Weddings

An Analysis of a core tradition.

Weddings are definitely the most hectic yet exciting part of a family and it’s even better when you grow up in a joint family like mine. In the past decade, admittedly our family has become diluted across the world. But there is something about blood, no matter how much you separate a family it’ll fall back together like pieces of puzzles no matter what. After being away from my family for almost 3 years, there was a lot to get used to and it was not just living under one roof.

When you live away from your family, you forget their tempers. And you also forget about your pet peeves. Staying away from your family for 3 years and being crammed with them for 3 weeks is not the ideal situation but we did find our common grounds. When you have to organise a wedding in 2 weeks everybody starts compromising.

I’m not a massive believer in marriage. I’ve always looked at it as a social construct that people follow to continue the inheritance and the celebration as a way of connecting families as well as keeping in touch with your extended families. I’ve gone by months on months not seeing my extended family because there was no funeral or wedding or any sort of social gatherings that would bring us together. But that is one great thing about Nepalese weddings, they go on for ages and that is also the worst thing about it – it goes on for agesssss; my sister’s was five days to be exact, that our family was involved, she probably had a few more days in as the bride.

This is a part of the main wedding ceremonies. Photo credit : Namlo events

One of the reasons I’m writing this blog is because I attended a total of 3 wedding during my time in Nepal. I got severely drunk at two of them and I was an insider responsible for organising a lot of things in one of them, you could call me the “Maid of Honour” of this wedding. This series has a look into the core of these wedding and how all these shenanigans become a part of a culture that has been carried on for years and still has the importance it once held and the meaning behind these traditions.

Pets- allowed

Owning a pet in Sydney is close to a crime. It’s similar to being a sex offender; you have to declare that you have a pet and hope for the best. You can’t just abandon your pet in order for you to find a home so you’re stuck with Sydney’s few homeowners that allow pets. Unfortunately for me, nor do I own enough to afford high-end houses that allow pets and nor can I lie in an application saying that I don’t have a pet and just hide my little cat like he is an illegal immigrant. I bet if he was an illegal immigrant it would’ve been easier.

Searching for apartments has been a horrible struggle. Your search result goes from 500+ to a mere handful when you click the pets allowed filter and in today’s day and age, I don’t know what homeowners are scared of. Letting random humans stay in your apartment/ house seems scarier than letting a little pup or kitten stay. This struggle of finding a home for me and my pet definitely baffles me. Am I supposed to stick to not having a friend who greets me when I come home and makes my life 5000 times better or should I try to find a place out of the 50 pet-allowed properties, which might I add seem to be going off the shelves like they are free? The number of listings that I’ve been to where the inspection has been cancelled because it was leased is just ridiculous.

Humiliation is the word. How dare I have an animal that I care for and want to take with me. How dare I help out the RSPCA by adopting a furry friend and how dare you live out of home and dare to rent a pet-allowed apartment. I must be bonkers! 

Summative Entry – American Literature

America is a place that alludes me. It is a place of great diversity and strength but also a lot of bigotry and hate. America is known to be a place of dreams, where people get the opportunity to achieve things. A lot of big things have happened in America and a lot of big things are happening there now. It is amazing to learn a country’s history not only through history books but to break down each era through the literature and connect the events that were occurring and the corresponding literature that was being written.

This unit has been a wonderful journey, not only did I get to learn more about few of my favourite writes, but I also got the opportunity to discover connections between the artists and literature. This unit connected us with the rawness of Native American values and took us on a journey to rediscover slavery and its struggles. These blogs have allowed me to experience a journey and make me think outside the box. In these past 12 weeks, I’ve started questioning every source of information that I intake that could be influencing my decisions consciously or sub-consciously. I’ve always been spiritual but and loved nature but is it because of the literature I’ve read or is it because of my nature? Am I more open to the concept of immigration and things not having boundaries because I’m a post-modernist or because I’ve listened to The Beatles so many times that I’ve been conditioned in such a way? There are so many possibilities that make you question everything and these questions have widened my horizon of learning.

With the blogs, although the writing of blogs may seem to be more important, I’ve found the process of reviewing very helpful to not only the blogs but the readers as well. Reading other student’s blogs open you to a new perspective that is unique to their understanding and the events in life that has affected them. The ability to share our experiences and our understandings with each other not only allows us to expand our horizon but also gives us room to grow. Unfortunately, this is my last literature unit in my degree. But I definitely vouch to carry on my blog.

I would like to thank everyone who has taken the effort to review my blogs and I would like to thank Michael for encouraging us to blog and practice our writing outside of essays and exams.

Imagine

From today’s massive, subversive and powerfully creative world of the Beats and beyond which artist and/or writer inspired you most? Which unresolved question did they bring to stir your imagination? Which innovation in language, an image most struck your sense of what was powerful and new.

I have been a massive fan of The Beatles. The Beatles may have hit Nepal some off 30 years late, but I grew up listening to them. I still do listen to them; their songs soothe me and help me focus. Whenever I am anxious or my mind is wandering off, I listen to them. One of the things that have surprised me the most is connecting one of my favourite artists to a movement. And it is indeed amazing how perfectly it fits.

Artists are usually considered to be trendsetters but you take for granted how much of an impact they can have on the whole generations. One of the songs I would like to put forward is Imagine by John Lennon. Although this is not a Beatles song, John Lennon was one of the popular members of the group is accredited to have written many of their songs.

In this song, Lennon asks us to imagine how it would be to live life for now and not for what would happen in the later life. Imagine a world, where you are not governed by a religion, or a country state. Although it may sound too general, this is basically the post-modernist agenda. And this completely baffles me because I’ve listened to this song a million times without questioning the agenda of this song.

It is absolutely amazing, the things that you discover once you start connecting the dots.

 

Peer Review #8

This week, I’ll be reviewing Erin’s blog Dear Miss Slatery

Hi Erin,

I love your play of words on your blog title “whatalittime” !

This blog is very to the point and short. I both appreciate it and would’ve liked a bit more. I found one typo on this post. You should be able to find it when you go through it. This letter is very powerful and your use of language is commendable. I do encourage you to write something longer to express your emotions. Overall, I’m enjoying your blog.

Goodluck!
Prathu

Peer Review #7

This week I’ll be reviewing Stephan’s blog Robert Frost’s Belief of Poetry

Hi Stephan,

I’m loving the overall theme of your blog. You should definitely try adding more photos to make your blog more interactive.

You make some good points in your blog, but I think there are a lot of ideas floating on here. I had to go back and forth to read it to understand the point you were trying to. Overall you make some interesting points. I think adding pictures will help break up some dense parts of your argument and make it easier on the reader.

Keep up the good work.

Regards,
Prathu

Peer Review #6

This week I’m reviewing Naomi’s blog  5

Hi Naomi,

You have an absolutely beautiful blog. It’s simple and elegant.

The beginning of this post speaks volumes to me. “too many questions to ask than I have comments to make”. You’ve put together a literature students dilemmas in a sentence. Our forever dying desire to know why an author wrote what he wrote. Why some symphonies are so beautiful and why they make you tear up just with music. Absolutely love this blog and love the rest of the blogs as well.
Keep up the good work.

Regards,
Prathu

Wisdom

Do you share Robert Frost’s belief that “A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom…it runs a course of lucky events, and ends in a clarification of life.” “The Figure a Poem Makes” (250-251)? If possible try to explain in your own words what you understand by this statement. Can you give an example of a poem you have read that does just this?

I find poems an indulgence. I don’t usually think of poems when I think about studying literature to find wisdom. The first ones that come to my mind are novels, essays, plays and maybe then poems. I do share Robert Frost’s belief that “A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom…it runs a course of lucky events, and ends in a clarification of life.” “The Figure a Poem Makes” (250-251). Every poem I’ve read has been as a form of pleasure, and every poem that I’ve read has left me with a little bit of wisdom that I would’ve never thought of. One nof these poem’s that I have read that does this is a poem by Rupi Kaur, published in her book, Milk and honey.

This poem gives me so much strength every time I read it. It reminds me of all the things that I’ve gone through on my own and how much stronger I’ve emerged after every experience. And I don’t think this wisdom can be passed on by any novel, book, or essay as beautifully as it has been portrayed by this short poem.

Peer Review #4

This week I’m reviewing Raina’s blog 3

Hi Raina,

Love this post. Looking at Emily Dickinson as an outgoing person is definitely brave but not wrong. I do agree with you in some aspects. If she wasn’t outgoing in some ways you wouldn’t be able to send a strand of your hair to someone through the mail. She is definitely out there and her writing from a woman of her time does give me the courage to speak out my words and gives me the strength to experiment.

Your blog looks beautiful. Just a suggestion, I think it would look nice if Emily’s photo was on the top, rather than the bottom. I didn’t see the photo until I scrolled down to comment. I think it’d be a good intro if you had the picture on the top.

Overall, fantastic job!

Regards,
Prathu

Color-line

DU BOIS “The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line”. What do you think Du Bois means? (p.885)

 

“Abolish Race Hatred” “Smash the Color Line” Communist Party cartoon from 1936

 

 

“The problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line” I believe that Du Bois is referring to the obvious racial discrimination that the was prevalent during that time and even today to some extent. Du Bois elaborates how he looks into Not only does this discrimination create a “hate-culture” it also risks the success rate of people who are discriminated. A recent example of this is the 2016 presidential election of the United States of America. A lot of racial dispute arose from this election.  The color-line Du Bois mentions is the racial profiling some people face or the stereotypes imposed on people just because of their background. Unfortunately, the problem of the Twenty-first Century is also the problem of the color-line.