CULTURE AND COMMUNITY.
- Harshita Sood
- Sep 20, 2020
- 9 min read
Updated: Mar 25, 2021
We humans are part of many different communities and each community has its own traditions, rituals, beliefs, music, dance known as culture. This project is about exploring and getting more knowledge about our own culture.
PRE-TASK
For pre-task we had to explore one festival from our culture.
I belong to a himachali family.
- I chose DUSSEHRA IN KULLU.
Dusshera is basically their a week-long festival which is celebrated in majestic style in northern India, Kullu's Dussehra is one of the most popular events of Himachal Pradesh, signifying the glory of victory of good over evil. It draws tons and tons of travelers from all across the world .It is held in the Dhalpur maidan at Kullu in Himachal Pradesh state.
Kullu is known for its beautiful gorges, wondrous waterfalls, mountain stream and ancient temples which certainly draws everyone's attention, especially during this time of the year.
This festival is held to celebrate the success of good over evil.
Music and colors create a peaceful ambience, thousands of people gather on the first day of celebration to pay respect to Lord Raghunathji.
also, fair draws everyone's attention.
The following days are celebrated with great devotion, and many individuals participate in singing and dancing during the festival. The fair is fulfilled with the burning of the Lanka.
DAY 1
On day 1 we explore the meaning behind practices (rituals and customs) followed in celebrating the chosen festival. This includes food, clothing, artefacts, sacred objects, sacred/auspicious art, symbols.
so, here's my table.
5W1H METHOD
REFLECTION
Each and every festival we celebrate has a meaning attached to it.
it has a reason behind the way we celebrate it.
The rituals we follow , the clothes we wear and the things we say and do all have a back story attached to it.
The way people are dressed their and the way they carry themselves or even the way each and every tradition is held , everything and reason attached to it.
Basically, Kullu Dussehra, is a week long festival celebrated in a majestic way. this festival basically signifies victory good over evil. During this festival people wear traditional clothes like Chola, topi, pattoo , shawls.
Their are multiple myths that goes and comes around .
One of them is that Himachali in their region always wear traditional clothes but we see and go their you can actually see how its not true.
The traditional clothes are worn by them but only at the time of traditionally festivals that are carried out. but the truth is we only wear that on special occasions.
It is even noticed that the way festivals are carried out in their originated region has a difference in the way it is carried out in the cities . Like for example the way we celebrate our festival in their i.e. HIMACHAL is different than the way we celebrate it in Delhi.
DAY2
PRE WORK-
I had to choose a functional object that is shared by me and a person of a different demographic.
I chose a Bag because it can easily be overlooked in the day-to-day routine.
Here I have my bag and my Father's.
MY BAG MY DAD'S
REFLECTION
Culture is actually a very subjective matter.
During today's inquiry, I noticed that even though people belong to the same family following the same culture and traditions, the perspective and perception can be significantly different. For example it is not true that my opinion won't always be similar to my mother.
In a family itself one can have tons of perceptions varying to one another.
for example, I chose the bag considering its color and appearance but when we look at the other side my dad looked at the material before buying the product. He looked at things like weather the bag is capable of holding the stuff he needs ,is the material strong ,is it worth the price.
I found his bag boring because of its appearance but this doesn't mean his choice is wrong in any way.
He found it to be strong and something that won't get easily torn off.
He found it professionally acceptable.
DAY3
The Indigenous community: BEDOUIN.
This community is found in the Middle East.
The Arab word badawi, from which the name Bedouin is derived, means 'inhabitant of the desert'. The description is very generic but effectively portrays many culturally varied tribes of settled, semi-nomadic and nomadic Bedouin across the deserts and steppe-like lands of Middle East.
The domain i took from the chapter was regarding the food. This is the table i made and distinguished them on the basis of text, context and subtext.
later we together brought all the information together and made this table.
it has every information of bedouin culture.
HOMETASK:
DAY4
INSIGHTS
For the whole day today we worked in groups. My teammates were: harmeet, vanshika, harshil and esha .
REFERENCES:
REFLECTION
BEDOUIN community is found in the Middle East.
The Arab word badawi, from which the name Bedouin is derived, means 'inhabitant of the desert'.
People of beaudoin live in tents that are made up of goats skin and wools.
they have the rooms in tents which are mainly furnished with rugs and cushions . they had separate living quarters for men , women and children .
Bedouins are basically famous for:
Hospitality
calmness
patience .
like if someone shows up at their tent, they offer food and water without enquiring about their identity.
Bedouins are also proud of the way they live and Their ability to fight and live in deserts.
bedouins marriages are mainly occurred within in the family groups.
Bedouins rarely bathe and take shower with sand or with their scented
smoke .
they are also very much devoted to their religion and whoever doesn't follow it they in the name of punishment throw them out of the country after giving them a chance.
here, women wear veil to cover their face . It provides them the sense of
elegance. People in the Bedouin culture carry themselves very proudly.
eg: like in western culture, see face veil as a punishment whereas the women of Bedouin wear it with pride and even decorate it.
women here also have some beauty rituals , they make all organic and natural things. they make protective paste that they apply on their face which act as a sun cream for them. it protect their face from sunburn.
also, they apply koehl in the eyes , because it is their tradition and it makes them look bold and fierce . koehl is basically a black powder like thing .
women wear niqab going outside of tent or when some stranger come to their place.
women outfit different from girls outfit , red is usually worn by married women while blue is worn by unmarried women.
Bedouin women's also tattooed themselves all over their bodies – wrists, ankles and on face dots or symbols above or between the eyebrows, dots on the nose, beauty spots on the cheek and lines and symbols below the lip and on the chin,on face. Tattoos traditionally symbolizes protection in battles and wars as well as from spirits and the evil eye.
Men, here wear a white cotton foot-length, long-sleeve shirt, and an aba, they
wear a dagger in their belt. men on their heads wear, keffiyeh which is a black and white scarf that is usually worn around the neck or the head. it basically helps them in protection from sand storms also gives them warmth on the top of their head.
Bedouin men sometimes express their friendship to another man by embracing him and giving him a kiss on the lips. and say hello by touching the nose of the other person. also , the Eldest male member of family ( patriarchal society)
Bedouin children expected to take up household duties by the age of 6 or 7
from this research, i got to know the rituals and practices they follow and how they have formed their own little world in the centre of the world.
i realised how each culture has its own importance.
HOME TASK:
today in the hometask we were asked to collect pictures at least six f any occasions so i took these and were asked to post it on group discussions.
DAY 5
Today, we had to comment on pictures of our group members on discussion board about similarity and differences.
About the dressing style, it was common in everyone that everyone is wearing black color outfit once and everyone dresses up differently according to different occasions. also everyone likes to dress up according to occasion and they never go out of style.
i also noticed that everyone has their own comfort in clicking pictures. everyone has their own way of posing and clicking in pictures.
We had to explore the concept of beauty based on the cultural beliefs of the communities we belong and make a text, context and subtext table to identify the beliefs of the concept of beauty.
REFLECTIVE WRITING.
There are always some similarities and some differences in different communities same goes to concept of beauty in different communities.
In my community, wearing suit or kurti during the times of puja and covering our heads with dupatta is a necessity. like in bedouins culture wearing their niqab kind of BEAUTY.
here, even though the their style is different but we both cover our heads in some way or the other.
the other similarities that i found were that in my community we keep fast also they do the same i.e (roza).
In Bedouin community and my community, a person having ability to fight and having good will power is considered as beauty but at the same time both communities are known for their calmness.
In Bedouin community, their way of wedding is in middle of deserts in tents whereas in my community wedding is done in different places like temples, house or banquets following different rituals.
each and every community have a different style of representing themselves according to their culture. each culture has it own essence which keeps on developing with the period of time.
Beauty in a community is not about the traditions which are we following from the past but also the new trends which we adapting in these days and applying in our daily life. Every person have their own way of defining beauty.
Every community has its own way of defining themselves and that's what is beauty.
like in schools we find beauty in wearing similar clothes and being with each other.
just like that beauty has no specific definition. it is some feeling that we find comfortable differing from place to place and person to person.
DAY6
REFLECTIOM
INTRODUCTION
Culture is how we live as an individual and how we follow the norms. It is not always about the customs, ideas, beliefs, etc rather it is how we perceive things. even though when we belong to same culture there are times when each and every one's perspective changes.
Even there are changes in traditions with time . people adapt according to their needs and customise things likewise.
SCHOOL.
School has been and will always be important part of my life.
It not only helped me creating a discipline within me but also made me a bit confident.
It also helped me to create my own social identity.
After completing my school life i realised how i made some lifetime bondings and memories that could never be replaced.
In school, wearing school uniforms was not just about rules, it gave us all an identity that could never ever be replaced. It was reason we now know the importance of equality. and no one is above or below.
FAMILY.
Family is all about loving and supporting each other unconditionally.
family members teach each other , share one's life joy and sorrows. It has provided me my personal growth .
According to me family is one thing that could have an influence on one's life.
My parents have provided me my freedom but at the same time restricted me for my well being.
They have always been motivating and had advised me which had a great influence on me.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media didn't only help me to reach out to people of my kind but also helped me to build up my confidence.
being there on social media i came to realisation of tons things like its not only about posting , sharing memes , and making friends. Rather it's also about knowing what's going around the world.
It helped me to bring back the confidence and connect to people I really cared about.
In hindu community there's a belief that inter religion marriages are not allowed specially when it comes to Hindu and Muslims.
I disagree to the same .
For eg: If two people like each other on their own terms then should be no one stopping them for taking their life's forward. Because HUMANITY COMES BEFORE RELIGION.
like there's saying that hindu community should not have any affair with the people of muslim community. or people even do get disgaraded for the same, which is certainly not right . We should treat every culture equally and with proper respect and dignity.
Being a part of many communities sometimes cause conflicts.
Like in our culture women on KARVA CHAUTH keep fast for their husband's long and healthy life. but i have a question to ask why does it always women praying for everyone's welfare.
We are here living in 2020 i.e 21st century and there are many families in which the husband also keep fast with their wives.
As a part of many communities, It has helped to express myself and my opinions.
I realized , culture is not only about customs, traditions, spiritual values or rituals but it is also a broader concept. It is how as an individual we behave and understand values.
DISCUSSION BOARD
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