Integrative Seminar

• WEEK – 1
• For the first class, I was introduced to 4 forms of writing to which I was unfamiliar : Haiku, Limerick, 7 word story and 280 characters story.
• We then did an activity where we were shown an image and had to write content in context to the image using the above mentioned forms.

broken and messy

while other pots seem perfect

and still beautiful

• I learnt to be comfortable with writing my piece and sharing it with others.

• WEEK – 2
• I learnt the concepts of reflection and retrospection.
• We were asked to recollect our earliest memory and think whether it was truly our memory or it was based on a story or a photograph we have of that moment.
• I was to write a letter to my younger self at any point in my life.
• In our assignment we are asked to write 3 letters addressing ourselves in 3 photos.

• WEEK – 3
• In this lecture we discussed the very first chapter of the book ‘Metamorphosis’ by Franz Kafka.
• I found the start to this book to be quite questionable yet interesting. It keeps you wondering in many ways.
• We then read out our letters that we wrote as an assignment to our younger selves.
• I found some of the letters of my classmates to be quite interesting and this helped me understand them better or get an insight as to who they are.

• WEEK – 4
• This class we discussed the second chapter of the book ‘Metamorphosis’.
• The second chapter answered a few questions about the first chapter yet presented more of its own.
• Next, we were asked to come up with 20 words describing ourselves. So basically providing an answer to the question – Who is Tanvi?
• I came up with words that best described me, some which highlighted my qualities and some my flaws.
• This exercise was quite insightful and made me think about who I really am.

• WEEK – 5

WHO AM I?

Who am I? This question has to be one of the toughest questions ever presented before anyone. I’m afraid I don’t have an answer to this question that is 100% complete. But for the sake of putting it into words, let me try.

I would like to think of myself as a butterfly. I have come out of my cocoon and now I’m ready to spread my wings and fly. After school I flew into this enormous world of college and have been trying to figure my way around. Just as a butterfly, I fly where the wind takes me. But sometimes I like to defy the forces of the wind and go in my own direction. No matter how strong the wind is, I keep on flying. I keep fighting against the pressure of the wind even though it might hurt my wings a little. Given all sorts of circumstances, I am strong enough to withstand them and keep on flying.

I fly alone in my own rhythm. Even though I may seem alone, I am content and happy most of the time. My friends are the rare flowers, few but beautiful. Others, mere acquaintances while passing by. I bounce from one place to another, one thing to another just to test out what suits me best. Once I find the flower that pleases my taste buds, I stick with it. I colour the lives of the people that touch me. Or at least I try. I have huge dreams, dreams as huge as the sky above me. Dreams probably too big for this petite soul of mine.

My appearance is unique and colourful. Even though I am beautiful to some people, to some I am not. Some people want to stay away from me. Some people even run away from me. I might find reasons to blame them for running away but they might find reasons to blame me as well.

If I ever woke up as a butterfly, I would be terrified. Not only because it would be uncanny but also because I am terrified of butterflies. I can’t quite explain it but growing up I’ve had this irrational fear of butterflies. Even so, I find many similarities between us.

The perception one has about themselves always changes and that’s why I don’t think that I can I ever answer the question ‘WHO AM I?’ in the most precise manner. This is how I see myself in the present but maybe in the future I would prefer to use another analogy to do the same. But for now, I am a butterfly just flying with the wind.

• WEEK – 6
• This week we discussed our essays and made some changes that were needed.
• We were briefed about our second project which included a visit to the museum.

• WEEK -7
• This week we had a peer review for our essays.
• We were divided into groups of 3 and had to review each others essays. We had to also give them marks out of 10.
• The marks were divided into: title – 2, metaphors – 3 and 5 points for justification.
• This was instrumental in helping me understand others and the way they perceive themselves.

• WEEK – 8
• Today I received the feedback on my essay from the faculty. I made a few changes based on the remarks she gave me.
• The remarks were: 1) revise the title, 2) give examples and to 3) add a couple more metaphors.
• The following is my revised essay.

• WEEK – 9
• This week I made the final story card for my essay.
• I printed my design and my essay on an A5 size paper.
• I was extremely proud and happy with the final outcome.

• WEEK – 10
• Mumbai is a beautiful city with an even more fascinating history.
• I had visited the Bhau Daji Lad museum earlier this week and was given a brief history lesson on Mumbai city. I learned a lot of amusing facts about Mumbai.
• I learned how the city originated and how the cultural diversity came to be.
• For this week’s lecture we discussed different insights everyone had from the museum visit.
• We were then asked to list 5 things about a city of our choice in three categories: personal, cliche and unique.
• I chose to write about Paris as it is my favourite city. Following are the aspects:

• WEEK – 11
• In this class we were shown a series of images.
• We were then told to come up with captions for those images.
• We came up with some funny and unique captions for the same.
• This exercise was a lot of fun as it provided meaning or a backstory to these images.
• Then we wrote responses for the pictures we clicked during our site visit. We were to write haikus, limericks or a 280 character story.
• Our site was the crawford market. These are the responses I wrote:

Sky-high concrete walls

And a thousand closed windows

Protecting her heart.

Once I roamed a street. Hundreds of people passed by. Hundreds of faces go unnoticed. But then one face stands out. One person catches my eye. A man wearing a burkha. A myriad of questions rise in my head. Is he hiding from someone? Is he a runaway? Is he dangerous or is he in danger?

Strong rocks and strong bricks

Couldn’t keep the demons in

His chaotic mind.

• WEEK – 12
• This week, we received feedback on our responses. I was told to change one of the haikus I wrote to a 280 character story instead of having 3 haikus.
• We also submitted the questionnaire we were going to ask the locals at the market which is as follows.

1. How was the market different than what it is now?
2. We heard there was a fire 4 years ago. Can you give us the details about that?
3. How was your life/work affected due to the floods that occurred on 26th July 2006?
4. How has the business been different since the restoration?
5. Is there any other job you do other than this one?

• WEEK – 13
• This week, we wrote the context for our questionnaire.
• Our target audience for these questions were the shop keepers and street vendors.
• It is as follows:

CONTEXT

Everyday we pass through these lanes, push through the crowds and play the game of bargain but we don’t really stop by and wonder what stories these vendors hide behind the veil of sale banners and chanting prices. Out of sheer curiosity we created this questionnaire to know what lives these people lead behind closed shops. It is based on the correlation between their lives and business. It will help us understand the effect of their business on their personal lives and vice versa.

• WEEK – 14
• In this class, I combined all our responses and everything we have worked on for the last few weeks.
• It is a compilation of our responses, photos, questionnaire and context.

• WEEK – 15
• This week was the review week.
• We made a booklet after the compilation and submitted it.