Teisenemine, traditsioon ja elatud tõelus: Kirde-India khaside rahvapärased usundilised maailmad

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Folkloristlikel välitöödel põhinev väitekiri keskendub Kirde-Indias elava khasi rahva usundilise pärimuse erinevatele ilmingutele (demonoloogia, maagilised transformatsioonid, surmakultuur). Töös analüüsitakse jutumaailma vastastikuseid suhteid ühiskondliku ja religioosse tegelikkusega. Valitud üksikteemades avalduvad sotsiaalne marginaliseerimine ning põliskultuuri ja moderniseeruva linnakultuuri konfliktid, samuti kogukondlikku identiteeti toetav kultuuri enesepeegeldus suhetes teiste etniliste rühmadega. Ühtlasi analüüsib väitekiri erinevaid sotsiaalseid mehhanisme, mis aitavad khasidel ühtaegu hoida omakultuuri ja seejuures kohaneda modernsuse ja kristlusega. Ühiskonna ja üleloomuliku maailma vastastikused suhted on keerukad, hõlmates nii argielu kui ka inimpsühholoogiat, millega seotud kujutelmad pole stabiilsed, vaid muutuvad ajas. Väitekirjas on lähemalt uuritud jutupärimust haihtuvast hääletajast ja thlen’ist kui inimohvrit nõudvast deemonlikust olendist, kelle tähendusi on kujundanud khasi ühiskonna matrilineaarne struktuur ja Shillongi linna tugevasti urbaniseerunud keskkond. Analüüsist ilmnes, et jutud kummitavatest surnutest ning thlen’i kummardavatest salalikest naabritest väljendavad leppimatust ühiskondlike vastuolude, ebaõigluse ja ebavõrdsusega. Selline sünge folkloor külvab ühiskonnas usaldamatust ja vihkamist, mis on avaldunud kollektiivse vägivalla puhangutes ja viinud teatud juhtudel mõrvadeni. Khasi mägistel ääremaadel tuntud usk loomtransformatsioonidesse ning sellega seotud praktikad seevastu väljendavad kultuuri ja jutupärimuse järjepidevust ning kohanemisvõimet muutuvate oludega, mida olulise tegurina kujundab põlisusundile vastanduv ristiusk. Nende diskursuste tähendusväljad kujunevad omavahelistes pingetes ja vastuoludes, kusjuures põlisuskumuste demoniseerimine kiriku poolt on ühtlasi andnud neile elujõudu ja püsivust. Käesoleva doktoritöö eesmärk ei ole pakkuda üldistavat lõppjäreldust nüüdisaegse khasi ühiskonna kui terviku kohta, vaid analüüsida selle erinevaid tasandeid ja kogukondlikke aspekte ning mõtestada tänapäevaste rahvauskumusi ja jutte nende mitmepalgelisuses.Beginning with the understanding, that belief in the supernatural expresses itself in multiple folkloric manifestations, this thesis sought to document traditions about the revenant, narratives about the blood-seeking non-human, human-animal transformations and the after-life culture of the Khasi ethnic community in North Eastern India. But the research process of documentation through fieldwork led to several questions related with the multiple articulations of belief. Accordingly, this thesis makes an attempt to analyse the storyworld of the Khasis, and it’s intersections with their social and religious reality. It presents a case study seen from the context of marginalisation, the indigenous heritage and conflicted intentions where belief becomes suggestive of a community’s need to come to terms with it’s own place alongside other ethnic identities. This thesis also looks at the various social mechanisms that are employed toward a reconciliation with modernity and Christianity whilst retaining a sense of what it means to be Khasi. The outcome is a hybrid interaction between religion, society, and the supernatural realm in the everyday life which is not fixed, but which accommodates shifting belief and notions about the self and personhood. Accordingly, narratives of the vanishing hitchhiker and the non-human Thlen were collected in order to examine the functions they perform in the context of the matrilineal social structure and the highly urbanised, modern environment of Shillong city. The analyses showed how the existing structures in society were subverted as a result of the circulation of the revenant narratives. The consequences of the circulation of “dark”, and malicious folklore often lead to the loss of life, mob violence and “othering” of groups of people within Khasi society. In the peripheral areas of the Khasi Hills, the phenomenon of human-animal transformations revealed the ability of culture to adapt to changing circumstances, and sustain itself through narratives. Significant aspects that are discussed in depth comprise the strategies of meaning-making in the context of the discourse of encounters: the preservation of indigenous beliefs is made possible through their demonisation by the Khasi Christian Church. This thesis does not arrive at a homogenised, coherent conclusion about contemporary Khasi society; rather it looks at the multivalent nature of folk beliefs and narratives, and presents a non-linear, layered glimpse into the life ways of the community

Water Spirit Possession among the Khasis: Representation of Fear through Narratives

This article argues that genre markers employed in oral narratives about possession by water spirits serve to exemplify human / non-human relations in Khasi supernatural ontology. It is not the aim of this work to add to the existing corpus of theories on narrative genre studies, but to try to analyse how genre boundaries within the Khasi language help shape and articulate relationality, interaction and participation between humans and entities of water. The article elucidates the way in which the "supernatural" world is understood and mediated through the mechanism of fear and its absence, as manifested in the narratives. Through case studies collected during primary fieldwork from various interlocutors from different parts of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, attitudes towards entities identified as sourced from the Khasi traditional religion help to create and shape the "new" frames of Christianity, urbanisation and modernity within which these entities operate

Valorization of Garlic Peel as a Potential Ingredient for the Development of ValueAdded Rice Based Snack Product Pukhelein

The present study was designed to develop and evaluate the nutritional, functional, sensory properties and texture profile data of garlic peel powder fortified viz. 2%, 5% and 10% value added pukhelein and compared with control sample. Garlic peel showed crude fiber, carbohydrate and ash content viz. 60.57%, 21.71% and 16.34%, total phenolic content (TPC) of 108.79 µg/ml GAE, total flavonoid content (TFC) of 33.27 mg Quercetin/ml and antioxidant activity (33.38 mg/ml) respectively. 5% formulation exhibited the highest crude fiber, protein content, TPC (326.6 µg/ml GAE), TFC (91.38 mg Quercetin/ml) and total antioxidant content (54.68 µg/ml).Sensory evaluation data showed good result in 5% formulation in terms of appearance, texture and taste. Texture profile analysis showed that a considerable decrease in hardness, springiness, cohesiveness, gumminess and chewiness and resilience. The outcome of the study revealed that 5% garlic peel powder fortified pukhelein exhibited the best result among all formulations

Study of Power Flow Control Using FACTS Devices

With most of the countries on the threshold of industrialization the demand for electrical power also continues to increase steadily and is predominantly strong. Moreover, because the transmission systems are operated near to their thermal and stability limits, the chief challenge for the power industry is to supply electrical power to match the demands of the consumers with the minimum amount of losses while maintaining adequate power quality level. For various reasons, newly installed transmission lines are unable to cope up with the growing power generation. This paper presents the ideas of using FACTS devices for enhanced operation and more effective usage and control of the existing transmission network framework. The development of Flexible AC Transmission Systems, or FACTS based on high power electronics, offers a powerful means of meeting the challenges

Chondroid Syringoma and Eccrine Spiradenoma

Fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC) is a well established diagnostic tool. However, most clinicians prefer to diagnose suspected skin tumors by excisional biopsy as they are easily accessible and hence benign skin adnexal tumors are rarely encountered on FNAC. There are only a very few case reports describing the fine needle aspiration cytologic features of chondroid syringoma and eccrine spiradenoma for diagnosis. Cases: First case was a 20 year old female who presented with firm,non-tender swelling in the left little finger measuring 1 cm in diameter. Smears showed clusters of round to plasmacytoid cells with moderate to abundant cytoplasm embedded in a chondromyxoid ground substance . Hence, a diagnosis of chondroid syringoma was made. Another case was a 40 year old lady who presented with a painful swelling on the anterior chest wall measuring approximately 0.8 cms in diameter. Smears were moderately cellular with cohesive sheets and clusters of bland cells of three different cell types. Hence, a probable diagnosis of eccrine spiradenoma was made and both the cases were confirmed histologically. Conclusion: Appropriate knowledge of the cytologic features of chondroid syringoma and eccrine spiradenoma helps in providing a definitive diagnosis and correct management of the patient

Potential Use of DC Microgrid for Solar and Wind Power Integration in Rural Areas in India: A Review

This paper describes the possibilities of the application of DC microgrids to solve the rural areas, energy problem in the country (India). DC Microgrids open a gateway for integration of solar and wind energies which together are an efficient and cleaner way of renewable energy generation, which can be integrated into the power distribution network. They have several other advantages, which include - reduction in transmission losses, improvement in power quality & reliability, reduction in emissions and even they are cost effective. The most important characteristic is that it provides a possibility for electrification of remote villages, which are far from the reach of the conventional grid. This paper presents a detailed discussion on the possibility of application of DC microgrids for rural areas in India

Integrating Multiscale Numerical Simulations with Machine Learning to Predict the Strain Sensing Efficiency of Nano-Engineered Smart Cementitious Composites

Prediction of in-situ strain sensing efficiency of self-sensing cementitious composites using machine learning (ML) requires a large, representative, consistent, and accurate dataset. However, such large experimental dataset is not readily available. Moreover, the success of the ML approach depends on its ability to abide by the fundamental laws of physics. To address these challenges this paper synergistically integrates a validated finite element analysis (FEA)-based multiscale simulation framework with ML to predict the strain-sensing ability of self-sensing cementitious composites enabled by incorporating nano-engineered interfaces. The multiscale simulation framework is leveraged to develop a balanced, representative, complete, and consistent dataset containing 3000 combinations of strain-dependent electromechanical responses. This large dataset is used to predict the strain-sensing ability of the nanoengineered cementitious composites using a feed-forward multilayer perceptron-based neural network (NN) approach which shows excellent prediction efficacy. This paper also applies a Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) algorithm to interpret the NN predictions in light of the relative importance of different design parameters on the strain-sensing ability of the composite. Overall, the synergistic and comprehensive approach presented here can be used as a starting point toward the development of reliable performance standards to accelerate the acceptance of these self-sensing cementitious composites for large-scale applications