This week for our blog post assignment we were tasked to research the Out of Eden journey on National Geographic. At first, I found the different options and abundance of information very confusing, but after looking through you can see each topic has its specific place and everything is organized very professionally.
For this blog post, I specifically wanted to engage in the more recent stories posted. The first one being an article talking about aiding India in its time of need.
It is crazy to think that Covid-19 caused such a strain on countries like India to the point they were taking untrained people to treat others. The author of this story was asked to take a job in a hospital to aid patients during the peak of the virus. Like America, India was very uncompromising to the guidelines being wearing a mask and social distancing. It was the job of Ankur to promote these safety measures at the hospital for the safety of everyone.
I can’t imagine the stress Ankur went through during this, he had to learn and hope he was doing medical things right since his lack of training. This man was basically running an entire hospital during a very chaotic and busy time. Something pointed out that struck me particularly was when he said that it is the government’s fault for lack of speed and ours for taking life too casually. It makes sense that people don’t want to change everyday lives, but if everyone would have to know what would happen, I believe everyone would have listened to guidelines sooner.
The next part of the journey I wanted to pinpoint was the Gold Leaf making in Mandalay, Myanmar. Gold Leaf manufacturing ranges back many centuries as a Buddist ritual, pasting the gold leaves on statues is a way of honoring Buddha’s teachings. It is considered to be a tedious process hammering the gold leaf 20,000 times for over five hours of hammering.
The process and time dedication are what drew me to this part of the journey. These men have to have a well-balanced diet and can’t have back issues to maintain proper physic to be able to do this for hours on end. The art aspect also draws my attention, the specific patterns and intricate shapes put into each piece are mind-blowing. I also think it is very interesting how it is used for more things than showing appreciation towards Buddha. I would love to learn more about how women use the gold plates for cosmetic purposes, as well as for health reasons and how it can strengthen the heart.
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