Living Strategy: A Study on Hill and Island Situation

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This book is an outcome of two different ecological setups; here the study is depicting how the populace of Lachenpa and Nicobarese have adopted to the ecological niches to maintain their survival strategy in such harsh conditions. The objective of the book is to represent the nature of ecological adaptation by human beings who depend on environment to continue their existence.

The first part of the book deals with how the Lachen valley inhabitants survive in such an extremely cold Himalayan region and maintain their livelihood, with 'Yak' being the center of their existence. The second part of the book deals with 'Kalapani' i.e., Andaman and Nicobar group of Islands. The people have been maintaining their survival strategies around 'Pig' since many generations. In both the cases, animals play an essential role to fulfil needs and demands of people in every sphere of life and culture.

This book tries to highlight the relationship between man and nature in two different ecological scenarios. In both the cases, the people try to maintain their age-old identity in the fields of socio-cultural, economic and others values. Hope, this work will inspire more scholars/anthropologists to investigate, different ecological situations around the globe.

K.M. Sinha Roy (b. 1960) obtained Master Degree in Social Anthropology from North Bengal University and Doctorate Degree from Ranchi University. He has done intensive work on communities of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, such as the Jarwas, Nicobarese and Sentenelese. He has also worked in various other national and regional projects of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Sikkim, Odisha, U P, West Bengal and has published several research papers in scientific journals including International Journals and has edited multiple books. Presently, He has authored one book on Bastar Dusshera and superannuated from Anthropological Survey of India.

Krishna Basu (b. 1962), obtained her Master's degree in Anthropology with specialization in Social and Cultural Anthropology from University of Calcutta. At present she is working in the Anthropological Survey of India. She has done empirical field survey among the tribals and non-tribals of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Orissa, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, She has published different research papers in the edited books and scientific journals. She has remained involved in Anthropological Survey of India. She has completed her Ph.D on 4 Lachenpa community of Lachen valley at North Sikkim.

Adaptation to varied environments is an exceptional capability of human being. Environment includes both physical as well as social-cultural components. This special ability of human towards adaptation is the key factor that results in emergence of societies of diverse nature in accordance with their location in different ecological setups. This extraordinary quality of human populations remained a subject of attraction to many anthropologists who had ventured in exploring significance of Nature-Man relation for proper understanding of life and culture of people inhabiting in a particular environmental context.

A branch of anthropological discipline 'Ecological Anthropology' emerged when Julian Steward, an American anthropologist, developed the approach of ""Cultural Ecology"" in 1955 where in he had proposed that 'cultures interact with their environmental settings, by adapting features of technology, economic organization, and even kinship or religion to allow people to best pursue their livelihood"".

In other word, it is the nature of human to establish a close and intimate relation with their immediate ecological setups for their survival. They make both conscious and unconscious efforts to evolve their social/cultural even biological characteristics for suitable adaption. In the process these societies make constant efforts to orient and reorient their social systems so as to make them fit to survive in a specific environment of their exposure.

In the Indian context Professor Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi made a pioneering study in 1963 on the Nature-Man relation of a small tribe named the Maler, also known as the Sauria Paharia of Rajmahal Hills in the then Bihar. Vidyarthi, however, did not limit his study only to the Nature-Man relation. His analytical observations led him to expand the scope of his study to unveil the inseparable relation of the Maler society and culture with a number of Spirits, believed to have abode in their surrounding environment.

A look in to the Bibliography of the present book ""Living Strategy: A study on hill and island situation"" by K.M. Sinha Roy and Krishna Basu shows that apart from Vidyarthi's works, there are a large number of relevant books on this subject. Even then, this specific area of research has been drawing interests of many scholars since the processes of adaptation keep on modifications both at micro and macro levels with the ever changing environments.

In this context this book on ""Leaving Strategies is a welcome addition to the existing anthropological literature, specially, in Indian context where environment varies in different geographical regions.

The author's detailed descriptive accounts of the ways of life of the people inhabiting two different extreme environmental setups, together with their insights in analyzing the interrelations with the ecology, processes of adaptation for survival, place of two different animals-the Yaks in case of the people of North Sikkim and the Pigs in context of Nicobarese of Katchal Island established the author's arguments in respect of human's ability in developing suitable measures that guide in formation of specific types of social systems fittest to the two extreme environments.

Wish, this study will inspire many scholars to explore 'living strategies of people in many more diverse environmental situations in India.

Man uses and exploits nature for his own use. But he has never remained satisfied with whatever has spontaneously been given to him by nature. With regards to the survival strategy, the man controls tools and techniques with the help of his age-old traditional knowledge. On the other hand, they believe that supernatural spirits play a vital role in maintaining their sustainability. The uncertainty of ecological situation is controlled by appeasing different Gods and Goddesses for welfare of the people.

The study on ""Living strategy- A study on Hill and Island situation', centers on two different communities belonging to two ecological conditions. Here, two animals i.c., the ""Yak"" of the Lachenpa community (cold waste of North Sikkim) and the ""Pig"" of the Nicobarese (island situation) fulfil the need and demands of the populace. The study reflects how they maintain their livelihood both in the context of an individual and as a whole community very efficiently.

The authors are very thankful to the Director of Anthropological Survey of India for giving every facility and for helping in undertaking the present study. The authors are particularly obliged to Rabjer Lachenpa (Pipon of the Lachen velley) and Hori Soul (Chief Captain of Katchal island), whose co-operation and help proved to be of immense value during the field effort and preparation of the Book.

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