-limbuwan today: process and problems

Bedh Prakash Upreti

The post-1950 spread of the Western type of education, and the new economic opportunities largely expedited by the opening of the Terai have had a tremendous impact on the traditiona12 socio-cul­ tural and political system in the Limbuwan. These forces have in­ troduced new institutions and roles, and values and behaviors to support these roles.

This paper describes post-1950 socio-cultural change among Brahmin and Limbu in Limbuwan, Eastern . Only the most perti­ nent changes directly affecting the socio-cultural institutions and values of each group have been treated here. I have also tried to analyze the background and forces of change, and have presented a micro-model of change in this paper. At the end, this paper brief­ ly deals with the problems largely bro~ght about by post-1950 edu­ cational, economic, and socio-cultural changes.

POST-1950 CHANGES IN BRAHMIN AND LIMBU CULTURES

The following incident, which transpired during the author's boyhood, probably illustrates the types of changes that were to follow. In 1956, when I was a sixth-grade student, a new "science teacher" (a teacher who taught biology and health sciences) was brought in from '. We had never had a "science teacher" before and were very inquisitive about what he was going to teach. During the first day of his class, the new teacher told us that the use of ~ jal (water from the Ganges River considered by Hindus to be holy) was unhealthy and unholy as well. He also stressed the importance of wearing clean clothes, drinking boiled water, and brushing one's teeth every morning. (We did not have tooth brushes or tooth paste. We cleaned our teeth with charcoal which incidently, brightens teeth better than many of the sex-appeal tooth pastes advertised these days.)

When I came home from the school I wanted to share my new findings with my grandmother. She always had a jar containing ganja jal in the ~-room which she had brought from Benaras dur­ ing a pilgrimage some years ago. Whenever the level of ganga-jal water in the jar became low, she used to add "ordinary water" to it. She believed that the "ordinary water," when it came into con­ tact with ganga-jal, also became holy. Since the jar was never cleaned inside, the water in it was dirty. So I told my grand­ mother what I had learned from my teacher, and she could not be­ lieve it. She looked startled. She closed both ears with her fingers (so that she would not have to hear any more "sinful" things) and said to me, "How can you say things like that? It is sinful to say that. It is sinful to even think of ganga-jal as being unhealthy and unholy." She protested in vain against my get­ ting "all those bad ideas" from the school. With tears in her eyes 48 INAS Journal

she made me promise that I would never, never again think sacreli­ giously about sacred things. But I broke my promise. Next day when she was out in the field I secretly replaced the dirty water in the jar with fresh water. A couple of weeks passed and nothing happened. One morning she called me to the puja-room. With a confidence of a happy victor she pointed towards the jar and said "Look, did not I tell you how mighty ganga-jal is? It has the power to clean itself. It has always been holy and it always will be. Now, do you believe? Do not ever be misled by nasty ideas." With a cynical heart I nod­ ded my head in agreement. She was happy that I was a good son __ a boy who would not be misled by "unreligious ideas." When, after ten years' separation, I saw my grandmother in 1972, the first ques­ tion she asked me was whether or not I still had those silly ideas like the one regarding ganga-jal. "No ama," I said. With all my western education I still believed in ganga-jal. I was indeed a good son. She was very happy.

The importance of this incident, besides its emotional appeal to the author, lies in the fact that my generation had already be­ gun to adopt a predominantly secular perspective. Whereas previous­ ly, for example, ganga-jal represented the holiest of all the holy waters in a hierarchy of waters, for my generation its value was determined on the basis of hygiene rather than holiness. This ' se­ cularization of Brahmin socio-cultural values is conspicuous in other aspects of Brahmin culture as well.

Many Brahmin families that left Limbuwan during the 1950-51 revolt had not been able to carry on with their normal religious practices while they were living as refugees in the Terai. One of the practices that was not being followed was the system of chulo. Chulo is a raised platform with a hearth where only sacred thread (janai) holders in a Brahmin family dine: The raised platform cor­ responds to the ritual hierarchy between members who have received j anai, which signifies a "'twice born" status, and members without janai. Traditionally members of a family without janai or lower caste visitors (except untouchables who are not permitted to enter a high caste house) were not allowed to dine on the chulo. If a person without a janai or a person of lower caste even accidently stepped over the chulo, the food was considered ritually impure and was not eaten by the janai holders. In 1972 all but nine Brahmin households had leveled the chulo. Although persons with janai do not dine with persons without janai, the abolition of the ~ system has symbolically abrogated the previously ritually presc sitting arrangement during meals. Further, in 1972 not a single family was discarding the food touched by family members without janai. As a matter of fact, in many Brahmin families where I was invited for dinner, the food was often cooked by an unmarried daughter. This is in contrast to the pre-1950 period when food cooked by an unmarried daughter, considered "twice-born" only her marriage, and only then accorded the privilege of dining at chulo, was never eaten by the janai holders. Limbuwan Today 49 The change in Brahmin commensal practices by the ' use of is further exhibited previously avoided and even such -as tomatoes, strictly forbidden foods, onions, white sugar, and factory-made In 1972, only one Brahmin biscuits. woman in Dandagaon still tomatoes and onions, refused to eat while other women of her regularly . Chicken age ate those foods and eggs are still avoided Brahmins of above by the majority of 50 years of age. But an overwhelming Brahmin boys born after majority of 1950 consume chicken and However, the cooking eggs regularly. of chicken or eggs in food for the the main chulo, where the family is prepared, is still min families. not allowed in many Brah­

The most astounding change author in Brahmin commensal practices observed was the liquor drinking this Dandagaon habit of Brahmin youths in as well as the rest of Limbuwan. of liquor of Previously, consumption any kind was considered a to a Brahmin. "sin" and ritually polluting In 1972, many Brahmin as well Hindu boys of as other high caste above age l8 . had either tried visitors to rakshi or were regular a local bar (bha tti). Traditionally, suspect Brahmins who were ed of drinking alcoholi.c beverages ritually boycotted were not only socially and by their fellow caste members, ed a disgrace to their but also consider­ families. A Brahmin alcoholic nearby village could not in 1949 in a find a husband for his daughter lies in the area because among fami­ his was a disgraced family. finally had to be married His da ughter to a Brahmin three days walking away, who was unaware of his distance father-in-law's habit. Although mins over 50 years of age Brah­ still consider alcoholic beverages taboo, their attitude towards as suspected or even known young drinkers is much less pronounced. Brahmin In the words of an older Brahmin: You look for an educated man for your daughter. You find one. You also find that he not eats chicken only and pigs but also drinks rakshi. These days, it seems to me that rakshi drinking is considered a sign of high education. Young men seem to share the attitude that the one can drink, more the more highly educated he But what can is. you do? You have to get your daughter married. And the girls also want an educated man as their husband. I try to close my eyes to what young people do these days. have a son in I attending the univer­ sity. I know he does not drink. He is not the type. But if he ever drinks rakshi, I do not want to hear about it. I do not want to know because it hurts. Probably the above statement best all older summarizes the feelings Brahmins. They are caught of traditionally between two worlds, one (the ritual and hierarchic) which other (ritually they understand, and the secular) which they do not. The bewilderment of 50 INAS Journal

the older Brahmin is expressed in phrases like_ "Why do they have to drink rakshi?;" "Does it f ill one's stomach {as food doe~T?" · and "does it make them look nice?"

Changes in other aspects of Brahmin religious life also have t aken pl ace . Brahmins with janai used to put on white loincloths (dhoti or dharo) before going to chulo to dine. Dining in everyday clothes was not considered proper for a person of "twice-born" caste. Except on some special occasions, such as name-giving rites or a sraddha, the use of the dhoti as a "sacred cloth to wear" has been nearly abandoned. Recitation of gayatri (sacred mantra taught by the family priest during a sacred-thread-investure ceremony) before eating the morning or evening meal used to be a part of Brahmin dai­ ly ritua l. The older Brahmins still recite it twice a day, but young Br ahmins can r ecall only the first few words of the gayatri. In 1972, 21 Dandagaon Brahmin youths between the a ges of 18 and 28 interviewed by the author considered the daily recitation of gayatri "a silly thing to do."

After receiving a sacred threa d (janai), an initia te is sup­ posed to wear it (it is hung across the right shoulder) at all times for the rest of his life.. Even when he needs a new janai, he can­ not take t he old one off before it has been replaced. In brief, he cannot be without it at any time during day or night. In 1972 the majority of Brahmin janai-ho1ders between the ages of 17 and 25 did not wear it. Some , who did, t ook it off on the way when they went to towns such as , Ilam, or . If they were to be found wearing a janai by their friends in towns, they bel that they would be an object of ridicule. The age of sacred-thread investure ceremony for a Brahmi n male has changed as well. Before 1950, Brahmin boys were given the thread before the age of ten. Of 18 sacred-thread investur e ceremonies conducted between January, 1963 , and December 1972, the average age of a janai receiver was 17. In addition, there were t en Brahmin boys of above age 16 who did not possess a janai. Since a Brahmin boy cannot be married fore he i s given a janai, delayed investure has affected the of the ideal marriage age among the Br ahmin.

Religious activities such as sat ayanarayanko puja or purana (recitation of holy t exts) rarely take place these days. basis of my t alks wi th older members of the community, I found there were approximat ely 12 purana and 28 satayanarayanko puja ducted in the various Dandagaon households between 1940 and 1950. But during the 22 year period between 1950 and 1972, only three pur ana and seven satayanarayanko puja were performed. An old min summarizes his feelings regarding the decline of religious tivities this way:

I am too old to make arrangements for a~, let alone a purana. Both my sons are too busy manag­ ing the farm and busine·ss in Jhapa. My grandsons Limbuwan Today 51 have gone angrazi (westernized). I know my sons will at least give me pinda (rice-balls) and tar­ pana (holy water offering to the soul of a dead person) once a year after I die. But I doubt that my sons will receive that from their sons. I think kali-yug3 is here.

Besides the secular changes of Brahmin religious life, other changes in life style such as women's attire and appearance has also taken place after 1950. Standard dress for Brahmin women be­ fore 1950 consisted of a phariya (loincloth wrapped around the waist but not hung from the shoulder like a sari) 10 to 15 yards in length. Of course, five yards of a loincloth would have been sufficient to cover all parts of body without exposing even an inch of bare skin except hands, head and feet. But a five-yard ~riya would have re­ vealed, because of its only two to three layers of wrapping around the waist, the figure of a woman; this was considered improper indecent. and By 1972, only two old Brahmin women were still wearing rhariya more than eight yards- in length. These days the majority of Brahmin women have opted for Indian style sari of five to si~ yards in length which before 1950 were considered utaulo (too fanci­ ful or in cheap taste with a connotation that women who wore them were sexually permissive) dress for them. Of course, no one seems to think that way about a sari any more. It is the same way with jewelry. When the author left Limbuwan in 1962, almost all Brahmin females wore nose rings (bulaki). Not wearing it was considered a Newari custom. 4 In 1972, with the exception of a very few elderly women, no one was wearing it.

No Brahmin before 1950 had a western style haircvt (julphi). They used to shave their heads at intervals of two to three months. Shaving of the head also has a ritual meaning among the Hindus. When parents die, a son shaves his head. During the mourning period he sleeps on a bare mat, and refrains from eating meat and food cooked with salt. All of these acts symbolize his temporal detachment from mundane values. But in 1972, all but a few older Brahmin had a western style haircut. In the absence of professional barbers, haircutting was done by boys, two Brahmin and one Newar, free of charge.

There has also been a marked change in the Brahmin attitude towards the education of women. The traditional attitude expressed in phrases like chhori ko than chulo (daughter's place is a hearth) or kitable bhat pakdaina (books do not cook rice) still persists among those Brahmins who adamantly refuse to send their daughters to local schools. But the fact that 17 Brahmin girls were attending local schools and three more had college degrees in 1972, shows that the previous stiff opposition to women's education has ly eroded. been gradual­ 52 INAS Journ~al If the post-1950 cultural changes among Brahmins point t owards secu1arization, changes in the Limbu culture, on the other hand, have been Brahmanica1 in nature. Srinivas' theory of Sanskritiza­ tion (1952, 1967, 1968), one of the most widely accepted theories of social change in the South Asian context, might be a us"efu1 tool in ana1yzing some of these changes (limitations regarding the Sans­ kritization theory are discussed below). Srinivas defines Sanskri­ tization as "the process by which a low caste or tribe or other group takes over the customs, ritual, beliefs, ideology and style of life of high and, in particular, a "twice-born" (dvija) caste" (ibid: 1967: 67-68). Srinivas adds:

The Sanskritization of a group has usually the effect of improving its position in the local caste hierarchy. It normally presupposes either an improvement in the economic or political po­ sition of the group concerned or a higher group self-consciousness resulting from its contact with a source of the "Great Tradition" of Hindu­ ism such as a pilgrim centre of monastery or proselytizing sect . ••. In the case of a group external to Hinduism, such as a tribe or immi­

grant ethnic body, Sanskritization resulted in > drawing it into the Hindu fold, which necessari- ly involved its becoming a caste having regular relations with other local castes (ibid. 68).

Following Srinivas, many anthropologists have used the concept of Sanskritization in ana1yzing ,socio-cu1tura1 change among various groups in South Asia (e.g. Cohn, 1955; Gou1d, 1961; Haimendorf, 1966; Srivastava, 1966; Bista; 1971).

Sanskritization among Limbu has been a process that was set in motion over two hundred years ago. The pre-1950 Sanskritization of Limbu was limited primarily to their adoption of Hindu festivals such as Dasain and Tihar, which were celebrated alongside Limbu festivals. Today, Limbu especially of the older generation, are accepting Hindu values at an accelerating pace. 5 The post-1950 Sanskritization process among the older and uneducated Limbu (I will come to the changes among the young educated Limbu later) is most pronounced in their acceptance of caste hierarchy and Hindu religious and commensa1 practices. The following pages briefly describe these changes.

To begin with, the majority of Limbu have started identifying themselves within the nexus of hierarchical social relations of the Hindu caste system. Of the 55 Limbu adults interviewed by this author, 35 (60%) placed themselves along with Newar, 13 (23.6%) claimed the Limbu to be the descendants of the who lost their ritual status by moving to the hills from Northern Indian plains, and only nine (16.4%), all young Limbu attending schools, thought that Limbu did not belong to a caste system at all. Limbuwan Today 53 The mo st interesting change in Limbu commensal practice has been th e banning o f the buffalo sacrifice during funeral rites (barakhi ) , a practice which was a must in the traditional Limbu system. Th e e lders in many Limbu families in Dandagaon have not only banned this practice, but even have gone as far as to decline an i nv it a tion t o attend a barakhi where a buffalo is to be sacri­ fi 6 ced. Dhankarna, the head of Kondongwa lineage in Dandagaon, exp l a ins the reasons behind this new practice:

Ther e are t wo kinds of Limbu in Limbuwan today: the Northerners and the Southerners. The North­ e rners came from across the and the Southerners came from Kashi /Benaras, in Northern Indi~7. The Southerners originally did not have the custom of animal sacrifice as part of a fu­ nera l ritual. We picked it up from the Norther­ ners. I do not think we have changed in banning this horrible c ustom. We have simply gone back to original custom. Again, what is the use of taking another life when you are mourning for your dead relative. It does not bring him back. I t only breeds ~ (:sin).

There has also been a marked change in the Limbu habit of keep­ ing domesticated animals, especially cows and buffaloes. Milk, especia lly that of a cow, is considered a sacred item of offering to various die ties by the Hindus. Many Limbu have switched from the traditional blood and rakshi to milk as an item of offering to their dieti es . In addition to this adopted ritual value, milk also has an economic value.

A pronounced change has taken place in Limbus' liquor drinking habit as well. The author clearly remembers that in his early boy­ hood he was never allowed to stay in the local market place during the bazar day after one o'clock P.M. The afternoon period during the bazar day wnich was and still is held twice a month on full­ mo on (purnima) and dark moon (aunshi) days, was jokingly referred t o as "Limbu-time". By the late afternoon many drunk Limbu in the bazar used to fight with each other. And at the end of a bazar day it was not uncommon to see a Limbu with sharply cut khukari (Nepali knife) wounds. Ironically , it is now the high caste Hindu youths who get drunk and fight with each other in the market place. Dur­ ing my eight months in Limbuwan in 1972, I did not meet a single drunk Limbu, but I witnessed many fights between drunk high caste youths. Interestingly, the Limbu have coined a very illustrative name for these new "converts." They are referred to as the "new matwali" (naya matwali) . 7

Many Limbu have aba ndoned the traditional Limbu burial custom and instead have adopted the Hindu practice of cremation of the dead. They have also s tarted following the Brahminical practice 54 INAS Journal

of observing 13 days of pollution after a death in the family in place of their own traditional three days' observance. Some Limbu have even begun to employ Brahmin priests, in lieu of Limbu shaman Phedangma in performing funeral rites. Rich Limbu families have also started employing a Brahmin priest to conduct other Hindu cere­ monies at their homes as well. I was told that two satyanarayanko ~ were conducted in two Limbu households in 1971.

The Limbu marriage system and custom of bride-price associated with it are changing as well. Many leaders have begun to denounce bride-price as a system of selling daughters. One Limbu leader had this to say:

It is a bad custom among Limbu. I did not ask for any sunauli or rit [raymenfl in my daughter's mar­ riage. I have been asking my relatives to do the same. Bahun [Brahmill7 do not have . this custom. Some customs are good and some are bad. Selling one's own daughter like a cow is not a good custom. Limbu are behind because of customs like this.

Of the five Limbu marriages (three boys and two girls) in Dandagaon between 1969 and 1971, I was told that bride-price was either demanded of, or received by all but the parents of one boy and one girl respectively.8 However, in each case the groom was required to make only a token payment of one rupee to the bride's parents for permission to have their daughter as wife. At the pre­ sent time, rich Limbus in various parts of Limbuwan have either completely given up the practice, or merely practice the token pay­ ment system mentioned above, which might indicate the continuation of the system symbolically if not practically.

In analyz·ing the above changes in Brahmin and Limbu socio­ cultural systems we are reminded of the inadequacy of the original theory of Sanskritization. Srinivas, who first stated and applied this theory in his study of the Coorgs of South (1952) has since modified it to include the processes of modernization and westernization as well. In his recent publication, Srinivas (1968) has stressed that upper castes are modernizing and secularizing, while the middle and lower castes are Sanskritizing their behavior. Srinivas' modification has obviously been influenced by the studies of Gould (1961), and Cohn (1955). Cohn, whose publication preceded Gould's, in his study of the Camar and Rajput of Madhopur in North India, finds that the Rajput, affected by Western models of conduct, have become more individuated and secular. The Camar, an untouchable caste, on the other hand, seem to be adopting traditional rules of Hindu commensality, giving up occupations considered ritually de­ filing by high caste standards, and generally adopting Sanskritic elements of culture. As Cohn notes, Camars in Madhopur "are trying to borrow and to revive for themselves elements of a culture that the higher castes are shedding" (ibid: 76). Commenting on Cohn's study, Marriott (1955) remarks: ---- Limbuwan Today 55

One mi gh t say that the Camars strive to move into a culture and i ts associated status which the Tha­ kurs [Rajput§7 have vacated. Social change in India is both a movement toward an urban and cosmopolitan mode of lif e and also a revival and penetration down­ wa rd of a nc i ent Hindu elements of culture and religion (ibid : XI V).

I t seems t o me tha t theories of Sanskritization and Westernization put for th by Sriniva s, Cohn and others, provide only a partial un­ der s t anding of the s oci o-cultural change that has and is taking place i n Limbuwa n. In Dandagaon, as I have mentioned earlier in t his paper, Bra hmi n c ulture is secularizing, but not all Brahmins are pa r t icipa t i ng equa lly in the process. In the case of an educat­ ed Br ahmin, secula r values· maybe expressed in his not wearing a j anai or drinking liquor , but this does not mean that older Brahmins have adopt ed these secula r practices. The oider Brahmins look at these pr actices with as much disdain as they ever did. In this respect, the Bra hm i ns have neither "vacated" any position to the Limbu, nor moved into a " s pot" vacated by another group. Regarding soci o- cultural change in Dandagaon and the Limbuwan as a whole, we can onl y say tha t the olde r Brahmins still follow or would prefer to fol low wha t they consider to be traditional Hindu values. Their seemi ngly relaxed a tti tude towards elements of secularization such as l iquor dri nking by Br ahmin youths is an accommodation to forces of change beyond the i r control, rather than a choice freely and willingl y ma de . Th ey consider it inevitable, because old Sanskrit epics predict kali yuga to be here. A "this sastra (Sanskrit re­ ligi ous texts ) says s o" a ttitude might even give the older Brahmin str ength t o cope with the psychologically trying situation. At the same t i me , the young educat ed Limbu are not Sanskriti?ing in the same sense that the older Limbu are . While all Limbu have adopted certain Nepa l i nationa l values which a re undoubtedly Sanskritic in origin, the educat e d Limbu neithe r s ee themselves within the caste hierarchy nor, un like their e lder s , find any reli gious meaning in the Hindu rel igi ous practices s uch a s pur ana or satyanarayanko puja. Their values in this r espec t a re similar to those of the educated Brahmin you ths , who r eject caste hiera rchy and elements associated with it. In t hi s regard , educated Limbu youths' non-adoption of Sanskritic values cons trast s with the practices of educated Camars, who, as Co hn not es , are the " leaders most actively attempting to make Camar behavi or accord more with the traditional behavior of the higher cast es" (1955 : 74).

The s imilar secular values shared by Brahmin and Limbu youths ar e a product of the post-1950 educational system. 9 Before 1950, Sanskr it education was pr i mar i l y open to and valued by Brahmins, and friend shi p and con tact between Brahmin and Limbu were based on t ax- coll ector--taxpayer ( s ub ba- raiti) ties at best and creditor­ dehtor (sahu- assami) r el ati onships at worst. But at pres ent, con­ t act be tlveen the t wo gr oup s has been res tored in a mu ch f riendlier .1 t mos pher e . Al tho ugh t he number of Limbu children a t t ending schools 56 I NAS J ournal is s t ill sma lle r t han tha t o f Brahmi n chil dren, none the less , t hey l earn toge ther , play toge t her, and are being encul turated i n t o s imi l a r values t ogether. The fo llowing inc i den t , which t ook place when the author was a ninth- grade studen t in the hills , mi ght illus­ t r a t e this point better.

In 1958, for the f irst time in three years , the author 's high s chool wa s able t o win a f oo tba ll ( soccer) game over a neighboring hi gh school. Our t eam was headed by a t enth-grade Limbu student. Jubiliant ove r the v i c tory , the villagers gave our t eam a "warm and hardy" we l come . We carried t he t eam l eader- -a Limbu-- on our should_ ers around the village . Eve r yone in the village though t that he had kept the name of our village high. I ncidents like this , where t he s ame values and emotions were shar ed together, never had a chance to happen befor e 1950 . There were no ins titutions, like the schools of today , tha t could have made it poss ible. In. addition, o t her ins t i tutions s uch as the tea-shop or the local bar (bhatti) , wh ere many people tend t o congregate for their daily rounds of gos­ sip ses sion, a re basically the produc ts of the present educational system a s well, and therefore were totally abs ent i n pre-1950 Danda­ gaon. Modern education and its concomitant effects have brought to­ gether Brahmin and Limbu youths in ways that were totally absent in Limbuwan be fore 1950. The following diagram illustrates this pro­ ces s:

Figure 1

Patterns of Socio-cultural Change Amon g Educated Brahmin and Limbu Youths

Traditional Brahmin Brahmin youths culture attendi ng educa- ----. ----+ tional Secular Institu- Traditional Limbu Values Limbu youtps - tions culture - attending - The present soci o-cultural changes in Limbuwan could be best termed "revolutionary ." In a broad sense , the pre-1950 political milieu in the South Asian sub-continent, generated by the indepen­ dence of India from Britain, and the nation-wide revolution agains' the Rana rulers in Nepal, provided a background for these changes. In particular, the Limbuwan revolt of 1950-51 provided a section of the Limbuwan population with a situation that Mead (1964) "points of divergence," whereby it was given a chance to change previous socio-cultural-economic pa tterns in the hope of greater bene fit. The people who changed their previous patterns , either economic or s oci o-cultural, wer e well rewarded f or their efforts. Li mbuwan Today 57 In the post- 1950 national s ocial-political milieu, different s media, such as Radio-Nepal, newspapers and magazines coming o~~ of the urban centers, played a key role in the national integra­ o'on and its s ecularization process. Messages regarding the impor­ 1 t nce of education, the evils of the caste system, and so on, were tanstantlY hammered into the people's minds. Furthermore, individ­ COlS such as Tenzing SherpalO were suddenly brought into national ~:me. Songs depicting the hero ic act of Tenzing were sung by people f all castes all across Nepal. People thought of Tenzing not as a ~herpa, an individual of low caste, but as a national hero; he be­ came part of Nepali national spirit. Post.-1950 events like this contributed much towards the furtherance of secular values at the national level.

In addition, Nepal's hundreds of years of self-imposed isolation was ended after 1950. Diplomatic relationships with other countries were established. Memberships in international communities such as the United Nations were acquired. In general, a new era of aware­ ness, in terms of the state's responsibility towards its own citi­ zenery, was realized. Before 1950 the state's relationship with the villages was essentially limited to its dependence on land re­ venue collected from the former. Then, the state's attitude to- wards the socio-economic conditions and development of the villages was occasionally and at best one of "benign neglect." But the post- 1950 government took active interest in the welfare of its citizen­ ery. The first priority of the government was directed towards establishing schools. Nationally, between 1954 and 1961 alone, the number of educational institutions increased from 1,334 to 4,043, while at the same time the number of teachers and students went up from 3,610 and 73,206 to 9,320 and 208,689 respectively.ll In , where there were no western type schools before 1950, there were 31 primary, 15 middle, and 8 high schools, and a junior college in 1972. These schools were attended by 5,930 stu­ dents and 294 teachers were employed in these institutions, with the high schools and the college producing an average of over one hundred graduates per year in the district. In the Athrai (an old administrative sub-division within Tehrathum district) area alone (which encompasses Dandagaon), there are five high schools and scores of primary and middle schools. In 1972, the total student population of 631 of the three neighboring high schools in Danda- pon was composed of 301 (47.7%) Brahmin, III (17.6%) Chhetri, 98 (15.5%) Limbu, and 121 (19.2%) other castes such as Magar, Gurung, hwar and so on. All three high schools were receiving an average of Rs 8,000 each in government grants annually. In contrast to the pre-1950 educational situation the development and growth of the present educational milieu is startling.

The post-l950 opening of Nepal not only brought new ideas of ~Ucation, government and so forth, but also affected the tradition­ al economic system as well. Whereas previously the village economy of Limbuwan and other villages tended to act in a relatively "self­ COntained"l2 fashion, the post-l950 government's decision to parti- 58 INAS Journal in Contact cipate in the international economy brought the villages in the life with a market economy. This brought further changes the village style of the people, while at the same time, it made international economies vulnerable to the effects of national and political events. usefulness In the preceding pages, I haveana1yzed the partial of the theory of Sanskritization in understanding contemporary I would like cultural change in Limbuwan. In the following pages a better present a micro-model that, I think, provides us with a1ytica1 framework than the Sanskritization and Westernization model is ories of Srinivas, eohn and others do. The following (1947), structed on the theories and ideas developed by Redfield (1973), among Singer (1954), Wolf (1965, orig. 1956), and Southa11 others. of the In anthropology, Redfield (1947) developed the theory In this folk-urban continuum in the context of linear change. that all linear evolutionary scheme of change Redfie1d conceives '''' human society and culture move on a primitive 4 peasant ~ '"=<:U~A' continuum. 13 As Ryan (1969) has noted,Redfie1d mainly ~urban to with the folk end of the schema, and leaves it to "others deals ••• demonstrate the empirical existence of communities approaching the character­ an urban type" (ibid., 314). Thus we have to infer the folk is istics of the "urban end" of the continuum from what not. The folk society, acc9rding to Redfie1d is

... small, isolated, non-literate, and homogenous, with a strong sense of group solidarity. The ways of living are conventionalized into the coherent system which we call a "culture." Behavior is tra­ ditional, spontaneous, uncritical and personal; there is no legislation of habit or experiment and reflection for intellectual ends. Kinship, in its relationship and institutions, are the type cate­ gories of experience and the familial group is the unit of action. The sacred prevails over the se­ cular, the economy is one of status rather than of the market (ibid., 1947: 293).

In his later work, ~T~h~e~Pfr~i~m!l~'t~l~'v~e~W~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Redfie1d distinguishes folk from urban on the "te significance of what he terms the "moral order" over order." By ' the former he means

those aspects of life and culture which are sacred, normative1y impermeable, true and right simply by the fact of their being. The technical order, in contrast, relates to those aspects of culture which are instrumental in valuation, those ways and things which are valued not for the traditional rightness but for their efficacy in accomplishing some ends Limbuwan Today 59 (quoted from Ryan, ibid: 315).

A Ryan fur ther notes, Redfield's analytic framework encompasses ~ nificant changes in modern, western societies and at the same S~!e applie s to many changes taking place in the developing regions t~ the world. His work, particularly in collaburation with Singer (1954), has not only produced a descriptive statement of polar types, but also has described the dynamic forces push ing communities along the continuum. Singer and Redfield (1954) identify commercial and industrial expansion as the tradition-shatteri ng forces which give rise to "he terogenic" cities like those in the We s t as opposed to "orthogenetic" cities, like Benaras in India--a city that epito­ mizes and codifies the folk culture of its region.

While reading Redfield and Singer, we get a feeling that the changes in Limbuwan and Dandagaon in particular could be interpret­ ed within the folk-urban continuum framework. We also get a feel­ ing that the pre-1950 cultures of Brahmin and Limbu probably were similar to the culture of the ideal folk society Redfield describes. We know the ideal folk societ y in Limbuwan has changed through time, and is still changing. And here and there glimpses of the very dis­ tant past a re still present. But, on the other hand, "urban" as Redfie1d viewed it, represented by an aggregate of building with a centra l ma rket place, peasants bringing produce to sell, and so on, is not there. The cluster of educational institution buildings in the center of Dandagaon with a tea shop nearby does not really en­ title i t t o be ca lled a t own or a city. In the context of physical density of people and bui ldings we do not find that Dandagaon has urbanized. There are no taxi stands, nor a re there venders and rikshwall a hawking along the village l anes of Dandagaon. As a mat­ ter of f act , one cannot even see a bicycle--a symbol of urbaniza­ tion, a product of rational scientific thought--within the radius of seven days' walking dis tance from Dandagaon. Yet Dandagaon has acquired many urban values. People listen to .news from Radio-Nepal, Radio-Peking , the BBC and the Voice of America. They read newspa­ pers, send their children to schools, participated in national cere­ monies conducted in the l ocal high school, get together either in the tea shop or t he loca l bar and talk for hours about national and international politics with topics ranging from Idi Amin to McGovern. At the s ame time we do not find forces of commercialization and in­ dustrialization behind the contemporary secular changes. There are no factories, and offices where the villagers have to work from eight to five. Dandagaon is still a village. How do we, then, ap­ ply the folk-urban continuum concept in our understanding of the contemporary changes in Dandagaon and elsewhere in Limbuwan? This, I think, is where we need to modify Redfield's folk-urban continuum by drawing upon ideas developed in the newly emerging field of Urban Anthropology . The new definition of "urban" goes beyond Redfield' s and Singer's by including role relationship (Banton, 1973), and complexity of social behavior (Southall, 1973). As Southall has noted, any definition of "urban" must "essentially concentrate upon 60 INAS Journal the high spatial density of social interactions, rather than as heretofore upon the mere physical density of bodies or buildings" (ibid: 6). Southall further notes that forms of mass participation such as football matches, political rallies, national ceremonies, mobs and riots also are "urban" in character. 14 This definition emphasizes ideas, roles and social complexity. As we have noted elsewhere in this paper, Dandagaon has imported many new roles and institutions which have brought in profoundly new ideas and secular values. In this respect Dandagaon has urbanized without acquiring the physical set-up of a city and without having industrializationf5 (cf. Geertz, 1963). This does not mean that Dandagaon has reached the newly defined "urban" end of the continuum. It has not and we do not know whether it will ever do so.

The movement towards urbanization, that is in terms of com­ plexity of social behavior, started in Limbuwan with the arrival of the immigrant Hindus. They brought the technology of rice pro­ duction, i.e., irrigation agriculture, to a horticultural group. Along with the Hindus came other complexities of a more socio-cul­ tural kind, such as the caste system and the idea of Sanskrit edu­ cation, and Hindu legal institutions and government. The change from horticultural to irrigation agriculture was associated with higher technoenvironmental efficiency (see Harris, 1971 for a dis­ cuss ion on technoenvironmental efficiency) which, in turn was asso­ ciated with denser populations and a more complex socio-·cultural system. With these new elements the pre-Hindu Limbuwan society gradually moved from primitive to peasant16 society. In other words this was a move towards the newly defined "urban" end of the continuum. But this was only the first step.

Nepal remained closed to foreigners for centuries, and the Brahmin and Limbu cultures of Limbuwan--now a peas~nt society-­ simply interacted within themselves for two hundred years without much diffusion from the outside world. During that period the dominant group of peasants (the Brahmin) exploited the Limbu pea­ santries. Then came the 1950 revolt. The revolt and the concomi­ tant effects marked the second step post-Hindu migration Limbuwan society had taken towards the "urban" end of the continuum.

Following the revolt, schools were established and teachers were brought in. And with the teachers came acceleration in the pace of the folk-urban continuum process. Trained in English schools in Darjeeling and Calcutta the teachers acted as "cultural brokers" or "entrepreneurs."17 The villagers brought the schools, the school brought the teachers, and the teachers brought the urban secular values which they taught to the villagers' children. Per­ haps the villagers did not bargain for all this, but the elements of the post-1950 change were inseparable; the villagers could not pick and choose among them. Schools without English-educated tea­ chers, and English-educated teachers without urban secular values would not have been possible. In this respect one could say that the early Brahmin migrants invited by the Limbu to settle in Limbu- Limbuwan Today 61 wan were like the English-educated teachers brought in by the post- 1950 Dandagaon villagers. The Limbu in the l770s certainly did not bargain for all Brahmin values, e.g., the caste system. But both, i.e., the caste system and the Brahmin, were, to use the phrase, "part and parcel" of a single deal, and thus inseparable.

The Brahmin migrants and later the Limbu ex- soldiers did act as "cultural-brokers" in the pre-1950 Limbuwan. But com­ pared to the post-1950 "cultural brokers" they were less effective in bringing radical changes mainly due to two reasons" First, nei­ ther of them were accepted by all sections of the village as leaders, because they were not neutral personalities. Secondly, the pre- 1950 Dandagaon population and the population of the region as a whole, was not ready for the kinds of changes which took place in the post-1950 era. They did not have the necessary fund of expe­ rience. And such radically new elements could not be absorbed con- , ceptually without prior perceptual, experiential contact. This essential exposure came as a byproduct of the 1950 revolt, which acted as a catalyst for receptivity to change. The revolt sent many villagers, as refugees, to the Terai for the first time in their lives. There they first saw a roaring train in the Nepal­ Indian border town, or were introduced to motor vehicles and perhaps even rode in one. While in the Terai many refugees benefitted from modern medicine. The relief centers, set-up by the government to look after the refugees, provided them with quinine tablets (anti­ malarial, bitter pills). For the first time in their lives many of them even received the services of a medical doctor (daktar). The doctor, unlike the village shaman-whose services were acquired in combating illness in the hill-looked different. He wore western style dress, and carrie.d an expensive looking bag. A respected man, he was always surrounded by people. After all, the doctor was a man who was wealthy in both knowledge and money. Now they had seen the benefits of. technology and wanted to enjoy them. During this pre-adaptation period and due to their enlarged fund of experience, many villagers underwent a "conceptual break-through" of sorts. They understood the necessary relationship between modern technology and modern education. So they brought in the Engligh-educated tea­ chers. Even though the teachers represented entirely alien ideas, people tolerated them because only through them could the benefits of technology be drawn upon. For example, my grandmother, although she did not like the "unreligious" ideas taught to me by my "science teacher," never said a , word against him in his presence. As a mat­ ter of fact she always hurried to make some tea when he visited our house. The villagers wanted their children to enjoy the benefit of modern education, though they themselves often found the secular values brought and taught by the "cultural brokers" to be an evi­ dence of kali-yuga.

The English-educated teachers brought in from Darjeeling and Calcutta were all Indian nationals of Nepali origin. They spoke Nepali as well as English. For the villagers, they embodied two worlds: the villagers' as well as the outsiders'. Whenever a high 62 IN AS Journal

government official visited Dandagaon, the villagers promptly push­ ed forward the teachers as their spokesmen. The teachers spoke the language of the officials (in a philosophical sense). They drank rakshi together or discussed politics as well as problems of the school. The villagers found in the teachers what they did not have.

As I said earlier, Dandagaon has not yet reached the "urban" end of the continuum, and even though the following figure shows the trend is unmistakeably towards it, there is, however, no pre­ supposition that once the Limbuwan society reaches the end of the continuum the processes of change will cease to be dynamic. On the contrary, the opposite is true. Radical changes are taking place in Dandagaon, Limbuwan, and the country as a whole. Although the

Figure 2

The Trends of Contemporary Changes in Dandagaon

Pre-Hindu Post-Hindu Post-1950 Limbuwan Limbuwan Limbuwan Society Society Society

characterized introduction introduction ,by a horticul­ of irrigation of schools, tural economy agriculture English­ and a non­ and a com­ educated caste plex social­ teachers, and social-cultural cultural sys­ links to market

system tem 1-' economy

primitive ------~) peasant ------~) secular ~ urban

The arrows indicate the progressive movement towards the "urban" end. The years 1770 and 1950 mark the beginning of the first and second step towards the "urban" end of the continuum.

original "cultural brokers" have left Dandagaon, their positions have been taken over by the village boys, who have become the spokes­ men for the village, and the successors to the tradition establish­ ed by the original "cultural brokers." In brief, the 1972 Limbuwan has been closer to the "urban" end of the continuum than ever before, but this change also had brought many problems.

Bailey's (1964) concept of a "moving frontier" affords a use­ ful perspective from which to view post-1950 developments and the problems associated with it. In the Limbuwa~, and elsewhere in Nepal, the state's call for, and support of educational institu­ tions and programs was enthusiastically accepted by the populace as a means of bringing a higher standard of living. As we noted elsewhere, with the state's support, the "frontier of knowledge" in post-1950 Limbuwan was expanded considerably, and concomitantly ...

L"imbuwan Today 63 changes in values, aspirations, goals, and perception also emerged.

What about the "economic frontier?" Did it move too from what it was in pre-1950 Limbuwan? The answer is yes. Post-1950 contact with the market economy brought remote villagers clothes and shoes made in Japan and India, or kerosene produced thousands of miles away in the Persian oil-fields. But at the same time, the link with the market economy impeded the growth and development of tradi­ tional technical know-how (e.g. making of khandi cloth or shoes) and resources. While it substantially altered the life style of the people, it also made their lives dependent upon outside forces over which they had no effective control. The opening of the Terai as a new "economic frontier" accorded a small minority of the popula­ tion a means of keeping up with increased household expenditure and further enabled them to establish a reciprocal relationship in the functioning of the market economy . For the majority of the people, however, the relationship with the market economy was only a one­ way affair. They had neither the economic resources to benefit from increased dependency on the market economy (e.g. sale of rice by the Terai land owners) nor could they entirely eliminate the interdepen­ dency. As said earlier in this paper, all of these changes came in a single package and partial rejection or acceptance was not pos­ sible.

The educational opportunities, on the other hand, afforded a higher degree of participation by people of all levels across caste and ethnic boundaries. In this respect, the two frontiers accorded different degrees of benefits to various sections of the population. The imbalance in the movement of each frontier and the unequal dis­ tribution of benefits by each frontier created a state of "disequi­ librium."

The westernized educational system also provided the liberal arts hi gh school and college graduates with a different work ethic. Their aspiration for "service" (meaning a civil-service position with the government or white collar position) strengthened over their feelings of shame and embarrassment toward "work" (dirtying one's hands by doing physical work such as ploughing, carrying fire­ wood, etc.). "What would be the meaning of education, if I were to 'work? ' I do not need a degree to plough," they rationalize. Re­ garding this flaw in the expansion of education, Shrestha (1967), a Nepali economist, notes:

Under the existing conditions, when the country needs a fast multiplication of hands trained in technical subjects and productive crafts, the emphasis so far placed on consumptive type of general education appears to be out of all pro­ portions. While a smooth execution of develop­ ment programs, even on a modest scale, has so far been handicapped, among other things, by a criti cal shortage of trained hands almost at all 64 INAS Journal levels of operation, the annually growing number of university graduates now find no ready market for their services (ibid: 47).

In effect, while the state performed admirably in bringing about the rapid expansion of education, it failed to create jobs for its high school and college graduates. For example, in Dandagaon itself, no additional salaried positions beyond the 21 associated with the local educational institutions exist. At the same time, with an average of ten graduates per year from the local college and with an average of over 40 graduates per year from the local and neigh­ boring high schools, the need for an increased number of white collar positions has been drastically magnified. The government's failure in this r~spect, can be attributed mainly to its lack of expertise in the area of economic planning immediately following the 1950-51 revolution. Although at present, the government has an effective National Planning Commission which is composed of an extremely able group of individuals, the imbalance caused by the rapid expansion of education between 1950 and 1970, might already be beyond repair. For the state, the problem of providing "services" to a large number of educated youths who do not want 'to "work" is indeed a difficult one.

Footnotes

1. This paper is based on research conducted in 1972. Partial support for the research was provided through a fellowship by the Institute of Nepql and Asian Studies (INAS), Tribhuvan University. I am very greatful to the University as 'well as the INAS. The focus of this research was a Limbuwan village referred in this paper as Dandagaon--a pseudonym. Born and brought-up in a remote village, the author is a native of Limbuwan.

2. The classical theory of modernization associated with names like Marx, Weber, Maine, among others, views traditional and modern societies as opposed types. Implicit in the "tradition­ al-versus-modern" dichotomy is the assumption that traditional societies are dominated by unchanging traditions and immemorial customs, whereas modern societies are not. This theory, however is neither complete nor capable of explaining the phenomenon of socio-cultural change. Nor is "traditionalism" a hallmark of non-western societies an.d "modernism" a phenomenon to be asso­ ciated exclusively with western societies. As Wolf suggests, "there is always an interplay between traditionalizing and modernizing .trends in any society" (1967:447). Further, if the term "modern" were to be equated with "Western" (as is implicit in many theories of modernization), one would be hard put to explain why values such as not wearing sacred-thread, though considered "Western" by many educated Nepali, are not in fact "Western" at all (For an excellent discussion on this problem see Srivinas, 1966). So the term "modern" in this the-I --

Limbuwan Today 65

sis simply means "new" or s ecular, and refers to values not embraced and i mplemented before, which mayor may not be West­ ern. Simila rly , the term "traditional" should be understood to mean " ol d" but not static. As Singer has noted, the cha­ ract eris tic of "traditionalism of Indian 8outh-Asi.y civili­ zation lies e lsewhere--in its capacity to incorporate innova­ tions into an expanding and changing structure of culture and society" (1972: 383) .

3. Acco r di ng t o Hindu cosmology, time is divided into four ~ or ages cal led satya, treta, dwapara, and kali. Each ~ re­ present s a pr ogressive decline in morality, piety, str ength, s t ature , happi ness, and longevity . Kali-yuga is supposed to be t he age of pr omiscuity, sexual and religious . According to the Hindu r eckoning, the world is at the end of Kali-yuga , which is ma rked by conf licts between classes, the overthrow of estab­ lished s t andards, and cessation of all religious rites. Satya­ ~ is suppos ed to follow soon after this world is destroyed by f l ood and fire at the end of kali-yuga. It is interesting to no t e t ha t t he description of kali-yuga predicted thousands of year s ago (we find reference to it in Ramayana, a Hindu epi c wr itten between 900 and 1200 B.C.) is not all that dis­ similar from the present world situation. A few nuclear war­ heads could ea s ily wipe out human civilization as we know of t oday . Or if the present abuse of planet earth's environment cont inues , massi ve floods of water (due to the melting of polar ice- caps) could very well destroy the earth.

4 . Tr aditiona lly only Newar women do not wear bulaki.

5 . I n the author's opinion, this is due to the post-1950 emergence of Nepa l as a distinct national entity politically and socio­ culturally . The need to define distinct national values as exp r essed in dress, language, food, among other manifestations, I,as felt because of Nepal's desire to withdraw from Indian political hegemony . Furthermore, the government declaration tha t Nepa l is the only Hindu state in the world (see Consti­ tuti on o f Nepal, 1962) compelled the policy makers, deliberate­ l y or no t, to define these values in relation to Hindu ideals. So the values expressed in the definition of Nepal as a dis­ t i nc t s ove reign state are primarily high caste Hindu values.

6. For example, a barakhi feast in a poor Limbu household in a nearby village was boycotted by Limbu elders of Dandagaon be­ caus e a buffalo was slaughtered for the feast. Instead chil­ dren we r e sent to attend the ceremony with instructions to avoid buffalo meat during the feast.

7. Liquor-drinking castes as classes of people are known as mat­ wa li jat i n Nepal, whereas high castes who are not allowed to drink liquor are referred to as tagadhari jat or sacred-thread 66 IN AS Journal

wearing castes. Since these days higher caste boys have start­ ed drinking liquor, previously considered defiling to their ritual status, it seems to me that the label naya matwali is quite appropriate .

8. Traditionally the services of the Hindu mUS1Clans (Damai) are not used during a Limbu wedding . But I was told that in all the above three weddings the entertainment was provided by the Hindu musicians as well as the Limbu chaubrung--dancers.

9. For the Limbu youths there was no need to adopt many secular values such as drinking liquor, not wearing a janai and so on, because to begin with, the traditional Limbu culture was secular in nature. In this case one might say that the educational system 'simply acted to reinforce these values, while it also added other values. In a situation like this, I think, the use of the concept "Westernization" becomes somewhat obscure. The secular values adopted by the Brahmin youths, one might argue, is a process of "Limbuization" rather than "Westerniza­ tion." But on the other hand, this argument neglects the role of the western type of education in the retention of secular values by the Limbu youths and its adoption by their Brahmin counterparts.

10. Tenzing was the first Nepali (in orlgln, but Indian in nation­ ality) to climb Everest (with Edmund Hil1ary in 1953). In caste status Sherpa are considered to be lower than Limbu by the high castes.

11. Statistics compiled by the government in 1972 were not out dur­ ing the time of this research. If the 1961 data has any pre­ dictive value, the number of educational institutions, teachers and students should at least be quadrupled. The source of the" above data is Shrestha (1967).

12. The nature of the "self-containedness" of Limbuwan villages was analogous to the village economy of Bisipara, an Indian village described by Bailey in his book, Caste and Economic Frontier: "Bisipara was self-contained in the sense that all the goods and services couid be supplied from the locality, by barter and not by money, and through contact not with busi­ nessmen but with craftsmen, whose economic status was not radi­ cally different from that of their peasant craftsmen" (ibid., 1964: 230).

13. Since 1947 there have been scores of books and articles pub­ lished on the subject of the "rural-urban continuum." As Dewey (1960) has noted, however, the definition of "urban" and "ru­ ral" in social science literature is, at best, characterized by a lack of consensus between social scientists. In a brief review of 18 social scientists ' work dealing with the subject, Limbuwan Today 67

Dewey finds that "only one thing that seems to be agreed upon generally by writers on rural or urban topics is that in some vague way the terms in question are related to city and coun­ try, to community variations in size and density of population" (ibid. 60). He attributes the lack of consensus on the subject to the attitude of "reductionism which has been popular in American sociology anthropology too? in recent decades" (ibid. 66) . The future studies of rural-urban continuum, Dewey argues, should distinguish the influence upon man's actions of density and size of population, on the one hand, from the influences of culture, on the other. "Although these two categories of influences cannot be severed in actuality, they must be distinguished if the nature of communities is to be perceived clearly" (ibid.). Interestingly the proponents of the newly emerging field Urban Anthropology seem to be doing just that. In a recently published book Urban Anthropology (A. Southall, ed. ), however, not a single anthropologist makes any reference to Dewey's work. It is ironic that such a gap regarding the theoretical developments should exist between two disciplines so closely related to each other.

14 . I have already mentioned high school football (soccer) matches. All educational institutions, in Limbuwan, and many villagers where the institutions are located, regularly participate national ceremonies such as constitutional day, HM the King's birthday, etc.

15. There is a vast amount of literature linking urbanization with modern industry and vice versa. Some studies suggest economic development as part of a comprehensive process of social, cul­ tural, psychological, and political transformation in which cities are assumed to be the main agents of change. For an excellent critique of this approach see Quadeer, 1974.

16 . Following Wolf (1969) peasants, for the purpose of this thesis, are defined as "populations that are existentially involved in cultivation and make autonomous decisions regarding the process of cultivation" (ibid. XIV).

17. The term "entrepreneurs"--a term originally used by economists in reference to individuals who maximize and calculate bene­ fits in monetary value--has be~n picked up by anthropologists and applied to individuals whose maximization is not necessari­ ly economic in nature (see Barth, 1963; Bailey, 1960, esp. 256- 257). In anthropology, the term "cultural brokers," first suggested by Wolf (1965; orig. 1956), on the other hand, refers to individuals engaged in a more restricted type of entrepre­ neurship, one particularly common in acculturation situation, a situation similar to that of post-1950 Dandagaon. Since the primary activities of the English-educated teachers in the post-1950 Dandagaonwere mainly concentrated in the area of edu- 68 INAS Journal be- cation--rather than the village politics or the economy--I the situation 1iev~ that the term "cultural brokers" describes better than the term "entrepreneurs."

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