Includes text of the folk songs.

Colonialist, nationalist, and regionalist ideologies have profoundly influenced folk music and related musical practices among the Garhwali and Kumaoni of Uttarakhand. Stefan Fiol blends historical and ethnographic approaches to unlock these influences and explore a paradox: how the œfolk designation can alternately identify a universal stage of humanity, or denote alterity and subordination. Fiol explores the lives and work of Gahrwali artists who produce folk music. These musicians create art as both a discursive idea and as a set of expressive practices across strikingly different historical and cultural settings. Juxtaposing performance contexts in Himalayan villages with Delhi recording studios, Fiol shows how the practices have emerged within and between sites of contrasting values and expectations. Throughout, Fiol presents the varying perspectives and complex lives of the upper-caste, upper-class, male performers spearheading the processes of folklorization. But he also charts their resonance with, and collision against, the perspectives of the women and hereditary musicians most affected by the processes. Expertly observed, Recasting Folk in the Himalayas offers an engaging immersion in a little-studied musical milieu.

Study conducted in six villages in Ramgarh and Dhari blocks of Nainital District, Uttaranchal, India.

Media Technology and Cultures of Memory studies narrative memories in India through oral, chirographic and digital cultures. It examines oral cultures of memory culled from diverse geographical and cultural landscapes of India and throws light on multiple aspects of remembering and registering the varied cultural tapestry of the country. The book also explores themes such as oral culture and memory markers; memory and its paratextual services; embodied memory practices in the cultural traditions; between myths and monuments; literary and lived experiences; print culture and memory markers; marginalized memories in hagiographies; displaying memories online; childhood trauma, memory and flashbacks; and the politics of remembering and forgetting. Rich in case studies from across India, this interdisciplinary book is a must-read for scholars and researchers of cultural studies, sociology, political science, English literature, South Asian studies, social anthropology, social history, and post-colonial studies.

This book by anthropologist Kirin Narayana thoughtful exploration of Kangra women s singing over the past thirty yearsis part ethnography, part travelogue, part musical discovery, part poetry and poetry translation, and three parts memoir. Like the intricate geometries of mandalu patterns drawn in the courtyard outside a home or clothes meticulously stitched, well-crafted songs identify a woman as smart, adept, and skilledand so are a source of status. Kangra singers speak of singing as enriching their lives; the well-being generated by shared songs brings feelings of accomplishment, companionship, happiness, solace, peacefulness, even good health and recovery from illness. The concept Narayan keeps finding herself returning to, however, is creativitythe everyday creativity that brings well-being. In this book, the second in our new Big Issues in Music series, Narayan beautifully draws out the particulars of everyday creativity in women s singing in Kangra, as well as giving readers the more general gift of a new way of thinking of creativityin music and the arts, in crafts, and in everyday life."

In the Indian context; papers presented at a symposium held at New Delhi in 2002.

Cultural Realities of Being offers a dialogue between academic activity and everyday lives by providing an interface between several perspectives on human conduct. Very often, academic pursuits are arcane and obscure for ordinary people, this book will attempt to disentangle these dialogues, lifting everyday discourse and providing a forum for advancing discussion and dialogue. Nandita Chaudhary, S. Anandalakshmy and Jaan Valsiner bring together contributors from the field of cultural psychology to consider how people living within social groups, regardless of how liberal, are guided by collective reality and interconnected with life circumstances. The book discusses experiences and events in the lives of people of Indian cultures covering topics including family, food, pilgrimages, social dynamics and truth, in order to expand the material on human phenomena under the broad frame of cultural psychology. The book builds upon rich cultural traditions present in India, and precisely because of this focus, the book has much larger implications and relevance to the field and aims to orient the academic reader from around the world to viewing India and Indian society as a valuable area for research. Divided into three sections, the book covers: • Social presentation in culture • Representing relations • Children and youth in culture This book includes commentaries from expert academics from outside of India, providing a bridge between academic reality and cultural discourse and throwing fresh light on the everyday events presented in the text. Cultural Realities of Being will be essential reading for those studying Cross Cultural Psychology as well as those interested in social representation and identity.

The present book attempts to critically interpret the existing literature on the people adapted to high and low altitudes.

Provides An Overview Of Himalayan Snow, Glaciers, Ice Ages, Glaciation, History Of Efforts For The Study Of Himalayan Glaciers. Information Relating To Extent Of Snow, Glacier Fields, Their Characteristics, Influence On The Climate, Perenimal Rivers, Soil Erosion And Sedment Transport, Environmetnal Problems, Modern Technologies Such A Remote Sensing Etc.