topic brainstorm

Indian Astrology

As I am a huge fan of western astrology, my first area of interest is Hindu astrology and how the two differ and are alike. From my research, I have found that the name of Hindu astrology is Jyotisha or Jyotishya. In some Indian universities, Hindu astrology is an area a student can earn a degree in, proving its significance to Hindu people. The names of the signs in Hindu and the planets in which the signs are rule by are parallel to those in English and of western astrology. Another similarity between the two is the existence of a birth chart, or, in Hindu, a Bhava Chakra. The main difference I've noticed is that Hindu astrology places the moon at the center whereas western astrology puts the sun in the center. I would like to tell the story of the planets and their relation to Hindu people.

(Image information: illustration of the nine
ruling deities obtained from Quora)

Parvati

Parvati is the goddess of many things: fertility, love, beauty, marriage, children, devotion, and more. She is seen as the nurturing one of the gods, nicknamed the Mother Goddess. For my story, I do not want to tell a love story between Shiva and Parvati. I would like to focus on Parvati as a character of her own, possessing all the aspects she does. In Greek mythology, Cybele is Parvati's counterpart. Another thing I might do in a story s=is tell of her creating of Ganesha. It is argued that although Parvati seems to be hyper-feminized, Parvati stands for universal range of activities not confined to gender.

Rakshasas

I am extremely interested in rakshasas after reading Goblin City. They remind me of sirens from Greek mythology, which I am also intrigued by. Rakshasas are shape-shifting, manipulative, carnivores. For the female version, the rakshasas prey upon vulnerable men. Rakshasas are similar to vampires in the western world. In both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, there are many rakshasas; it was a populous race. I would like to tell a story similar to Goblin City, but a new take on it. The rakshasas are displaced by the sun and thrive in the darkness, so I will keep that in mind in my story.

Death Tales

Lastly, I am interested in death tales. To be honest, I am choosing this topic loosely based on the fact that Game of Thrones was mentioned alongside it. As a huge GoT fan, I am too used to death in story lines. Like GoT, Indian epics have a lot of death. Hindus believe in life after death and being reborn, so death is not taken too negatively. Hindus believe that some souls endure karma before entering their rebirth period, which is something I am interested in telling a story about. The story I plan to tell is the story of a soul stuck in their karma phase then getting released to rebirth.