For my student interview project, I asked my roommate, Shelzia, all about her life in India. Shelzia was born in the U.S.A., but her parents are from India and she still has a lot of family that lives there, so she visits often. Her family is from Kerala, which is part of the southern tip of India. When asked about the official language of India, she said “I would say Hindi and English [are the main languages] but there’s actually over 249 languages. Hindi is most often used in the northern states of India, and Kerala is probably one of the biggest English-using states.” Other than English, she speaks Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil. Malayalam and Tamil are very similar languages but Hindi is from a completely different language family. …show more content…
“Kerala itself has one of the oldest Jewish temples, we also have one of the biggest Hindu temples in Amritsar, which is super cool, it’s made out of gold.” They also have a government very similar to the British parliament in that they have a president and a prime minister.
We talked a lot about clothing. She described indian clothes in general as very bright, colorful, and decorative. “You will find more colors in Indian clothing than you will find in the rainbow. I guarantee, they will come up with colors that you never would have thought of,” she said, but black and white sarees are becoming a trend now, too.
She says “each state has it’s native clothing, so in Kerala we have this white cotton saree that has a gold border that we wear during our festival of Onam, which has both a religious and cultural connotation. In Rajasthan, they have specific prints on rajasthani sarees, which the women there have to cover their head with when they go
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Sarees are like shirts or blouses in India, you wear a shirt to work or for whatever, like you have different shirts for different occasions, and you have sarees for different occasions. They can be made out of cotton, they can be made out of silk, they can be made out of really any material. And when people think of sarees, a lot of the time they 're thinking super grand but they can be simple and made out of
“Clothing in India”. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 20 May 2014. Web. 23 May 2014: < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_in_India>.
A man’s shirt and pants are European, usually worn with a traditional vest and sandals. Traditional hats are worn as well (Falconer, Kieran, and Quek 61-62). A woman’s outfit consists of a traditional hat and sandals. Their hair is usually tied up in long, thick braids. A colorful shawl is usually worn over a skirt and short jacket (Falconer, Kieran, and Quek 63).
What do the works, “As Canadian as Possible under the Circumstances” and “I’m not the Indian you had in mind” have in common? The dissection of these writing pieces revealed that they do in fact have multiple similarities. Those ideas are the use of identity, stereotypes as well as double meanings.
In chapter five of Suitably Modern, Mark Liechty discusses the action of “doing fashion” and how it affects the middle class and consumption in Kathmandu. Chapter five poses the question; what is new and what is not? This concerns the class distinctions and if modernization is actually occurring. The middle class in Kathmandu is claiming its own domain through clothing and ostracizing themselves. The author deems this action as adornment he defines it by stating, “It is used to set individuals and groups apart from some and to signal sameness”. Adornment can be a class distinction but also a gender role distinction. Women practice adornment to be indifferent in their relationships with men. For example women can chose to use flashier make-up which can distinguish a married woman from an unmarried woman. Liechty associates fashion with freedom. Film coming to Kathmandu quickly generated the modernization of fashion and consumption. Films exposed the residents to different types of fashion. Ultimately, the middle class wants its own cultural zone; through fashion and consumption it hopes to completely fit in with one another and still be distinct from other classes.
Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale depicts many aspects of humanity at times of crisis as the protagonist, and narrator, of this novel is experiencing and seen through her eyes throughout the novel. The form of government in this novel is totalitarian with Christianity guidelines in which men have higher roles and women are put into submission and into supporting roles with no equal footing as it one was before and where Offred is forced to adjust with these new restrictions. Throughout the centuries, women have been put into submitting rules mainly due to their physical appearances; the dainty hands, smooth skin, and their natural motherly nature are seen as weak and should be an object of protection. It is true that women do not possess the physical strength that the male sex do, as it is seen throughout Atwood’s novel where the male military Commanders wield considerable power over the lesser male roles, women such as Offred are highly valued not for their strength but for their fertility. Although women have made considerable progress in putting themselves in an equal standing in society today, as can be seen with the number of women in government and highly appointed job positions, there is still that underlying prejudice that women are inferior. “Women hold 17 percent of the seats in Congress”, says Jessica Valenti in the popular newspaper The Washington Post, and follows with the argument that “more than 85 percent of counties in the United States have no provider; women work outside the home, but they make about 76 cents to a man's dollar and make up the majority of Americans living in poverty”.
In “clothes” Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni portrays the changing identity of Sumita through the symbolism of her clothes and their colors. The clothes that Sumita wears in certain situations reveal their hidden symbolic meaning. When she argues “about …[the] ...sari” (1) that she is supposed to wear. This alludes to the fact that she begins to fight against the strict standards of women in her homeland culture. Sumita chooses to wear a “blouse and skirt”(7) instead of a sari, implies that she is committing to the progressive lifestyle of women in America.
For that concern, you will discover the different ways of how people wear the costumes, sari, and kebaya. In real facts, every part of each country also has a dissimilar name for both. In place of kebaya, each island or region will call the same thing with diverse words or combine it with some accessories. In Java, Bali and Sunda, people match it with kain batik (rectangular cloths with batik motif) which can be a plainly stamped cotton to elaborately hand-painted written batik embroidered silk with gold thread. In Lampung, the kain is the traditional tapis, an elaborate gold thread embroidered ikat with small mica discs. But in Sumatra, Flores, Lemata Timor, and other islands commonly, they work with kain of ikat and songket. Meanwhile, the sari is habitually used over a petticoat which is called as 'parkar' (परकर) in Marathi lahaṅgā or lehenga in the north. In the west, people use pavadai in Tamil, pavada (or occasionally langa) in Malayalam, Kannada, Telugu, Chaniyo, Parkar, Ghaghra, or Ghagaro. Term of shaya exists in eastern India. Generally, it will be fitted with an upper garment known as a blouse or ravika in the south and choli in somewhere
The desolate and chaotic conditions of the society can have a significant amount of influence on the development on a certain character of a novel. For instance, at the time the novel, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky was written, the conditions of the setting, was very chaotic and was in turmoil. Crime and Punishment took place in Russia, where Russia during the time Crime and Punishment was written was suffering due to economical downfalls and failure of the poor reforms of Tsar Alexander II; ultimately transforming Russia into a poverty-stricken country. The failure of Alexander’s reforms affected much of setting in which Crime and Punishment was written in, which ultimately contributed in character development of Raskolinokov. This is evident through the use of metaphor, which Dostoevsky uses to compare the state of the country to Raskolinkov’s apartment.
The short story “Clothes” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is about a young Indian woman, Sumita, and her cultural transition to America that is symbolized by her clothes and the color of her clothes. The traditional Indian attire for a woman is a sari and each one has its own purpose. Her clothes also indicate her progression from daughter, to wife, to woman.
Growing up learning and speaking English has been something that was difficult for me at first but then came easy, but that was not the case for my mother. She spent her whole life speaking Spanish, so when she decided to take English learning classes it was challenging. However, she had me to help her throughout her struggle. I helped her complete her homework and assignments. We would also go to the library to check out easy level reading books to have her read to me. I would correct her English when it was wrong and do all I could to boost her confidence. It took me a while to understand and figure out what the best way to teach her was, but it was a fun experience for the both of us. Teaching her English was difficult because things that
This is a red colored turban manufactured with the well-known tie and dye strategy of Jodhpur, that varieties small white boxes on the red turban. They vary in style, colour and size. They also indicate a wearer's social class, caste, region and the occasion it is being worn for. Its shape and size may also vary with the climatic conditions of the different regions.
Everyone is a part of a community. Most people are a part of multiple communities. A community is a group of people that have a commonality. Sometimes it is based on where you live, hobbies, goals, etc. I believe that communities are created unconsciously and are connected to someone’s identity, especially when a person is considered a part of multiple communities. Sometimes, a person may connect very well with their community. Sometimes, a person may feel very distant from their community. In the movie, “English Vinglish”, the main character, Sashi, shows examples on how communities are created through commonalities, and the acculturation theory. Sashi was a part of multiple communities. A few communities included her, her Daughter’s school,
Goddess, queens, princess, brides, dancers, maids, the rich and the poor all have the common record of adorning this garment. Saris are as versatile as are the fabrics that make them, be it cotton, silk or synthetic. They can be draped in many styles- Nivi, Maharashtrain, Bengali, Dravidian, Gujrati, Coorgi, Mundum Neryathum, Gond, tribal and a number of Bollywood styles too. The pallu is made to be swept around back and front, tucked in at the waist when working, opened up and thrown over the shoulders like a shawl, or covering the head, neck and arms against the hot sun. The sari is a dance of fabric.
Fashion is a currently valued style of appearance and behavior. It is a way to shape one’s external custom. The history of fashion dates back to hundred years ago and it has seen a remarkable progress in the 21st century. Man has endeavored a lot to bring new changes according to style and elegance that suits his needs and desires. Apparently, our culture is inclined towards fashion and change in the former brings change in the latter.When we talk about Pakistan, from the independence day of August 14, 1947 up-to-date, it has been a society in transition and being dynamic in nature, it isconsequently ever-changing and its patterns are transforming from time to time.
Experiencing those days where people would laugh at other for the broken English; the grammar and pronunciation are the toughest parts of the language. People with English as a second language always stumble upon difficulties; however, the determination of learning a new language do not decrease easily as the motivation is still surrounding one’s mind. Today, English has become an international communication; even the teaching and learning of the language has already spread throughout the world. English is known as one of the most common use language and has been offering classes everywhere for years especially around Asia; additionally, the world common language has now become the number one language uses in every fields of career that is being offer everywhere. Non-American students should be required to take English class as a second language in school