Cover Letter

This essay was written to show how your background and upbringing affect who you are today. My parents instilled an extreme desire to travel and meet new people. They took me to countries like England and Italy to show me different cultures. This story of my great-grandfather, however, contradicts this realization I have. It is a relief to see how even back then, society could not erode my family’s values. 

I hope the readers understand that objects can hold memories, even if they aren’t yours. My artifact isn’t mine, it is actually my dad’s, but it is a reminder of what it means to be a Kooran. I picked the tiger claw pendant because it was given to my dad right before his uncle died, which was very recently. Again, this personal artifact was a reminder of the immortal family spirit. I was going to write about my great grandmother’s ring, but my great uncle’s death changed the trajectory of this paper. Writing this paper helped me reflect on my relationship with my great uncle, and then my great grandfather.

I chose this artifact, the tiger claw pendant, because it reminds me of the admiration I hold for my family. The tiger is a very fierce animal, and it also represents my south Indian culture. The stripes are attributed to the strength and make me view my ancestor through a majestic lens. Whenever I feel this lack of confidence, I now know I can turn to my ancestors for a source of empowerment. My ancestors haven’t always made the best decisions, but my great-grandfather’s life makes me believe that doing good things overpower the bad parts of life. 

Through this essay, I got to know my family a bit better. The flame of pride I see in my father’s eyes when he speaks about my great-grandfather is refreshing because as an immigrant, it is rare to feel strong or big in general. He has always felt small in his workplace due to his thick Indian accent, and it has forced him to put his head down, listen to orders, and simply work till sundown. My great-grandfather is also an empowering icon to him as well. A bond that connects us through generations is this story, and no matter what age we are, it still produces the same feeling. 

This assignment has been encouraging because I learned more about my family. Although I knew a lot about my background, I got to find specific details that made this experience all the more personal. I would like to improve my voice, and how strong it is. I feel like I lose my strength when I write at times. Comments from peers encouraged me because I was originally very unsure of what I wrote. I want to improve my confidence as a writer as well. 

I was able to develop a collaborative aspect of this writing process through the discussion board and the chat in the breakout rooms. It was interesting to see the difference between my artifact and others’. My peer talked about a photo album that has helped him all throughout his life, while my artifact was relatively new, but both of the items were personal. 

I liked this assignment because it allowed me to reflect on my family’s history and my relationship with them. It helped me put a face to all the stories I’ve heard about my great grandfather. 

Claws of the Tiger

Cultural artifacts are the results of the seeds that our ancestors had sown. It gives us a chance to look back to see how far we have come and encourages us to move forward in life. It’s a reminder of the blood, sweat, and tears that melted many different individuals into one unit. The cultural artifact that I treasure is one of my family’s heirlooms, the tiger claw pendant.

The tiger claw pendant has two tiger claws in the center united by a gold rim, with red, blue, and white gem embellishments. Although it has great monetary value, it holds an even deeper meaning because it has defined the Kooran family through my great grandfather. 

My great-grandfather was a man of great influence in Kerala, a small state in the southern part of India. He was a businessman and dabbled in politics as well. His name, Paulo Kooran, is still remembered in his hometown, and his legacy echoes through the halls of the school and orphanages he helped build. He had a lot of enemies, for he was a strong critic of the church. His disapproval of the church has now been passed down through generations because it is an idea that stood the test of time. He was the embodiment of  power and pride, and he wasn’t afraid to speak out against injustices.

Another trait that my great grandfather passed down to his descendants was his love of travel. He believed that meeting new people and experiencing other cultures would erode the hard edges of one’s personality. He personally experienced this phenomenon because in his journal, he describes how his trips across India alone was a cure to his vanity and greed. This tiger claw pendant is a result of his most important trip, so it encapsulates what the Kooran family stands for. 

During one of his trips around Kerala, my great grandfather decided to go to the forests. At the time, there was a great Adivasi (tribal) population in Kerala. The history of Kerala is soaked with the blood of the Adivasis because they were always the target of discrimination. In the caste system, they were at the end of the totem pole, and this caste system later evolved into the hierarchical socioeconomic structure. The Adivasis lived in the mountains and they worshiped Shiva, so they were alienated from the rest of Kerala. While  Kerala feared the Adivasis, my great grandfather was intrigued by them. 

He and his friend ventured out into the forest cautiously, hoping for the best. They were expecting uncivilized people, impure eyes, and threatening voices, but they stumbled upon a cluster of huts. There were kids playing like in the schools in the towns of Kerala. They were dressed in scraps of clothing that resembled shorts. They saw older women smiling and laughing at each other, an image of pure joy. They saw teenagers playing with big wheels and chasing each other. It was like a normal town, except it was an Adivasi town. My great grandfather proceeded to talk to a young man who was playing with the children. He talked about the threats that they face as a community who is almost entirely self sustained. He discussed the threats of elephants and tigers, and showed my great grandfather the claws of the tiger they found. After talking to him, the Adivasi man gifted the claws to my great grandfather, who kept it all throughout his life. To add a personal touch, he took the claws with him on his trip to Tamilnadu and made it a pendant. 

The pendant is a reminder of how hatred is a result of fear, and once my great grandfather saw this friendly little town, the fear and prejudice just melted away. His findings made me realize how groupthink erases the nuances of humanity. There aren’t good or bad cultures because the world isn’t black and white. Hatred has the power to taint your perspective and distort your reality. The tiger claw dug deep into my great grandfather’s discriminatory attitude, and prevented this hatred from being passed onto the next generations. 

The passing on of the tiger pendant and its origin story shows how the individual family members in my family are bound by our values. We are the leaves and our values are the branches of our family tree. Our customs and traditions represent the nourishing water flowing through the stem of the machine. As a whole, we are a culture, a web of relationships.