Aspects of Society & Culture in Calcutta (An Old Book)

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About the Book This volume has been designed to present the glimpses of the various facets of life in the city of Calcutta. Studies on selected communities pro-vide evidence of the general social climate in the city that not only sustains separate identifiable entities of linguistic and cultural backgrounds making the city a community of communities but is also generally tolerant of plurality. This plurality is a persisting feature getting sustenance from the overall social climate.

Traditional or traditionalised occupations persist where they have a chance to operate despite the growth of an infinitely large number of specialised activities in the urban centre, beyond the comprehension of tradition. The fact of craftsmen being exploited by the commercial class has also been highlighted.

The concept of neighbour-hood has got diluted in the wake of unprecedented systematic inflow of immigrant population. Areas of limited proximity often carrying the notion of neighbourhood are generally areas of cultural homogeneity. Again pressure on space in a commercial nerve centre does not allow the distinguishing features of communities to reflect in the pattern of land use while the same communities spilling over to areas of comparatively less pressure show conformity to predominant norm.

The life of the various segments of society living a marginal and sometimes transitional existence has also been focused upon.

About the Author M. K. A. Siddiqui (b. 1929) has a Master's Degree in Sociology and a Ph.D. in Anthropology. He had earlier graduated with Honours in Persian and had obtained a Master's Degree in Urdu from the Calcutta University, securing first class first in both the examinations. Dr. Siddiqui is associated with the Anthropological Survey of India since 1953 and at present holds the post of Anthropologist. He has the experience of work among the primitive tribes, the peasant society and among urban population and has over 35 works including monographs and scientific papers to his credit. Among the books he has published include 'Muslims of Calcutta: A Study in Aspects of their Social Organization’, 'Hindustan ke Adivasi' and 'The Didayi: A Forgotten Tribe of Orissa', the last one in joint authorship with others.

Foreword Late professor Nirmal Kumar Bose initiated the research staff of the Anthropological Survey of India into the field of urban anthropology. His book Calcutta 1964: a Social Survey (1968) and his germane article "Calcutta: A Premature Metropolis" (1965) are well known among scholars.

We tried to follow up the pioneering efforts of, Professor Bose by taking up a series of short term studies on the society and culture of a number of ethnic groups, neighbourhood and occupational categories in Calcutta. In spite of long exposure to the modern world of commerce industry and metropolitan administration this decisive city of India continues to shelter many diversities. The overall cultural climate of the city and the unique pattern of growth seem to encourage a caste like segmentation and segregation of social and cultural life in the wide complex arena of the city. In the volume we also get some hints on how processes of unity have been built up in two different kinds of neighbourhoods and how people live a marginal, and sometimes transitional, existence at a level of dire poverty.

I heartily congratulate Dr M. K. A. Siddiqui for coordinating the research work done by thirteen scholars and for writing a very lucid introduction to volume while taking the responsibility of editing it.

I hope through similar research projects taken up in other large cities of India, we would gain a proper understanding of the distinct configurations and personalities of the major Indian cities in dealing with the problems of ethnicity, affluence, poverty, creativity and unity at neighbourhood and wider levels.

Introduction Realisation of the need to widen the field of research initiated by the Anthropological Survey of India to include urban studies in its programme has been manifest for quite some time. Studies of urban problems, though meagre, to the extent of insignificance, have not 197 altogether been unknown to the Survey. Problems relating to the refugees from Pakistan and socio-economic survey of some selected 221 Calcutta slums have been included in the programme of departmental research rather casually. Professor N. K. Bose very profitably utilised the resources of the Survey to bring out an admirable work 'Calcutta 1964; A Social Survey'. Dr. S. C. Sinha's association with the Survey 236 in 1967 synchronised with greater interest in urban problems and under 249 his leadership several research personnel were assigned projects on the study of 'Culture of Poverty' in the slum population 'intergroup stereo-269 types' and cultural minorities in the city, specially the Muslims of Calcutta. Dr. Sinha himself studied Kali Temple at Kalighat. A seminar on social and Cultural Profile of Calcutta organized by the Indian Anthropological Society with the active co-operation of the Anthropological Survey of India highlighted some of the problems relating to this massive urban complex demanding the attention of the anthropologists and other social scientists.

The opportunity to embark on the project culminating in the present volume, however, came a little too suddenly when a certain amount of stress on the financial resources of the Survey during, the period of national crisis in 1969-71 in the wake of Indo-Pakistani conflict pre-vented work on projects involving tours to distant areas. This became a blessing in disguise, since over a dozen of researchers was immediately available to participate in the hitherto less explored field to gain initial experience in urban studies. In planning this project Dr. Surajit Sinha very aptly felt that the experience could best be gained through actual involvement of researchers with problems relating to the city of Calcutta where the headquarters of the Anthropological Survey of India is based. In involving the researchers with the fieldwork in the city simultaneously for a single field season it was considered by and large appropriate to allow the individual researcher to select a problem of his own choice.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages