Amiya Tiwari
Calligram Project—
For my calligram project, I drew on two points about Islam that have resonated with me the most throughout this course.
Firstly, I designed my calligram in the shape and color scheme of an Indian flag, but instead of the wheel typically present in the middle of the flag, I included "Allah" in (my rendition of) calligraphy. Surrounding the "Allah" design are small spokes that I intended to emulate the original wheel design in the middle of the Indian flag. I chose this overall design because of a point from one of the first days of class that impacted me—namely, that roughly 10% of the world's Muslim population lives in India. As an Indian-American Hindu, I know India's Muslim minority is often sidelined. In recent political movements toward Hindu nationalism, I believe that cross-faith solidarity among Indians is more critical now than ever, particularly in diasporic communities such as America and college campuses like ours. I created this calligram as an Indian-American Hindu hoping to uplift and highlight my Muslim peers and their identities.
Furthermore, I chose to create the orange and green colors using rose petals and leaves because of a common takeaway between Islam and Hinduism that I discovered through this course. While often pitted against one another, Hindus and Muslims believe that God is in everything, including nature. This Islamic belief resonated with me as a Hindu, so I ensured that my depiction of the Indian flag highlighting Allah had an element to which both Hindus and Muslims could relate.
I did my best with my calligram to represent the importance of cross-faith solidarity and religious literacy in a polarized world and looking for surprising similarities between oneself and others. Often, it is upon these unique similarities that the foundation for understanding can be built.
Final Exam, Part, Parts B/C:
