The present paper is an ethnographic account of the Nepalese migrant workers living and working in the coal mines in Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya. Most of the workers working in the selected coal mining area of the Jaintia Hills hail from Bhojpur district of Eastern Nepal. The paper works on return migration and it argues that, for the majority of the Nepalese migrant workers, working in the coal mines is not temporary; rather an experience of circular migration. Return, here is used as an analytical concept which can both be seen as an imagined and actual return migration of the Nepalese migrant workers. The meaning of home and belonging for Nepalese migrant workers changes overtime. On the one hand, the Nepalese migrant workers continuously complain about the grueling condition of the…

There is a considerable difference between thinking about sex differences with the dichotomous variable and integrating more complex gender analysis in migration research.This paper makes a rigorous analysis of migration from gender perspective that highlights the livelihood contribution of women labour migrants of Nepal and assesses the exploitation and exclusion they have faced during the migration process. The study is conducted in Pokhara Valley with particular focus on the women going to Gulf Countries. The findings are derived from the information collected from 80 respondents selected using the chain-snow-ball sampling. Information was collected through in-depth interviews. The social and educational networks of researchers were used to identify the respondents at first; afterwards, network of already identified respondents was also used. The contribution of women labour migration in household economy is…

India shares 1,751 km long border with Nepal and approximately 275 km of this falls in Uttarakhand state of  India (Joshi, 2010). It have been said that sense of “foreignness” for these Nepali immigrants labours is less in Uttarakhand than the Indian plains. Although immigrant community form vital part of this region’s landscape and inevitable part of informal economy there is an apparent lack of literature on their social status and their role in (re)shaping the region’s politics, culture and economy. Prevalent geopolitical discourse has focused mainly on India's unregulated open borders with Nepal, Nepali Maoist’s claim on the easternmost part of Kumaon region (situated in the Eastern part of Uttarakhand) of India and on the linkages between Nepali labourers in Uttarakhand and the Nepali Maoists. Thus, this study employs…

The power struggle between sufficient class and the insufficient is prevalent since time immemorial. Like any other subjects, this sphere too has its own globe, speciality, and account. It is a natural fact that in a power relationship, the subordinate often has to tender somewhat and sometimes has to make a huge deal endangering his whole needs. It is in such occasions, the subordinates resist the dominants to protect their interest that ultimately leads to the growth of hidden transcripts among the powerless in a society. The resentment of the peasantry and working class against the unjust and a self centred rule began to take shape with the hiddentranscripts. Generally, the hidden transcript takes place beyond instant inspection of the authorities. When the level of suppression reaches its highest watermark,…

Over the last decade, rap and hip-hop have taken the Nepali music industry by storm, and one of its guises is Raw Barz. Raw Barz is a ‘rap battle,’ where two performers ‘battle’ with each other verbally, in generally three to four rounds, and is mostly characterized by bragging, boasting, ragging, and making cunning, clever or even disparaging remarks against each other in an attempt to win the opponent. While the history of rap music reveals that it was actually evolved as a way of expression of frustration against oppression and discrimination among the African-American community in the United States, it is explicit that the battles all over the world currently use themes such as misogyny, objectification, masculinity and violence, and femininity and sexuality. Although many studies have been conducted…

War narratives consist of multiple themes related to people’s recollection of the violent past, imagination of the future and reflection on the present. More importantly, such narratives offer possibilities to explore how victims, perpetrators and ordinary people construct meanings associated with wartime violence, torture, disappearances and other wartime events. By revealing different vantage points to look into a particular event, narratives from different sources offer varying accounts of the war. Hence, narrative research has found a significant position in anthropological studies related to war and peace. The post-conflict period in Nepal witnessed a significant growth in anthropological studies on the decade long war. There are still ongoing efforts to explore various issues related to the war such as participation of men and women in the war, memories of war in…

Integration of immigrants has been a pertinent issue both theoretically and at the policy level in major migrant receiving states. In the case of the United Kingdom (UK), this has been reflected in the rise of extreme right-wing parties and increasing public resistance, who see immigration as a threat to national solidarity as the immigrants are seen as refusing to ‘integrate’ into mainstream society. The Nepali community residing in the UK, majority of which constitutes of families of Nepali men who served or are still serving in the Gurkha Regiment of the British Army, has been no exception to this resistance. However, scant attention has been given to the examination of integration process of this group. Furthermore, like the majority of the migration literature, the gender dimension, i.e. the process…

In anthropology of pharmaceuticals it is recognized that pharmaceutical products have life in themselves. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study conducted among 81 people involved in the life cycles of psychotropic drugs. Based on the "biographical approach" proposed by Van der Geest and colleagues the paper describes  people's perception on how psychotropic drugs take social and cultural meaning from their birth (production), life span (import, promotion, procurement, whole sell and retail marketing, transport, storage, prescription) to death (consumption or disposal). The findings suggest the psychotropic drugs in all these phases of life come across people with different norms and values in diverse socio-cultural and economic settings. Therefore, the perception of these people about psychotropic drug is important for health policy and planning. The major factors affecting supply…

In February 2015, Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), Nepal was founded to find out the truth about incidents of gross violation of human rights in the course of armed conflict and providing recommendation for legal actions in the country. It is marked as an official process of dealing with the past to consolidate the process of transitional justice. There is a national need to integrate the memories of the conflict to heal from human right violation and to work jointly towards attaining a sustainable peace. This process of healing and reconciliation can be complemented by providing favorable conditions for dialogue, healing and reconciliation in community. Reconciliation is a deep emotional and personal process which involves individuals and communities suffered directly and inflicted sufferings in armed conflicts. Usually, the precondition for…

Across Nepal, as in much of the world, language communities are shifting from speaking indigenous languages to speaking exclusively languages of wider communication. The Dhimal community, a small ethnic group in the eastern Tarai, is among those experiencing rapid recent language shift. While most Dhimal people over 20 years old speak Dhimal fluently (in addition to Nepali, some Hindi and English), today few children under age ten speak the language. The reasons for this change are familiar and understandable, including pressure to use Nepali and English at school, the impression that Dhimal is not only irrelevant but detrimental to attempts to gain foreign employment, and in-migration that has left Dhimals a small minority in their homeland. Language shift, while tied to these large processes, is also an interactional phenomenon. Drawing…