This paper, based on longitudinal public opinion surveys conducted between December 2004 and April 2012, argues that though majority of the Nepali people was in the favour of retaining the institution of monarchy till a few months prior to the declaration of republicanism by the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly in May 2008, the majority people (though not by a big margin) have approved the republicanism by April 2012. Analysis of the longitudinal data also helps giving insights on the relationship between political events and public opinions. A large segment of the Nepali populace came to think that monarchy was not necessary after the successful end of the Jan Andolan II in April 2006 because Seven-Party Alliance and the UCPN (Maoist) had already declared abolishing of monarchy after the…

The Tiwa are one of the many aboriginal tribal groups in North-East India. Settled in Morigaon, Nagaon, Kamrup and Karbi Anglong districts of Assam and Ri Bhoi district of Meghalaya, they have long been referred to as “Lalung” by other neighbouring groups (Khasi-Jaintia, Karbi) and in colonial records. The people in question however refer to themselves as Tiwa. They are divided into two cultural and social divisions- those settled in the plains, speak Assamese, follow a patrilineal descent system and bear Assamese patronyms, and those residing in the hills, speaks a Tibeto-Burmese language of the Bodo-Garo group, are primarily matrilineal and divided into clearly identified clans from which they trace their descent. Thus the Tiwa follow a bilineal descent system or more specifically an ambilineal descent. The hill Tiwa are…

In post-1990 Nepal, it seems to be quite easy for an ethnographer to find the local sociocultural situation, within janajati societies among others, in which essentialistic praise of one’s own tradition and culture in the discursive level has coexisted with various attempts of sociocultural reform on the one hand, and easily observable sociocultural transformations on the other. To sort out this complex situation ethnographically, it is necessary to investigate how people have conceptualized what anthropologists have treated as their “culture” and “tradition”, without presupposing such Western concepts as well as their Nepali quasi-equivalents. In this presentation, I deal with this task by scrutinizing usages and connotations of the compound noun “thumcharu”, a Byansi term which has been used among Rangs in Byans, Far Western Nepal and adjacent regions.  Byans is…

In this paper, I will discuss how agricultural system and food sovereignty are associated with close interaction among human beings, livestock and crops in the socio-cultural and ecological system of the Loba people of Lo-manthang, Nepal. Whether the access and ability to choose their food has threatened? Do they continue sustain agro-biodiversity relations based on their indigenous knowledge for food sovereignty? For this purpose I will describe what the Loba people have experienced in relation to changing local climate and dynamic adaptation as tradition in agriculture. I will analyze these context specific relations, but cumulative, dynamic and derived from the web of interaction with the ecological system of the area. This paper includes value of food. Food has multiple values in Loba community. Food is produced to fulfil nutritional requirement…

In Nepal, the majority of kidney recipients are male (87%) while most kidney donors are female (76%), and in most cases, kidneys are given from wives to husbands and from mothers to sons. In an attempt to curb organ trafficking, Nepali law permits live renal donation only among close relatives, meaning donors have close personal relationships with their recipients, and one’s decision to donate a kidney is made in the context of one’s family, social and economic situation. This paper examines the socio-cultural and familial context within which organ donation occurs, and focuses on how such factors have created an extreme gender bias in kidney donation. Interviews with kidney recipients, donors and their families illuminate the complex and intimate factors that influence the donation decision-making process, and how that process…

Despite the fact that anyone can perpetuate violence, evidence from many studies shows that males as a dominant gender group are much more likely to be the perpetrators and the existence of “male” violence against women does suggest such violence as a consequence of unequal power relationships. Sexual harassment is one such example although its variation exists in terms of its level and nature across different cultures and societies since the masculine resources vary to create and claim membership in a dominant gender group. Most studies on sexual harassment have elicited responses from women and such responses provide important insights in understanding the nature and consequences of sexual harassment. However, it provides only a partial picture. In my previous study on sexual harassment in public transport in Kathmandu, 97% of…

This Nepali proverb asserts that women need to involve in household activities as their livelihood but male need to migrate here and there for survival. It focuses on the traditional dimension of migration. In past days there was domination of patriarchal culture in Nepal. A strong patriarchal feeling is ingrained in members of Nepalese society, which undermines structural poverty, discrimination against women in the public and private sectors and various forms of violence against women (Mark W, 2010).  This paper highlights the returns aspects of the migrant’s women. To see the return aspects it has focused on women role in transforming society and their participation in politics. It especially focuses on the practices happening in a way of negotiating the learned behavior and existing practices in the society. This paper…

Oral narrative or storytelling is an ancient cultural practice of making connections between past and present. This narratological (Homo Narrans) episteme of storytelling (somewhere poetic recitation or art painting) is elementary method of cultural connections, historical reproduction and understanding of transformation as well as diversity among the people of throughout generations.  Maharae Gaune (Public event of mythical storytelling about Dina-Bhadri) is a collective initiation ritual of the Musahars because they mentally travel from mythical spatial temporal landscape to the present with the expert storyteller.  They remembered and refreshed divine power of their ancestors that was really crisis in this moment. Storytelling is political both in its messages and in its practices.  Beside therapeutic function of psychological unity and empowerment of story, if they listened to the whole story of Dina…

This research is going to study future expectations of youths at Kathmandu in Transition Nepal. Nepal has experience on ten years long armed conflict from 1996 to 2006. During the war, youths (Both side) expected to wing through the “Gun Bullet”. After ending the war, Nepal has being passing transition period. In this context, future expectations of youths in Bachelors and non- Bachelors level and their contribution in socio-cultural and political- economic development is very important. Therefore, this research is going to explore youth’s perceptions on their future. Why they expect “Bullet Motor-Bicycle” as their future aspiration instead of country development? This is the research problem of this study. The name of “Bullet Motor-Bicycle” is served as a symbol to represent youth’s expectations on migration to abroad or to achieve…

The educational language policy in a polity not only reflects the classroom learning situation but also represents the power relation between the social groups. Dominant language policy provides better learning opportunities for dominant language speaking students while it causes poor educational achievement and discrimination for non-dominant language speaking students. On the contrary, multilingual education policy brings the non-dominant languages at the center and aims to ensure equal learning opportunities for all. Likewise, it is significant in promoting language ecology and ensuring linguistic human rights for all. Empirical evidences across the world indicate that the use of an unfamiliar language during the early years in education does have negative consequences in the educational and cognitive development of children. Additionally, it also affects the social, economic, and political interests of the non-dominant…