Week Nine Reading Diary Continued: The Mahabharata, Peter Brook

Part B of Peter Brook’s The Mahabharata was intriguing and comical.  The dice game that was portrayed in the written version of The Mahabharata was as intense as the movie; yet there were differences that can be pointed out. 

Yudhishthria displayed the same desperate behavior in the movie as he did in the written prose with one exception.  He acknowledged that he was a terrible gambler.  Yudhishthria continued with his plans of participating in the dice game and showed his weaknesses of not being able to possess self control.  What I found interesting is that the king’s wife Dhritarashtra, was very vocal during this particular scene.  She interrupted the game by asking Yudhishthria if he wanted to end the game before he bet the freedom of his brothers and wife.  Yudhishthria being a person who does not possess any self control wished to continue the game and lost.

Yudhishthria During the Dice Game

When it came time to bring Draupadi to the court after the game of dice ended, Dhritarashtra again was not quiet when it came to sharing her opinion on the situation.  In both versions, Draupadi questioned the right of husband to gamble his freedom if he had already lost his.

Draupadi's thoughts: A man cannot sell something when he does not posses the right or freedom to do so, and if Yudhishthra was already a slave then what possessions could he give?

Unlike the film, in the written prose the men of the court argued against Draupadi and in so many words wanted her to stay in a woman’s place. It was a child who spoke up for Draupadi’s freedom and logically explained the circumstances of the matter.

In the film, Dhritarashtra made the decision as to Draupadi being sold as a slave, and believed that it did not make a difference whether her husband was a free man or a slave at the time when he gambled her freedom away.

Throughout this part of the movie, Dhritarashtra played both sides of the fence when it came to her children and husband.  She is a manipulative character.

Bibliography: "The Mahabharata" directed by Peter Brook (1989)
                       "The Mahabharata" written by R.K. Narayan (1978)

Week Nine Reading Diary: The Mahabharata, Peter Brook

When I read The Mahabharata written by R.K. Narayan, I did not like it in comparison to The Ramayana. I thought about giving the Mahabharata another shot, by watching the theatrical version by Peter Brook.  It was very different in a sense, yet I have enjoyed watching the movie so far.  I enjoyed the versatility of the cast, and the dramatics they presented.  Not to mention one of my all time favorite actresses Erika Alexander played the roles of Madri and Hidimbaa. I cannot wait until I watch part two later this week. 

In part one of the movie The Mahabharata, Vyasa the poet, begins the tale of the epic. The movie is told as a narration, and Vyasa  is searching for an individual who able to write, which I thought was rather strange.  In my mind, I portrayed Vyasa as a person of high intellect and who was literate. However, Lord Ganesha appears out of nowhere and begins to record the story as Vyasa narrates Vyasa's character in the movie is true to the character in the written tale in a sense.  His appearance is disheveled and the princesses that he met with carnally treat him with dislike and disgust.

The story of the birth of the Kaurava's was strange.  Dhritarashtra ordered her servant to beat her stomach with an iron rod because she felt movement.  After holding “life” in her stomach for two years she could not wait any longer for the life of her child to be real.  After her servant beats her stomach, a large black ball rolls across the floor symbolizing the “ball of flesh”.  It is cool to the touch.  Similar to the written version by R.K. Narayan, Dhritarashtra wants to throw the ball of flesh out.  Bhisma saves the flesh and tears it into one hundred pieces.  He sprinkles water over the flesh and puts the flesh into multiple jars. 

Omens are then presented.

The Mahabharata, Peter Brook (1989)

Bibliography: "The Mahabharata" directed by Peter Brook (1989)

                       "The Mahabharata" written by R.K. Narayan (1978)

Tech Tip: Updating Your Template/Background

If you have become tired of your current background and template, this post is for you.

When logging into your blog, click on view blog.

In the top right-hand corner of your blog, you should see your email address, New Post, Design, and Sign Out.  Click on Design.

Design will take you to the template page where you can change the template of your back ground or upload a picture for your background. 

Choosing a template is easy.  You are given the choice of Simple, Dynamic Views, Picture Window, Awesome Inc., etc. 

If you would like to upload a picture of your choice for background, click on the customize button underneath the picture of your blog on Live on Blog.

On the top left-hand side you will see the word Templates, underneath templates click on Background. 

Your Current background image will appear on the right-hand side next to Templates. 

Click on the down arrow on the right-hand side of the image. The top choice that will appear is upload image. 

If you already have an image saved on your computer, click on choose file and search for that image and apply it to your background.  Otherwise you may Google search for an image and save the picture to your computer.   

After you have applied the photo to your background, on the right-hand side of your current background image that is shown on the top of the page, you have a choice of aligning the picture where you want, and choosing if you would like the picture to tiled or not.  Once you select your preference, on the top right-hand corner you will see an orange button that says “Apply to Blog”.

Click “Apply to Blog”, and viola, you have a new background for your blog.

I hope this tip was helpful, if not comment below and I will respond to help you! =)