India Moving

A little bit of India too moves with every migrant. From adventure to indenture, martyrs to merchants, Partition to plantation, from Kashmir to Kerala, Japan to Jamaica and beyond, India Moving is the first book to map out the great migrations that have made the country and the world a more diverse place to live in. To understand how millions of people have moved-from and to India-the book embarks on a journey laced with evidence, argument and wit, providing insights into topics like the slave trade and the migrations of workers, travelling business communities such as the Marwaris, Gujaratis and Chettiars, refugee crises like the Partition, and the roots of contemporary mass migration from Bihar and Kerala, covering a terrain that often includes seemingly unrelated topics like mangoes, dosas and pressure cookers. India Moving shows the scale and variety of Indian migrations and argues that greater mobility is a prerequisite for maintaining the country's pluralistic traditions.

This book presents a selection of multifaceted development issues involving social, economic and environmental aspects, in order to inspire and guide implementation of the United Nations’ SDGs. It focuses on economic development, human well-being and sustainable pathways, with special attention to financial and knowledge resources, as well as measurement concepts. In doing so, the book draws a distinction between sustainability and sustainable pathways by refraining from dealing with broader and more direct environmental sustainability issues like climate change, environmental degradation and sustainable energy. The choice of topics, apart from their relevance for India, was guided by their importance in connection with multiple SDG goals. In addition to revealing the intricacies of systemic relationships and the dilemmas they create in policy choices, the book examines the role of actors and the critical importance of partnerships to help readers comprehend the breadth of diversities and inter-linkages involved. The roles of the central and state governments, the parliament and the state assemblies, the civil society, UN agencies and district-level authorities are separately explored in depth. Sharing valuable insights, the book encourages policymakers, practitioners and scholars to move towards a sustainable and equitable economy, and supports them in their efforts.

Relations between the European Union (EU) and India have been growing in quantity and quality in the last two decades. Alongside the economic dimension, the political and security elements of the relationship have emerged as the most promising area for further collaboration between the two sides. This volume brings together analyses and recommendations on EU-India security relations in the fields of: (i) maritime security and freedom of navigation; (ii) cyber security and data protection; (iii) space policy and satellite navigation; (iv) defence cooperation. The chapters have been written by a select pan-European and Indian group of experts tasked by the Rome-based Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) and the Mumbai-based Gateway House (GH) in the framework of the EU-India Think Tank Twinning Initiative – a public diplomacy project aimed at connecting research institutions in Europe and India funded by the EU. The book provides the reader with original research and innovative insights into how to move forward EU-India relations. It will be essential reading for scholars and policy makers interested in the subject.

Alexander conquered most parts of the Western World, but there is a great deal of controversy over his invasion of India, the least known of his campaigns. In BC 327 Alexander came to India, and tried to cross the Jhelum river for the invasion, but was then confronted by King Porus who ruled an area in what is now the Punjab. According to Indian history he was stopped by Porus at his entry into the country, but most of the world still believes that Alexander won the battle. Fearing the prospect of facing other large armies and exhausted by years of campaigning, Alexander's army mutinied at the Hyphasis River, refusing to march farther east. This river thus marks the easternmost extent of Alexander's conquests. Twelve papers in this volume examine aspects of Alexander’s Indian campaign, the relationship between him and his generals, the potential to use Indian sources, and evidence for the influence of policies of Alexander in neighboring areas such as Iran and Russia.

Shortlisted for the 2023 BASAS Book Prize presented by British Association for South Asian Studies Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a village in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Moving for Marriage compares the lived experiences of women in "regional" marriages (that conform to caste and community norms within a relatively short distance) with women in "cross-regional" marriages (that traverse caste, linguistic, and state boundaries and entail long-distance migration within India). By demonstrating how geographic distance and regional origins make a difference in these women's experiences, Shruti Chaudhry challenges stereotypes and moral panics about cross-regional brides who are brought from far away. Indeed, Moving for Marriage highlights the ways in which the post-marital experiences of both categories of wives in this study—their work and social relationships, their sexual lives and childbearing decisions, and their ability to access support in everyday contexts and in the event of marital distress—are shaped by factors such as caste, class/poverty, religion, and stage in the life-course. In focusing on this Global South context, Chaudhry makes novel arguments about the development of intimacy within marriages that are inherently unequal and even violent, thereby offering an alternative to Euro-American understandings of intimacy and women's agency.

This book is an attempt to penetrate the silence that surrounds the lives of nurses as migrant women. It offers a perceptive understanding of the trials faced specifically by women from the state of Kerala, in their personal and professional spheres, in the challenges posed to single women migrants as such, and the lower status ascribed to the job. In highlighting aspects of their lived experiences, it reveals how the identities of gender, class and ethnicity unmask the realities behind claims of egalitarianism and equal citizenship. Nurses from Kerala form one of the largest groups of migrant women workers in the international service sector along with Filipinos and Sri Lankans. Comparatively better salaries, work opportunities and financial independence, along with a desire to travel across the world, are often the reasons behind these migrations. For many of these women, the professional choice of nursing is usually the first step towards migration, while finding employment in Delhi, the urban capital of India, is intended as a transition point before they migrate abroad, a trajectory which may remain unrealised. In focusing on nurses who choose to work in Delhi, the author recounts how the patriarchy of the original place is recreated and relived in destination cities. In as much as traditional stigmatisation of nursing (as a ‘dirty’ profession), deeply entrenched gender prejudices, and status and role anxieties act as deterrents, these women remain undaunted in the face of adversities and treat their exposure to, and experience of, technology and nursing care in the bigger hospitals in Delhi as part of the training that is required to apply abroad. Through extensive empirical research, case studies and personal interviews, Moving with the Times illustrates nurses’ lives in Delhi, providing an account of the dynamics — between traditional patriarchy, norms and associated identities, low professional status and marginality coupled at once with the sense of personal freedom, a new career and space — that migration compels these women to negotiate. This book will appeal to scholars of sociology, gender and women’s studies, nursing and healthcare, and those interested in migration and identities.

Scholars have long noticed a discrepancy in the way non-Western and Western peoples conceptualize the scientific and religious worlds. Non-Western traditions and communities, such as of India, are better positioned to provide an alternative to the Western dualistic thinking of separating science and religion. The Himalayan Environmental Studies and Conservation Organization (HESCO) was founded by Dr. Anil Joshi in the 1970s as a new movement looking at the economic and development needs of rural villages in the Indian Himalayas, and encouraging them to use local resources in order to open up new avenues to self-reliance. This book argues that the concept of dharma, the law that supports the regulatory order of the universe in Indian culture, can be applied as an overarching term for HESCO’s socio-economic work. This book presents the social-environmental work in contemporary India by Dr. Anil Joshi in the Himalayas and by Baba Seechewal in Punjab, combining the ideas of traditional and scientific ecological knowledge systems. Based on these two examples, the book presents the holistic model transcending the dichotomies of nature vs. culture and science vs. religion, especially as practiced and utilized in the non-Western society such as India. Using the example of HESCO, the book highlights that the very categories of religion and science are problematic when applied to non-Western traditions, but that Western technologies can be radically transformed through integration with regional legacies to enable the flourishing of a multiplicity of knowledge-traditions and the societies that depend upon them. It will be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian Studies, Religion, Environmental Studies, Himalayan Studies, and Development Studies.

* Major survey providing new perspectives on contemporary Indian art* Gathers a diverse cross-section of voices in the world of Indian art* Offers an overview of Indian art across the last century and signposts future trends* Over 250 iconic artworks chosen by an intergenerational group of 54 artists, curators, historians and writersFrom long lost paintings to ephemeral sculptures; from whimsical performances to iconic public murals; and from independent films to landmark design objects, the surprising and provocative contents of Moving Focus, India have been provided by a varied group of experts. A first of its kind, this book invited 54 artists, curators, historians and writers to each create a list of five works of art, made at any time since 1900, by artists living in India or identifying as part of its diaspora. With over 250 individual nominations, including artists whose works have been exhibited at venues as various as Houghton Hall (Anish Kapoor, 2020), the Asia Society Museum, New York (MF Husain, 2019) and the Piramal Museum of Art, Mumbai (SH Raza, 2018), the exercise produced thrilling and unexpected choices across many mediums. Drawing from a wide range of private and public collections, the selections reveal the diversity and inclusiveness of today's art scene: an art scene that has embraced the progressive changes evident in society at large. In addition to these lists, the book includes reflections on collecting, curating and canon-formation from a range of important voices, by way of a roundtable discussion and a series of essays. Spread over two volumes and marked by an innovative and fresh design sensibility, whether you are familiar with modern and contemporary art from the subcontinent or looking for an introduction, Moving Focus, India contains a wealth of information. Lavishly illustrated with over 1,000 archival and freshly commissioned photographs, this book is an important and timely addition to the global art discourse and a key source of reference. Nominated artists include Anish Kapoor, MF Husain, SH Raza, Tyeb Mehta, Ravi Varma, Jamini Roy, Rabindranath Tagore, FN Souza, Nandalal Bose, Abanindranath Tagore, VS Gaitond, Benode Behari Mukherjee and many more.