RE: THE ASCENT From Here
Thanks @mydivathings. Yes, that image does suggest the Himalayas. While it also has a sort of obscured chateau roof line, which was why I cropped it above the modern layered roof lines.
The image suggested a few passions, for me:
First, the old European tales of the Wonderman of Europe, I imagine him, these over 200 years later, still young as ever, ensconced somewhere in the Alps. He's the prototype for many stories I've done about mysterious sort of occult teachers who don't come out and tell you they are.
Second, I have a ton of CDs from India with English subtitles. My mom calls them my Hindu soap operas. They're all about the Gods and Goddesses. I adore them.
Oh, and this image also reminds me of the US Rockies. I lived a mile high in them for nine years, and pinched myself the whole time, the beauty was so incredible.
What are those soap operas by the way? :P
Okay, you asked for it! I'll start first with oldies (good from a storyteller perspective, even with awkward 80's, Batman-like special effects). Produced and directed by Bollywood icon, Ramanand Sagar. I like Sagar's work because of the emotion conveyed, and the featured spiritual commentary by scholars. The music is old-traditional so may or may not be what you like. Ram, played by Arun Govil was wonderful.
Found the following DVDs on Ebay and Amazon awhile back. Today these seem rare and pricey, maybe you can find/sample some on Youtube before investing:
Loved Sarvadaman D. Banerjee's portrayal of the God and grown embodiment of Krishna. He conveys the trickster, enough to keep it entertaining through 56 "volumes" (DVDs) but not overdone. The costars are fun, too.
For the more dramatic, powerful Shiva stories, my NEW favorite is "Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev" (English: Lord of the Lords... Mahadev). Another Bollywood company (Life OK) produced the series. More up-to-date tech (HD and CGI SPFX). Updated music. They aired all 820 episodes (36 seasons) 2011-2014.
A friend tuned me into the first season on DVDs with English subtitles. You can find that first and one more season on Amazon. Only downside is, the other 34 seasons aren't available (yet?). Also, beware other productions with similar titles or keywords. You want the authentic Life OK production.
Sidebar: for awhile my friend shared bookmarks for later seasons, hosted by international fan sites w/English subtitles. By now these are likely 'gone' or unavailable in many countries. I wanted more after they began to disappear and I was hooked. Tried watching what I found without subtitles, but that didn't work...! My hope is that Life OK would make all 36 seasons available on DVD with subtitles.
BTW, there are older DVDs on Shiva that may or may not be as good as the Ramanand Sagar's productions. Because of the technology of that age, they definitely wouldn't be as good as the Life OK 2011-2014 series. None of my recommends here are the children's animations which I haven't previewed.
Life OK Actor Mohit Raina as Shiva (and Mahadev / Mahakala / Nataraja / Nilakantha) is astonishing. When you see him, you'll know what I mean. Used to and still feel that way about Sagar's Ram played by Arun Govil, but true to the two Gods and personalities being so different, as is Krishna's.
Another recommendation: Carole Satyamurti's "Mahaharata: A Modern Retelling." Quite lovely. Possibly an inspiring resource for other storytellers to spark the imagination.
Well, you seem to know more about it all than even I do.
I grew up watching Ramanand Sagar's Ramayana on TV. As a small kid the show was a thing of wonder. I haven't watched anything of the recent ones. Life Ok shows or otherwise. There was a story of Sita on Star plus some time back, forget the name, I had watched quite a few episodes of that. You might want to check that too
Happy to know this. You're fortunate to have watched them growing up, they really are a wonder. I actually saw them first when someone brought over her video cassettes (!) and I was amazed - even on that teen-room size TV-player. I remembered them some time later and found the DVDs online - so glad I snapped them up. The culture is beautiful, and a passion for me and close friends. So I'll look for the Star story about Sita and share it with them, thanks.