Indigenous health perception and practices of the Punjab: an anthropological reflection

Anthropology is the most intimate humanistic explanation of human diversity as regards various small and large scales societies of the world. Anthropology aims to provide modern human civilization with understandable accounts of how human diversity that are not rooted in racial discrimination rather to bring us an opportunity to seek underlying rationalities and intellects associated with various historical, environmental, ecological, geographical, demographical, social, political and cultural compartmentalization and assortments. To help health personnel to understand the local mind about the health and eudaemonia as perceived and practiced by the rural population. Observational [exploratory] study. This study was conducted in the Union Council of Sacha Soda in the Tehsil and district of Sheikhupura district of the Punjab province from January 2011 to December 2011. This study was based upon an intensive field works for three years in a Punjabi village Sacha Soda of Sheikhupura district on indigenous health paradigms. It is an anthropological reflection of an indigenous healthy dichotomy to which the researchers have termed "Sehat-Tandarusti" existing and prevailing in the rural Punjab. Punctuality in taking dinner [95.3%], washing hands before taking food [92.9%], mild walk after food [82.1%] and chewing sugar cane and maze as exercise of teeth [77.9%] were the most common good eating habits. Majority of the villagers were going into beds earlier [95%] and a high percent were getting up early [75%]. Their first preference in case of illness was seeking help from Faith healers [86.1%] and the herbalists [88.9%]. There is a need to adopt the indigenous health perspective on Sehat [Eudaemonia] in order to promote the social awareness and effectively mobilize the populations towards better hygienic education and raising social responsibility among populations to contribute in making their livelihoods health friendly. The reinstating of the traditional health seeking system of practices can help the local populations to seek medical advices at local level as well as removing a threat from already overburdened urban health facilities

Anthropo-medical orientation: reflections on medical anthropology and cultural riddle

Cultures globally are man-made survival strategy on responding to various environmental, ecological demographical, topographical, geographical, political, social, psychological and economic factors for diversity. The point raised here is if the nature accepts the diversity due to which the living styles, languages, dressing, and other related aspects of aesthetics then why don't human accept socio-cultural diversity. The paper focuses its discussion on medical anthropology. Anthropologists have long been involved in studying the health systems of various societies that they choose for research. The understandings of various cultures and its medical practices helped anthropologists to understand why people prefer to have a unique and indigenous thought patterns as regards health notions and practices. Pakistan being a member of third world brethren still holds its position among the conventional medicalization. National life is divided into various strands of medical belief system and thus practices regarding diagnosis, curing, treatments, rehabilitation. Health bureaucracy blindly follows the Western medical approaches upon which there are intellectual debates internationally to accept the cultural notions in order to improve the global indicators while accepting the local cultures and their interpretations on such vital aspects of man's civilized life. There is a need to reiterate the health policy as well as the brain set of medical care systems to give the cultural perceptions and thus medical anthropology a due role in deciphering the dream into a reality. This paper attempts to educate the readers about the importance of cultural factors in understanding the disease, illness and healing in cultural setting and also to discuss the role of ethno-medicine that has been acknowledged throughout the world

Development chronicle of pakistan: a case of colonial legacy

Pakistan got independence from British Empire in 1947. The idea of liberating from both Hindu-English usurpation was to see the dream of self-governance and self-reliance getting fulfilled. The Muslims after the downfall of Mughal-lndia were disbanded on behalf of British and Hindus. Muslims of United India were also in a state of entire shock to believe that they are no more the owners of their own fate and destiny. The failure in joint political moves of Hindu-Muslim unity resulted in a separate independence movement for winning liberation. The state of affairs led to struggle for a piece of land to practice the principles of Islam to realize the self-governed development for the citizens of separate state for Muslims of India. Development Vision of Pakistan as perceived by Mr. Jinnah was to bring Pakistan among the global brethren of world to stand firm and to shun the western vision of development. The idea of development of Pakistan was through the Islamic principles based in Islamic notion of 'welfare'. The colonial heritage after independence was carried by the bureaucratic and military set up that held the nation to see the actualization of true participatory development in Pakistan. The paper is intended to highlight the initial failures of Development planning and implementation due to over reliance over non-local and alienated development models and policies. The Authors of the paper are striving to advocate the necessity of revitalizing once traditionally practiced, indigenously conceived, self planned and administered development model for Pakistan

Indigenous fanning practices and sustainable rural development: a case of indigenous agricultural practices in a punjabi village of sheikhupura district

This paper deals with the role of Indigenous Agricultural System as a system of locally evolved practices that are used by the villagers in a Punjabi village. The intent of the paper is to highlight that despite attacks on traditional practices and technologies, there are still people who use the centuries old heritage and are in favor of putting it again into the practice after effective revitalization at national level. Authors have tried to discuss the practical aspects of traditional farming practices with a purpose to record them in order to understand the socio-economic utility of them. Authors during interacted with people who compare their traditional agricultural practices with modern farming that was attempted to impose on farming community under the promise of economic prosperity and thus development. The paper is an attempt to highlight the effectiveness of traditional farming in order to generate a debate among the development school in Pakistan to further evaluate the utilities of the same. The study under reference was conducted in village Sacha Soda of Sheikhupura district in the Punjab