed himself for his brother. This story has parallels with Icarus flying too close to the sun, but doesn't end in the death of Sampati. A common theme in the Ramayana is redemption, and it seems like Sampati might get his chance at that by helping Rama. It is interesting how much of the story is set up for Rama to meet all these cursed people and creatures, especially those who are told to wait for someone similar to Rama. It seems like time passes but everyone lives a really long time, and they are all waiting and waiting for Rama to restore them. #50 So now we come to the p

I'm back at it again with some famous last words! So this week ramped up the work a lot, and I am not backing down on any of my other commitments. I want to see how far I can take that until push comes to shove and I have to start cutting back on fun and put my nose to the grindstone more with class. Class updates: Control Theory is extremely difficult. Who knew graduate classes are hard, right? So the first homework took me 8 hours to do - very very nice stuff right there. Computer vision is a blast and my professor's facial recognition attendance software works very well. It's honestly a great way to do attendance because you actually have to be there In understanding theatre we took a tour of the various theatres at OU. I also bought tickets to the OU production of Blood Wedding in a couple of weeks for my girlfriend and myself. I'm looking forward to it! I got into reading the Ramayana parts A and B this week, and I think I'm going to really enjoy this

Every day, the first thing I ask is "Alexa, what is the weather like today?" and my Echo Dot tells me. This is how I decide what to wear and what to expect for the day, which is especially important since I walk to class. Sometimes I have to ask Alexa multiple times because I am too tired to remember things in the morning, so adding a weather widget to my blog can only drive the point home further, right? I added the weather widget using the instructions on the course page . Bonus tech tip - the Accuweather widget got discontinued in 2019, but I recommend the DarkSky widget that is mentioned on the course page. The instructions are the same for this, so you should definitely try this tech tip! Screenshot I took of the widget on my blog

How to Give Feedback Without Being a Jerk The first article I read was about giving negative feedback. As the president of OU's competitive robotics team, I have to give a fair amount of feedback, both positive and negative. I think giving negative feedback is the hardest, because I tend to worry if I come down too harshly if I will lose a team member. College clubs have less ability to tie down members than companies, mainly because companies have money to pay their employees. So learning how to give good negative feedback was top of mind for me, and I think this article helped me come up with ways to give such feedback. I liked the collaborative aspect of the advice given in the article - instead of handing down edicts from above, the focus was more directed toward working together to improve. I believe good leaders go out of their way to help their members succeed through working together, and I want to model my feedback off of this rather than being a person on a pedestal who

Super Ramayana Bros. Story Idea 1: World 1, The Abduction of Sita In the beginning of Super Mario Bros., Princess Peach is abducted by Bowser, resulting in Mario and Luigi setting out on a dangerous quest to save her. Similarly, in the Ramayana (after some exposition), Sita is abducted by Ravana, which means that Rama and Lakshmana have to chase him down to rescue her. Starting with Sita's abduction and her time in Lanka refusing to give in to Ravana, I think I can weave together a story that shows Rama and Lakshmana conquering minor beasts in an "easy world" as they "try to get their bearings in the game" that is the Ramayana. Once Rama and Lakshmana learn the controls and encounter different Mario / Ramayana cross-over elements that are new to them, I can move on to the next phase of the story, where the encounter an intermediate boss who tries to stop them. Sources: PDE Ramayana #35 - Ravana and Sita PDE Ramayana #37 - Sita in Lanka PDE Ramayana #

The Yes Men of the Ramayana Brahma was experimenting with ways to create different worlds, trying to improve off of his first work, when he noticed a rakshasa praying to him on a mountainside, with the traditional dreadlocks of an ascetic. Brahma was pleased by the effort and sacrifice of the demon, and promised to give him a boon. Brahma loved giving gifts to his creation, like a proud father giving gifts to his children. So Brahma made the demon invincible to weapons of men, and thus the demon was able to go ravage an entire city on his own. Brahma did not mind the matter at all, because this rakshasa had shown dedication to him for a while, and he could do nothing to stop the demon from destroying a town - a god never goes back on his word. In the time when the demon was ransacking various cities, there was a prince. This prince was very special, and according to some, the greatest prince of all. One day the prince was exiled because his father's third wife did not like him

Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition from M. Dutt , R. Dutt , Gould , Griffith , Hodgson , Mackenzie , Nivedita , Oman , Richardson , and Ryder . Notes for PartB #21 My initial questions about Bharata were immediately answered in this first page - Bharata wanted nothing to do with his mother's plans. He, like his father and Rama, is honorable and upstanding. The Ramayana values the characters who are compassionate and respectful. Even though Bharata could have killed the Queen an his maid, he knew this was not a good response to the situation and showed restraint. This is a common virtue of the story, and something I am always interested in reading in this epic. I think I like this component of the Ramayana because I feel like I have less restraint than the characters and admire their calm approach to these difficult life events. #23 and 24 Bharata wants to make things right with Rama, so he brings the army and a counsellor into the forest to find Rama. My favorite par

Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition from M. Dutt , R. Dutt , Gould , Griffith , Hodgson , Mackenzie , Nivedita , Oman , Richardson , and Ryder . Notes for Part A #10 and #11 Rama breaks the bow of Shiva, and draws the bow of Vishnu in these parts. The interesting thing to me is how a show of strength is needed to gain Sita's hand in marriage. I think it's interesting that the king is basically posing a strength challenge to make sure his future son in law is strong enough to protect his beloved daughter. Even more intriguing to me is how Parashurama just appears suddenly to apprehend Rama and Lakshmana. In each part of the Ramayana it seems like time isn't important, with things and people just appearing at the right moment. Parashurama just shows up immediately on cue and has a new challenge for Rama - to draw the bow of Vishnu. Rama is Vishnu's avatar, so this is an easy task and this is how he confirms Sita's hand in marriage #15 I think this part

This past week was the start of school, and it was very light in most of my classes. Syllabus week is a blessing because it isn't hard, but a curse because it can lead me into a false sense of security. Here's what I learned during the first week of class: I am going to get to go to four plays for free, thanks to taking Understanding Theatre My Computer Vision professor wants to take attendance using face recognition software that he wrote - this is going to be an interesting and fun experiment Control Theory, my first and only 5000 level class, is going to be pretty difficult, but will be very rewarding I am going to be busy this semester despite taking 12 hours Outside of class, I spent time mentoring Team Rocket, a high school robotics team in Oklahoma City. The kids are excited because we have a practice robot that can turn to specific angles and use computer vision to align with goals. We are in the third week of build now, so I am looking forward to helping them ma

I haven't used Google's Timer in the past, mainly because I didn't know it existed! In the past, I've used a pomodoro timer to make sure I can balance work with breaks and not overload my brain. I have not used that solution in a while, but I am thinking about getting back into it now that I can use google to set a timer easily. All I have to do is type "set a timer for X minutes" and google takes care of the rest. It also has a stopwatch, so I can see how fast I get things done. Screenshot I took of Google's timer

Topic Idea 1: Jataka VeggieTales When I was growing up, the church I went to often showed VeggieTales to children (including myself) in Sunday school classes in order to teach the bible in simple terms. I believe a similar style of storytelling could be a fun way to tell many of the Jataka stories. I really liked the Jataka tales from the second week and I think VeggieTales would be a good format for re-telling the stories because it too sought to distill the themes and virtues of its subject matter into entertaining stories. I think the best way to write this type of story would be in a script based format. I would rely on the sources below - the first two mainly so I can stay true to the spirit of the Jatakas and VeggieTales, the third for additional research, and the fourth for story ideas. Source on Jatakas Source on VeggieTales Project Idea: Jatakas List of Jatakas from Class Topic Idea 2: Love Letters of the Ramayana One topic I am interested in exploring

Rewiring your Self-Critical Brain The first article I read was about stamping out the negativity inside your own brain. This feedback is internal feedback - where you give yourself feedback in an effort to improve or encourage yourself. The author was having trouble with meeting their health goals, and developed a system of self congratulation that helped him push through his setbacks. As a perfectionist, I struggle with setbacks caused by my own brain's self-criticism. Using the method of reality based self congratulation could definitely help me acknowledge my achievements so I don't get frustrated and shut down due to not being as perfect as I'd like. I am going to practice this in the coming week and see if it helps me feel better! Being perfect can lead to being unproductive - it would be better to have fun and feel good than to have all the grass blades be the exact same height! Source: Wikipedia Why it's so Hard to Hear Negative Feedback In this artic

The Oppressed Ten years ago, a dictator rose to power in a small, poverty stricken nation after a long civil war. The nation was torn, shops closed, infrastructure crumbled, and only the wealthy and strong had access to the already small rations of food and water the country could produce. To the citizens, it seemed like the rest of the world had forgotten about them, and low on food, many wondered if they would be able to survive much longer in their current situation. However, the nation was under many sanctions and the dictator did not allow anyone to emigrate - the oligarchs could not live their lavish lifestyle without the working class. It was common in those days to look for a way out - no foreign aid or the alliance of nations seemed to help, and sometimes even scoffed at the plight of the oppressed people in this nation. However, no way was forthcoming until one day in June, during a big drought, a man named Cane drove through the capital city advertising his service to sm

The Cunning Crane and The Crab from The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse. Notes The Crane is very clever in this story. He identifies a population weaker than himself in the fish, who struggle to survive in their tiny pond. The Crane also identifies a solution to their problem - a nice cool lake nearby. If this were a story with people, the Crane might take this as a business opportunity and make some money by offering the only safe passage to the lake. However, the Crane is driven by hunger and greed. At first, the Crane is smart enough to overcome his greed - he successfully shows the one eyed fish the lake and brings him back. This is critical for the Crane's plan - a product demo if you will - to encourage the fish to get a ride in his mouth. Ultimately, this is how the Crane succeeds in eating all the fish. The fish are helpless, and it is relatively unclear if they would survive in their current situation. Would patience have helped them? Wh

I am going to choose the Public Domain version of the Ramayana. The main reasons I am choosing this anthology are because it is free, it has pictures, and it is broken down into pages and reading sections. It looks like the older language style will not be challenging for me, so I think this route is worth pursuing. I started reading the first pages of the Ramayana, and I liked the picture of the capital city of Ayodya (posted below) - pictures definitely make stories better. The city of Ayodhya, from the first page of the PDE of the Ramayana ( Link ) I took a look at the comic books and videos. For the comic books, the first one that caught my eye was Hanuman to the Rescue . I think this would be a really good comic book because of the plot and because of Hanuman's character growing large to defeat enemies. Sounds like the Hulk to me - maybe Marvel should include Hanuman in its cinematic universe. The second comic book I found on the comic book website I had to look at be

I chose to read two articles that focused on the psychology of time management. The first was The Psychology of Checklists , which is a Trello blog about how checklists can improve your productivity. Personally, I rely on checklists during the semester to make sure I accomplish my schoolwork and other personal things. I use the Todoist checklist program to schedule when I need to do tasks. This program allows me to create different projects (each of my classes is a project) and assign deadlines and priorities to tasks. It even has a good extension for chrome and firefox. This article reinforced my current strategy that I've used for every college semester - it has been a successful strategy and I plan on using it again.   Checklist cat from the Trello blog post ( Link ) My second article was the 3 Steps to Recapture Time . This article hit on an interesting idea - organizing your day during the first 15 minutes of the day. I normally take time on the weekend to revise my tim

The technology in this class is familiar to me, but is not what I use in my average class. Normally, classes use canvas for quizzes, or even tests, and normally post some resources there. However, this class opts to use a blog format and does not have quizzes or exams. I have used PBWorks with previous classes and find it normal to use. While Canvas is nice because you can easily scroll through all the modules, the blog layout of this class flows really well - maybe the team at Canvas could take a look at that when looking at how to improve their website. The main web skills I want to focus on developing this semester are in creating my own website. I've done this before, but I want to manage the server myself and run multiple websites at once. It'll be an interesting engineering challenge, but I will be potentially trying to set that up during the semester if I have the time. I find working on technology fun; personal picture of an OU robotics emergency stop remote cont

Overall, I think this class will be a good one based on the assignments. I think the Famous Last Words and Tech Tips extra credit assignments sound pretty interesting, and I may participate in some microfiction writing as well. I think the act of blogging really helps me reflect about what I've learned because I can write things in my own words and read them back to myself - this creates a feedback loop that really works well for me. It's different than most of my engineering classes, where those are more focused on studying techniques to solve problems. I'm ready to start another semester at OU (Personal photo of the OU campus taken from Volare roof, 2019)

This is the first time I have heard of a growth mindset, and the first time of Dr. Dweck. I found her TED Talk interesting, and agreed with many of her points. From experience, I would say that students who believe they can improve are the ones who improve the most. On the robotics team I mentor, I teach students how to program robots - the students who believe in themselves the most are the ones I find are the most successful. I think Growth Mindset's detractors also bring up excellent points, but they are mainly focused on how our education system fails to implement the growth mindset strategy. From the article by Paunesku, I thought it was a good idea to try to measure students' opportunities, but I think it would have been even more helpful if he had proposed a more concrete way to do that. I believe that their ideas for improving how children are assessed could be integrated with the simple philosophy that students with a mindset toward improvement tend to succeed more i

Hi everyone! My name is Justin Kleiber, and I am a senior in Computer Engineering. My passion is robotics, which is the main reason I ended up choosing my major. At OU, I am the president of Sooner Competitive Robotics, which is one of the engineering college's competition teams (hit me up if you want to join!). I also do research on campus, where I mainly work on making a quadcopter fly around without a pilot controlling it. I help a group of high school students in OKC build and program a robot for the FIRST robotics competition, a worldwide high school robotics program. I love robotics, and as such, robots tend to surround my life. A picture I took of the research drone flying in its cage Additionally, I am really competitive and love sports. I've gone to every home OU football game in the four years I have been here, as well as to the Rose Bowl, the Peach Bowl, and two Red River Shootout games. Growing up, I was a huge Virginia Tech fan because my parents went there

Here are my favorite stories from the storybooks. Each of the titles is a link to the story so you can read more! Sitapedia Sitapedia is a page dedicated to Sita, written in the style of a 2000's era fan blog. I found it really interesting because the style of the writing in the story is clearly from the internet-era, but the original story and character are from a far earlier time period. I liked how the author thought to make Sita into a modern celebrity by writing a gossip column, showing diary entries, and making a merch store in the introduction. The introduction really set the tone for what to expect from the story, and I thought it was really well put together and outside the box thinking. Merch is for sale on the Sitapedia blog! (Source: Sitapedia Intro ) Karma: The Good Place This storybook is is an Indian Epics take on The Good Place , a TV show about the afterlife where characters are in a heavenly utopia. I personally like the TV show, which is why I was

My favorite place I've been is Oxford, UK, where I had the opportunity to study abroad during the summer of 2017 as part of the Honors at Oxford experience. For 21 days, I was immersed in the environment of the University of Oxford and lived at Brasenose college. I went punting on the Thames, visited Christ Church college (where parts of Harry Potter were filmed), and had weekly tutorial sessions with an Oxford professor. Near the end of the study abroad experience, our Oxford professor was able to arrange for the whole group to go to the top of Magdalen tower, which is the tallest tower in Oxford. At the top, I was able to get a picture of the whole city. Picture I took of the Oxford skyline from the top of Magdalen tower, July 2017 I highly recommend anyone thinking about going to the United Kingdom to visit this amazing city. It is a magical place, and it is no wonder that writers like Tolkien and C. S. Lewis were inspired by living there.

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