Topic Brainstorm

Potential Topic #1: Music

               Resource Link: http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2017/08/project-idea-music.html

                                        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nataraja

               I've chosen this topic because I have always loved both listening to and performing music in various activities since I was little. Indian music is beautiful and unique, and after briefly touching on some of the traditions and instruments in my past World Music class, I am extra interested in exploring more about music's role in mythology. A potential story idea which came to mind was a re-interpretation of the "dance-off" at the end of the popular Marvel movie, Guardians of the Galaxy, especially after looking more in to Shiva/Nataraja, the Lord of the Dance and considering what powers that would entail.

Potential Topic #2: Horses

                Resource Link: http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2017/08/project-idea-horses.html

                Like many young girls, I definitely went through the obligatory middle school "horse girl" phase, reading and watching all equine material and fantasizing about riding one myself. I definitely got lost in some of the myths as I looked through this topic, thinking about what it would be like to have all of these mythical creatures in the Kentucky Derby or a legendary race together (particularly Kanthaka, the Uchchaihshravas, Hayagriva, and Kalki as a last-second entry). Admittedly I knew very little about horses in Indian legends before this project, so I'm excited for the chance to dig deeper into the folklore in the future.

Potential Topic #3: The Avatars of Vishnu

                 Resource Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dashavatara

                 As a fan of the decade-old Nickelodeon series Avatar: The Last Airbender, the word Avatar always catches my eye, and this time was no exception. I'm not a stranger to the concept of gods and goddesses taking different forms throughout mythology, from Anubis' dog-headed form to Athena as a wise and watchful owl. Vishnu, however, according to a while spent on Wikipedia, outdoes absolutely everyone on his various characters, occupying the corporeal forms of everyone from horses to women to a giant tortoise. As I was reading through the information, I couldn't help but wonder how he decides who he's going to be on a situational basis. I reckon there's a story to be told there- maybe he's given his options statistics like they're Dungeons and Dragons characters. It would be fun to go in and assign his avatars numerical skillsets to go with their backstories.

Potential Topic #4: Temples

                 Resource Link: http://iereadingguides.blogspot.com/2017/08/project-idea-temples.html

                                           https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hindu_temples_in_India

                  THERE ARE SO MANY TEMPLES IN INDIA! I had no idea! Literally over two million! What if the gods gained something for every person to go to one of their temples? Because there are only so many people and not everyone can make it to all two million, perhaps there's something of a competition between the gods to get more visitors to stop by their places. What if... the gods lived double lives as pushy travel agents, shamelessly plugging for their own places while attempting to sabotage visits to their competitors' temples, Used Cars-style? There's a story in there somewhere, but in the meantime it's been fun to just admire the beautiful architecture and design that's gone in to so many of these places.  From ice caves to hills to mountainsides any location can be used to build a place of worship, all just as diverse physically as the various gods for whom they're made.

Image Info: A screencap of the penultimate scene in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
Featuring the villain (Ronan, left), and Peter Quill (right) in a "dance-off to save the universe".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytZFm1NW5MM