Perspectives on India: Yoga, Nukes, and Bollywood Dreams

by

Dr. Whitney HowarthAssistant Professor of History

Plymouth State University

March 7, 2010Rye Public Library

Defining India Today…

India Today

• Population = 1.2 billion

• Literacy = 73 % male 48 % female

• 29% urban (vs. 82% USA)

• Hindi spoken by 41% of population (English 21%)

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html

Regionalism28 states

14 official languages

Separatist struggles in:1) Andhra Pradesh2) Arunachal Pradesh3) Assam

10) Jammu & Kashmir

18) Mizoram19) Nagaland

21) Punjab

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:India-states-numbered.svg

History tidbits• 1st human settlements in India were 9,000 years ago.

• Christianity arrives in India before it arrives in Europe!• Islam arrives in the 800’s. Mughal Rule for 4 centuries.

Peaceful/prosperous period follows…

• Europeans in India since 1498. textiles trade = wealth• British colonize & de-industrialize India between 1700’s-1947

• Independence marked by bloody Partition. India/Pakistan. 1.5 million died in violence and nearly 10 million displaced.

Religious Distribution of Population

Hindus 80.5%,Muslims 13.4%

Christians 2.3%Sikhs 1.9%

Buddhists 0.8%Jains 0.4%

Others 0.6%

http://www.popfound.org/pop_clock.html

Gender Equity & Family

Birth control options Employment

Divorce rights Arranged marriage vs.Love marriage

Widow rights Violence: dowry death,

Inheritance rights custodial rape, domestic abuse, counseling, $ aid

CasteismDalit (untouchable) empowerment and education

Political debates over ‘reservations’ for low caste people – (India’s Affirmative Action)

Caste’s role in government corruption & access to economic resources

Communalism

Babri Mosque demolished, 1992

Rise of Hindu Right political parties 1990’s

Massacres in Bombay (1990’s) – Gujarat 2002

KashmirKashmir remains the site of the world's largest and most militarized territorial dispute with portions under administration of China (Aksai Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas).

Current population of region is about 11 million.

Muslims make up the majority of the region.

Since 1947, hundreds of thousands are internally displaced.

1.5 million refugees100,000+ dead.

1 in 7 women in region report being raped.

PakistanBorder disputes

Military governments and instable political conditions threaten security of India.

Terrorism

Pro-Taliban support in some areas.

Al-Qeada strongholds in North West (Waziristan)

Prez. Musharraf (2001-2008)

Ali Zadari (2008- ?)

Nuclear Tensions

Nuclear Tensions

1998 1974

U.S./India relations on nuclear issue

Environmental Concerns

Development:

Infrastructure

Water Resources

Electricity

Jobs

Political Quagmires:

The Narmada Valley Hydro-electric project funded by World Bank -- displaced millions

Post-Tsunami (2004) Recovery – fisher folk

Deforestation – the rights of Tribal people

Livelihood Adaptations and Sustainable Development of Indigenous Communities in the Kerala Western Ghats.

Purpose of Study• To identify the opportunities and threats to the sustainable

development of indigenous communities living in this region, especially as it relates to climate change and resource depletion.

• To identify innovative and traditional regional practices of preserving bio-diversity as a means to record adaptation in the face of environmental challenges like climate change, which are often exacerbated by inappropriate development.

• To acknowledge and examine the particular way indigenous people respond to climatic stimuli (actual or expected) in adjustments to ecological, social, or economic systems

The major objectives are:1. To understand the trends of economic and other livelihood

activities

2. To identify impacts of changing phases of climate and resource use

3. To understand the role of institutions in facilitating the sustainable development

4. To generate updated knowledge for academic and policy decisions at a wider perspective

Case Study Focus:1) Mannan of Kozhimala

2) Muthuvan of Chempakathozhukudy and

Pachapulkudy

MannanKozhimala settlement, Idukki District est. 1976

Total families: 112

Population: 443

Land: Approximately, 356 acres.

Cultivation: cardamom, pepper, coffee, tapioca, cocoa, areca nut, coconut.

Topical Issues for further research

1) Encroachment of outsiders, impact on irrigation-- cash cropping patterns w/ bunds, paddy water limited/blocked

2) Loss of ‘pata’ (lease) lands and impact on cultivation.3) Decline in forest foraging and collection

-- fuel wood, dammer, honey, gamboja fruit, and medicinal plants

4) Mixed cash-crop cultivation in lieu of rice/ragi-- food crops require labor intensive and may yield less profits (needs 1 yr to harvest) market factors also limit rice production, settlement from outsiders influence tribal cropping patterns.

5) Role of Raja system and religious practices (Kalavoottu) in maintaining food security, land development, use of pesticides, forest usage.

Muthuvan people

Chempakathozhukudy

Total Families: 128Population: 471Land: Approximately, 60 acres under cultivation

Cultivation: cardamom, pepper, coffee, tapioca, areca nut, coconut

Muthuvan People

Pachapulkudy Settlement

Total Families: 38 Population: 149

Land: ?Cultivation: cardamom, coffee

ChempakathozhukudyTopical issues for

further investigation

1) Food insecurity and decline of edible biodiversity due to human-elephant conflict

2) Cash-crop mix-crop cultivation & medicinal plant usage.

3) Ecological dependency on forest (changes?) – Eucalyptus and grass for building.

4) Wage labor on cardamom plantations outside settlement

“We and the elephant are the same… we don’t have land, they don’t have land. So Why complain? We have the same problems.” -- Muthuvan Kani, Subbaraman.

Pachapulkudy SettlementTopical Issues for Further Investigation:

1) Food insecurity and decline of edible biodiversity due to human-elephant conflict.

2) Cash crops limited to cardamom and coffee (why?)

3) Ecological dependency on forest limited(restricted to fuel wood and honey, no medicinal plants)

4) Wage labor on cardamom plantations outside settlement

• Questions for Fieldwork Interviews with Manan and Muduvan Tribal communities:

• Religious/Spiritual beliefs:

• 1 Who are the Gods/Godesses you worship? Is there an Earth Goddess?• 2 What are the most important festivals of the year? • 3 Are there special festivals related to the earth, to trees, to water, to

specific plants you cultivate, to an agricultural goddess or practice?

• 4 What poojas do you perform in your home daily? Are these done by both men and women?

• 5 What is your relationship to Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity? Any converts? Feelings about that?

• 6 Do you find the DIVINE in nature? Does God directly influence planting, growing, harvesting, weather?

• Tribal Identity and Issues

• 1 What does the term ‘tribal’ mean to you? • 2 Do you live differently than other people in Kerala?• 3 Do you want to be separate? Distinct? If so, why?• 4 What is your tribe’s relationship with the government? Is the govt. good to tribals?• 5 Have there been any laws or policies (from the state) passed for your benefit? Harm? Which laws?• 6 Do the leaders of your tribal community talk to govt officials? What do they talk about?• 7 What is your relationship with other tribal peoples in the region? (Manan/Muduvan)• 8 Are they lower status or higher status than you? Why? Historic relationship/reasons for

difference?• 9 What distinguishes you from these other tribes?• 10 How do the (Manan/Muduvan/other tribe) live and what is their cultivation practice? Do they

grow the same crops?• 11 Are the current young people in your community PROUD to be (Manan/Muduvan)? What makes

them proud?• 12 What is good about the new generation? What skills/talents/knowledge do they have today that

previous generations didn’t have? How is it useful?• 13 Do you practice conservation/protection of your resources? Why or why not?• 14 Do you try to be sustainable (explain concept: live life now with intention that these resources will

be there for future generations)?• 15 you feel like you’re losing culture? Are you disappointed with the loss of traditions or changing

traditions?• 16 If I want to write a book about your tribe, its history, its relationship to the land… what is the most

important story I should tell?

Ethnobotany and EthnomedicineLeucas aspera (tumba) and salt, taken together

can be given to a woman during birth to aid in the evacuation of the afterbirth (placenta).

Preliminary Findings

Mannan vs. Muthuvan1) Settlement patterns – cultivation, proximity, unity, elephants

2) Pesticide usage, seed storage (ragi, peas)3) Raja’s role in ‘development’ projects, governance, foreign

NGO’s and state politics (less activity among Kanis)4) Proximity to forest and relationship with outsiders (customs)

-- issues of conversion/identity-- conservative social traditions (Muthuvan isolation)-- Education vs. traditional knowledge (Mannan mixed

school and Muthuvan women’s schooling limited)-- Alcohol usage

Our interviews revealed that development projects such as hydro-electric dams in the region, like this one at Anayirangal Reservoir, have caused loss of land, massive relocation of indigenous peoples and dramatic shifts in tribal livelihood choices.

With overpopulation, increased land development, and population resettlement schemes organized by the government, tribal peoples face increased elephant conflicts, water shortages, deforestation, and a sever reduction in productive lands upon which to grow crops or forage. Many feel they have lost more than land. They’ve lost identity.

“Yes to microchips, no to potato chips!”market liberalization and foreign investment

Preserving identity: basmati rice and yoga

Sustainable self-reliance

Genetically modified foods

Intellectual property

patents

KFC and Valentine’s Day

Bollywood Dreams