Cultural Experiences

Granny's Blackie A rich man gave a baby elephant to a woman and she took good care of him and was fond of him. Everyone called her Granny and they called the elephant Granny's Blackie. Blackie would play with the kids in the town but never did anything productive. Blackie went looking for a job and found a man who was willing to pay two pieces of silver for each wagon Blackie pulled across the river. The man put one piece of silver for each wagon and when Blackie figured out he was being tricked, he did not allow the wagons to pass through till he was paid the right amount. When Granny heard the work that Blackie did for her to gain money, Granny was so grateful and they were both very happy. I felt that this story was something that was super touching as it relates to some of us as college students. In the story plot, it shows that Blackie makes an effort to pay back to what Granny has done for him and likewise, some students work to pay for their tuition or to pay back par...

The Sandy Road - A merchant had goods in his cart on his way to the country opposite of the desert. It was too hot to walk in the sunlight so he waited till it was dark and then started walking. He ended up taking water, rice and firewood along with his goods so that he could cook and eat rice along the way. In the daylight, he guided the drivers while he took off in the night time. Him along with his men built fires and cooked rice. They did this for all of the journey and then the last day as they thought, the pilot took his place at the front of the line and laid down in the wagon with the cushions. The oxens went on and then they all realized that they were lost. This was bad as they did not have any water left and no water meant no rice or food could be made. They found a rock which had flowing water underneath and they busted it open so that they could bathe, drink and use the cool water. What I learned from reading this jhataka is that through will and determination, you ar...

Author's Note : Stef Foster and Lena Adams, a lesbian couple, have a big, happy family of foster, biological and adopted children. Mariana and Jesus, siblings, are adopted thirteen year old twins that the couple have taken in. Brandon is Stef's fifteen year old biological son who the couple keeps as she has rights from a previous marriage. Fifteen year old, Callie and ten year old, Jude are the new comers into the Foster household who are also biological siblings but are placed in this household as foster children. As they have been moving in and out of homes and have not stayed in a stable household, things begin to happen relating to emotion, fights, etc. The Fosters deal with many different issues such as romances that spring about, break ups that take place, hook ups, life lessons, etc. and somehow, they overcome it all. Callie is Lena and Stef's eldest daughter, half sister to Jude, adoptive sister to Brandon, Jesus and Mariana. The court places Callie in the A...

Princes and the Water-Sprite - A king had three sons: Prince of Stars, Moon Prince and the Sun Prince. King was so happy for the third child being born he granted the queen a boon. When Sun Prince was 21, the queen asked the king for him to have the kingdom before his elder brothers. King refused and told the elder sons to go live in the forest till the king dies as they can take over the kingdom then. Sun Prince joined them as well. The water-sprite each of the brothers what the good fairies like. Sun Prince didn't give a good answer so he was taken down into the cave, and later the Moon Prince joined him as well. The elder brother went to go find his brothers and answered the question correctly and was given the opportunity to choose which brother to save. He chose the younger one as he was the reason why they got sent away and because of his kindness, the water-sprite sent both brothers back up from the cave. The king later died and the eldest brother was made king and ruled al...

Banyan Deer - Once upon a time there was a gold deer with a red flowerlike mouth and bright hoofs. He resided in the forest and was the king amongst 500 other deers. They lived close to the Monkey deer population. Townspeople wanted to make the deer locked into a park so they could carry on with their errands. They drove the deer there and shut the gate and told the king. The king would hunt the deer from that stable. The Banyan deer king had been granted his life so he will not be killed by the king and one day, a mother of the baby deer was chosen to fall and since the Banyan deer put himself as tribute, the king ordered that no more deer in the park or the forest will be hunted because of his kindness. This jataka stood out to me as it shows us the value of friendship and treating people the way you want to be treated. Even though the Banyan Deer King had the opportunity to save himself and not get his life taken away and to choose someone to get killed by the king, he still pu...

Once upon a time, there was a woman named Jane who was happily engaged to Michael, the love of her life, until she was accidentally artificially inseminated with the sperm of the owner of the Marbella hotel, Rafael Solano. Once the news was brought to both Jane and Rafael, the telenovela starts from there onwards. Skipping forward into the episodes, Rafael's sister, Luisa gets caught into a love disaster with a foiled escaped prisoner referred to as Rose which is short for the widely known, Sin Rostro. Rose is a sociopath and a convicted murderer who ends up having plastic surgery and looks composed as she goes about her evil deeds. She ends up going off the rails and taking people hostage and taking lives because Luisa ends up betraying her love as she keeps hurting the Solano family. Rose is unable to process the fact that Luisa does not love her anymore and she ends up killing people Luisa cares about to win her back thinking that this is the solution to a broken relat...

The Woodpecker, Turtle, and the Deer - Deer lived in a forest next to the lake close to the Woodpecker and next to the turtle. A hunter wanted to trap the deer going into the water and he did. The hunter came into the house with a knife and the woodpecker struck him in the face. The turtle had blood all over his mouth because of the leather. The hunter picked up the turtle and threw him into the bag. The deer tried helping the turtle by coming into site of the hunter and the hunter started running after the deer. When he lost the deer, he went back after the turtle and the turtle was gone as well. The turtle and the deer teamed up and found and rescued the woodpecker and they all lived happily ever after. This jataka stood out to me when reviewing the jatakas from the list of additional jatakas to read as it facilitated teamwork and standing up for one another. When the deer was in trouble, the woodpecker and turtle came to help out. When the woodpecker was in trouble, the deer and ...