Saturday, August 29, 2009
Group D Researcher
Researcher: Your job is to find some background information related to an important idea in the reading. Search through available references such as library books, reference books such as the encyclopedia, magazines. You might even interview someone who knows about your topic. Find some websites on the Internet so that you can do your investigation online. Share an interesting tidbit related to your reading.Please respond to each others' Research entry.
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Considering I am not all that familiar with arranged marriages, and that was a central idea in the text, I researched them on an Indian website titled, "Pardesi" (http://www.pardesiservices.com/tradition/arrangedmarg.asp). This website gave information on the traditions of arranged marriages and the dowry system. As for the arranged marriages, the website explains that they are looked at as a form of love in the Indian culture. It explains that since it is such a crucial decision in one's life and since divorce is not seen as an option in many Indian families, these families feel that they are helping when they arrange a marriage because the young bride and groom cannot make that decision alone. I personally have always thought negatively about arranged marriages, and while I still am not in favor of them, this does provide me with a different point of view on them. The other interesting fact I learned was about the dowry system. The website explained that in many families it is an honorable deed to help out the new family with some monetary (or material) assistance. The part I found interesting, however, was that in some (very few) families, the groom's family takes the bride's dowry for themselves. Sometimes they then use it for their daughter's dowry when arranging her marriage, and other times they use it for their own benefit. In addition, even once the couple is marrried, the groom's family can ask for an additional dowry if they are not happy with the first one (again, this is rare). I found it interesting how the groom's family has so much power and authority in the young couple's marriage. This website gave me some additional insight to some of the major topics found in this text.
ReplyDeleteKrysta, I found your information from the website on dowries and arranged marriages very interesting. I never knew that marriages were arranged as a way of showing love for the young couple. It is interesting to me that the arrangement is said to be "out of love," but yet I know that some Indian people are against having their marriage arranged; such as Vidya was. Vidya was so offended when Raman asked her uncle for permission to marry her before asking her, herself. I think that an individual should have a choice in whether or not their family arranges their marriage or not because in Vidya's case, she wanted to attend college and knew that she would not be able to if a marriage was arranged for her at such a young age.
ReplyDeleteI decided that I did not know a lot about 1940's India and India's involvement in World War 2. Also, I wanted to know more about Gandhi and his role with India's independence from Great Britain considering all of these things are mentioned throughout Climbing the Stairs. First, I learned something very interesting from my research online about India's conflicting views during WW2. On www.wikipedia.com I learned that Gandhi did not believe that Indians should get involved with fighting in WW2 because they did not have their independence from Britain at the time. Gandhi said that he would not aid in the war until India had their independence. Some Indians fought with the British during the war because they were strongly opposed to what was happening with Jewish people during this time. However, other Indians refused to fight alongside the British because they viewed the British as just as evil as the Natzi's. Therefore, other Indians fought with the Axis Powers (Italy, Germany, and Japan) hoping to overthrow British powers from India. I find it a bit selfish that some Indians would fight with the Axis Powers who were aiding the Germans in their wish to eliminate all Jewish people from the world. I understand that the Indians were feeling oppressed and just wanted to gain independence from the British. They felt that by joining up with the British, even for a good cause, would be pushing themselves further into oppression. Eventually I learned that India did get Independence from the British leaders in 1947 with the help of Gandhi who took non-violent actions such as hunger strikes and demonstrations, and talks to get his views and points across according to www.history.com. In the novel Climbing the Stairs I learned that Vidya's brother, Kitta, joined the British Indian Army against the Axis because he believed that Japan was going to invade India at any moment and he disagreed with Hitler immensely. I can see why Kitta joined the army now and I agree with him more now than I did when I first read this part in the novel. My research helped me to see that Japan wanted to take over India because Japan believed that India's natural resources would help them to advance into the Middle East. If Japan gained control of India Kitta knew that they would just be under control of another country, which was just as bad as being controlled by Britain. I think that Kitta's family should have been proud of him and they should have thought about Kitta's reasons before disowning him for his decision to join the British Army.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that through Heather's research she found information that stated Gandhi did not want Indians to help fight the war until India was given independence from Britian. I understand that Gandhi believed in demonstrations and hunger-strikes as a means of protest instead of fighting; however, would he have compromised his non-violent beliefs and encouraged Indians to fight if India did have its independence?
ReplyDeleteAccording to www.photius.com which accesses its information from the Library of Congress, the Japanese exploited the Indians who were against the British and many Indians were cunningly convinced to join Japanese forces. What is really interesting, is a unit of 1,500 Indian women were part of a group that included 25,000 Indain men that fought alongside the Japanese. Isn't it interesting that these women were allowed to fight in battle, but traditional homes would not allow women to sleep on the same floor as men. As mentioned in the book, my research validates that the Indian troops under the British played an important role in winning the war. I find it amazing that I have not heard of this before.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI found it very interesting that you found out that 1,500 women fought alongside the Indian men to protect their country in war. I agree that it is shocking women would be treated so separately from men in everyday life, but when it comes to war can be expected to fight alongside the men. I wonder if the Indian government was against the women fighting or for it? Did you find out anything about the thoughts on how the men felt about these women fighting Lisa? Also, I wonder if in India women are still repressed today as they were in the 1940's. Does anyone know?
Heather
Heather,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was searching for information on India, I did peruse some sites about Indian women today. I found a document through the United Nations that shows although some things have changed for women, they are still struggling wiht equality. According to the document, women still eat last and many are malnourished because of it. Medical care for women is not as good as it is for men. The women are working toward more rights in their jobs, wages, and education. I didn't cite the site, because I just read it very quickly. But it made me want to do some more investigating when I have time.
I was interested in Gandhi’s influence on the treatment of women in India. I found an Indian website, http://www.kamat.com/mmgandhi/gwomen.htm, that actually focused on Gandhi’s influence on the treatment of women and how they were perceived in the Indian culture. Before he assumed leadership, women lived to an average age of only 27. Only 2% of the population had any kind of an education and did not have their own identity. Gandhi worked hard to reform beliefs about women, advocating that women were equal, though not identical to men. He found a number of areas, including patience, tolerance, and sacrifice in which he believed women to be superior to men. Indian society was one of male dominance, and Gandhi himself was guilty of wishes for such dominance early in his marriage. In his autobiography, he tells a story of a time when he and his wife were first married and he expected her to clean a public toilet for him. He felt full of shame and guilt afterwards, and vowed to never mistreat her again. Gandhi wanted to understand the struggles of women in Indian society and participated in experiences that would help he to develop this understanding. Also, like Vidya’s father, Gandhi was against the social biases that were created by the caste system, and actually took menial jobs, such as dishwashing, to demonstrate that what we do for work does not impact our social status in society. Gandhi also participated in rearing his children, a very progressive gesture for his time. He encouraged women to “leave the kitchen” and participate in less traditional activities. As long as women were viewed as inferior to men, Gandhi felt that women the nation would be left in darkness. The website also addressed the “Child Widows” of India, who Gandhi helped. These girls, like Gandhi himself, were often married young, and when their husbands died at a very young age, they were banished, shaved their heads, and lived in isolation, and were shunned by society.
ReplyDeleteSo where are Indian women today? There are still certainly inequalities. This is in large part due to Indian politics and wide spread poverty. Yet, many women go to work in offices, educational institutions, and factories without fear or hesitation, which is in part thanks to the teachings of Gandhi. The author of the website, an Indian woman herself, points out that some western cultures, including our own, created governments in which women were not allowed to vote, and women in the United States have indeed had to fight to overcome many inequalities of our own.
Krysta,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your research on the arranged marriages, as that is a topic of interest to me too. It seems so foreign an idea to me, and I agree with you that I have always been against arranged marriages. I guess that's where cultural bias comes into play, because while I appreciate the act of love that is intended, it still seems awful to have no say in who you marry! And then to think of how young many of these poor girls are! When I researched "women in India", the author of the website pointed out that many western cultures, including our own, did now allow women to vote for many years. So, on a similar note, I guess one could argue that 50% of the marriages in our country end for divorce, and I'm sure they would all claim to have married for love, not because they were forced to.
Your research and conversations deepen my thinking about hte book. You selected key ideas that would shed light on the story.
ReplyDelete