The class of 4PSEco was given an opportunity by our sociology
teacher, Dr. Sheila Mathews, to conduct panel discussions on various topics
related to our syllabus throughout the semester. It helped us create an immense
pool of knowledge while bringing out our creative sides. Our main theme was the
pluralistic nature of the Indian society. The reader will noticed that in the
reviews below, this is clearly highlighted through the various aspects that the
panels brought out under each sub-topic. It gave us a fresh perspective as to
how India has such diverse and unique identities within its geographical
boundaries. The following is an overview of the panel discussions that were
held.
1. India Untouched - Documentary
review
India Untouched is a documentary exposé on the modern
sociopolitical and economic realities of caste and untouchability in India. The
panel began by speaking about the various aspects of the documentary.
Some of the key aspects included the textual references to the laws of Manu,
cross religious casteism and double dalit phenomenon. The members of the
panel gave their views on various aspects of the documentary from the political,
referring to the participation of dalits in politics and communist and
dalit mobilization to social phenomenon such as exclusion from education and
basic facilities and how even economic exclusion such as limitations on work
and economic welfare are placed on the community.
The panel also raised questions on caste and its modern spectre in India.
2. Caste
The panel on caste was required to provide an insight on caste in
India. Rather than focusing on the sociopolitical realities of caste, as
was already done by the panel on the documentary India Untouched, this panel
sought to bring to light the various aspects of caste: definition, occupation,
structure, stricture, forms and nature. The basis of the panel’s central
topics were textual and historical evidences, rules and sources known to be the
base of the modern phenomenon of caste called Jati. This was followed by
studies in caste and a short modern history of caste, cross religious casteism
and reservation. The main highlight of the panel was caste pluralism and how
caste even today seems to undergo expansion.
3. Tribes
India is a diverse nation compiling of a multitude of lives.
Struggling amidst all this is a community as old as time, fighting to not loose
themselves. This panel focused on what it takes to preserve their identity in a
country as pluralistic as India. Various questions were addressed from various
perspectives such as The informed commoner, The Historian, The Scholar,
Representatives from tribes, The Capitalist, The Member of a Pressure Group,
And a Student of sociology.
4. Race
Along with outlining the various racial types - Dravidian,
Alpo-dinarian, Australoid, Negrito, Mongaloid and Aryan - tracing their
origins, physical features, and other traits, the panel also brought out the similarities
and differences between the racial theories of prominent sociologists and
anthropologists such as Herbert Hope Risley, John Henry Hutton and B.S.Guha.
5. Rural Urban
The
panel presented on rural and urban India and occupations with respect to the
Pluralistic nature of Indian Society. They spoke about the characteristics of
rural and urban India and how they lie in a continuum. They also covered the
variety of occupations in the Indian context and how they've changed over the
years.
6. Religion
Due to the vastness and significance of this topic, it was presented by two
panels of 11 members each. The following is a gist of what they covered:
Religion in India is characterized by a diversity of religious
beliefs and practices. The Indian subcontinent is the birthplace of some of the
world's major religions: namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
In 'modern' period new religions were also established in India,
such as Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and Judaism, Islam and Christianity. There are
also some tribal communities who demand to be recognized as separate religion
from Hinduism .Although they pre- dominantly follow major religious traditions
of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and/or Christianity.
7. Language
The panel’s topic for discussion was Languages in India. In keeping the theme
of these panels, “Pluralism in India”, we focused on the following aspects of
Indian Languages:
· Language as
the identity of a culture
· Evolution of
Scripts
· Families of
Languages:
· Indo Aryan
· Dravidian
· Austroasiatic
· Sino Tibetan
· Tai Kadai
· Great
Andamanese.
· Dialects
· Linguistic
Division of States
· Official
Languages
· Endangered
and Extinct languages
The above mentioned topics give a very holistic view and also prove
the plurality that exists in every aspect of the Indian society and culture and
the topics are an evidence of it.
8. Kinship, Family and Marriage
The panel discussed the mentioned topics in great detail, as it forms an
essential part of the social life. These topics were clubbed together as they
are interlinked and each component forms the larger picture. Under kinship,
Irawati Karwe’s book, along with the division in the 4 regions and the types of
kinship were covered. The panelists covered the functions of family, changing
patterns of family in India, the types of family and previously conducted
studies on family by famous sociologists. Types, characteristics, rules and
various practices in different parts of the country were the topics covered
under marriage.
9. Castes of Mind:
The panel on Castes of mind by Nicholas Dirks was both a summary
and view based evaluation of Nicholas Dirks' magnum opus on caste in India,
presented to us by Atreya Arun and Supriya Rangarajan. The panelists
divided the book in order of parts speaking of the fours parts in numerical
order. The first two parts spoke of the invention of caste and colonial
archive and Nicholas Dirks’ main theory of how formalization of caste
through cultural technologies literature and undue focus gave way to its rise
in prominence and master status nature in modern India. It also spoke of the
works and role of Orientalist administrators and missionaries in this process.
The next two parts speak of the ethnographic state, policing criminalization
and conversion of caste, tradition and law to create an enumerated rigid hierarchy
and structure for caste. It then goes on to expand on modern caste community
and polity in India from reformers like Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to movements and
modern politics and the post-colonial predicament in India.
These presentations were an eye opener as well as a great learning
experience. We understood in the truest sense what being so diverse really
meant. In a pluralistic society like India, where people respect each other,
where there is opportunity for a free flow of ideas, a meeting of minds, this
alone can generate an atmosphere conducive to national growth and integration. These
panels went beyond their guidelines given. We truly commend this wonderful job.
Ms. Sharma completed her
undergraduate degree in the course PSEnglish from 2011 – 2014 and went on to
pursue her graduate degree in Social Anthropology at the globally prestigious
Oxford University in the United Kingdom.
She informed the audience about her experiences at Christ and Oxford
while also touching upon the process of applying to universities overseas. As a
student at Christ the multi – disciplinary approach exposed her to combine
various methods of study, which culminated in the form of a research paper
which later became the base for her graduate level dissertation. Identifying
the common themes of religion, economy and culture in the literary works of
Gorur Ramaswamy Iyengar’s ‘Namma Oorina
Rasikaru’ and M N Sirnivas’s ‘A Remembered
Village’; Sharma highlighted despite caste base distinctions, religious
celebrations like Yakshagana brought a unified experience among people, and how
they consume culture.
