Human Body as the Carrier, Shelf, Hanger, Display Stand By Dr. Dinesh Katre

HCI VISTAS, VOLUME-III, 2007-2008

From Gagaria to Bisleria

Dr. Dinesh Katre

About HCI VISTAS

INDEX

Article INS-21./May 2007

<< >>

Gagaria > Gagar > In Hindi language, it means a large metal vessel used for water storage.
Vessel > A hollow utensil used as a container, especially for liquids.
Bisleria > Bisleri > It is a famous brand for purified bottled water.

In my efforts to understand the human factors and their relationship with artificial objects, this is yet another article to share an interesting insight of how the homo sapiens (humans) use their body as the shelf to keep things, as the hanger to hang objects, as the display stand to showcase the creations, as the carrier to transport things. Let me mention what triggered me to think on these lines.

Have you seen a village lady, carrying a vessel (a water container and not the ship) on her head and walking so elegantly, with both hands hanging loosely? The other interesting sight is, many ladies chatting with each other comfortably without bothering about the vessels kept on top of their heads. You see this more often in rural parts of India. Even others lift objects on their shoulders but carrying a vessel on head is very artful.

Figure 1. From Gagaria to Bisleria

Balancing vessels or a Bisleri bottle on head
The other day, I saw an extraordinary thing on the street of Pune city. A lady worker near some building construction site, was quietly walking with a Bisleri bottle (filled with water) kept on the top of her head. Very unusual! She did not seem concerned about losing the balance and dropping the bottle. Everything was just perfect and normal. I was amazed! I wish you were around to see it or I had the camera with me! Therefore, I have composited an image as above to give some idea of it. That lady must have come from some rural location. So what the Bisleri bottle is not like a typical vessel but does it not contain water?, she might have thought! Ladies from rural parts of India are used to fetch well-water from far off distances. Due to such life style they develop the skill of balancing the vessel on head. But this skill is gradually diminishing due to distribution of water through pipes. The point here is that the head is being used as a shelf or a table-top or a carrier to keep the vessels. It is important to understand the design significance of vessels and its brother named bucket to understand what allows us carrying the vessel on head.

Design significance of vessel and bucket
The vessel (water container) has small mouth, narrow neck and curving outward lip, so that the water stored inside does not evaporate soon. It seems to have been designed for stacking multiple of them together, as they fit into each other so well. It is also easy to put your hand around its neck and rest the vessel on waist. Such vessels are used to fetch water from nearby well or river. I have seen ancient vessels made of brass, copper, clay and camel skin in Indian museums.

The bucket has a semicircular handle for lifting, and a wide-open mouth, causing the bucket to swing and water to spill over while transporting it. The swinging motion of the bucket is useful for efficiently throwing the water away from ship (the sailors need it, Samyak gave this interesting input during our discussion). It might be causing early evaporation of water too (if used for long term storage of water). The design of bucket provides an advantage for carrying hot water as it has a handle to keep your hand away from heated surface unlike the vessels. I think there is major scope for anthropological study of the design evolution of vessels and buckets.

Figure 2. A monkey observing his reflection in the mirror

Human body as the host

Now let me turn this discussion towards how humans use their body to host various artificial objects. This is a peculiar trait of humans alone. The monkeys are fond of looking into the mirror. Figure 2 shows a photo that I took at Karnala sanctuary. It made me marvel about what these monkeys must be feeling when they see their own image in the mirror? I have seen sparrows fighting with their own reflection in the mirror. But you do not see these animals combing their hair or trying to look different or exploring new self-image by decorating their body with some objects. But humans do not have to be taught about it. Even children look into the mirror to make faces, pose like cricketers, change clothes and admire their looks. We can recognize our image in the mirror; notice the change if we have styled our hair differently and evaluate the change in terms of good or bad. Humans are capable of such behavior due to self-consciousness, memory, intelligence and emotions. We apply these faculties to craft a unique image for ourselves (wear clothes, ornaments; carry electronic gadgets, apply cosmetics and style the hair, etc.). Our intelligence helps us choose necessary objects to fulfill our goals. It suggests us various ways to use our body parts creatively for holding, hanging, resting, carrying and displaying the artificial objects.

Figure 3. Using body parts to host objects

The anatomical perspective of human body is very helpful in

looking at the same facts with a different insight.

As discussed so far, we use our head to carry water-vessels. Women have more indented waist above the pelvic bone compared to men, which allows them to rest the vessel on the waist comfortably (see the fourth lady in Figure 1). You rarely come across a man carrying the vessel on the waist like that. Let us look at the other examples. Our trousers are held at the waistline due to pelvic bones. The shirt is held in its place by our shoulder gridle. We use the shape of phalanges (finger bones) to wear the gold rings. The ladies (and even the youngsters nowadays) insert gold rings with pearls or diamonds through the nostrils or through the earlobes. The MP3 Player can be tied on the arm using straps. The carpenter manages to keep a pencil in the narrow space between the earflap and head. We use the earflaps and nasal bone for resting the spectacles. We tie the watch around wrist bones or wear bangles on them. Hairclips, headbands and so on...

Like no other animal, human beings alone are fond of using their body

to display and carry so many artificial objects (man-made creations).

These objects embody human aspirations, triumph over limitations; pursuit of excellence, pleasure and rich life.

Most of these things become possible as our bottom half is used to erect the body carriage that frees the upper limbs for manipulating objects. It has allowed humans to make greater use of tools than any other species.

From the caveman to modernman
The cavemen sported various accessories made out of bones, animal skin, stone tools and natural materials on their body. That is what we find in the ancient burials. The excavations have revealed that the favorite possessions of the dead were kept inside the grave.

On the contrary, the modern humans carry the most exotic accessories like Mobile Phones, Bluetooth Headsets, Pocket PC, iPods and Laptops with them.

But there is no big change in the psychological makeup of humans. It is still the same. The ancient and modern people both liked to decorate their bodies with useful and stylish objects. The only change is, we do not keep fancy mobile phones and iPods inside the grave of a dead person! May be the modern society does not believe so much in the life after death or we see greater value in using these gadgets than leaving them to rust inside the grave! There is great joy in connecting with our old self.

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HCI VISTAS, VOLUME-III, 2007-2008
	From Gagaria to Bisleria Dr. Dinesh Katre
About HCI VISTAS	INDEX	Article INS-21./May 2007	<< >>
Gagaria > Gagar > In Hindi language, it means a large metal vessel used for water storage. Vessel > A hollow utensil used as a container, especially for liquids. Bisleria > Bisleri > It is a famous brand for purified bottled water. In my efforts to understand the human factors and their relationship with artificial objects, this is yet another article to share an interesting insight of how the homo sapiens (humans) use their body as the shelf to keep things, as the hanger to hang objects, as the display stand to showcase the creations, as the carrier to transport things. Let me mention what triggered me to think on these lines. Have you seen a village lady, carrying a vessel (a water container and not the ship) on her head and walking so elegantly, with both hands hanging loosely? The other interesting sight is, many ladies chatting with each other comfortably without bothering about the vessels kept on top of their heads. You see this more often in rural parts of India. Even others lift objects on their shoulders but carrying a vessel on head is very artful. Figure 1. From Gagaria to Bisleria Balancing vessels or a Bisleri bottle on head The other day, I saw an extraordinary thing on the street of Pune city. A lady worker near some building construction site, was quietly walking with a Bisleri bottle (filled with water) kept on the top of her head. Very unusual! She did not seem concerned about losing the balance and dropping the bottle. Everything was just perfect and normal. I was amazed! I wish you were around to see it or I had the camera with me! Therefore, I have composited an image as above to give some idea of it. That lady must have come from some rural location. So what the Bisleri bottle is not like a typical vessel but does it not contain water?, she might have thought! Ladies from rural parts of India are used to fetch well-water from far off distances. Due to such life style they develop the skill of balancing the vessel on head. But this skill is gradually diminishing due to distribution of water through pipes. The point here is that the head is being used as a shelf or a table-top or a carrier to keep the vessels. It is important to understand the design significance of vessels and its brother named bucket to understand what allows us carrying the vessel on head. Design significance of vessel and bucket The vessel (water container) has small mouth, narrow neck and curving outward lip, so that the water stored inside does not evaporate soon. It seems to have been designed for stacking multiple of them together, as they fit into each other so well. It is also easy to put your hand around its neck and rest the vessel on waist. Such vessels are used to fetch water from nearby well or river. I have seen ancient vessels made of brass, copper, clay and camel skin in Indian museums. The bucket has a semicircular handle for lifting, and a wide-open mouth, causing the bucket to swing and water to spill over while transporting it. The swinging motion of the bucket is useful for efficiently throwing the water away from ship (the sailors need it, Samyak gave this interesting input during our discussion). It might be causing early evaporation of water too (if used for long term storage of water). The design of bucket provides an advantage for carrying hot water as it has a handle to keep your hand away from heated surface unlike the vessels. I think there is major scope for anthropological study of the design evolution of vessels and buckets. Figure 2. A monkey observing his reflection in the mirror Human body as the host Now let me turn this discussion towards how humans use their body to host various artificial objects. This is a peculiar trait of humans alone. The monkeys are fond of looking into the mirror. Figure 2 shows a photo that I took at Karnala sanctuary. It made me marvel about what these monkeys must be feeling when they see their own image in the mirror? I have seen sparrows fighting with their own reflection in the mirror. But you do not see these animals combing their hair or trying to look different or exploring new self-image by decorating their body with some objects. But humans do not have to be taught about it. Even children look into the mirror to make faces, pose like cricketers, change clothes and admire their looks. We can recognize our image in the mirror; notice the change if we have styled our hair differently and evaluate the change in terms of good or bad. Humans are capable of such behavior due to self-consciousness, memory, intelligence and emotions. We apply these faculties to craft a unique image for ourselves (wear clothes, ornaments; carry electronic gadgets, apply cosmetics and style the hair, etc.). Our intelligence helps us choose necessary objects to fulfill our goals. It suggests us various ways to use our body parts creatively for holding, hanging, resting, carrying and displaying the artificial objects. Figure 3. Using body parts to host objects The anatomical perspective of human body is very helpful in looking at the same facts with a different insight. As discussed so far, we use our head to carry water-vessels. Women have more indented waist above the pelvic bone compared to men, which allows them to rest the vessel on the waist comfortably (see the fourth lady in Figure 1). You rarely come across a man carrying the vessel on the waist like that. Let us look at the other examples. Our trousers are held at the waistline due to pelvic bones. The shirt is held in its place by our shoulder gridle. We use the shape of phalanges (finger bones) to wear the gold rings. The ladies (and even the youngsters nowadays) insert gold rings with pearls or diamonds through the nostrils or through the earlobes. The MP3 Player can be tied on the arm using straps. The carpenter manages to keep a pencil in the narrow space between the earflap and head. We use the earflaps and nasal bone for resting the spectacles. We tie the watch around wrist bones or wear bangles on them. Hairclips, headbands and so on... Like no other animal, human beings alone are fond of using their body to display and carry so many artificial objects (man-made creations). These objects embody human aspirations, triumph over limitations; pursuit of excellence, pleasure and rich life. Most of these things become possible as our bottom half is used to erect the body carriage that frees the upper limbs for manipulating objects. It has allowed humans to make greater use of tools than any other species. From the caveman to modernman The cavemen sported various accessories made out of bones, animal skin, stone tools and natural materials on their body. That is what we find in the ancient burials. The excavations have revealed that the favorite possessions of the dead were kept inside the grave. On the contrary, the modern humans carry the most exotic accessories like Mobile Phones, Bluetooth Headsets, Pocket PC, iPods and Laptops with them. But there is no big change in the psychological makeup of humans. It is still the same. The ancient and modern people both liked to decorate their bodies with useful and stylish objects. The only change is, we do not keep fancy mobile phones and iPods inside the grave of a dead person! May be the modern society does not believe so much in the life after death or we see greater value in using these gadgets than leaving them to rust inside the grave! There is great joy in connecting with our old self.
Feedback at Contribute Articles To
© Copyright 2006-2007
*Perspectives*

From Gagaria to Bisleria Dr. Dinesh Katre

From Gagaria to Bisleria

Dr. Dinesh Katre

From Gagaria to Bisleria

Dr. Dinesh Katre