Tuesday, June 26, 2007

District Gazatteers of India

While reading Robert Putnam's article on diversity, I was reminded of Nasik Gazatteer which I browsed through long ago:
http://www.maharashtra.gov.in/english/gazetteer/nasik/
It was first published in 1883 and various sections have been revised since. The section "The People" contains descriptions of communities which migrated from times immemorial to few decades ago (before 1883) from various parts of India and abroad and retained some sort of identities through out. I wonder whether this section has been updated and how these communities are adopting in the information age. More information about other districts can be found by google search under " District Gazatteers of India" or some such heading. Wikipedia does not have much on this topic though it links to some gazatteers when seaching for specific districts. There is a link to an interesting article http://www.boloji.com/environment/21.htm by Kumud Biswas.
Recently I visited a small town Foster in South Gippsland where a couple of Telugu dentists decided to treat their uncle. The conversations shifted seemelessly from technical to family matters in coastal village Telugu.

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