actions speak louder than words

I really enjoyed our discussion in class on tuesday on the scene with Yolland and Maire. Have you ever heard that statistic claiming 95% of communication can be interpreted with out even speaking? (ex: body language, facial expressions, etc) I think this statistic applies to this situation because although neither of them could understand exactly each other perfectly, they still found a way to communicate.  I experienced this quite often while i was studying abroad in Italy last year since my italian wasn't fully perfected.  Its really amazing what people can do to figure each other out.  

..creative writing??

I decided to write my creative writing paper on Interpreter of Maladies. My twist to the story was brought about by adding in another character to the story. The new character is their unborn child.  I thought this would be a good addition because the baby has the potential to bring Sanjeev and Twinkle together, while also having the ability to pull them apart.  I decided this idea would be interesting because of the apparent tension between Sanjeev and Twinkle regarding their identities as Indians as well as Americans.  Sanjeev is obviously going to wish to raise their child in the traditional Indian way he was raised, starting off with a traditional Indian name for their child.  This power-struggle over the name is the main conflict in my story. 

Since i am a business major i haven't had a lot of experience with creative writing, so when i first heard about this assignment i felt a little weary.. Although, once i got started it wasn't as hard as i thought it would be.  Did you experience this as well? 

belief vs knowledge

"Belief
Makes things real
Makes things feel
Feel alright
Belief
Makes things true
Things like you
You and I"

These lyrics are from Gavin Degraw's song belief. I have probably heard this song over 100 times, but i never really thought hard about the lyrics. During our in-depth discussion in class regarding the differences between believe and knowledge i couldn't stop thinking about this song. Check it out, its a really beautiful song. According to his lyrics, he answers the question we were asking in class, which was "If you believe in something, do you know it to be true," when he says "belief makes things true." Do you agree with statement?

The rest of the lyrics are really interesting, if you want to check them out at :

http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Belief-lyrics-Gavin-DeGraw/FE64A88F576525CE48256D7B00260C5F


If you want to listen to the song, here is the link to the youtube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu_mD-deVTA&feature=related

what's in a name anyway?

After reading the first section of "Power" I was really interested in the significance of Omishto's name. Just as in Lucy, the name shows a form of identity. After some research, I learned my name means "crown." Does your name mean anything? How do you feel about your name? I have a good friend who is greek, her name was Victoria and she recently changed it to her greek name which is Vassi. She always felt she identified more with her greek name, and does not regret her decision in changing it whatsoever. Her parents stood behind her decision 100%. Would you change your name if you could? If so, what would you change it to...

opposites attract

As I was reading “Lucy,” I tried to think of situations in my life where I could relate to her experiences. One that I found especially interesting was Lucy’s relationship with Peggy. I pulled this situation out because I believe we can all say that we have each had a friend that our parents may not have been too keen on at some point in our lives. Peggy is viewed as the “exact opposite” of Lucy, as seen “ Peggy and I were not alike, either, but that is just what we liked about each other; what we didn't have in common were the things we approved of anyway” (61) This relationship is extremely relatable for me because I have had friends similar to Peggy where we have extremely different ways of life/morals but still are able to find a common ground. I believe these types of relationships are important because you can learn a lot from one another (good and bad), just as Lucy does with Peggy.

As a parent, do you think you would allow your son/daughter to hang out with a girl like Peggy? Would you hang out with Peggy even if you knew it would bother your parents?

"american-ness VS indian-ness"

The piece "Interpreter of Maladies" was probably my favorite reading we have had assigned so far this semester.  I liked this piece because it was so relatable- basically anyone can relate to this story in one way or another.  Everyone has their own heritage. I really enjoyed observing Twinkle's struggle between embracing her "indian-ness" and her "american-ness."  It had me asking myself "can a person be a true american while being a true indian at the same time?" It is a hard call- although I think with a certain amount of effort, the balance is possible.  I believe if Twinkle embraces both her Indian culture while still staying true to her "American-ness" she can find this balance.   Although, I think Sanjeev may have a harder time finding a balance such as this because of his negative attitude toward other cultures. 

America is such an interesting place because of the diversity between cultures.  I especially love meeting people with a strong sense of pride in their own heritage-  Do you embrace both your heritage while remaining true to your American-ness? Which do you feel closer to, why? 

The Other Veil

I attended the DSLC speech by Doctor Fozia S. Qazi. Doctor Qazi started the presentation by showing us various cropped pictures of Muslim women. She showed us their faces with out showing us the entire picture and asked us to guess what these women were doing. The first picture really got my attention to the common stereotypes that are present today of muslim women who wear the veil . At first, she only showed us the section of the picture that exposed the faces of three veiled muslim women who looked like they were experiencing some sort of hardship or struggle. When a Saint Mary's student near me whispered a possible answer to the the question of what they thought these muslim women might be doing in this picture their response was that they were doing some sort of "brutal labor, or carrying a heavy object". When they showed us the entire un-cropped picture, the three muslim women were in fact playing soccer. This instance was a perfect example of how some people believe that muslim women who are veiled may be oppressed in one way or another, and this speech was a perfect opportunity for Doctor Qazi to break down stereotypical barriers such as these.

As well as breaking down some stereotypes, Doctor Qazi expressed her ideas regarding the reasoning behind wearing a veil. She said that many Americans assume that because many muslim women wear the veil, they must be oppressed, but in fact, it seemed to be the opposite. She brought up the point that each culture has its own ideas of what is morally right and wrong. She stated what women want in one culture, may be different than what women want in another culture. Therefore, the removal of the veil may look like freedom to us as American women, but to them it may seem drastically different. This point was also emphasized when Doctor Qazi stated " It is not seen as a liberated body if you are exposed" regarding the removal of the veil. I learned from Doctor Qazi that the veil expresses an amount of modesty and protection for the Muslim women, along with providing them with a "separation from something negative that can come in between them and their spiritual god."