HISTORY
Hi students.
Next week, both groups will have an evaluated analysis of the movie watched in class.WATER
Here some facts that you may find interesting
https://youtu.be/https://youtu.be/vAiv6BNeRb0
WATER by Deepa Mehta (2005)
Water is as poignant and moving as the other two, and as controversial in India. Set in 1938 in the holy city of Benares, India, it focuses on the deprivations experienced by Hindu widows, still an issue today in a country with 33 million widows. When Mehta started making this movie in Benares, Hindu fundamentalists protested, claiming that the film was anti-Hindu. She was forced to shut down the production and start over a year later in Sri Lanka.
The Manusmriti, an ancient Hindu text, says that in life a woman is half her husband and if he dies, she is half dead. A widow has three choices: she can throw herself on his funeral pyre and die with him; she can marry his brother, if one is available; or she can live out the rest of her days in isolation and seclusion. If she chooses the latter, the ascetic path, she enters an ashram, shaves her head, wears white as a sign of mourning, and tries to atone for her husband's death.
In the film, Chuyia (Sarala), an adorable eight-year-old, has just been widowed. Her marriage, which she doesn't even remember, was arranged by her family for financial reasons. But no matter what her circumstances, Hindu law says she must now leave society, and so her parents take her to a decrepit ashram where widows of all ages live together. The little girl's hair is clipped, and she is dressed in a white robe. She sleeps on a thin mat in a room with older and infirm women whose lonely lives have been spent in renunciation. They sing religious hymns every day and beg on the streets for money. People avoid them like the plague; many Hindus believe that if they bump into a widow, they will be polluted and must do rituals of purification.
Although Chuyia wants to return to her mother and doesn't really understand what has happened, she begins to adapt to the dreary rhythms of her days. Shakuntula (Seema Biswas), a devout Hindu, takes the little girl under her wings. Chuyia's heart goes out to Patiraji, an old crone whose fondest memory is of eating sweets at her wedding when she was a child. She tells her, "Life is so disappointing."
Then Chuyia meets Kalyani (Lisa Ray), a beautiful young widow who has been forced into prostitution by the head of the ashram, Madhumati (Manorma). She is the only one who has been allowed to keep her long hair, and the other widows shun her. But the money she brings in keeps the place afloat. The eunuch Gulabi (Raghuveer Yadov) regularly takes her to the homes of rich Hindu gentry, many of whom are married. Kalyani befriends Chuyia and invites her to visit the second floor of the ashram and play with her dog.
Through Chuyia, Kalyani meets Narayan (John Abraham), a law student from a wealthy Indian family who is an ardent believer in the civil disobedience campaign of Mahatma Gandhi. This religious leader has begun to speak against the harsh treatment of women and the caste system, angering Hindu fundamentalists. But to the widows and other outcasts, he is a beacon of hope.
Narayan falls in love with Kalyani who yearns for a lover who will respect her. She sees herself as a lotus untouched by the filthy water it grows in and dares to imagine a better future. Their romance plays out against the backdrop of the rain water and the sacred water of the Ganges where people bath, do rituals, and send the ashes of the dead. Shakuntala is one of those who spends most of her time by the Ganges. When she learns from her guru a law has been passed allowing widows to remarry, she realizes that there might be a future for Chuyia other than her constricted and sad life.
In an interview, Deepa Mehta stated: "Water can flow or water can be stagnant. I set the film in the 1930s but the people in the film live their lives as it was prescribed by a religious text more than 2,000 years old. Even today, people follow these texts, which is one reason why there continue to be millions of widows. To me, that is a kind of stagnant water. I think traditions shouldn't be that rigid. They should flow like the replenishing kind of water."
Water is one of the best movies of the year. It depicts the terrible damage that can be done to the human spirit when chauvinistic religious rules and texts are treated as sacrosanct. The inhumane treatment of widows in India by Hindu fundamentalists is similar to the subjugation of women by fundamentalist Christians, Jews, and Muslims elsewhere. It is appalling to see religion used to deny the dignity and rights of women. Deepa Mehta has done all women an immense service by making this extraordinary film about the liberation their sisters yearn for with their hearts, minds, bodies, and souls.
Consider
1. Summary of the movie.2. Main characters (description, analysis, meaning)3. Hinduism and its symbols (sacred cow, swastika, lotus flower, water, holiday of colors PALI) Meaning and importance.4, India under British domination 5. Gandhi / as influential factor for a change = freedom6. Relationship between religion and life
Water in Hinduism has a special place because it is believed to have spiritually cleansing powers. To Hindus all water is sacred, especially rivers, and there are seven sacred rivers, namely the Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Sarasvati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri. Although Hinduism encompasses so many different beliefs among those that most Hindus do share is the importance of striving to attain purity and avoiding pollution. This relates to both physical cleanliness and spiritual well-being.
Next week, both groups will have an evaluated analysis of the movie watched in class.WATER
Here some facts that you may find interesting
https://youtu.be/https://youtu.be/vAiv6BNeRb0
WATER by Deepa Mehta (2005)
Water is as poignant and moving as the other two, and as controversial in India. Set in 1938 in the holy city of Benares, India, it focuses on the deprivations experienced by Hindu widows, still an issue today in a country with 33 million widows. When Mehta started making this movie in Benares, Hindu fundamentalists protested, claiming that the film was anti-Hindu. She was forced to shut down the production and start over a year later in Sri Lanka.
The Manusmriti, an ancient Hindu text, says that in life a woman is half her husband and if he dies, she is half dead. A widow has three choices: she can throw herself on his funeral pyre and die with him; she can marry his brother, if one is available; or she can live out the rest of her days in isolation and seclusion. If she chooses the latter, the ascetic path, she enters an ashram, shaves her head, wears white as a sign of mourning, and tries to atone for her husband's death.
In the film, Chuyia (Sarala), an adorable eight-year-old, has just been widowed. Her marriage, which she doesn't even remember, was arranged by her family for financial reasons. But no matter what her circumstances, Hindu law says she must now leave society, and so her parents take her to a decrepit ashram where widows of all ages live together. The little girl's hair is clipped, and she is dressed in a white robe. She sleeps on a thin mat in a room with older and infirm women whose lonely lives have been spent in renunciation. They sing religious hymns every day and beg on the streets for money. People avoid them like the plague; many Hindus believe that if they bump into a widow, they will be polluted and must do rituals of purification.
Although Chuyia wants to return to her mother and doesn't really understand what has happened, she begins to adapt to the dreary rhythms of her days. Shakuntula (Seema Biswas), a devout Hindu, takes the little girl under her wings. Chuyia's heart goes out to Patiraji, an old crone whose fondest memory is of eating sweets at her wedding when she was a child. She tells her, "Life is so disappointing."
Then Chuyia meets Kalyani (Lisa Ray), a beautiful young widow who has been forced into prostitution by the head of the ashram, Madhumati (Manorma). She is the only one who has been allowed to keep her long hair, and the other widows shun her. But the money she brings in keeps the place afloat. The eunuch Gulabi (Raghuveer Yadov) regularly takes her to the homes of rich Hindu gentry, many of whom are married. Kalyani befriends Chuyia and invites her to visit the second floor of the ashram and play with her dog.
Through Chuyia, Kalyani meets Narayan (John Abraham), a law student from a wealthy Indian family who is an ardent believer in the civil disobedience campaign of Mahatma Gandhi. This religious leader has begun to speak against the harsh treatment of women and the caste system, angering Hindu fundamentalists. But to the widows and other outcasts, he is a beacon of hope.
Narayan falls in love with Kalyani who yearns for a lover who will respect her. She sees herself as a lotus untouched by the filthy water it grows in and dares to imagine a better future. Their romance plays out against the backdrop of the rain water and the sacred water of the Ganges where people bath, do rituals, and send the ashes of the dead. Shakuntala is one of those who spends most of her time by the Ganges. When she learns from her guru a law has been passed allowing widows to remarry, she realizes that there might be a future for Chuyia other than her constricted and sad life.
In an interview, Deepa Mehta stated: "Water can flow or water can be stagnant. I set the film in the 1930s but the people in the film live their lives as it was prescribed by a religious text more than 2,000 years old. Even today, people follow these texts, which is one reason why there continue to be millions of widows. To me, that is a kind of stagnant water. I think traditions shouldn't be that rigid. They should flow like the replenishing kind of water."
Water is one of the best movies of the year. It depicts the terrible damage that can be done to the human spirit when chauvinistic religious rules and texts are treated as sacrosanct. The inhumane treatment of widows in India by Hindu fundamentalists is similar to the subjugation of women by fundamentalist Christians, Jews, and Muslims elsewhere. It is appalling to see religion used to deny the dignity and rights of women. Deepa Mehta has done all women an immense service by making this extraordinary film about the liberation their sisters yearn for with their hearts, minds, bodies, and souls.
Consider
1. Summary of the movie.2. Main characters (description, analysis, meaning)3. Hinduism and its symbols (sacred cow, swastika, lotus flower, water, holiday of colors PALI) Meaning and importance.4, India under British domination 5. Gandhi / as influential factor for a change = freedom6. Relationship between religion and life
Hinduism
Water in Hinduism has a special place because it is believed to have spiritually cleansing powers. To Hindus all water is sacred, especially rivers, and there are seven sacred rivers, namely the Ganges, Yamuna, Godavari, Sarasvati, Narmada, Sindhu and Kaveri. Although Hinduism encompasses so many different beliefs among those that most Hindus do share is the importance of striving to attain purity and avoiding pollution. This relates to both physical cleanliness and spiritual well-being.
Pilgrimage is very important to Hindus. Holy places are usually located on the banks of rivers, coasts, seashores and mountains. Sites of convergence, between land and river or two, or even
better three, rivers, carry special significance and are specially sacred. Sacred rivers are thought to be a great equalizer. In the Ganges the pure are made even more pure and the impure have their pollution removed if only temporarily. In the sacred water distinctions of caste are supposed to count for nothing, as all sins fall away. Kumbhamela is a pilgrimage of Hindu devotees and is held every three years at four different places in turn - Hardwar, Nasik, Prayaga and Ujjain. These places are believed to be where drops of amrta - the nectar of immortality - fell to earth during a heavenly conflict.
better three, rivers, carry special significance and are specially sacred. Sacred rivers are thought to be a great equalizer. In the Ganges the pure are made even more pure and the impure have their pollution removed if only temporarily. In the sacred water distinctions of caste are supposed to count for nothing, as all sins fall away. Kumbhamela is a pilgrimage of Hindu devotees and is held every three years at four different places in turn - Hardwar, Nasik, Prayaga and Ujjain. These places are believed to be where drops of amrta - the nectar of immortality - fell to earth during a heavenly conflict.
The Ganges river is the most important of the sacred rivers. Its waters are used in puja (worship) and if possible a sip is given to the dying. It is believed that those who bathe in the Ganges and those who leave some part of themselves (hair, bone etc) on the left bank will attain Svarga (the paradise of Indra). The river is said to flow from the toe of Vishnu to be spread into the world through the hair of Shiva.
Funeral grounds are always located near a river. Sometimes at the funeral a small hole is drilled in an earthen pot, which is then filled with water. As the son of the deceased walks around the burning funeral pyre with the pot, dripping water forms a limiting line to prevent the soul from escaping back into the earth as a ghost. When the heat of the pyre cracks the skull of the corpse, the mourners bathe in the river and return home. On the third day after the cremation the ashes are collected and, on or after the tenth day they are cast into a holy river.
For Hindus, morning cleansing with water is a basic obligation. Tarpana is the point at which the worshipper makes a cup with his hands and pours the water back into the river reciting mantras. 
After sipping some water, he may then apply the distinguishing mark of his sampradaya (tradition), and say the morning prayer, samdhya. Sodhana is Hindu purification and is necessary for different reasons and at different levels. Physical purification is a part of daily ritual which may, in the case of sadhus (Hindu holy people who renounce the world seeking Brahman), be very elaborate. Sodhana is also necessary if caste rules have been broken, for example if someone drinks from the same vessel as a member of a lower caste, and before puja. Every temple has a pond near it and devotees are supposed to take a bath before entering the temple.
After sipping some water, he may then apply the distinguishing mark of his sampradaya (tradition), and say the morning prayer, samdhya. Sodhana is Hindu purification and is necessary for different reasons and at different levels. Physical purification is a part of daily ritual which may, in the case of sadhus (Hindu holy people who renounce the world seeking Brahman), be very elaborate. Sodhana is also necessary if caste rules have been broken, for example if someone drinks from the same vessel as a member of a lower caste, and before puja. Every temple has a pond near it and devotees are supposed to take a bath before entering the temple.
The story of the Great Flood of Manu appears in Hindu scriptures. This is the story of how all creation is submerged in a great deluge but Manu is rescued by a fish that he once saved from being eaten by a larger fish. The fish told him to build a large boat and to take into it seeds and animals. The fish then towed the boat to safety by anchoring it on the highest of the Himalayas. He stayed on the mountain (known as Manu's Descent) while the flood swept away all living creatures. Manu alone survived.
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