Topics: Society in Arampur
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Society in Arampur well reflects the complexity of Indian life. While this is a point that has already been made in a variety of other contexts, it is worth repeating that any generalizations we could make are only limited and partial and inevitably subject to revision. The designers have attempted to portray some of Arampur's social life less through their words than through those of the residents. Listen, and attempt to understand how they describe or envision their social world. If we take a bird's eye view of Arampur, we can see that the village is structured by a series of neighborhoods or muhallas. These muhallas usually (but by no means exclusively) take their name from the group who lives there, an aspect of life in Arampur that raises the rather vexing issue of group identity within Indian society. Often in studies of Indian societies, caste assumes a prominent, if controversial, place. A caste, called jati in Hindi, is a group that is defined by a hereditary occupation that is ranked in hierarchical relation to other castes according to relative measures of purity. So, the "oil presser" caste receives its name from its hereditary occupation of oil pressing, an occupation which is ranked as higher or lower than other caste occupations. Oil pressers, like all other caste groupings, also practice "endogamy" which means that a member of the oil presser caste will almost always marry another oil presser. While caste refers to a hereditary occupation, it is important to remember that many Indians no longer practice their hereditary occupations, even though in rural areas like Arampur it stills shapes social ranking. The nature of caste remains a hotly contested issue within the vast range of disciplines that have focused upon South Asia. Some scholars understand caste as the essence of Indian society and argue that the hierarchical distinction between the pure and impure is a unique aspect of this hierarchical worldview. Other scholars would argue that caste is an extreme form of social stratification or simply another manifestation of an ideology that legitimates inequality, much like racism in the West. Some scholars, however, would question whether caste is some immutable institution and whether it should be seen as the very essence of Indian civilization. It is also a matter of intense sociological debate whether or not Muslims, Christians and Sikhs have functional equivalents of castes within their own communities. While such issues cannot be adjudicated here, one way to engage the issue of caste through this website is to observe when caste is mentioned and when it is not. In addition to caste, there are other forces shaping society in Arampur. While we have reserved a separate section for discussing gender, we can also draw attention to how class and wealth exert a considerable influence upon social interaction in Arampur. Financial resources are not necessarily dependent upon caste ranking--for example, there are poor Brahmins and wealthy livestock herders. There are also a number of families belonging to lower castes who have taken advantage of governmental policies reserving employment positions for "scheduled" or "backward" castes (13% of Arampur residents are of scheduled castes and 2.0% are of scheduled tribes). As one might imagine, for groups or families that possess financial resources, educational and economic opportunities increase. A family with economic means can send its children to a private English medium school and then to university in Banaras. Families with money can invest or lend it, or start a business like a general merchandise store or pharmacy. The power that accrues from financial resources thus can often change one's status regardless of one's specific caste identity. But perhaps the crucial element shaping much of society in Arampur is land ownership--for when a family owns land it can achieve a relative measure of autonomy and plan for the future. Meanwhile, Arampur, like all of India, struggles with the impact of a burgeoning population. The overall population of Arampur block increased 25.3% in the decade preceding 1991 (up from 18.1% for 1971-1981), an increase higher than that of Bihar and lower than of India as a whole. Because children (specifically sons) represent the financial, familial, and spiritual well-being of their parents, most ignore the central governments' family-planning injunction of "two is enough." Within decades, India will surpass China as the most populated nation in the world. To emphasize caste, financial resources and land within Arampur is by no means to exhaust the ways to understand rural Indian society. Within Arampur, people share many common interests that transcend the categories of religion, caste and class. In Arampur's main bazaar, you will find much discussion of cricket, especially if India is playing archrival Pakistan. You will also hear discussions of politics and the private lives of Hindi film stars. You will also be told stories about Arampur and its history, a history that both Hindus and Muslims share and cherish. In Arampur there are many shared spaces for social interaction in which one can see a complexity to social life that defies simply characterization or description. |