Project Topic Brainstorm

Topic 1: Weapons of the Gods

The weapons of the gods is an interesting topic because I can go in many directions with it. I am very interested in history and could retell any of the modern weapons races using stories from Indian mythology. Time periods that quickly come to mind are: World War 1, World War II, and the post World War II weapons race. Some immediate parallels between modern weaponry I noticed were: Pinaka and supersonic planes and missiles, the Teen Baan and bombs, Trishula and nuclear weapons. I will look up the weapons on Wikipedia, and follow some Wikipedia Trails to stories about the weapons. 

Source: Professor Gibbs's List of Weapons of the Gods Readings

A depiction of Trishula on a piece of art from Wikimedia

Topic 2: Vishvakarma

Professor Gibbs told me about Vishvakarma in my introduction post. Vishvakarma is engineer and architect of the universe. He is worshipped by many engineers, architects, and craftsmen. As a civil engineer, engineering and architecture interest me greatly. I appreciate the complexity of modern-day structures such as bridges and buildings. I will likely search for more stories of Vishvakarma to help adapt stories of him. Specifically, I'd like to dive deeper into the City of Gold stories. However, I could already likely write stories about some feats of engineering and architecture and relate these to Vishvakarma.

Source: Wikipedia

Depiction of Vishvakarma from Wikimedia

Topic 3: Rama, Ravana, and Sita

In many of the storybooks I read through, the main plot was Ravana kidnapping Sita and Rama trying to get Sita back. I'm interested in potentially using this topic because I read many good stories using the Ramayana as the adapted plot during the storybooks reading assignment. The stories took the plot from the Ramayana, the first Indian Epic we will be reading in this Indian Epics class. I could write a story paralleling the plot of the Ramayana but simplified into a more modern setting. To accomplish this, I will need to read the Ramayana reading assignments in the upcoming weeks. I've found that Wikipedia is a good source to find more parts and characters within the Ramayana, and I will have the Ramayana readings bookmarked, so I've used Wikipedia as the source.

Source: Wikipedia

A picture of  Rama and Sita at their wedding from Flickr

Topic 4: Gods/Goddesses

After reading potential project topics from Professor Gibbs's list, I decided that the gods/goddesses offer a lot of story potential. I've decided to include many gods in the stories as it will allow me more room to weave a story, and I am interested in learning more about what each of the gods/goddesses do. If I were to start on the storybook today for the gods/goddesses, I would write a storybook trying to parallel the gods/goddesses to a modern setting such as: the gods as a business group, the gods as college friends, or another topic. Currently, I've read through a Wikipedia article and know that there are gods for about everything in Hinduism. To write stories, I will dive deeper into gods that interest me, such as Brahma, Vishvakarma, and Ganesha.

Source: List of Gods on Wikipedia

An image of Ganesha from Flickr