Culture Personalized
May 11, 2022
Namaste and Welcome to Week 1!
Google defines Culture as ”an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups” , and do I agree with that.
To add more, to me, Culture is all about one's thoughts, feelings and approach towards life. How one reacts to a given situation speaks more about someone and their upbringing. It is more about the people around me and you. Everything that we are today.
Here, this week, you can look forward to finding out what culture and traditions are to Gen Z’s , as they also reminisce and share with you time spent with grandmothers, who are and will always be an embodiment of culture.
Presenting this week , culture and tradition personalized by six of our dance classmates, our friends.
Priyadarshini Murugavel
Graduate student
Dance - where I can both become someone or be myself and never be judged for it.
May 12, 2022
When you go digging in the right path, beneath the surface of Indian culture and tradition, most often you discover its depths, hidden principles and interwoven concepts.
Culture is something which we practice in all our houses. It may be as small as
lighting a diya or as big as a function. Each home has their own practice which was carried over from their ancestors.
Here I will share my take on culture personalized which is also linked with
some of my school subjects.
1. When we are unwell, our parents or grandparents give us herbal medicines.
Plants and medicinal plants come under the subjects of medicines and biology.
2. My grandfather used to say that we should not sleep with our head in the north
direction.
The aspect of direction comes under the subject of Social studies.
3. We have mathematics all around us. We have mathematics involved in our daily lives.
* Buying groceries and vegetables from the market involves mathematical
calculations.
* Cooking involves Measurements.
* Putting Kolams involves geometrical concepts.
4. To learn, understand & chant shlokas, knowledge of languages is useful like
Samskritam, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam , Kannada and other regional languages.
Anushri Srikumar
Class VIII
Dance is a beautiful art form in which I express my thoughts with my body
language, expressions and such, and in the same way I also have fun.
India has a rich heritage and culture. Culture and education are closely related. In this article, I will try to list a few such customs that are perhaps related to my school subjects-
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A diya is lit during prayers, and we make sure it faces the east direction due to the rising sun. Social studies department puts an emphasis on directions.
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Herbs are used to make tea to treat colds, coughs, and sore throats. The Science branch of Biology deals with plants and their benefits.
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Languages are an integral part of Indian culture, in fact 22 languages are spoken in the country. This is what language classes are all about.
Darshana B Nair
Class IX
I love dance because it makes me very happy and it is my form of relaxation.
May 14, 2022
Grandmothers have a special seat in every culture. Grandmothers are celebrated as the ones who pamper us with food, and stories, the ones who gently take care of us, the ones who bestow their wisdom in loving ways we may not realize. Grandmothers, the same emotion across time.
My grandmother lives in Madurai and whenever she would come, she would always bring me yummy snacks. But now, because of COVID, we talk almost every Sunday on FaceTime. I also used to play with her all the time.
Aditi Srinivasan
Class V
I love dancing because it is very beautiful, and it lifts my mood and gives me energy.
My grandmother and I do a lot of things together. For starters, she plays a lot of games with me. One of them is Pallanguzhi. She is so good at it that I have never won a single game against her. My grandmother and I enjoy talking to each other. My grandmother is very loving, but if I make a mistake she corrects me strictly. Whenever I go to my grandmother’s house, she makes me food that I like the most. If I want something very badly and if my parents say ‘no’, my grandmother will definitely buy me that. When she comes to my house to stay for a few days, she asks me if I want any sweets, candies or toys. I usually say that I don't need any of them, but she convinces me and buys me something. I love my grandmother and I always await my vacations so that I can go visit her.
M Roshini
Class VII
I like dance very much because of the stories from the Puranas which is a part of dance.
May 16, 2022
To some, culture is festivals. To some, tradition is rituals. To some, culture is principles. To some, tradition is practice. To some, culture and tradition is the same. And finally to some, there might be more to it.
To our family, culture and tradition mean the same. To me, culture is family. What we do, we try to do together.
Maadhurya N K
Class VII
I like to dance as it is a lot of fun and all the expressions are a challenge and I love doing those.
I think culture is almost everything that we do in our daily lives. The clothes that we wear, the food that we eat, the way we speak, the principles we follow, and the rituals we do are all part of culture. I think different cultures have small differences between them, but share the same essence. In India, many follow the Indian culture, but the method of following the culture varies from household to household. Nevertheless, the essence of Indian culture that is followed in each household remains the same. For instance, in my house, elders might cook food in one way, having a certain texture, color, etc. And in another person's house, it might be different.
Tradition, I think, would be a certain ritual, principle, etc., that has been passed down from generations together. For example, a certain ritual would have been instructed by our elders to be performed in a particular way.
Overall, I think that culture and tradition are similar, but not the same.
Janhavi Swaminathan
Class VII
I love to dance because the dance movements are very fun to do.