tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76339863088730291302024-03-08T02:39:52.829-08:00Why(ne)me?!!!!!!Why mEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130223653522524416noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7633986308873029130.post-77021131745592163102009-03-08T00:31:00.000-08:002009-03-09T09:43:23.602-07:00Hunting women and gathering men<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://sexyarchaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/sexy-archaeologist-costume.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 325px; height: 585px;" src="http://sexyarchaeology.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/sexy-archaeologist-costume.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt;text-align:justify"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;">The struggle for some sort of comfortable social equation has long been existent between men and women. A man and a woman could belong to the same race, culture, social group and maybe even family yet there seems such strong differences between us. The way we think, feel express and most importantly I think how we treat each other. While googling for women in archaeology I came <o:p>across these two pics</o:p></span></span></p></div><div><img src="http://www.anthroblogs.org/nomadicthoughts/archives/cavewoman.jpg" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 306px; height: 480px;" border="0" alt="" /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;color:black;">What is interesting is that both the woman archaeologist( yes the woman on the right is supposed to be an archaeologist!) and the prehistoric woman are both dressed similarly!!! Is it irony, co incidence or male perception?? or just my probably biased view point?? Could be all of the above but none the less the male perception of women in any given society has always coloured a societies perception of women!! So if some part of a society sees women as scantily clothed objects of their <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>sexual fantasy then the depiction of both a prehistoric woman and a modern day archaeologist would be much the same I suppose. Though realistically speaking I do not think either looked/look remotely like the above pictures.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p> Which brings me to the much spoken about "man the hunter and woman the gatherer" debate : D I am proud to be a women and I believe that separate ladies queues are not any reflection on emancipation of women, but I am no feminist....How much ever men may spread the rumor that they were (and are!?) the ones who were doing the hunting and therefore of greater importance to the survival of that society, gathering was no easy task I'm sure :D. Though view points differ drastically with respect to the two theories, "<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;">male-centered scenario did not go unchal</span></span>lenged. Ignoring females or relegating them to a definitely inferior role <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;">in human behavioral evolution drew sharp criticism from several quarters." </span></span><span style="color:black;">(<a href="http://dml.cmnh.org/1995Aug/msg00025.html">http://dml.cmnh.org/1995Aug/msg00025.html)</a></span></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p> Which is definitely a good think, considering some of the previously thought scenarios seem ridiculous (eg. <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;">So, while the males were out hunting, developing all their</span></span> skills, learning to cooperate, inventing language, inventing art, creating tools and weapons, the poor dependent females were sitting back at the home base having one child after another and waiting for the males to bring home the bacon. While this reconstruction is certainly ingenious, it gives one the decided impression that only half the species--the male half--did any evolving. In addition to containing a number of logical gaps, the argument becomes somewhat doubtful in the light of modern knowledge of genetics and primate <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color:black;">behavior </span></span>) </o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p> If you are wondering what these two theories are all about, here is a short summary. <span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;color:black;">"</span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;color:#333333;">The "man the hunter" model stresses that primitive males hunted for meat and provided food and protection for their mates and children who stayed at the home base. The competing hypothesis suggests that major food of early human beings consisted of plants, obtained by women with the use of tools and shared with their offspring. The contrast focuses on how female behavior is conceptualized: as mobile and active or as sedentary and passive. Responses to both theories, however, depend on which anthropological evidence is used, how it is interpreted, what animal models are used, and which behaviors form the starting point. "What Happened to Woman the Gatherer?,<a href="http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/Home.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=ERICSearchResult&_urlType=action&newSearch=true&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=au&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=%22Zihlman+Adrienne+L.%22" title="New Search for Author Zihlman, Adrienne L."><span style="color:#1E66AC;">Zihlman, Adrienne L.</span></a> Sadly I could only find an abstract of this article, it sounds very interesting and I would have loved to have been able to read the rest. </span></span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p> <span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;color:black;">And then I came across an excavation where remains of warrior women were found, “</span><span style="font-family:Georgia;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;color:black;">women known to ancient Greek authors as Amazons were long thought to be creatures of myth. Now 50 ancient burial mounds near the town of <st1:city st="on">Pokrovka</st1:city>, <st1:country-region st="on">Russia</st1:country-region>, near the <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">Kazakhstan</st1:place></st1:country-region> border, have yielded skeletons of women buried with weapons, suggesting the Greek tales may have had some basis in fact. Nomads known as the Sauromatians buried their dead here beginning ca. 600 B.C.; according to Herodotus the Sauromatians were descendants of the Amazons and the Scythians, who lived north of the <st1:place st="on">Sea of Azov</st1:place>.”</span><b><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:#666633;"> Warrior Women of <st1:place st="on">Eurasia</st1:place></span></b><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;"> Volume 50 Number 1, January/February 1997, by Jeannine </span><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;">Davis-Kimball</span></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p> <img src="http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:_wG2D4BudPq8mM:http://www.archaeology.org/9701/abstracts/thumbnails/sarmatians.gif" style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 72px; height: 68px;" border="0" alt="" /></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><i><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><o:p> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; "><i><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Bronze arrowheads (1), iron sword (2), fossilized </span></i><span style="font-family:Georgia;">Gryphaea<i> shells (3), and unworked stone in shape of</i>Gryphaea<i> shell (4) were found in a young female warrior's burial. (Jeannine Davis-Kimball)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 51); font-family:Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-family:Georgia;"><a href="http://images.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.archaeology.org/9701/abstracts/thumbnails/sarmatians.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.archaeology.org/9701/abstracts/sarmatians.html&usg=__i1TO2HQ9tyUqNq2GlbOpo1dTvUo=&h=72&w=76&sz=6&hl=en&start=1&sig2=q0qGsd1CQewr0Cbf71BOwg&um=1&tbnid=_wG2D4BudPq8mM:&tbnh=68&tbnw=72&ei=cOWzSfPoKIbi6QPeraToAg&prev=/images%3Fq%3DWarrior%2BWomen%2Bof%2BEurasia%2BVolume%2B50%2BNumber%2B1,%2BJanuary/February%2B1997,%2Bby%2BJeannine%2BDavis-Kimball%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1G1GGLQ_ENIN291%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1">http://www.archaeology.org/9701/abstracts/thumbnails/sarmatians</a></span></span></i></span></span></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><i><span style="font-family:Georgia;"><o:p> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; ">How cool is that!!!? I would rather believe is the existence of Amazon women than the disregard with which prehistoric women are sometimes depicted!! Any kind of generalization however always seems to be a mistake and I think it’s the same in this case. Just as there are men who may not fit the general concept of a “prehistoric man” (prehistoric man in this case with all their baggage of apeishness ;)), I am sure there are women in every culture, period, generation, century (you get the drift) who were and still are making hand axes and hunting. This is in no way a reflection on the superiority of hunting, in fact how can hunting be considered any sign of greatness!!?? It is a means to an end..survival!! And each person man or woman I am sure has his or her own method of surviving whether is is hunting or gathering….</span></o:p></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style=" ;font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div><div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/barddiva/Paleo/comic1.gif"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 216px; height: 273px;" src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/barddiva/Paleo/comic1.gif" border="0" alt="" /></a><div>http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v44/barddiva/Paleo/comic1.gif</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div></div></div>Why mEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130223653522524416noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7633986308873029130.post-14625900510439499592009-01-30T09:58:00.000-08:002009-10-11T07:20:36.153-07:00clive my hero?<p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;"></span></p><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FCdMVGmp1aI/SYgIMV2sZcI/AAAAAAAAAO8/9K1VjBj7Lgw/s1600-h/Clive_House_Fort_St_George%5B1%5D.jpg"></a></span></p><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;">This week I had the opportunity to work on a project at the Clive building at the secretariat ie Fort St George. The work in itself is pain staking but my god that building makes it so worth the while, every time I get a couple of minutes off I wander around. It is like a maze, and each room has some curious feature or the other. A courtyard which is overlooked by a verandah, huge windows which open in strange ways, floors with glass cubes embedded in them that allow light in, rickety small stairs, huge big stairs and so much more. However the rooms are also in the process of being conserved and renovated, so many of them have no roof, some no floor and some are used for purposes they surely were not intended for (like the toilets! ugh!!!) <o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p>One day me and a couple of the boys who work there as research scholars finished the days work and were walking back to the office and we saw a huge hall with a wooden floor, huge pillars (very huggable :) And as I was thinking aloud, I asked them what they thought it had been used for. Promptly in all grave ernestness one guy said Clives bedroom of course! We stood there considering the room for a few minutes and then the other boy said why would he have needed such a big room, to sleep!! I thought it was funny but definitely it seemed nothing like a bedroom, but who knows what these strange colonial rulers thought of as a suitable bed room really!! </o:p></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p>So the next day I met one of officials at the fort museum and I asked him about "Clive's bedroom", he said it was a ball room!! ahhh now that makes sense, I had imagined it as somewhere where parties could happen…… And then I asked him if there were any books on the Clive building, what the rooms were used for, how the people livedetc. He said that there was too little information available on the building to write a book, we only know it was Clive’s house for a few years from a letter that claims he hadn't paid his rent :P some things don't change I guess. He also said Clive’s son lived there as well and it originally belonged to an Armenian merchant. Now what was an Armenian merchant doing amongst the British and the French I thought? Yes I am ignorant about the colonial history of <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>, all I know is that we got our independence form the British after much struggle…</o:p></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p>While talking about the building he also told me that Clive was considered a hero by the British, I said but he isn’t a hero to us is he??? And he said, no he can be your hero if you want, he is a part of history after all..... So true isn’t that? What does it matter if he was one of the colonialists subjugating us??? I looked up on Wikipedia (cannot live without it I think) and it was all mixed. There is no hero or villain; it is history, a man who was not born with a silver spoon, who landed in a small village in <st1:country-region st="on"><st1:place st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> (madras) at the age of 18, who at 25 grew famous for his military exploits even though untrained! And who made it through life and supported not only himself but his siblings and a certain <span class="apple-style-span">Major Lawrence, the commanding officer who had encouraged his military genius.</span></o:p></span></p><br /><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p>I wish I could actually take you through the Clive building, through its many strange and lovely rooms, and that you could imagine with me all the good, bad, sad and happy memories those rooms hold, which we will never know: D you may think I sound all stupidly romantic about an old building. But just imagine all the people who worked there, the cooks, the sweepers, the maids, the women and men in the house. Maybe some of them had a horrible life, maybe many of them hated the building and yet I want to just go back in time one day no maybe just an hour. How I would love to see how much of what I have ima<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FCdMVGmp1aI/SYgIMV2sZcI/AAAAAAAAAO8/9K1VjBj7Lgw/s1600-h/Clive_House_Fort_St_George%5B1%5D.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 249px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298493969719387586" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_FCdMVGmp1aI/SYgIMV2sZcI/AAAAAAAAAO8/9K1VjBj7Lgw/s320/Clive_House_Fort_St_George%5B1%5D.jpg" /></a>gined is a reality… fanciful huh?? :D <span style="mso-spacerun: yes"></span>I guess it’s not Clive who makes history so beautiful for me but all those people who were nobodies in the larger scheme of things but yet each had their own lives, memories and emotions!! </o:p></span></p><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Georgia;color:black;"><o:p>By popular demand have added this Picture, not a great one,but it does show some of the brilliant windows (<a href="http://gibberandsqueak.blogspot.com/">http://gibberandsqueak.blogspot.com/</a>)</o:p></span></p>Why mEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130223653522524416noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7633986308873029130.post-14122282601374333002008-12-17T01:53:00.000-08:002008-12-18T10:03:39.290-08:00The past, present or future?<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">I recently came across an article titled "Museum should leave bodies to rest in peace" on </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">IrishTimes</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">.com, December 2008. The article was about archaeologists having dug up over 460 bodies at a burial site called </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">Scaruppa</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"> and the tug of war between the people who want these</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"> bodies to be returned</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"> to consecrated ground and the museum which wanted to hold on to the bodies for possible future research. What I found interesting was how important it was to these people that the bodies be laid to rest. It seemed as if it was their close relative whose body was being besmirched and not allowed to be sanctified.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">In Indian, I feel that we are far less emotionally invested in own dead ancestors. Why are we so indifferent towards our dead forefathers. Why is it that the Irish feel so religiously and or superstitiously concerned about their ancestor while we feel nothing, after all there is just as much chance of me being related to a megalithic man as the Irish have to be related to those buried at </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">Scaruppa</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"> burial ground.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">Two thoughts that occurred to me were that maybe poverty and other social issues is the reason for our antipathy. In which case how do other countries with similar causes for antipathy react towards their own ancestor?!! And secondly it may be that it is mostly the more recent social history that actually makes our hearts beat faster.... We want to know how Hitler died or we feel horrified at the mass burials of the world war.. Which is when it struck me that this is not about dead bodies, religion or social history, to me its about why do we not care about our own past </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">ie</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"> our archaeology?? </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">So I googled the </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">CMDA</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"> (Chennai </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">Metrapolital</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"> Development Authority) and realised that there is no mention of archaeological sites in the website at all let alone assessing, preserving or conserving them. I know for a fact that there are many many archaeological sites around Chennai which are being replaced on a daily basis by IT companies!! So then I (being suddenly in a very Sherlock Holmes mood) googled to check out the Bristol (the first city outside India that came to mind)local planning information, there was a specific clause for archaeological site, its assessment, preservation etc.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">Next I googled Uganda (again the first African and hence "Developing Country" which I could think of) and found an article on </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">allAfrica</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">.com about lack of money in planning the city. There was no thought of archaeological sites since bigger issues like slum control was taking precedence. Understandable.... and thus we come a whole circle, we have slums, we are a developing country....so therefore is it totally understandable why we need not think about our archaeological sites and concentrate instead on trying to feed, clothe and educate every Indian if at all we are trying to do that at all.</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">Even I, who am blinded by my love of our archaeological sites cannot dispute this, the people of the present come first before the old buildings, broken pottery and bones of the dead... Yes but does this mean we should not feel connected to out past?? We are running at lightning speed towards our future, full of It companies and a shining India. And in this world wind of coping with the present and preparing for our glorious future we have no time and energy to remember our past?? Yet we do have the time, MONEY and energy to watch </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">Jodha</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"> Akbar and debate on the name </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">Jodha</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">! Should I be satisfied to know that we Indians spare a couple of hours to think about our ancestors even if it is through a </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">bollywood</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"> flick?</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">However something that keeps intruding my thoughts is the inextinguishable </span></span><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';">suspicion</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"> that however rich we may be we just do not care about the past, be it the bodies of our dead ancestors or their mud houses the way some other countries may...the body is not what is important it is the soul...similarly to us its not the physical remains of our ancestors that are important but their souls...which is not something we can conserve and preserve so why worry?!!!! After all we still do have mud houses so the soul of my ancestor lives on in every mud house??!</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new';"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 18px;font-family:'courier new';"><br /></span></div>Why mEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130223653522524416noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7633986308873029130.post-11326592666984234692008-12-14T00:40:00.000-08:002009-02-07T07:07:56.408-08:00Hathor: Mistress of Turquoise<div><br /></div><div align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Every profession has a stereotype, like India is for the IT industry (I guess), Egypt is to Archaeology!!! However it has never been my dream to visit Egypt, and the only aspect of Egyptian history that truly captured my imagination was </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 5px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 5px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Akhenaten</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> and his failed attempt at introducing a new religion...But this is probably because of my limited knowledge of Egyptian history. Akhenaten happens to have slipped past the shroud of my ignorance largely due to National Geography. However I found myself in Egypt on my way to present a paper at a conference a few weeks back. I cannot say it was love at first sight, but I can definitely say I felt quite at home. It was a lot like India except less colourful. Amongst the similarities I found that women in both our societies are very clear cut on the outside about their values,culture and religion yet ambiguous as you dig deeper. Most of them wear the Hijab which the Wikipedia describes as </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"modest dress for women". I remember meeting this very sweet woman at the hotel I stayed at, whose clothes completely covered her from head to toe, yet it was so torn in places that I could see more of her body than any average "western woman". While travelling by bus in Chennai you often see women again very modestly clothed yet whose blouse maybe so torn thus....strange isn't it how poverty is the same irrespective of caste, creed or religion...</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><div align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div></span></span><div align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The men in Egypt also remind me a lot of Indian men, any woman in India I am sure has been groped at least once in her life time...I am sure that any Indian woman visiting Egypt has also been groped at least once!!!!I It seems that like many men in Kerala, who seem to have no problem ogling women from outside Kerala, while their "own" women are strictly out of (ogling)</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> bounds, similarly Egyptian men seem to have no issues flirting (though I have to add some of them flirt in the most amusing and harmless fashion) with any woman from outside their own country.</span></span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span"></span></span><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FCdMVGmp1aI/SY2XL3ooPGI/AAAAAAAAAPE/VfMekYLa9tM/s1600-h/P1010046.JPG" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="text-align: center;text-decoration: underline; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_FCdMVGmp1aI/SY2XL3ooPGI/AAAAAAAAAPE/VfMekYLa9tM/s320/P1010046.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5300058566653656162" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; white-space: pre; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; "><div style="text-align: center;">Ruined temple of Hathor<br /></div></span><div align="justify" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">The biggest difference I saw though was that while we are still so connected to our past and culture the Egyptians themselves seem so disconnected. If I were to visit the Big Temple at Tanjore, I would definitely feel connected with the pooja, the people, the noise,smell and sounds of the temple. However one of the Egyptians who was with us when we visited the Pyramids said he felt no connection to the pyramids, and that most Egyptians probably do not. Which is totally understandable, there remains no connection between the pyramid building, </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Hathor praying (who is amongst other things </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="LINE-HEIGHT: normal; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">the Mistress of Turquoise, goddess of love, music etc)</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="LINE-HEIGHT: 19px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> Egyptians of long long ago to the Islamic, Arabic speaking Egyptians of today....</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><div align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><br /></span></span></div></span><div align="justify"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Yet every Egyptian I met knew of India, whether he or she was educated or not, poor or rich..They thought of Indian as an ancient civilization with beautiful women and the land of Amitabh bachans!!! Visiting Egypt maybe every archaeologists dream but for me it was such a wistful experience, the old world and all its charm...So many times I have thought that because in India traditions, language, people and their practices of the present and past is so connected there is little we have to make believe and imagine. I am so glad that it is that way now...while I remain a huge believer in imagination I realise that to be able to understand some traditions we have to know of its existence, not just have physical remains to create an image of what it could have been like. I now believe that living traditions act as a boost and not a deterrent to imagining the past. To be able to imagine priests of the Chola period doing </span></span><em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">poojai</span></span></em><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'courier new';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"> at the Tanjore temple I can always visit any temple in South India...However I have no such crutch to help me imagine the processions that took place around the temple of Hathor...Its hard to decide which is better to let my imagination run wild or have some way of confining it to a semblance of reality.......</span></span></span></div>Why mEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14130223653522524416noreply@blogger.com4