The Circle of Life – “A child gives birth to a mother”

I saw this quote when I was a very little child and it has stuck to me till date. “A child gives birth to a mother” – I interpret this in two ways.

First, it could mean that only a child can make a woman’s life that of a mother. Having a child gives a mother another meaning to life.

Second, it could mean a girl child grows up to become a mother and continue the cycle of life.

For this project, I wanted to make a story around this theme. So, by using the concept of card-storytelling, I depict a girl child growing up to give birth to another girl child, who continues and this process goes on and on, continuing life.

On an implementation level, I used an H-bridged assisted DC motor to turn the circle of life as the story plays. For the cards, I used mini-servos to raise and drop the cards. These are programmed in unison to tell a story from beginning to the end.

Link to video and documentation: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-XYwe_ldmF9WUJzalFmd3RRcG8/view?usp=sharing

The challenges I faced were primarily setup related. I have never had any experience in designing and beautifying projects. This was my first small step towards making projects a bit more presentable than I had ever done. I still have a long way to go, but I respect the final iteration I landed up with.

Further, starting the servo motor was a bit of a challenge, but was quickly resolved by rewiring the entire circuit again.

7 thoughts on “The Circle of Life – “A child gives birth to a mother””

  1. This is a very interesting project in both the artistic and technical sense. I noticed you used a battery pack to power the motor and I thought that was very smart to do. I was powering my my motor through the Arduino and it wasn’t enough power. I struggled with the motor a lot and didn’t even think of your option. The story behind your project was also really interesting because I never though of the cycle of life as a child giving birth to a mother. Great use of the servos and battery pack!

  2. Your reading of this quote is extremely ill-considered. By stating that having a child gives woman’s life meaning, you are disregarding every woman’s validity as an individual person and saying their only value and purpose is to reproduce.

    With the benefit of the doubt, I don’t think that this is actually what you believe, but it is very important to think about what you are saying. Please analyze your work and think about the messages that you are sending.

    1. Hi,

      I appreciate your view. I, nor this project, imply that the only purpose of a woman is to reproduce.

      While this quote is open to interpretation, and not my personal quote, I do believe this anonymous quote implies a greater meaning.

      If you read the quote carefully, it says “a child gives birth to a mother” and not woman. A more positive interpretation of this hints at the direction of gratitude. Often we say that the child owes gratitude to the mother for life, but this quote really brings out why the child also brings new meaning to the mother’s life, and so how a mother equally owes gratitude to a child.

      I’m sorry if I offended you and you took the idea of this project in the wrong sense. This project was solely intended to bring out the meaning of our cyclic lives in a positive sense.

      1. I was not talking about the original quote, but I was referring to your post in which you say that “Having a child really gives a woman, now mother, meaning to life.”

        My interpretation stems directly from the words that you used, and my point is that you should really consider the words you use how you say things so that these kinds of miscommunications do not arise, and so that your work is not misinterpreted, especially when dealing with topical issues such as gender roles.

  3. Hi,

    I’m sorry if my choice of words led to an ill-representation of my idea. I did not mean that having children is the only meaning to a woman’s life. I only meant in the sense that it adds another dimension. I’ll be more careful of wording and reviewing my drafts. Your interpretation, which is clear from my choice of words, is justified, but in no sense what I believe or wanted to say. Again, truly sorry for the error.

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