Yaminie’s Underground blog

Final Project Proposal for Collective StorytellingI loved the idea of ‘Big stories, little stories’ from this week’s reading.  I feel people who actually go through/witness a bigger story playing out tend to undermine their role/experience. I want to people to think about Big stories that they might be a part of, and then tell me their own little story about  their roles, experiences etc.Also, in the same reading the author talks about ‘own story, own words’. And hence, in keeping with the oral theme that I’ve worked on this entire semester, I want people’s stories in their own voices.So, I want to create a site where people can submit audio pieces of their story.Questions for the class1.) How should audio be submitted?How do people feel about submitting audio. Would it be easier if it was in the form of a GUI app on the mobile where you could just click-record-click send and it posts to the website? Or would it be easier for people to record stuff on their laptops and upload? 2.) How should stories be solicited?I am not sure how easy it is for people to think of a little story which might be a part of a big story. So it might be easier to give themes and people to could submit to those themes. Alternatively people could submit stories and their title should indicate the big story. And then other participants can submit audio responses with their own stories, thus forming threads of little stories for one big story…3.) what’s a good starting point (Big story) for ITP?How do I start getting stories? If I want ITPers to contribute, what Big story threads could be interesting?       

Yesterday for me was the best day of the year. So, I usually spend my Saturdays partying and going overboard. That’s exactly what I did this Saturday as well. Coupled with the fact that Diwali was approaching and there was Hindi Music…we had a really late night.So after a late Saturday night, what follows is a foul Sunday morning. Cause I get up late….I fret about the work I need to get done. And by the time I get started with anything productive half the day is already gone.But yesterday was different. I got up, checked the time…and voila! the clock had reset itself. It was only 10! The daylight saving had begun. And I slept an extra hour with the clock conspiring with me to stand still!It was a magical moment!I wish they did that 4 times a year 

Went to see the India-Australia cricket match at an Australian bar in Bleeker…Boy! was it fun to see the match with Ponting on one side and Sehwag on the other!! Well…a highly charged audience with the bar filled with supporters of both teams!And then India won! Superb match…

BTW…I was late in posting this message. India played Pakistan in the finals. And won!

Incredible India….a govt of India initiative is right here in NY to celebrate 60 years of independence and promote India.I was quite happy to see so much publicity….But Alas…creativity is amiss! Or maybe bureacracy is too rampant. The festival agenda is a photocopy of what could have been the schedule some 20 years back. Cliched brochures adorned with the same age old pictures of the Tiger, folk dancers in elaborate costumes and yes…the Taj Mahal. Some programmes that I ended up seeing were at best mediocre…actually they were more like school annual funtions.Anyways, what was good was the card board structure of the Taj in Bryant Park. It cut quite a striking picture…And made for an interesting landscape. Here are some pictures. 

I hate subways. Dark walls staring at you from the window… It’s just depressing ( It’s great cause it’s an efficient mode of transport…but it’s depressing just the same…) And to top it I have to change trains as well. Red to Yellow. Number to Alphabet. 1 to N.But I’ve been taught that there are always 2 sides to a coin… The other side to this one the whole underground is the subway musical acts/performances…They’re quite remarkable…given the crowded, busy and noisy environment!However, the musical acts/performances almost always end up attracting the transit population - bringing smiles, generating energy and loosening up the wound-up bodies…(With people always running late and in a hurry to catch the train that just left…this is pretty much the only time I see them stop!)Today I saw one such performance…. Michael Jackson of our very on MUNY (Music under New York)…Just a couple of feets shorter though. It was wonderful!Here are some pictures from his performance.Some acts are good, some are average…sometimes brilliant. But in my mind these musical acts are closely associated with the NY culture. This is public art for me.

My first step into the blogosphere! Hope to use this space to download some of the clutter in my head. Save my thoughts from the numerous readings across classes. Share project work. And document my changing relationship with this city…