Topic Brainstorm

PROJECT IDEA 1: MUSIC

After scrolling through the potential topic list one choice that jumped out to me was making my project about the musical traditions of India. I think it would be fascinating to delve into the many nuances of Indian music as they relate to the epics and the characters within those epics. I like this topic because I enjoy listening and analyzing new music (well at least new to me), and also because I feel like this would not limit me to just one story or character to learn deeply about. Song and dance are evidently very important to Indian culture, and I would certainly like to do a project about this.I actually have a very limited knowledge of music in India. Though I do know the way they organize and think about musical structures is somewhat different than that of Western music. I would probably tell a story about how through the power of music a character was able to overcome any obstacle they faced. Here is a link to Ravana on wikipedia; Ravana seems to me to be similar to Orpheus in some ways( In that he is an accomplished musician mainly.)

PROJECT IDEA 2: WEAPONS OF THE GODS

Another topic that I found to be very interesting was the weapons of the Gods. I have always been fascinated by weaponry, and weapons of the God must be something really epic. I mean these characters are Gods, so their weapons must be on some other-worldly level. One weapon I found to be cool was the Gada. Gada was a giant mace used by the monkey God Hanuman. That sounds really cool to me, and I would be interested In learning more about other weapons of the Gods. As for a potential story, I would write about an epic battle won by some God utilizing the strengths of their great weaponry. 

Gada

PROJECT IDEA 3: EPIC BATTLES

Epic battles in India falls relatively close to weapons of the Gods in my mind, but in a far more broad sense. There is definitely more to battles of epic proportions than just weapons.The events leading up too, the destruction caused during, and the aftermath of an epic battle are equally important to the story as a whole.It would be interesting to do a project about the roles the different social orders play during the events of pre, and post battles. Completely re-working the way a battle played out could be a fun story to write on this topic. 

PROJECT IDEA 4: CREATION STORIES

The origins of life, and the Earth are often heavily thought about by many people. Learning the way some people think about this in India would also be a good project to embark upon. I wonder how this culture views cosmology, and what their stories of the beginning of life and the Earth are like. Comparing these stories to their more Western equivalents would lead to an interesting project. Writing a story about creation would have endless possibilities.