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South Asian Anthropologist

South Asian Anthropologist

Frequency :Bi-Annual

ISSN :0257-7348

Peer Reviewed Journal

Table of Content :-South Asian Anthropologist, Vol:19, Issue:2, Year:2019

Pastoralists of the Himalayas: Gaddis of Bharmaur Tribal Region in Himachal Pradesh

BY :   SIMMY
South Asian Anthropologist, Year:2019, Vol.19 (2), PP.99-107


This research paper discusses about the Gaddi, a pastoral community of the Bharmaur region, a tribal dominated region of Himachal Pradesh. The author presents the historical and the religio-mythological aspects of the community, their ecosystem practices, traditional myths and beliefs that have influenced their life style. The Gaddi is a semi-nomadic agro-pastoral community engaged in pastoralism and agricultural activities on varying seasons. The author has looked upon the socio-economic structure of the society with special reference to caste structure, religious mythological practices and occupational patterns of Gaddis that is very close to their ecosystem. The study was conducted in the Bharmaur tribal region of Himachal Pradesh from the different villages including Bharmaur, Holi, Quarsi, Malkota and Kugti and others. The focus of this paper covers how they influence or are influenced by the traditional belief systems in the present state of government run development programmes for transformation and modernization. The established knowledge system of Gaddi pastoral cycle which is very close to their deity institutions make them live with the mythological beliefs governing pastoralism.

KEYWORDS: Gaddi. Tribe. Pastoralism. Occupational patterns. Ecosystem. Beliefs. Practices. Modernization impact.


Rules and Regulatory Situation in Practicing of Traditional Medicine for Healing in South Asia

BY :   ZANNATUL FERDOUS
South Asian Anthropologist, Year:2019, Vol.19 (2), PP.109-118


This paper has two components: one is traditional medicine in terms of Ayurvedic, Unani, Sidha, Yoga, Acupuncture along with folk medicines which are widely
practiced in South Asia to get rid of different types of diseases, and the other, guiding rules and regulations for its application This paper discusses practice of traditional medicines for treatment of different kinds of diseases especially in rural setting where there is scarcity of modern bio-medical treatment system and where poor people find the treatment through modern medicine expensive. The traditional medicines are popular among the patients, because the traditional medicines are rooted in their culture. The main focus of this paper is to examine to what extent traditional medicine has legal status, and guiding rules and regulations for its application in healing of diseases in South Asian countries.

KEYWORDS: Traditional medicine. Rules and regulations. Healing. South Asia.



Maternal Mortality Rate and Infant Mortality Rate in Assam, Northeast India: A Serious Public Health Challenge

BY :   HIMANGI KALITA & NITISH MONDAL
South Asian Anthropologist, Year:2019, Vol.19 (2), PP.119-128


India is facing one of the biggest challenges in the area of maternal and child healthcare and development including Assam. We are facing major public health concerns in the areas of anaemia, maternal mortality, child sex-ratio and infant mortality in Assam, Northeast India. The objectives of the present paper are to evaluate and compare the current situations of maternal mortality rate (MMR) and infant mortality rate (IMR) in Assam. The Government of Assam has made significant advancements to reduce the MMR and IMR and has shown an increase in institutional delivery and immunization coverage, however, it is still below the adequate requirement. Therefore, there is an urgent requirement to improve the overall and target-specific healthcare facilities, and improving the infrastructural facilities in the peripheral hospitals to combat these serious healthcare problems in population.

KEYWORDS: Healthcare. Public health. MMR and IMR. Health facilities. Assam.


Prevalence of Hypertension among the Urban Slum Muslim Women of Kolkata, West Bengal

BY :   NADIRA KALAM, PRIYANKA KANRAR & MONALI GOSWAMI
South Asian Anthropologist, Year:2019, Vol.19 (2), PP.129-136


Hypertension is the most prevalent non-communicable disease (NCD) of both developed and developing countries now-a-days. The present study is an endeavor to assess the prevalence of hypertension among the Muslim slum women of Kolkata, West Bengal. This cross-sectional study was carried out among a total of 100 married Muslim women of age-group 15-44 years residing in slums of Narkeldanga in Kolkata city. A significant difference (p<0.001) was observed in the mean systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and in duration of breast feeding and method of fertility control in the sample of women studied. Except height, all anthropometric measurements (Wt, BMI, MUAC and WC) were found to be significantly higher (p<0.001) among the hypertensive women. The age-specific mean difference (ANOVA) was found to be statistically significant(p (<0.001) with respect to SBP and DBP. This study suggest that more attention is required for the health care of urban poor slum women who are vulnerable and marginalized section of the society.

KEYWORDS: Slum women. Narkeldanga. Muslim. Hypertension. BMI MUAC. WC.


Traditional Baul Singers and Their Esoteric Practices in Birbhum

BY :   SUMAHAN BANDYOPADHYAY
South Asian Anthropologist, Year:2019, Vol.19 (2), PP.137-143


The Bauls represent a unique song and musical tradition and esoteric cult practices of a religious group in Bengal. The baul songs are not only an expressive musical tradition, but also carry a dubious symbolic sexual communication hidden in their songs. The aesthetic appeal of their presentation is coupled with their typical robes, instrumentation and body decoration with sandalwood paints. The cult is said to have its origin in 16th century following a confluence of the Tantra, the Vaisanavism and the Sufism in Bengal. We find a special status of baul as a musical tradition and as singers after the poet Rabindranath Tagore took an active interest in it. Since then, there have been a number of literary and anthropological works on the bauls. The cult has caught the attention of the elite urban classes and got popularized through media, films and literary exercises. Now, many baul festivals are organized throughout the year, the baul singers visit several countries of the world and perform the cultural identity of Bengal. Though, the common people still nurture an image of typical baul which remains a point of attraction because of the mystic nature of their life and the performing art. The baul tradition has been passing through a number of transformations at present. The paper attempts to focus on the present state of the art and associated practices of the baul singers.


KEYWORDS: Baul singers. Baul songs. Esoteric practices. Birbhum. West Bengal.


Drinking of Arsenic Contaminated Water and Age at Menarche: An Association Study in North 24 Parganas of West Bengal

BY :   ARPITA JANA & SUBIR BISWAS
South Asian Anthropologist, Year:2019, Vol.19 (2), PP.145-149


Chronic exposure to arsenic contamination through drinking water is a major environmental threat of West Bengal and has been associated with skin lesion, cancer of lungs, bladder, liver and kidney. The present study investigates the effect of this environmental hazard on age at menarche in North 24 Parganas district, one of the worst affected district of West Bengal. Mean menarcheal age (13.6 ± 0.48 years) is higher among women belonging to arsenic affected area by birth, than control population (11.1 ± 0.66 years) who came from non arsenic effected area after marriage. The differences in menarcheal age between these two groups are found to be statistically significant (p <0.05). The study concluded that arsenic exposure might be associated with delayed menarcheal age.

KEYWORDS: Arsenic. Contaminated drinking water. Menarcheal age. Gaighata and Habra II Block. West Bengal.


Marginalization of Third Gender within Development: An Empirical Study in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh

BY :   NILAKANTHA PANIGRAHI & GLADIS S. MATHEW
South Asian Anthropologist, Year:2019, Vol.19 (2), PP.151-164


Man or a woman is the unique creation of the universe and is indeed an integral part of the nature. It would thus be non-ethical to judge and discriminate people who may be different from either man or woman stereotypes, which again is man-made. Third gender (TG) is a person having both the characteristics of man and woman but suffers from biological identity crises that have been imposed with multiple identities by the society. In India, TGs suffer from bio-social identity crisis which made them marginalized in all fronts of their day to day life and living. In globalization and post-globalization era this has generated social, legal, as well as economical challenges multiplying the marginalization for their survival which needs to be addressed through inclusive development approach.
With this premise the present paper is based on empirical study, carried out with the help of anthropological tools which identifies the changing socio-economic characteristics of the TGs in a market driven society. The paper attempts to know the sexual orientation of the TGs, the rights enjoyed by them and the benefits accrued by them from various government development programs meant for them. The paper argues that in the globalised market system where the State withdraws from providing the welfare support, the TGs one of the marginal communities have suffered a lot. They are yet to cope with the progressive support systems available in the market.

KEYWORDS: Third gender. Marginalization. Socio-economic status. Development. Bilaspur. Chhattisgarh.


A Study on the Dynamics of Postpartum Amenorrhoea in a Minyong Society Using Cox’s Proportional Hazards Analysis

BY :   MAITREYEE SHARMA
South Asian Anthropologist, Year:2019, Vol.19 (2), PP.165-169


The reproductive span of a woman is interrupted by many phenomena and one of such a universal phenomenon is the period between birth of a child and subsequent return of menstrual cycle. Though the period of gestation is universally constant in the species; the duration of postpartum amenorrhoea (PPA) varies from one woman to another and also after every childbirth of the same woman. The present study aimed at investigating the covariates that influence the duration of PPA. This community-based, cross-sectional anthropological study was conducted among the Minyong tribe that inhabits the West Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh to analyze the dynamics and determinants of duration of PPA and the relative risk of returning into ovulation after child birth. The Log- Rank test (Chi-square) was adopted to compare the survival experience of the groups as categorized in the tables and Cox’s Proportional Hazards model was utilized to assess if the duration of PPA is associated with any of the selected demographic variables. The median duration of PPA was found to be 9.8 months.

KEYWORDS: Postpartum Amenorrhoea (PPA). Age and birth order. Breastfeeding. Child death. Minyong tribe. Arunachal Pradesh.


Ethno-medicine and Tribal Health: A Study in Munchingput Mandal of Visakhapatnam District, Andhra Pradesh

BY :   SRINIVASU KODI
South Asian Anthropologist, Year:2019, Vol.19 (2), PP.171-176


Research interest and activities in the area of ethno-medicine have increased tremendously in the last decade. Since the inception of the discipline, scientific research in ethno-medicine has made important contribution to the understanding of traditional medical knowledge and practice. In this context, this paper describes the prevalence of ethno-medical practices and practitioners in tribal populations of Munchingput mandal of Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh. This study was carried out among the Khond, Pengu Porja, Parangi Porja, Valmiki and Bagata tribal communities to examine the dynamics of ethno-medical practices by their practitioners.

KEYWORDS: Ethno-medicine. Tribes. Health care. Munchigput mandal.Visakhapatnam district. Andhra Pradesh.


Untiring Mind: A Documentary Film on Dr. Biraja Sankar Guha

BY :   NABAKUMAR DUARY
South Asian Anthropologist, Year:2019, Vol.19 (2), PP.177-179



Book Reviews

South Asian Anthropologist, Year:2019, Vol.19 (2), PP.181-184



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