Berlin Wall

8th February'2017

Session with Ms. Smita.

---------------------NOTES------------------------


BERLIN WALL
- Built in 1961
-Broken down in 1989 by civilians spontaneously

ISRAELI- WEST BANK BARRIER
- Built in 2002 to control the hostility in both countries

GREAT WALL OF CHINA
- Built to prevent Mongolians to enter.

BERLIN

- At first it looked like a good idea but then people started to realise the uselessness of the wall.

- The head of the government was Hanukah in Germany.

- An atmosphere was beginning to create within people that it might be okay to teardown the wall.

- The USSR, US, Britain, France divided Germany after they lost in WW2 because Germany had to be reconstructed. It was not meant to be a permanent occupation.

- Berlin was on the soviet zone. 

- Problem occurred between the occupying countries related to currency etc.

- The idea was to keep people from East Berlin and Germany to come into West Berlin because then the governments will change.

- 100 recorded deaths attempting to cross the border.

- Some people walled in and some people walled out.

- The center area was called the death strip 

- In 1975 they were calling it the boundary wall.

- The cold war had contributed into the tension created between East and West.

- Political, social, economic, and cultural differences are why the wall was built. Brain Drain.

- Life was tough in East Berlin and all the doctors, architect, engineers etc. decided to move away. 

- Communism (East Berlin), is essentially a good ideology but it wasn't working out for East Berlin. 

When East Germany people came into West, they used it as propaganda and shamed communism. 

- Through arguably rational, the decision was highly doubtable.

- It wasn't morally correct and it was unacceptable as people weren't consulted.

- For some time, people were allowed to cross for work and job reasons. 

-People were closely watch when they came to the other side by Stasi.

-They developed trust issues and eventually stopped contacting people on the other side, 

- Structures imposed to divide mankind often against the will and better judgement masses. 

- Protest movements on East Berlin: Exit on Voice

-People's protest: student protest, tole of the church

- On western side protest- graffiti art.

- After the wall broke down, the soviet union collapsed in 1991 and the other big 3 started to break away. 

-Big cultural icons like Pink Floyd started commenting on the wall

- The global influence: The polish people protested against the soviet and they gave people in Germany confidence. 

- The young generation had an uncertain feeling when the wall broke down because they were brought up with the wall.

-On the other hand, people were partying and welcoming their nieghbours.

-Just because we break the walls, doesnt mean that trust will come automatically. 

- Dont just demonise the wall alone but what caused it. 

How did it all begin?

5th February' 2017

When did it all start?

I believe it started when mankind discovered each other and themselves. They discovered gender, colour, and so started separating each set of people from the other. Before everything being found, it was at a small level. Smaller population, hence, smaller group of people to separate and prioritise.

It started growing bigger at the "age of exploration". Groups of people started to explore another group of people. They went exploring for selfish reasons and so thought that the other person, or the supplier was below them, here comes the partition again. As they though of themselves upper than the explored people, countries started to conquer places, further dividing them to do something against their will. As it started to grow rapidly, people started looking at each other as different. Nobody "made" this happen but it happened gradually without getting noticed.

Age of exploration helped divide communities but what further divided people into classes, the place when subject of money came in, was during the industrialisation. This revolution played a big hand in the formation of borders. The industrialised countries became stronger  because they had everything other countries were lacking. And then, gradually, they became imperial and colonised other states that hadn't gone through the revolution.

This separated people into the working class and ruling class. Then everything other stated since humans could remember, started becoming clearer. Differences became clearer. Slowly, people couldn't tolerate the differences. They saw competition or disgust in everything different. This led to separation. Formally. Borders and walls are built. People have migrated. And fought war against each other for different set of minds.

It is still the same. It is just that everything got bigger. 

Exercise

Exercise: How do you define your identity?

 Discuss the above question and the options below with your parents or any other Adults and answer the questions given below :-

DEEPAK GABA (Father)

What roles do the following play in how you and your students define your identities? Rank them in order of importance to how you define your identity. (1=most important)

1. Ability

2. Education

3. Career

4. Family

5. Sexual Orientation

6. Ethnicity

7. Nationality

8. Political Affiliation

9. Faith

10.  Race

11. Socio-economic status

12. Age

14. Other (write in)_________

What would you do if your government did not protect the part of your identity that is most 
important to you? 

"I will think clearly, the steps needed to be taken, what is in my power. If I can fight with the government, I will do that, by adopting the right means. And if the government if tyrant, then I will leave the country because I cannot fight with the government. If I can, in some way, if I have the courage, the heart, the thought and resources, I will fight and take the government out.


How would you feel if other governments continued to support your government, even if it was 
not protecting this part of your identity?

" I will start to doubt myself whether what I am doing is right or wrong. Because if other governments will start supporting my government and everybody is against me then maybe I am wrong. So I will have to rethink. And then if it is an access, then I will again start to see whether I can fight in the difficult situation, that's a challenge, I can't give you correct answer for this hypothetical question"

Session with Ms Samina

25th January'2017

We had a discussion with Ms Samina. She has written a book about a girl and her family who went through partition and some side stories. We asked her questions not only about the book but her thoughts on various aspects like borderless world, government, etc. This session truly helped me open up to new point of views on borders and why political border have formed and different borders as well.

--------------------------NOTES--------------------------

- any decisions by the government should not affect her life and she should have the right as a citizen she should make her own decisions
- Hina is now 27 and has 2 kids and Ms Samina often keeps in touch with her
- She chose Hina out of other schools because  she had something different about her
- Hina's grandmother said that the there were red lakes because of blood everywhere
- People were going in and out of Pakistan and India and were still replacing a while after the partition. Some people were recruited or transferred to some other family in the same country.
- The border wasn't strong at first so people managed to get over there. It was just an environmental border at the time not a political one.
- she started this project to make a short movie
- she was curious of this subject and thought Purani Dilli was the best place to go explore because it is somewhat infamous
- when places merge, thats when the conflict happens
- political border is one kind of border, there are border within people

Partition 1947

19 January' 2017

Today we learnt about "how industrialisation of European countries affected the relationship with their colonies throughout the new world". During discussing this we came across some terms ike absolute monarchies, mercantilism etc. And we also learnt about the state of contries during the industrialisation of European countries. Everyone also gave sense of industrialisation of European countries. Everyone also gave sense of Industrialisation as a definition for a recap. Below are the rough notes that I made during class.

-------------------------NOTES-------------------------
How did Industrialisation of countries affect there relationship with the new world?

The trading market will benefit because the country buying the goods has reached mercantilism imperialism.

Mercantilism- belief in the benefits of profitable trading.

The country which is ruling is imperial and the country being ruled is the colony. This type of rule is called colonial rule.

Colonised Continents- Africa, Asia, Latin America

Imperialist Countries- United States, European countries- Spain, Portugal, Britain, Netherlands, France

Absolute Monarchies- Strong kingship

Partition 1947

18th January'2017

British came in and they started establishing trade under the name of The East India company. This began the exploitation. 

A British person would sit in the court of the ruler and would advise him how to run the court and in return Indians will give the money to the British. 

Also if there was an attack by any other Indian to country to this Indian country the British will help India. 

The British bought trading rights. They were buying these from Indian rulers. 

With these treaties Indian ruler, in many cases, also gave grants where in they started collecting taxes from the local population. They started getting in the daily routine of the locals. 

Video Notes

16th January'2017

VIDEO- Finding your Roots

Sanjay Gupta-
-a neurosurgeon

-Unusual being Indian
-not fun
-being treated differently

Margaret Cho-
- a comedian
- an immigrant
- is curious to know more about her authenticity

Martha Stewart-
-her father wasn't treated equally
-her father felt isolated
-she used to get mad about this unfair behaviour
-never wants to forget being an immgrant


Immigrants- 2nd class citizens

In this video, 3 immigrants from different corners of the world shared their stories living in America. Most of these people felt uncomfortable. People around them weren't accepting. Martha Stewart's story was about her FATHER feeling isolated and being treated unfairly and she wanting to connect to her roots but Sanjay Gupta's story was about HIM being from India and discriminated. A whole generation gap.  I see here how American's have accepted immigrants looking alike but Indians are still facing different types of discrimination.

VIDEO- I am not black, You are not white

- Labels/ we accept them without doubting them
- Forced to own their bodies
- Race was in the 15th century to divide people
- Judgemental, artificial labels
- Divisions starts conflict, conflict starts war.

This video talked about not only racism of colour, but discrimination of body. It was all about what is inside and bodies are only their to drive around. It talked about being forced to own our bodies and being judged for how our BODY looks.