CULTURE AND COMMUNITY
- gunikatalwar20
- Sep 30, 2020
- 8 min read
Updated: Dec 1, 2020
WHAT IS LOHRI ?
Lohri is celebrated to mark the end of peak winter, this festival is traditionally associated with the harvest of the rabi crops. The traditional time to harvest sugarcane crops is January, therefore,For farmers Lohri is seen to be a harvest festival. And thus, Punjabi farmers see the day after Lohri (Maghi) as the financial New Year.
Gur rewri, peanuts and popcorns are the three edibles associated with this festival. Besides these, it is a tradition to eat gajjak, sarson da saag and makki di roti on the day of Lohri. It is also traditional to eat 'til rice'--sweet rice made with jaggery (gur) and sesame seeds.
WHY DO WE BURN FIRE ON LOHRI ?
It is believed that the flames of the bonfire lit on the day ofLohri carry the messages and prayers of the people to the sun god to bring warmth to the planet to help crops grow. In exchange, the sun god blesses the land and ends the days of gloom and cold.
Lohri Meaning
The word Lohri has come from the term ‘loh‘,OR 'loi' which means a big iron tava, used for making chapattis for community feasts.
Lohri Significance
The festival of Lohri holds great significance as it marks the harvest of the rabi crops and the end of winter days. The people worship the sun and the fire and thank them for the good harvest.
How Lohri is celebrated
Traditionally Lohri is celebrated by lighting a huge bonfire.
The bonfire is lit at sunset and people circle around it and throw sesame seeds, jaggery, and rewaries in it. They sit around the fire and sing and dance till the fire dies out.
Sugarcane products such as gajak, jaggery are an important part of Lohri celebrations, as these are made from the crops harvested in the month of January. Apart from this til, peanuts, and popcorn are also distributed among the people as prasad.
HOW LOHRI IS CELEBRATED IN MY FAMILY
After lighting the bonfire we all sit together, eat popcorn and rewri and sometimes roast popatoes in bonfire
DAY 1
Since childhood i get very excited about festivals. To me festivals play an important in depicting our culture and society. Wheather it's diwali , lohri, janamashtmi, or holi it has same importance to me.
I am very excited to work on this project and gain more information about our culture and beliefs. Lohri is a festival that is known to be celebrated in punjabi's but in my colony where i live wheather the family is punjabi or jain or baniya each and everyone celebrates lohri together with their families.
On day 1 we made a mind maps and it really helped me out to know more lohri festival and clear my doubts.
link to my miro mind map : https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_kkZO6Lg=/
TANGIBLE MATERIALS USED IN LOHRI ARE REWRI, PEANUTS, POPCORNS, FLUFFY FOOD ITEMS MADE OF RICE, GAJAK
FUNCTIONAL OBJECT
I chose pen as my functional object .It is something which is used daily
wheather a student or an artist use it for work.
it is very common writing instrument and use it express my thoughts particularly in log books now a days. Wheather a simple pen or glitter pen or a sketch pen
REFLECTIVE WRITING 1
For me, material and non-material part of anything is very much interrelated as a material part of anything is the visual we get looking at it and the non-material part is the feeling we get while looking at it, taking the example of my chosen festival “LOHRI”, o give a basic idea of the festival Lohri is celebrated to mark the end of peak winter, this festival is traditionally associated with the harvest of the rabi crops. The traditional time to harvest sugarcane crops is January, therefore,For farmers Lohri is seen to be a harvest festival. And thus, Punjabi farmers see the day after Lohri (Maghi) as the financial New Year.
Gur rewri, peanuts and popcorns are the three edibles associated with this festival. Besides these, it is a tradition to eat gajjak, sarson da saag and makki di roti on the day of Lohri. It is also traditional to eat 'til rice'--sweet rice made with jaggery (gur) and sesame seeds. Now, the two parts of this festival are the material part which is the “LOHRI” the non-material part is the feeling we share which is the welcoming sun/ heat after cold days , non-material components of every culture are inter-related as there is always a feeling attached to a physical component
DAY 2
Day 2 began with very interactive video, comparing the two opposite sides of the world. It made me realise few things- first we usually take everything for granted but the same thing could be helpful or would mean different for someone else.
In the video the tribal people found so many uses of a bottle whereas we know only one use that is it helps to store any liquid !
for example a pen is so under valued by us but the same pen could mean different to people who could afford pen, second a thing can have many other uses as well.
For me a pen is not my daily need but for my brother its his daily need and requirement, people can have different perspective for different objects.
CLASSIFICATION ON BASIS OF MATERIAL AND NON-MATERIAL
LINK TO MIRO MAP-
PENTONIC USED BY ME AND TRIMAX USED BY MY BROTHER
REFLECTIVE WRITING 2
My selected object was a pen and my brother shared in using the pen but different brands and still, he has so much more value and affection towards it, on the other hand for me it is just another object which is coming to use for me.
For me a pen is not my daily need but for my brother its his daily need and requirement, people can have different perspective for different objects.
DAY 3
Today we had peer interactions and group activities. We were divided into groups according to communities alotted. To create the mind map we chose our domains and worked on them individually compiling our work together side by side. I chose FOOD PRACTICES of the NDEBELE community.
GROUP MIND MAP
LINK TO MIRO MAP
After making the group mind maps two groups came together to present their work about communities. We also discussed the similarities and differences within the two communities.
SIMILARITY BASED ON MY OPINION
1. )According to me both the communities wears colourful clothes.(only rajasthani )
Rabari Community
Ndebele Community
2.) According to me both the communities also do cattle rearing.
3.) Most people in both the communities are non-vegetarian
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BOTH COMMUNITIES IN MY OPINION
1.) Ndebele community does not have any counicl whereas Rabari community have a caste council called Nyat that controls matters related to their community.
2.)Gujarati Rabari prefers white garments where as all Ndebele people wear colourful cothes.
3.)Child marriage is common in rabari whereas child marriage is not performed in ndebele.
4.)Just like ndebele in community people wear rings around neck , in rabari they wear in nose with long chains.
5.) Houses of ndebele are very colourful where as houses of rabari are simple.
RABARI HOUSE
NDEBELE HOUSE
6.) Rabari people are covered with tattoos all over their body
REFLECTIVE WRITING
After reading and researching a lot about Ndebele community I have realised that people love to be creative and colourful.
From clothes to house everything is colourful.
Beadwork, wall paintings, architecture and distinctive ways of dressing are more tangible ways of Ndebele identity and culture, their values were communicated through these wall paintings. Women’s roles at home or in the domestic arena were aesthetically reflected through wall paintings.
Blankets commonly worn by Southern Ndebele women have different beads distinguishing newly married women from older women.
The original paint on the house was a limestone whitewash. The colors added to make the paintings were mostly natural pigments consisting of browns, blacks, and ochers. Most of the patterns were of a V shape and a very simple triangle on a large shape of color. The patterns, earth tones, directions, and sizes were more important than the present-day vivid and bright colors.
While searching about Ndebele house i also got to know that at very beginning they used to finger print instead of drawing geometric shapes
It is believed that the number of metal rings worn by a married Ndebele woman indicated the wealth & status of the wearer and the husbands wealth. The rings symbolized a woman’s faithfulness to her husband and were believed to have strong ritual powers.
In the end each community has its own beauty, which lies in its simple or different beliefs
DAY4
''Culture opens the sense of beauty."
Ralph Waldo Emerson
On day 4 we had explore what people from the chosen indigenous community consider beautiful and why
Explore various practices pertaining to visual communication with reference to social status / hierarchy / bravery / thresholds / etc.).
Analyse their concept of beauty. Present minimum three examples supported with appropriate visuals.
Analyse theirs and yours concept of beauty. Use appropriate examples to establish your point of view. Support with appropriate visuals
GROUP MIND MAP
Honestly in the beginning text , context and subtext / material, non-material was very confusing but after making this mind map , it broader my understanding.
REFLECTIVE WRITING
We looked into different areas and picked the minute details of what the ndebele people could consider as the 'beauty' in their community. For them it is their colored houses , neck rings and colourful houses.
As we compared the beauty between our community and ndebele community i realised that for them beauty lies with simple and small things whereas for us beauty has some standard, it has to reach a certain level. Fair, slim and coloured eye people are considered as beautiful.
NDEBELE BRIDE
HINDU PUNJABI BRIDE
NDEBELE HOUSE
OUR STANDARD OF BEAUTIFUL HOUSE
Ndebele dishes are made from corn and other ingredients or condiments. Generally, they eat corn and sorghum milk as their food.
North Indian Food
All these categories covered highlights the main aspects that how we consider beauty of our culture.
We need to broaden our mindset and look beyond the beauty standards made, only then can we appreciate the real beauty that surrounds us.
DAY5
GROUP MIND MAP
LINK TO MIRO MAP
INDIVIDUAL MAPS
3 COMMUNITIES
SOCIAL MEDIA:
We were always made to believe that the number of followers you have or the number of likes you get is an indicator of your popularity.Where as instagram could be used to showcasing one's talent , to reach out to the world.
BEST FRIENDS:
People closest to us after family, basically for me my best friends are like my second family. I enjoy celebrating my achievements with them.
They are the people whom i vibe, have fun and share every bit of life.
DANCE COMMUNITY:
It is believed that dance is just series of steps which are repeated sometimes according to be music but dance can actually be performed in many ways such as free style or jazz, any style which you enjoy !
LINK TO MIRO MAP
Agreement / disagreement with any of the beliefs of the community
When it comes to the Social media belief I disagree from it because sometimes people use it for wrong activities
1. Social media sometimes spread wrong information, negativity and has become a platform of showing off your life.
2. Social media is addictive and can lead to physical and mental health problems for people especially children and teenagers.
3. Social media is addictive due the constant shower of information from people all around the world.
Conflict among the communities belief
Conflict amongst the belief of
community
There are conflicts among the belief of two communities,Which are Social Media and Dance.
When a male expresses himself through dancing he is subjected to define his sexuality and often called ‘gay’ on social media
Although through dance one can express feelings and emotions , conveying message to audience it should not be about one sexuality rather people should appreciate this form of art and not question about gender.
GLOSSARY
TANGIBLE: Material
INTANGIBLE: Non-material
TEXT: The things that are visible
CONTEXT:The background information
SUBTEXT: The feelings you get or meaning it convey
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