Clara's Blog

For my week 5 Growth Mindset, I read the article " "25 Simple Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset"  by Saga Briggs. This article confirmed the negative consequences of having a fixed mindset and the impact it can have on all aspects of your life. Despite knowing the negative impacts of a fixed mindset, I didn't it could lead to dishonesty. The article mentions a study done where kids were asked to right a letter to their peers about their IQ scores and found that about 40% lied about their score. There were many useful ways to develop a growth  mindset and couple of them stood out that I want to incorporate into my life. A lot of the tips acknowledged the speed it takes to learn, so I'm going to start allowing myself more time to learn material so I'm learning well instead of learning fast. Also, i want to increase my determination, since the article suggests that students with more grit are more likely to seek approval from themselves instead of others. Gro...

Sita Sings the Blues  by Nina Padley The film begins by showing many gods, the film has three narrators that take us through the Ramayana, despite their own confusion of the Ramayana. I really liked the use of the narrators in this film, their discussions brought up questions and ideas I hadn't previously thought about. Sita sang a song about being thankful for Rama. The narrators discuss that Ravana might not have been too bad, bringing up the story of him playing the lute with his intestines. Ravana is convinced to capture Sita by Surpanakha and sends Maricha to become a golden deer to distract Rama. Before Sita is taken, she sings a song about how much she loves Rama. As Sita is carried away she drops her jewelry, but the narrators wonder how she had jewelry, since she left Ayodhya with nothing. Rama and Hanuman become allies and Hanuman goes to save Sita, but she refuses to go with him. The narrators discuss why Sita would do this and if her decision to stay until Rama rescue...

It was a bright day in Lanka when Indrajit and his wife, Promila, received the devastating news about Indrajit’s brother, Birbahoo. Indrajit fell to the ground with sorrow mourning Birbahoo, who had been killed earlier by Lakshmana and Rama in battle. Using little time to grieve, Indrajit swore to avenge his brother by killing Rama and Lakshmana and starts preparing himself for the fight. He was reluctant to leave his beautiful wife, but ensured Promila he will be back that evening. Promila had heard the stories of the mighty Rama and feared for Indrajit’s life. Promila decided to roam her beloved garden to calm her nerves, but this only made her thoughts worse. As she anxiously paced around her garden, she noticed something was different. This beautiful garden that once brought her serenity and joy felt so lackluster now. She realized being without Indrajit made her feel incomplete and empty. She couldn’t stand a day without him; how would she continue if he didn’t return home? ...

Nine Ideal Women: Sita, Promila, and Shakuntala by Sunity Devee (1919) Promila's Story Characters: Indrajit - eldest and bravest son of Ravana, married to Promila, wants to avenge his brother, confident. Promila - wife of Indrajit, fair and gentle princess, goes to fight with Indrajit, optimistic, devoted wife, killed herself to be with Indrajit, brave. Ravana - kidnapped Sita, lost all his sons in war with Rama, Birbahoo - Indrajit's brother, killed by Rama. Lakshama - fought Indrajit while Indrajit was unarmed (disgraceful), killed Indrajit. Bibhisan - Indrajit's uncle, disloyal, let Lakshama into alter. This story gives a whole different perspective to the antagonist in the original Ramayana we read. In this version, Indrajit is described as an extremely loving and devoted husband and brother. His only reason for going to war was to avenge the death of his brother instead of fighting to keep Sita as a prisoner. The story also makes Lakshama seem disgraceful, ...

Nine Ideal Indian Women: Sita, Promila, and Shakuntala by Sunity Devee (1919) The story begins with the King of Vadeha, Janaka, finding Sita in the furrows while he was working as a farmer. King Ravan ordered a messenger to bury a gharrah in a deserted place, this gharrah that Sita was found in. Sita had three sisters, Urmila, Mandavi, and Srutakirty. Sita was regarded as the Princess Royal of Videha and was looked upon for good fortune. When Sita was fourteen, her father had a competition for whoever could break an ancient bow could marry Sita. King Dasaratha had four sons, Ramchandra (Rama), Bharata, Lakshmana, and Satrugna. Ramchandra and Lakshmana were in Vadeha when Rama first saw Sita and it was love at first sight. Many competitors attempted to break the bow, but they were all unsuccessful. Sita was thrilled when Rama approached the bow and prayed that he would be able to break the bow. Rama won the competition and was marrying Sita, his other 3 brothers married Sita's...