Space and Culture, India
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A Contemplation on ‘Sultana’s Dream
Get PDFSultana’s Dream is a piece written by the most prolific Muslim woman intellectual Begum Rokeya Shekhawat, published in the Ladies Magazine in 1905, from Madras. She spoke against patriarchy in Muslim community. Her Sultana’s Dream depicts a dream sequence but it is not simply a sequence for entert ainment. It rather speaks for a transformation in society to bring women out of the boundaries of four walls of home and to work in the public sphere without interference of men at all. Through a dream, she challenges the dogmas, associated with Muslim women. Her own life is an example of many such practices, like confinement in a j
enana system, etc. This piece attempts to review as to how beautifully the text is written and how radically forceful it is that encourages the readers to think of the degraded condition of women and how women particularly, never question the same. She brings about certain unbelievable sequences of those days
through her writing. At that time, women’s education itself was a taboo. However, some consensus were developed by the reformers in both Hindu and Muslim communities—for them education for women was essential so that she become a good companion for her husband and a good mother. An idea that women need education for her individual growth was very rare. In spite of living and growing in such a society, it is contemplative as to how Begum Rokeya Shekhawat could manage to be so radical in her thoughts to challenge the patriarchal culture itself. She had managed to bring women into politics and scientific world, both traditionally male-dominated bastions. She had pronounced certain scientific marvels, which is relevant even today. Her idea of women’s’ participation in politics is simply ahead of her time but relevant in contemporary Indian politics. Here, an attempt has been made to review her pioneering work. Towards the end, there is
also an effort to see the condition of Muslim women in contemporary India.
 
The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013: A Review
Get PDFManual scavenging is a caste-based and hereditary occupation for Dalits (untouchables), which is predominantly linked with forced labour or slavery. In this article, an attempt has been made to trace out the brief history of the practice of manual scavenging in India. The author has also dwelt upon the constitutional commitment as well as measures taken up by the successive governments to improve the conditions of this class of people. The hallmark of the article lies in the detailed analysis along with some suitable suggestions on the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scav-engers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013 recently enacted by the Parliament of India
Community Work: Theories, Experiences & Challenges
Get PDFGoel, K., Pulla, V. and Francis, A. P. (Eds.), 2014. Bangalore: Niruta Publications, 262 pages, A$29.95, Rs. 350/
Spatial Pattern and Variation in Literacy among the Scheduled Castes Population in the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam
Get PDFScheduled Caste (SC) population constitutes a sizeable portion of the total population of Assam accounting for 6.32 per cent according to the 2011 Census. They comprise a socially backward class in the Indian society\u27s downtrodden illiterate people of the Indian social fabric. Literacy and educational attainment are considered the hallmark of a modern society. The traits of the modern society, such as, industrialisation, modernisation and urbanisation are closely associated with the level of literacy and education. In the middle part of the 20th century, the literacy rate among them was very low. However, in the later part of the 20th century and in the current millennium due to the developmental measures implemented by both the Central as well as State Governments of India and due to the influence of mass media, there has been a change in the pattern of literacy.
The literacy rate of the SC population in the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam was 66.34 per cent in 2011 against 61.15 per cent for general population, which is slightly lower than the SC population in the Valley. The study of the pattern of literacy among various social groups of SCs in the study area provides an insight into the socio-economic situations. An attempt has been made in this paper to analyse the spatial pattern of literacy and its variations among the scheduled caste population in the Brahmaputra Valley, Assam
Buddhism in Sarnath: An Account of Two Chinese Travellers
Get PDFThis paper aims to draw the religious life in Sarnath (and Varanasi) as accounted by the Chinese travellers—Fa-Hien and Hiuen-tsang. The accounts not only talk about the stupas, pillars, statues built by King Ashoka; vihars and monks (bhikshus) living in those vihars but also contain the first preachings of Lord Buddha, establishment of Sangha and the story of Mrigajataka that remain significant. With the increased popularity of Buddha dharma in China, the Chinese were attracted towards travelling to India. They came to India mainly with the intentions to visit the places related to the fond memories of Lord Buddha, to study the Buddha religion and philosophy and carry the copies of the Buddhist compositions. Fa-Hien and Hiuen-tsang occupy significant places among these Chinese travellers. These accounts can be associated with ancient history as well as with historical geography, religion and philosophy. While Fa-hien in his journey details had described about the Buddha Empire, Hiuen-tsang highlighted the civilisation of India and its cultural landscape, albeit it has been often accepted by the historians that these accounts of their journeys should be considered as significant only when they are backed by historical evidences. They opine that these travellers were mainly influenced by the Buddha dharma and therefore, their accounts are liable to containing exaggerated journey details. It is true that the journey details contain few imaginary instances; nevertheless, these accounts have been validated by the remnants, stupas and vihars at the sites
Life and Times of Unborn Kamla
Get PDFK.K.Varma.2013. New Delhi:
Palimpsest Publishers, 131 pages, Kindle Edition: £1.87;
Paperback £1.87/₹275
 
A Critical Observation on Methodologies of Select Doctoral Research Studies
No full textThe present article aims to critically observe and interpret the methodological deficiencies as found in randomly selected 14 doctoral theses submitted to two different universities in India. Despite their serious deviation from the expected methodological standards, all those theses were accepted and approved by the universities and scholars concerned conferred with PhD degrees. Undoubtedly, those theses kept in the reference sections at the respective university libraries would potentially misguide and mislead the future researchers. Some of the common technical deficiencies, as have been noticed, include (1) absence of careful thoughts in framing research titles, (ii) biased method of data collection, (ii) absence of logical explanation in favour of sample size and sample selection process, (iii) designing and execution of instrument for data collection, (iv) theory formulation in terms of framing of objectives, hypotheses and operational definitions etc. The article attempts to present the critical observations on case-to-case basis so that their conceptual, instrumental and procedural deficiencies and deviations are easily understood by the academicians, researchers and students. The content of this article is divided in to three broad sections. The first section deals with an introduction to quantitative and qualitative research methods and their advantages and limitations. The next section deals with the review of the selected theses followed by conclusion and suggested remedial measures. The objective of this article is purely academic and its scope is limited to enhancement of quality of future research studies in the domains and related fields
Women, Environment and Sustainable Development: A Case Study of Khul Gad Micro Watershed of Kumoun Himalaya
Get PDFWomen in the marginal areas of Uttarakhand have always played and continue to play a significant role in managing and operating most of the household and agricultural activities. They are the main subsistence provider in the hills and considered the backbone of hill agriculture. Their lives are intrinsically related to land, water, forest, which are the main components and integral parts of an eco-system. An adverse effect on any one of these components disturbs the other components due to strong linkages and interrelationship with each other and creates havoc on the life of people, especially women in the region. However, in recent years, environmental degradation, poor resource management and increased migration of men to the plains have deteriorated the livelihood options and added more workload to women of the region. The sufferings of the communities in these hilly areas are gradually increasing and their standard of living is declining because they have been neglected at both policy and practice levels by the government. The nexus between women, environment degradation and poverty are poorly understood and rarely treated in an integrated way. Therefore, the key objective of the present paper is to analyse the work participation of women operating at different sub-systems, impact of environmental degradation and role of women in sustaining the traditional agro-ecosystem in Khul Gad micro-watershed of Kumoun Himalaya
Urbanisation in West Bengal: An Analysis of Recent Processes
Get PDFThe present work intends to study the recent processes of urbanisation of West Bengal by measuring some selected indices: like level of urbanisation, decadal growth of urban population, rate of urbanisation, pace of urbanisation and urban growth, contribution of growth in urban population to total growth and rural-urban displacement. It is a meso-level study, and 19 districts of the state have been selected as units of study. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), the research has identified three principal factors that determine the processes of urbanisation in the state: rural-urban displacement, decadal growth rate and rate of urbanisation. All these three factors responded positively in both primary and secondary loadings
