16th september 2011

16^th September 2011-09-27

We started our class with listing our privileges and talents. We directly did not discuss what privileges and talents we had listed for ourselves. We again talked about our consensus and non consensus reality which opened our discussion to RANKS. What is rank? We had many opinions over the same. Some said that it is in relation to someone else; some said it relates to power. This led to jotting down the various roles we play in our daily lives and tried giving them ranks. We realized that some ranks are earned while some are unearned. The best example which was discussed was that of a girl becoming eligible for getting married. The roles she needs to play for fitting into that particular role. Earned ranks & Unearned ranks--Earned ranks were education, domestic activities etc., while some unearned ranks were astrology, genes etc. Some were very subjective which were earned or unearned depending upon the circumstance. Through this exercise we also realized how we ‘objectify’ ourselves. How we mould ourselves according to the needs of others. Objectification- looking at our nature, personality, values etc.

               We objectified ourselves under various categories like social, economic, physical, educational, psychological, and spiritual. We were then asked to revisit our talents and privileges we listed and classify them according to the above mentioned ranks. When we did that we saw a common pattern. Most of the things we listed were very much related to our personality, nature and psychological side of us. We also discussed how a person is larger than the role. Sometimes people are unconscious of the ranks which irritates others. The example was, a person is not fluent in speaking, in spite of knowing the fact, people are ignoring it and forcing the person to speak.

               All the different roles we play also suggest how many different perceptions we have. How things cannot be looked from one point of view every single time. What is right in one country might not be appropriate in another. The best example is the clothes we wear in India and anywhere abroad; people have different opinions about it. The idea of this exercise was that we should not be rigid and should not come to a conclusion because what might seem right today might not be the case tomorrow. It also told us that our work should always have different perceptions which could always add layers to our work and make it interesting. In every class we are asked to speak for ourselves, in a louder voice and connecting to our body which we always tend to forget.

We ended the class by watching a Ted Talk by Raghava.