In Cultural Constellations, Place-Making and Ethnicity in Eastern India, c. 1850-1927, Swarupa Gupta outlines a fresh paradigm moving beyond stereotypical representations of eastern India as a site of ethnic fragmentation. The book traces unities by exploring intersections between (1) cultural constellations; (2) place-making and (3) ethnicity. Centralising place-making, it tells the story of how people made places, mediating caste / religious / linguistic contestations. It offers new meanings of ‘region’ in Eastern Indian and global contexts by showing how an interregional arena comprising Bengal, Assam and Orissa was forged. Using historical tracts, novels, poetry and travelogues, the book argues that commonalities in Eastern India were linked to imaginings of Indian nationhood. The analysis contains interpretive strategies for mediating federalist separatisms and fragmentation in contemporary India.

Contributed seminar papers.

Through her book, Gastronomy and the Nutritional Status of the Tarao Tribe of Manipur, Kshetrimayum Vedmani Devi explores the social, cultural, and traditional lifestyles of the Tarao tribe. They are one of the smallest and least known tribes in India’s northeastern state of Manipur. The author engages in a study to understand the food habits and the nutritional status of the tribe, using field methods along with clinical observations and dietary surveys.

Study conducted at Machi block in Chandel District of Manipur, India.