Epics of India

I love exploring new foods and the way food is involved in culture and human interaction, so I've chosen to focus on the topic of food for my storybook. Story Idea 1: This story comes from a Jataka tale about a Brahman who intends to perform a ritual sacrifice of a goat for the "feast of the dead." When the goat is being prepared for slaughter it breaks out is laughter then in tears. When asked why the goat explains he was a Brahman, too, in a past life and as punishment for killing a goat as sacrifice has had to be born as a goat and die as a sacrifice 500 times. As this is his 500th life he is happy to be free of the cycle, but he is sad that the Brahman that will sacrifice him will be doomed to the same punishment. This story extolls the virtues of vegetarianism which is one of many culinary traditions in India that could be the foundations of a story. MATAKA-BHATTA JĀTAKA, On Offering Food to the Dead  from Buddhist birth stories: or, Jataka tales, Volume 1, b...

The four possible topics I'm considering are food, vahanas, weapons of the gods, and creation stories. Food Vegetarian Meal from Andhra Pradesh I love Indian food and food in general, so I was immediately intrigued by the idea of telling stories relating to food. My first hand experience with Indian food has been at Indian restaurants in the US. I don't know how authentic any of that is, but I love all the flavors and spices. I would like to learn more about the characteristics of some of the regional cuisines of India. According to Wikipedia the Indian foods most Americans are used to are Americanized interpretations of North Indian food, so I'd like to learn what else is out there. Food is such a huge part of human life that there are a lot of stories that could be told about it. Since recipes are passed down through the generation I could tell an intergenerational story that is grounded by teaching the next generation a recipe. Cooking and eating is also a centra...