The Story of Ramayana - Coursework Example

Brian The story of Ramayana was a very interesting and difficult story to read. However, I did utilize the Ramayana english cartoon on youtube.com toget a better understanding of this story. The characters in this story had unique personality traits and qualities that was set apart from each main character of the story. The main character, Rama was defined simply as a leader amongst his followers “Faithful to the wise and learned, truthful in his deed and word, Rama dearly loved his people and his people loved their lord!” Rama was a devoted and loving husband, his brothers held a high level of respect for him and his father saw the potential that lied within Rama. Though Rama appeared not to have a weakness, I felt that when his wife was taken from him, and he thought that his wife died, there was a moment of weakness and despair, but yet he found the strength and courage to pursue his wife because of the love he felt for Sita. Sita, Rama’s wife was a very strong willed character, who’s’ faith in love and her husband was unrelenting and admirable. Sita refused to leave her husband’s side, even though her husband was banished from the kingdom. Rama wanted his wife to stay behind and take care of his brother and perform all duties associated with being a wife and Sita refused and wanted to stand by her husband’s side in the wilderness of the jungle. “For the faithful woman follows where her wedded lord may lead, in the banishment of Rama, Sitas exile is decreed. Sire nor son nor loving brother rules the wedded womans state with her lord she falls or rises with her consort courts her fate. If the righteous son of Raghu wends to forests dark and drear, Sita steps before her husband wild and thorny path to clear! Like the tasted refuse water cast thy timid thoughts aside, take me to the pathless jungle, bid me by my lord abide.” The only quality about Sita that made her weak was that she had a heart of gold. In any society, having a heart of gold is a great quality in people, but in Sita’s situation, she helped her kidnapper who was a disguised homeless man in need of food to step outside of a protection spell to be taken from her home. Karma and Dharma is philosophies that I believe that people utilize on a daily basis. Dharma, which means natural law of the universe or the saying “it is what it is”. I believe that one can change any event if he/she so chooses to. I believe that nothing in this world remains constant forever. Karma on the other hand is very common in society. All good deeds and bad deeds never go un-noticed and somehow, some way these deeds are resurrected and brought before individuals. I believe that Rama’s mother in her pressure to her husband to banish Rama from the throne was a key example of Karma because Rama’s brothers found out about the incident and the mother was punished for her actions by Bharat. “Speak thy mandate to thy husband; let thy Bharat rule at home, in the deep and pathless jungle let the banished Rama roam.” I have personally experienced Karma from my deeds of the past, good and bad come back and rewarded me and haunted me and I can honestly say that I am a firm believer in Karma. Comment: Brian, it is understandable that you found this a difficult story to read because it can seem quite complex at some points. It is great that you found the cartoon on YouTube to try to understand the storyline better. This shows initiative and this will help you in the future. Your understanding of the characters shows that you have put a lot of thought into this discussion post. Your explanations of dharma and karma are easy to follow and practically anyone could understand your definitions. The way that you tied these concepts to the story further helped the reader to comprehend the point of view that you are trying to get across. Chloe This story was an interesting piece to decipher. I was unfamiliar with the story to begin with but the language often stumped me. I began to grasp it more the longer I read but at first I struggled. I believe the concepts of Dharma and Karma are simple enough and often go hand and hand in a situation. My mother always told me to treat others the way you want to be treated. This to me is representation of Dharma. To do the right thing without question. I think the King Dasa-ratha had a small issue with this because it seemed to be the right thing to appoint his son to the thrown. The people wanted this, Dasa-ratha wanted it, but one of his wives did not. Queen Kaikeyi was convinced by a servant that her own son should have the thrown not Rama. She grew to believe this and then convinced her husband that this was right. Dasa-ratha could not deny her because he believed he owed it to her. He was torn between two unfortunate fates. He came to the conclusion to please her and banish his son to the jungle for 14 years. The characters all possess qualities that represent Dharma and Karma. Dharma being what is right, and Karma being the repercussions of the first action. Rama was a good man and husband and his wife was a the like. The father Dasa-ratha was so overpowered with anguish that it finally took him over and he died. Queen Kaikeyi was rooted with evils and greed and so on her husbands death bed he did not bless her like he did his 3 sons and other 2 wives. This to me was a small repercussion for what she had caused though she did lose a lot of her likeness. Small representations like these are scattered throughout the story to show each characters disposition. Bharat even felt that this was a wrong decision and the youngest brother went into exile with Rama and his wife Sita. "Sita and the faithful Lakshman accompanied Rama in his exile, and the loyal people of Ayodhya followed their exiled prince as far as the banks of the Tamasa river, where they halted on the first night."(Dutt) This representation is the grandest to me. It shows just how devoted the people and his family were to him. Comment: Chloe, it is good to see that you are honest about your understanding of the story to begin with. This shows that you are able to analyze your thought processes and make improvements. The next time you read a piece similar to this, I am sure that you will comprehend it much faster. Dharma and karma can be confusing to those who are unfamiliar with the concepts, but you seem to have it handled. Your understanding of the conflict between King Dasa-ratha and Queen Kaikeyi is quite complex. I am pleased that you enjoyed this story and hope that you were able to take something from it. The examples that you used demonstrate your understanding of all of the intricacies of this complex story. Tejan In today’s customer driven market, it is not only the product/service itself that matters the most, but also the perceived value to the customer of the entire relationship with a company. The way companies measure the quality of their products/services has evolved from internal quality assurance to External customer satisfaction and from there to Customer Value. Internal quality measures, such as providing the customer with quality product without any defects, dominated the goals of companies in era of supply driven manufacturing. Thereafter, it moved towards External customer satisfaction measures which focused on getting valuable information about the existing customers and generating the ideas for further improvement. However, the current emphasis on Customer Value goes a step further by establishing the reasons a customer chooses one company’s product over another’s and looking at the entire range of product, services, and intangibles that constitute the company’s image and brand. As the transportation and logistics industry has evolved, it has continuously added to the range and quality of services more than the products themselves. Industry client satisfaction surveys have indicated that one of the greatest strength of transportation and logistics services is their commitment to customer service standards. In addition to offering guaranteed, time-definite delivery of freight and packages, FedEx Express enhanced service options by offering customers several delivery time options, as well as additional service such as shipment tracking, customs clearance for international shipments, inventory control systems, scheduling and routing, and warehousing expertise. It set high standards for customer service and reliability, standards that have been emulated by many of its competitors. Comment: Tejan, you are onto something when you say that the customer’s perception of a company matters just as much as the product they purchase. Although some customers may not remain loyal to one company for very long, the majority of consumers do think this way. This makes it so important for companies to develop a good reputation. To do this, internal quality measures are vital. Today, customer value is all about understanding how a customer thinks. This keeps companies a step ahead of their customers. If a company knows and understands what a customer wants before he does, then this allows the company to tailor a product to suit their needs. FedEx Express is a great example that you used because it is the benchmark in terms of delivering goods and services on time. Kevin Flexibility is an important part of distribution operations in logistical system design. It can allow for increased customer service levels by meeting or exceeding the customer requirement. The firm’s ability to adjust to customer requirements and changing market conditions is pivotal as those two items are constantly changing. The addition of a well placed warehouse to any logistical system design will lower transit time to the customers; however it will also increase inventory levels (Bowersox, Closs & Cooper, 2010). The lower transit times will reduce in transit stock; however the addition of a new warehouse will require a full line of inventory at the new location, thus increasing the company’s investment and risk (Bowersox, Closs & Cooper, 2010). With the additional warehouse location it will also require more safety stock to prevent a stock out situation. This inventory requires a serious financial investment which must be evaluated to determine the total cost of adding another facility. The tradeoff here is whether to tie up more capital in inventory or reduce transit time to customers. In some cases simply reevaluating the service areas of existing warehouses and utilizing different modes of transportation such as air express service or even 2nd day ground can garner improved customer service levels, however again at higher transportation costs. Consolidation is another way to lower transportation costs while still providing high customer service levels, however that is based on cargo volume.  From my experience with commercial carriers if a company can guarantee a set volume they can receive a discounted rate. Comment: Kevin, you are correct when you say that flexibility is the key to logistical operations. In today’s modern business environment, consumers’ tastes and attitudes are ever-changing. This makes it vitally important that businesses provide appropriate customer service to meet these needs. The dilemma you pose is the correct one: opening more warehouses to lower transit times to customers or savings costs by holding inventory at one primary location. There are positive and negatives to each of these two options; however, I would always put the customer first. If a firm was able to invest in extra warehouses, then this would be the ideal option. Air express services are not a good ideal simply because of the exorbitant cost involved. Your experience with commercial carriers is correct, because greater volume means cheaper unit cost for transportation. Read More