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THE CONTEXT
'Nation' is one of the most powerful ideas in the modern world. Everyone is supposed to have a nationality, to 'belong' to a country. Being without a country, or being in a country where one does not properly belong, makes one vulnerable in consequential ways. It generates the 'longing' for a nation where one does belong--a nation of one's own.
Nation or country is often the first idea of an abstract community, of an abstract social space beyond the sphere of one's immediate family and friends and the confines of one's home and locality, that we are exposed to. The biggest public festivals that are not attached to any religion are celebrations of landmark events and important people in the life of the nation. The visual data of a nation's territorial map, the colors and symbols on its flag, are tattooed into our consciousness from an early age. History, which we first encounter as a subject in our school textbook, is told as the history of a nation. Prime time news is presented as the news of the nation. Consumer products are advertised and sold using the name of the nation. Songs are written, films are made in service of the nation. Disloyalty to the nation is deemed a far greater transgression than disloyalty to one's friends or partners. Indeed, in the modern world, the nation/country--India, in our case--suffuses our sense of self and belonging, of being and knowing.
Consequently, all of us, through the process of growing up, of becoming socialized into the nation as individual citizens or subjects (more on this next week), develop over time a range of emotional ties with the nation, its pasts and the present. Even when these ties are not all positive, they are, nonetheless, quite intense and meaningful. This week, as we begin the journey of Understanding India at APU, this is what we will first focus upon--our personal idea of India. This will be the point of departure--the raw material that we will work with and upon--for the course. At the end of which, we will revisit the ideas we personally began with and vet them the engagements and learnings in UI1.
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PREPARING FOR THe WEEK
There are no readings assigned for this week. The first meeting of the course will be spent on introductions, going through the syllabus, discussing the learning objectives of the course, and a short writing exercise. Your instructor will explain the purpose of and provide you with the directions for this exercise.
The second meeting of the week will be spent on an activity through which we will explore our respective personal ideas of India. The activity requires each student to present before her peers two images--one of 'home' and another of 'India'. You have full freedom to interpret and understand these terms in your own way and make your image selections accordingly. Once you have made your selections, you will have to upload the images on Moodle prior to the class. And when the class meets, you will have to speak for a couple of minutes on the images you have selected.
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NOTE: Some instructors might choose do the 'images of India' activity as group-work. In which case, the each group will have to come up with a set of images and/or a video clip, that its member agree are representative of 'India'.
what to look out for
As your peers present their images, listen carefully. Do you notice any patterns in the kind of images that students have selected? If so, what conclusions can you draw from the pattern(s)? What does it tells us about notions of 'home' one one hand, and of 'India' on the other?
From the in-class activities and discussions this week:
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you will get a visual reference for (i) the place that each student in the class calls 'home'; and (ii) what each one or a group of your peers understand as quintessentially representative of 'India'.
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you will gain an appreciation the patterns of diversity and similarity that exist in class with regard to the above.
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Most importantly, this week's classes will prompt you to reflect on the overlap and the distinction between notions 'home' and the 'nation'.
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