Faculty- Malvika Mahidhar
Reflection
30.7.2019
Week 1
The class was about what reflection means to us. It could be an image reflection or a careful examination of life situations or our self actions. It could also mean deeper examination of a given subject or situation. Hence, we were given a task to jot down three things that each one of us first saw when we entered the class room and reflect upon why we first took notice of them.
The three things that I saw first were :-
- The empty chairs
- “who am i” written on the white board
- The new teacher
After reflecting upon each one of them i realized that i took notice of the chairs first so that i could locate an advantageous position to sit in the class. For the second, i was curious of what could happen in this new class , and thirdly i was eager to see our new faculty .
Next,we were introduced to four new forms of writing styles :-
- haiku- a three line poem related to nature.
- limerick- a nonsensical poem with the rhyming scheme AA BB A
- 7 Words line
- 280 words thesis
Then we were showed five pictures and for each we had to write our reflection of them in one of these writing styles.
Beach sunset photo (haiku)
Silhouettes by the water edge
The golden tip waves are returning home
Its going to be sundown.
Broken room(7 words)
Empty tattered state but there’s always exits.
3 Pots(limerick)
There once was Mr. Pots
Who could’nt call the shots
One day a ball came flying towards him
But his friends did not help for a whim
Alas! He was one of the crackpots.
Footprint in desert(7 words)
Footprints in sand leave behind vanished trails.
Woman helping man(280 words)
Mrs. Mathews left for the park on a sunny morning. Her one hand was on her belly proudly while the other was holding her blazing pink umbrella. There was a bounce in her step and a smile on her face which soon turned grim when she came to the cross section of her neighbourhood road. There she saw an old man with crutches in his hand struggling to cross the road. He had a feeble body and could barely stand upright. No car was stopping to let the man cross. She was shocked to see that no one was offering any help to him, rather they stood there watching him with mocking eyes. She was ashamed and did not wish to give birth to her child in an inhuman world. She rushed to the man, gripped his hand firmly and helped him cross the road safely. The man couldn’t thank her enough and blessed her for her future. Mrs. Mathews let out a cry, she felt a kick in her stomach for the first time.
Retrospection
6.08.2019
Week 2
What is retrospection? Retrospection is analyzing the past events and action usually in ones own life. In the half sleepy state that which most of us were in, retrospection came across to me as the possible arguments that i could have said and i did not in one of my previous agruments.
letter to self when I was leaving for Mumbai. :-
Dear Shristi,
Here you are finally to set foot for the long awaited journey. Being scared and excited at the same time is very natural. You don’t need to fear about being validated in college or making new friends, because you will find friends who are as weird as you and are willing to stand by you on your good days and bad days. Most importantly, don’t overthink or overburden yourself with expectations because you yourself know that the bar you set for yourself is sometimes too high and you should just go with the flow. Spend as much time as you can with family because as much as you think you will be fine without them, you wont be. Prep yourself with as many things as you can because you never know what you would be needing next.
love,
Shristi
Dear Shristi,
What a day it was! Ironed flags, pressed uniforms,polished shoes, the cheering crowd and of course the empty collar waiting to be adorned by that house batch. I remember how our heart throb when the vice captain badge was pinned on the chest. It was all that you ever wanted,all the efforts that you had put towards the house work has finally paid off. Shristi right now this might sound very surprising when i say this, that being the vice captain is a very prestigious position but at the same time it takes a toll on other aspects of your life if you dont know how to balance everything. Always remember dont take too much on your plate if you cant handle it. I know you are very excited to be the part of student council in high school but always keep your head above the water. Time management is everything. Having faced major problems my main advice to you would be to future plan and take things in your own pace. In the rabbit race dont take your health,friends and family for granted.
love,
Shristi
Dear Shristi,
One thing which you have not learnt yet in your life is that sometimes you have to restrain yourself from making fun of other people in a particular situation. That day it was a proud moment for you and your teammates and to make fun of one specific teammate was not the right thing. I agree she was a funny character and actually she still is, but you need to learn how to control your laughter in serious situations. Im still paying off for that.
love,
shristi
Dear Shristi,
I remember how miserably i failed at skiing. Those shoes were so heavy, my body could hardly lift it. The advice that i can give is just keep your legs straight and left go of your body and in most probability you should be able to ski, if not don;t worry too much, you wont be requiring in the hot Kolkata or Mumbai weather. Secondly that day you should have carried your inhaler with you all times and not gone for a trek all by yourself. try not to put your health in danger.
love,
Shristi
Metaphors
week 3
13.08.2019
The class started with us discussing about the author of Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka. He was born in a middle class Jewish family in Germany, in the nineteenth century. He also had a complicated relationship with his father for the rest of his life and his father’s personality left a mark on Kafka’s writing. Kafka was also politically imbalanced in Europe and he was also an outsider in the Jewish community. Kafka was also interested in a lot of art and literature. Most of the novels written by him were based on realism and fantasy, i.e., surrealism. He constantly kept changing his career because being a minority he was always finding ways to prove himself.
A discussion about the first chapter of Metamorphosis followed. In the beginning, Gregor Samsa, the protagonist, discovers that he has turned into a giant insect which then sets the tone for the entire story.This chapter narrates the bizarre situations of Gregor’s transformation and uses contrasting terms to show that the world in the story is absurd and chaotic, rather than ordinary and rational. Surprisingly when he first discovered his transformation, he doesn’t appear to be shaken and treats it like any other ordinary disruption. As the story moves forward, he remains focused on the ordinary concerns, such as getting fired from work, his physical comfort, and his family’s financial situation, therefore, maintaining the story’s absurdity.
We were then asked a question “Who am I?” and what are my personality traits.
The metaphors describing me are:-
1. She is a bag of bean (adaptable nature)
2.She is a sloth(lazy)
3.Her life is a domino (a procrastinator, hence the troubles and workload keep falling one by one)
4.She is an unsharped pencil (blunt in nature)
5. Her replies are a dogs tail (because my replies are never straight)
6.She is an unused battery(possessing a lot of potential but never using them)
7.Her heart is like a turtle(hard on the outside and soft on the inside)
8.She is a volatile stock market (varied mood swings)
9.She is a pendulum(indecisive)
10. She is the tortoise in the rabbit race(determined and slow and steady)
Metamorphosis(chapter 2)
Week 4
20.08.19
Today we discussed about the second chapter in metamorphosis. In the chapter discussion, we reviewed the behaviour of each of the family member, Gregor’s acceptance to his new form, the way his family members react every time they come close to him. We also read how his father, mother and sister acted very differently when they were around Gregor. For example, Grete leaves milk for Gregor, probably assuming that his preference for milk at the time he was human still continues after he turned into a bug. The assumption seems as if she feels that some part of his brother is still the same. When Grete suggests that all of Gregor’s possessions should be moved out of his room to remove obstacles to his crawling making it more suitable for an insect, the mother disagrees and says that he might need them when he returns to his original self and she also calls him her “unfortunate son” suggesting that she still feels like his son is the same despite his appearance. The father gives no implication that Gregor is the same. He also attacks him as if he is a wild animal when he tries to get out of his room.
By the end of the chapter Gregor starts to feel as alienated from Grete as he does with everyone else, making him more isolated.
After this discussion we had to write 20 words that described us:-
20 words that describe me are:-
- determined
- ambitious
- lazy
- procrastinator
- independent
- sarcastic
- short tempered
- moody
- adaptable
- indecisive
- compassionate
- diligent
- blunt
- intuitive
- stubborn
- practical
- witty
- persistent
- focused
- scared
Metamorphosis(chapter 3)
Week 5
27.08.19
In today’s class we had discussed the metaphor’s we had identified in the book, Metamorphosis.
The first one can be related to being isolated. For the parts where Gregor is locked in his room when someone visited their home, we can use the metaphor of being isolated.
Next, we can say that change in feelings or shift in feelings of the family members can be used as shift of furniture as a metaphor.
Next, the core metaphor of the entire book is trauma.
Last but not least, we also discussed that whenever Gregor heard footsteps, it gave him hope. But the footsteps would fade away, thereby turning his hope into hopelessness. This is the other metaphor- hope into hopelessness.
We had also discussed the themes of the entire book, that is, isolation and crisis of identity. The entire time he had conflicting behaviorism and thoughts about whether he was supposed to act like a human or a vermin. His mind was of a human but his actions were like that of a bug, and he couldn’t help it.
Who am I?
week 6
31.08.2019
This is the first draft of my essay;-
THE DOMINO LIFE
Who am I? This question seems to be the simplest question one can answer, however if you ask this question to yourself a multiple times, you will never get a definite answer. Living with ourselves all the time, we still rely on what others say about us. What a paradox!
To answer this question simply, I am a person who loves having fun, moody in nature, dedicated to my work and I dream of contributing something to this world and become a great person.I am a composition of the things that I do in daily life, my likes and dislikes, my upbringing and also what people have told me over the years. One of my biggest traits is that heart is s like a turtle, hard from the outside and soft from the inside. I have many acquaintances but very few close friends. I have a hard time trusting people to see my true side. To most people I might look a strong person who can handle herself well in crucial situations and doesn’t get affected by what people have to say about her, but those who truly know me, know that I am a mush ball inside and very sensitive. Probably this is the reason why I am sarcastic in nature and my replies are never straight like a dogs tail. This acts like a
defense mechanism for me. I am a person who expects the same level of trust and live from the people I open up to.I would also give credit to my upbringing and my life events in shaping me. I have always been a sloth for things what didn’t interest me and would be very indecisive, which eventually lead my life failing like the pieces of a domino, one by one, but till now I have been lucky as the last block would always be saved by someone in my life and save me from making my life into a complete downfall.I believe I’m an unused battery who has a lot of potential but never use it to its fullest capacity. At the same time when I get my head into something, nobody can stop or influence me. No matter how many times people ask me not to do it, I never listen. That’s when I become oblivious to people’s opinions who in the first place tried to help me. You can say I am stubborn and take people for granted. I don’t know. This is who I am.
People have called me by different names – rude, indifferent, sweet, caring, cool. But none is these tags matter to me until they have come from my close ones. I am a person who has largely been built up by the people I surround myself with and I would thank my stars for giving me such a family, teachers and friends.
Peer review
week 7
10.09.2019
I couldnt find the page of my peer review. But my review had been done by suraksha and i had reviewed Juee’s essay.
According to my review , my title was not appropriate,but it was structed well and it was too long and could be cut short.
Also more sotries and insights could be given on my essay.
Final draft of who am i
week 8
17.09.2019
(UN)VULNERABLE
I am a composition of the things that I do in my daily life, my likes and dislikes and also what people have told me and wanted me to be over the years. One of my biggest traits is that my heart is like a turtle, hard from the outside and soft from the inside. I have many acquaintances but very few close friends. When I was small I was full of confidence and arrogance but when puberty came, my entire face was covered with painful acne while the rest of my friends had beautiful clear faces. Suffering from acute acne was one of the most difficult phases of my life. Where ever I went, this was the only thing spoken about and even my beloved ones failed to understand how it affected me. My self-confidence hit rock bottom and probably to date even when my face is alright I still haven’t got that confidence back. This is one of the main reasons I have a hard time trusting people to see my true and inner side. To most, I might look like a strong person who can handle herself well in crucial situations and doesn’t get affected by what people have to say about her, but those who truly know me, know that I am a mushball inside and very sensitive. Probably this is the reason why my replies are never straight like a dog’s tail. My sarcasm acts like a defense mechanism for me.
I would also give credit to my upbringing and my life events in shaping me. When situations and things don’t interest me I am like a sloth and my indecisiveness making me procrastinate, would eventually make my life fall like the pieces of a domino, one by one. However, until now I have been lucky as the last block was always be supported by someone in my life and save me from making my life into a complete downfall.
At the same time when I get my head into something, nobody can stop or influence me. No matter how many times people ask me not to do it, I never listen. That’s when I become oblivious to people’s opinions who in the first place tried to help me. You can say I am stubborn and take people for granted. I don’t know. This is who I am.
People have called me by different names – rude, indifferent, sweet, caring, cool. But these labels do not matter to me until they have come from my dear ones. I am a person who has largely been built up by the people in my life and would thank my stars for giving me such family, teachers, and friends. I believe that I am evolving as a person and welcoming to all the challenges that come in my way that might change me as a person for the good or bad. I have accepted all the qualities that I possess from being lazy and moody to being sensitive and dedicated. They are all me, this is who I am.
——
Visit to bhau daji lad museum
The visit to the museum was very fascinating. The moment you enter the museum the grandeur of the museum takes you aback.We learnt a lot about the history of the museum as to how it was in ruins and now is one of the most prettiest places in mumbai.
The history of mumbai was very fascinating too. I coming from kolkata didnt know much. So when i was told that mumbai was initially 7 islands made me surprised. The bombay islands were first taken over by the Portuguese and then to the english. The East india company turned the scenario of the islands which in first place were marshy lands.
The interesting things that i saw were:-
Overall it was a very nice and educative trip to the museum.
Aspects of our sites
week 9
24.09.2019
In this class we discussed our visit to the museum ,what all we learnt about the history of mumbai and what we observed.
Hence the pointers are-
Observation-
1.Assumption
2.Judgement
3.Personal bias and interests
4. Influence
5.Interations
What do we achieve
>To build interpersonal relationships
>Use information for person benefit
>Break or confirming mindset
Observation
week 10
1.10.2019
In this class maam picked randomly ofr students to observe and speak about each other what they like or dislike about the person.
Then we discussed about our site visits and what all we observed and notice about te place. After the discussion we realised that we didnt observe the place properly and one site visit wont be enough for knowing the whole place.
Reflections upon images
week 11
9.10.2019
I was absent for this class.
It was a recovery class for the one we missed on 8th October due to Dusshera. Since it was a recovery class, it was only for an hour.
In the course of the class, we were shown 6 images and we had to reflect upon the image by giving a caption to the image. Since we caption our posts on social media, we thought of captions on the images keeping in mind ‘What if it were to be posted?’ The captions can be cliche, pun or anything.
Creative responses(first draft)
week 12
15.10.2019
Why are you so blue
Where is your rider
Ill find him to make you prouder
To make your destiny come true.
All caged in that blue dress
Let me set you free
Choose carefully which to tread on
Its a win-lose game.
questionnaire and responses
week 13
5.11.2019
1.How far do you live from the Synagogue? If they live in Kala Ghoda, is it their ancestral house?
2. How frequently do you visit the synagogue?
3. Is your business in kala ghoda? What is your business ,and is it the family business?
4.Did your forefathers contribute to the development of kala ghoda?
5. How have things changed after people of all faiths have been allowed to enter?
6.How do they want or imagine the future of kala ghoda?
Since we were exploring the diaspora aspect prevalent,we visited the synagogue and realized that the Jewish community is a very small community and hence being a minority they are heavily protected. Therefore nobody was willing to give us any kinf of answers that would help us in our research. Secondly the synagogue was baghdadi synagogue and most of the immigrants had left and went back to where they had come from. We did talk to a jewish man called Shalom benjamin and he was a bene israeli and he was helped us by answering few questions. He said that when very few jewish people stay in kala ghoda and most of them had shifted out. Also he said that when the jewish synagogue in kala ghoda restored, it was a very big deal in the community. Him being a bene israeli did not quite have connections to kala ghoda.
Peer review
week 14
12.11.2019
My peer review on my creative responses were done by yuvraj. He pointed out few things that helped me. Like he said that I could be more creative than being cliche on writing about the two paths and overall he liked my first draft.
After the changes that Malvika maam had given me like ,to write about the drawings on the walls or there is no word called “prouder”. I made certain changes and this is my final draft-
Why are you so blue
Did you only eat blueberries
Made by enchanted pink fairies
To make your dreams come true
Behind the pretty frame
Veiled by angels
Final submission and context for questionnaire
week 15
26.11.2019
This is the context for questionnaire-
Our group is going to throw some light on the Diaspora aspect of Kala Ghoda. Amongst many aspects like the art, fashion, architecture that make Kala Ghoda so iconic, we have chosen the diaspora aspect because of the contribution of the Baghdadi Jews in the making of the area.
During World War II, a part of the Bhagdadi Jewish community imigrated to Mumbai, India. David Sassoon became the leader of the Jewish community in Mumbai. He, and later his family contributed in building the major buildings like the David Sassoon library, the Kala ghoda statue, the Kenneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue etc.
The Baghdadi Jewish community being is a minority community played a major role in history of Kala ghoda. Hence we decided to explore and at the same time discuss this aspect.
We arranged all our groups creative responses in a sequence we felt went after the other.
Shristi Poddar 