Epics of India Fall 2020

 I would like to talk about how hectic this semester has been. When COVID became a big deal I was angry. This virus turned my life upside down because this past summer I had planned to go to a lot of music festivals with my friends and travel with my family. However, we all had to quarantine and avoid other people. I was so bored initially, but I actually had a lot of time to do things that I was not able to do before. I was given the opportunity to read more books, and get back into reading. When school finally came around I thought this would be one of the most boring semesters ever, but I was wrong. My roommates and I made this semester the most fun we have all had. It was great to just hang out with my friends, play Warzone, and watch movies and anime. The Witcher Saga

Karma Karma refers to the spiritual principle of cause and effect where intent and actions of an individual affects their future. So, something you do now can affect what happens to you later. This can be good or bad depending on what action happened. It is closely associated to Hinduism, Buddhism, and more. Taoism It is a philosophical tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao, also known as "The Way". Taoism stresses compassion, frugality, and humility. Confucianism   It is described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a way of life. Confucianism developed from what was later called the Hundred Schools of Thought from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius. Three Principles of the People It is a political philosophy developed by Sun Yat-sen as part of a philosophy to make China a free, prosperous, and powerful state. The three principles are often translated into...

Before  "Let's go, why not?" said Friend 1. "Well, first of all it's Tuesday afternoon and it's a 3 hour drive" Friend 2 explained. "But it would be so much fun. Think of the memories we can make" Friend 3 said in fervor. All three looked at Friend 4 who still did not look entirely convinced.  "I'll go if you go" was all that Friend 2 stated. Still not saying anything, but with an apprehensive look on their face, Friend 4 just stared at their food.  "We can be back by tonight it's only 3 PM" Friend 1 was trying their hardest to convince them. "YOLO" After  "Why shouldn't we go?" said Friend 1. "Well, first of all it's Tuesday afternoon and it's a 3 hour drive" Friend 2 explained. "But it would be so much fun. Think of the memories we can make" Friend 3 said in fervor. All three looked at Friend 4 who still did not look convinced.  "I'll go if you go" w...

 "Let's go, why not?" said Friend 1. "Well, first of all it's Tuesday afternoon and it's a 3 hour drive" Friend 2 explained. "But it would be so much fun. Think of the memories we can make" Friend 3 said in fervor. All three looked at Friend 4 who still did not look entirely convinced.  "I'll go if you go" was all that Friend 2 stated. Still not saying anything, but with an apprehensive look on their face, Friend 4 just stared at their food.  "We can be back by tonight it's only 3 PM" Friend 1 was trying their hardest to convince them. "YOLO" Via Kenny Braun Author's Note: I wrote this microfiction thinking about the time my friends and I took a completely spontaneous trip to Dallas during our freshman year. That trip was one of the best memories I made in college. 

Indian Fables and Folklore  by Shovona Devi (1919) Cat from BBC Khuspa was formed when Brahma had a sneezing fit and helped the gods kill the giants and was made the king of the Earth for this. He was very boastful and the sage Dadichi was offended by this and boxed Khuspa's ears. This angered Dadichi more and he was granted a boon from Mahadeva and his body was as hard as diamond. When Dadichi attacked Khuspa again there was nothing his enemy could do against his hard body. This angered Khuspa and he was granted a boon from Vishnu who was against him attacking Dadichi.  When Khuspa attacked him again he still could not defeat him even with the help of the gods as Mahadeva protected Dadichi. Khuspa finally saw his fault of being boastful and apologized to Dadichi. A teacher cannot sleep at night due to all the mice so he tasks his pupil to find him a cat, but the pupil does not know what a cat looks like so his teacher describes one to him. The description is vague and after a...

  Indian Fables and Folklore by Shovona Devi (1919) The Moon  by Alistair MacBain A herd of hare live by a herd of elephants who have started to take over the hares' home, and stampede them often. To solve this problem, one hare goes to the lead elephant while he is in a pool of water at night. The hare tells the elephant that he is desecrating a sacred place and that the hare is from the moon. The hare informs him that if he does not leave the moon will catch him.  When the elephant keeps shrugging him off the hare keeps saying that the moon is coming for him and when the reflection of the moon reaches the elephant he gets started and leaves with all the other elephants.  This fable shows that your problems can be solved by being clever.  A troop of monkeys jump around in the jungle at night guided by the light of the moon. However, when a cloud covers the moon they search for it and think that it has fallen. They see a reflection of it in a pool of water at t...