guptadeeksha - Tumblr blog

[guptadeeksha]

Overthinking, anxiety, depression are things beyond understanding. You keep thinking about something, think that this feeling will pass and everything will be okay again. You try to keep your mind at work, try to have distractions but these thoughts are always at the back of your head, Always. No matter how hard you try not to think about it. Its a vicious loop and you are just stuck in it. You are watching a show or something, suddenly a thing strikes in you mind and you start thinking again. You just have to pause the show so you can overthink. Howww??? Is that even possible? Your head is not at one place, you are sitting here but your mind is completely somewhere else.

[guptadeeksha]

I think this is the closest to how the footage looked by Yuval Hameiri

Yuval Hameiri is a filmmaker, who made this beautiful film “I think this is the closest to how the footage looked”. The film reflects a strong narration and imagination.

He recreated the last day of his mother’s life using the objects in the house. He used a paint tube as his “mother”, a doorknob for” himself”, an angel statue for his “sister” and a coffee maker for his “father”. He had used the paint for his mother because his mother used to paint, he used an angel statue for his sister because she was a ray of hope one who could help their mother get better, he used a doorknob for himself his door was always locked, and the coffee maker for his father because he liked coffee maybe. After narrating the story through non- living things he shifted and showed the real footage of what happened. He regrets that his mother’s last day was overwritten and the video keeps repeating itself and only one scene is shown again and again in which his mother and his sister are talking. There is just one thing that the filmmaker has assumed that whosoever will watch this film will understand it with the same empathy and emotions. But his assumptions may go wrong because in 2002 everyone knew about handy cam and overwriting on the cassettes. We understood it because we knew about the handy cam, but the people who will be watching this video 20 years from now may not understand this video with same empathy because no-one will know what overwriting on a cassette meant. Assumption is something that affects our work.

[guptadeeksha]

The Saver by Simon Gerbaud

The Saver by Simon Gerbaud shows the construction and reconstruction of many things which we use in our daily life like shoes, laptop, hairdryer, refrigerator. This video showed how many things go into making a single product which we use in our daily life and unconsciously they have become a part of our existence. But we do not consider them important as they are the things which are just there. It was a very therapeutic video, it gives a certain amount of calmness and relaxation to the mind. It has shown and made me think that a single thing is made of so many things and includes the hard work of so many individuals. I now value things more around me. Today I was in the hospital and saw a nurse she was carrying a trolley with all the stainless steel water bottles for the patients and I was wondering what all must have gone into the making of these bottles.

[guptadeeksha]

Indian Mythology

In Indian culture, children from a very young age are taught about Ramayan and Mahabharat, either through cartoons, toys, or any other medium. I had Ramayan and Mahabharat as a subject and whenever I had a question, the teacher always told that "it is a religious book you cannot question it, learn it as it is”. Until recently when one of our faculty curated his version of Ramayan and Mahabharat, which made me think about certain things. Why women always had to suffer? Why only the men were in the position to ask questions? How could Yudhister loose Draupadi in a game? How could Yudhister put a bet on Draupadi? Why did Lakshman have to disfigure Shurpnakha? Were Ram, Lakshman, and Sita vegetarian? Was there a need to kill so many people in a war? Was Ram an “Uttam purush”?Why did Ram ask Sita for an agnipariksha? Who was a villain Ram or Ravan? Why the stories are only written from the winner's point of view? Why no one names their daughter Draupadi? They could have easily talked about it and could have easily solved the matter. When Ram went to the Swamwar where he married Sita, he could have left the Shiv Dhanush as it is but instead he chooses to break it after he lifted it. No one can answer these questions. Bollywood is also inspired by it, in almost every bollywood movie, the man protects the woman, it is the image that has been put in the society that only a man can save a woman, the woman herself cannot do anything, the woman needs the support of the man. Women were never considered equal and till now it is the same.

This discussion on mythology made me think about the other perspective of Ramayan and Mahabharat which no one talks about. We have only read and seen the cleanest version of Ramayan and Mahabharat.

[guptadeeksha]

Kadhai Paneer

Ingredients of my favourite dish

Coriander seeds

Cumin seeds

Black Pepper

Dried Red Chilli

Refined Oil

Garlic

Ginger

Onion

Tomato

Cashew

Butter

Bay Leaf

Green Chilli

Dried Fenugreek Leaves

Capsicum

Turmeric

Red Chilli Powder

Salt

Water

Cottage Cheese

Cream

Garam Masala

Coriander

Imagine how many people are involved in making of these ingredients!

[guptadeeksha]

The Medium is the Massage

"The Medium is the Massage” is a book written by Marshall McLuhan who understood the power of the media in 1967. This book has some of the amazing insights and observations that McLuhan came through.

The book shows us how the media has completely taken over us. There is no personal space, privacy. Everyone knows everything about everyone. Everyone is dependent on the internet. Everything is changing. Youth understands the present internet friendly world. It lives mythically and in-depth. Your family now is not the only source of information, now the world is your sage. Children in today’s age do not have a childhood anymore, they are just mixed with the adult world. Playing on mobile phones is an activity in children’s life.The understanding of politics has changed. Politics offers a solution to modern problems that may be outdated. The Internet has changed everything. In today’s time, every opinion is heard. No one’s opinion is today’s time is ignored or contained. Today people know too much about each other and are responsible for each other. Media is the extension of what humans could think. Like "Clothes are the extension of the skin”.

Socrates,” Phaedrus” believed that the invention of the alphabets will create forgetfulness in the learner’s mind because instead of using their memories they will depend on the external written characters. Then, human beings will think of themselves as they know everything but generally, they will know nothing.

We are taught to believe what we see but we are never taught to believe what we hear. As an example of that: there is an illustration in the book showing six-voice graphs depicting the voiceprints of five different people. The two voiceprints that matches are of the same person. They could have identified that by hearing the voices also but it is a visual representation because we are taught to believe our eyes.

Print technology took away the anonymity, the ideas that were a private property were created public, something the public could read and appreciate. Before print technology, the books that are now given a specific name of the author were not precise. Copyright helped artists to publish and sell their work with their name. The environment that we create becomes our medium.

[guptadeeksha]

Individuation Process- Jungian Psychology

Carl Jung’s individuation process is a process that helps an individual in identifying themselves. It helps in finding one's uniqueness and embracing their inner self by diving into the inner depths of their conscious and unconscious mind. It helps the individual in understanding themself better.

Mandala Painting is the expression of self.

The individuation process includes:

Persona- Persona is a small component of a larger personality of an individual. It is not the totality of an individual. It is nothing real, it is just a bridge between the individual and the world as to what a person should appear to be. An individual can have multiple personas, and at times it is possible that one may not have any persona. The archetype dream is impartial of our unconscious and outside the control of our will. If someone identifies only one persona throughout their life then they become an overachieving persona. 

Shadow- Shadow can be the ”dark” side of an individual. It can be the negative feedback and punishments from someone that becomes a shadow and creates restlessness and anxiety in an individual. Failed aspirations of one person can be a shadow for the other person who is connected to them. Shadow influences our behaviours, thoughts, and emotions. Relatives coming home and telling me to tone down my voice and behave properly because I am a girl is a shadow. This is something they have been told and they are passing on the shadow.

Animus/Anima- Anima(the unconscious feminine side of a male) and animus(the unconscious masculine side of a female) is a contra-sexual archetype in which an individual has characteristics of the opposite gender. Persona is oriented outward, while animus/anima is oriented inward, which can emerge from the unconsciousness of an individual. Anima/animus have deeper impacts than a shadow.

Self- Identifying the self is important for the development of an individual. Jung believed that individuals over-identify themselves with their personas and never really identify themselves. Individuals do not focus or try to identify their shadow or animus/anima or the self. And people who know the importance of self never bother or try to teach it to others.

[guptadeeksha]

The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

"The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" by Walter Benjamin, is an essay that proposes and explains how mechanical reproduction has taken up the uniqueness of original artwork. This age lacks more of personal and traditional touch and promotes mass production. His essay promotes the authenticity of artists, art history, cultural authority, cultural studies, and media theory.

Walter Benjamin believed that fine art has developed and today it is different from the past. It has gained significant acknowledgement. But with this increasing adaptability and precision, the physical element is no longer present as it used to be. We must expect changes in the art, techniques in the future to come but the physical element should not be lost. He believed that even the most perfect reproduction of work lacks one element- Its physical presence in space and time. That is the authenticity of that artwork. 

The original work of art is independent of mechanical reproduction or mass production but the presence of it in some other place using mechanical reproduction decreases its aesthetic and traditional value. The uniqueness of that artwork is not present in the mass-produced copy. Art has become political rather than being theological. Works of artworks were valued on two different planes:

Cult Value- Artworks that were present and what mattered was their existence, not the view. Example- An original artwork that was accessible to only some people.

Exhibition Value- Artworks that were presented to the spectators to look and appreciate. Example- Picture of that original artwork, that can be sent anywhere.

The mechanical reproduction of art has reduced the cult value of an artwork, removing the original art from its space and time and exhibiting into a mobile screen, has decreased the value of the original artwork. Art is being used as a product nowadays and is just being sold.

[guptadeeksha]

Roti Chapati Phulka

What is the difference between roti, chapati, and phulka? As per my discussion with my mother, Roti is something that is made on the pan and then put we put it on the flames directly. After removing the roti some oil/ghee is applied on the roti.

Chapati is something that is cooked with oil/ghee on the pan.

Phulka is another name for “roti” which is used by punjabis. It is made on the pan without the oil/ghee and it is not put on the flames directly. The oil/ghee is applied on the phulka when it is cooked and removed from the pan.

[guptadeeksha]

Archetype- Jungian Theory

According to Carl Jung, the archetype can be viewed as structures that affect behaviours, thoughts, and emotions in an individual. A person’s total personality consists of a conscious and unconscious world. The unconscious world is split into the personal unconscious and the collective unconscious.

The personal unconscious is composed of the individual’s personal experiences and history. This includes something that has not been present in the collective unconscious, but something that the individual have experienced on their own.

The collective unconscious is composed of instincts and the primitive mental image inherited from the earliest human ancestors. This includes the fears one may have, the intuition/instincts that something is about to happen.

An example of the collective unconscious can be- If someone sees a snake, they will be scared. That fear comes from their collective unconscious. Fear of loosing someone, can come from collective unconscious.

An example of personal unconscious can be- If one likes someone, the person whom they like is from their personal unconscious but the liking is from the collective unconscious, which is an archetype.

[guptadeeksha]

Self Respect Movement

Self Respect Movement was a movement lead by Periyar( E.V. Ramasamy) to encourage backward castes to have self-respect in the context of a caste-based society in 1925. This movement was a great influence in Tamil Nadu as well as across the world.

Periyar believed that there could be no freedom if nobody would respect themselves. He believed that this movement alone could the genuine freedom movement. He made people believe that without individual freedom, political freedom would be of no use. He was the one who questioned Gandhi’s and Nehru’s concept of independence, that whether there is an iota of individual self- respect or not.

In my opinion, he might have been the first one who had given so much importance to individual self-respect which was not even considered an important element. It is something people ignore or do not give weightage. People expect respect from everyone but do not think that respect for the individual self is important. Periyar raised this movement and build an understanding of self-respect in society. It was in the context of the society, caste-based systems. 

Periyar’s ideology of “Anti-Brahmanism" is often confused as anti-Brahmin.In this anti-Brahmanism, a person who was not a brahmin but supported inequality in caste systems was considered a brahmin. So, here the “brahmins” were those people who supported inequality in castes.

Self- Respect marriages were introduced during this movement. This movement encouraged inter-caste marriages, replacing arranged marriages with love marriages, practiced marriages without a brahmin priest, widow remarriages. Women were given the right to choose their partners as well as a divorce or remarriage. This movement must have lead to changes in the thought process of the people.

[guptadeeksha]

Palimpsest

A document on which later writings has been superimposed on effaced earlier writing. Something reused or modified yet bearing obvious hints of its earlier form. It is an impression of what was written before still remains.

Palimpsest is not something that is just restricted to documents but also other things. Palimpsest is all around us, everything is a palimpsest.

Some examples of palimpsest are:

A cooking pan used again for making different dishes.

App updates

Whiteboard in a classroom

Old house constructed into a new house

A new plant in the same old pot.

Plastic Surgery

Stereotypes

Fingerprints

Music app is the palimpsest of cd player and cd player is the palimpsest of tape recorder

Time is also subjective and palimpsest. Everything around us is a palimpsest, everything has been written over. Even the invention of the bulb is a palimpsest because the kerosene oil lamps were already there. It was just the changes in the source of light.

[guptadeeksha]

Ethnography

Ethnography is a research study focusing on the social interaction of users in a given environment. Ethnography methods include direct observations, diary studies, video and audio recordings, photography, and artefact analysis such as devices that an individual uses throughout the day.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie- TED Talk

Chimamanda Negozi Adichie is a Nigerian author who discusses how people make presumptions and believe them to be true. They simply accept what they have heard or read. She tells about her own story, that how she thought about a worker in her home as just a poor kid, nothing much than that. Until she visited his home and saw his sibling making a beautiful basket and afterward she realized that he was something other than just a poor kid. She had her own experience when she came to America for further education, her roommate treated her like she was the African who is not very much educated and is poor. Because her roommate had a perception that Africans are poor. Furthermore, soon Chimamanda began accepting that she was that African. Ethnography is a significant study that helps us in understanding culture better. It is something beyond formal interviews. It is more about minute observations, trust-building, and understanding their environment. It can bring new stories and new viewpoints to the studies that have been already done. Secondary Research can help us build the basic knowledge of a topic but understanding the topic can come from the primary research.

[guptadeeksha]

Stereotype

A stereotype is a fixed idea about a particular type of person or thing, which is often not true in reality or maybe partially true. A stereotype cannot be used as evidence for research.

Jordindian - Smoke Shisha Play Fifa

Stereotype of Sheikhs in Gulf - The song is the stereotype on the sheikhs of gulf who have an obsession with shisha and Fifa. The video stresses that the Sheikhs just care about shisha and Fifa. The rich lifestyle of Sheikhs has been indicated hilariously. The sheikh discusses his affection for shisha, gaming, fifa, and women. The other stereotype is that they like just double apple flavor and lemon mint gives them a headache. The video is accepting all the stereotypes identified with the life of the rich sheikhs and has brought an amusing source of entertainment.

Dilli De Sardarboys

Stereotype of Sardars of Delhi- The song is the hilarious interpretation of the current stereotype of the sardars living in Delhi. The song makes fun of various things that are related to sardars of Delhi like- they do not care about police, tripling on an Activa, always drinking, wearing first copy Rayban, wearing an Armani from Palika Bazar, they abuse a lot, love butter chicken and are always. The Dilli Sardar boys are joyfully accepting and being proud of which makes the song more hilarious. Them embracing the stereotype has brought a hilarious twist to the notion of the stereotype which was looked as bad before. Making fun of the stereotypes is considered being progressive these days.

[guptadeeksha]

Sheher ki Ladki (1996)

The above music video is from a Bollywood film named "Rakshak" delivered in 1996. The melody has objectified the city girl. It has given an inappropriate impression to the audience that the city girls are that way - You first touch them and then say "How do you do?" and they won't be offended. This video probably urged numerous individuals to disrespect women and treat them like an object that is simply easily achievable. The girl wouldn't mind anybody touching her. The city girls in the video keep changing costumes while the men are in similar costumes all through the video, making a stereotype that city girls are expensive. The background dancers with black helmets probably encouraged crimes. As evidence, the same came across from the "not guilty" judgement went for an Indian man (Sandesh Baliga) in the Australian court when his lawyer, claimed that his client has a normal behaviour as an Indian man since they are impacted by the Hindi entertainment world (Bollywood) where it is normal for a male lead to persistently pursue the female to win her over.

Uptown Girl (1987)

In this video, men have their understanding and respect for women. They are attempting to impress the girl yet not by touching her. No men in the video tried touching her which shows how they have maintained their decency. Even though she is an uptown girl she has not changed costumes all through the video. 

In comparison of both the videos, there is a cultural difference between the countries. Women are treated differently in both videos. In any case, the cultural difference can't be given as a reason for Bollywood to promote such content where the city girl is being objectified. Despite the fact that the Uptown Girl video was shot 9 years sooner to Sheher ki Ladki, they certainly have more respect for the woman.

[guptadeeksha]

Spice Box (Masala Dani)

Cumin seeds (Jeera)

Turmeric (Haldi)

Fennel powder (Sauf)

Coriander powder (Dhaniya)

Dry mango powder (Amchoor)

Red chilly powder (Lal mirch)

Carom seeds (Ajwain)

[guptadeeksha]

Typology

Typology is classification as per general type. Presentation of a gathered information in research as evidence is typology. Typology and stereotypes are both parts of Cultural studies. It is not the same as the stereotype on the grounds that in typology there is a possibility of change or progress. It can be photographic typology but does not have to be necessarily photogenic. It focuses on the subject.Typology can demonstrate a stereotype to be correct or wrong. The project “Everyday Baroque” by Rajesh Vora helped me in understanding typology better.

Dove advertisement typology- The working women who do not have enough time to take care of their hair yet want to have damage free hair.