SV: SV: SV: Kinship systems

[Swaminathan Madhuresan]

 contemporary political debates aside, isn't this list
 for the study of ancient india? In old times,
 people called themselves dramidacharyas, and
 pancha-dravida brahmanas. that area included even
 gujarat.

---- "V.C.Vijayaraghavan" <vijay at VOSSNET.CO.UK> wrote:

> I agree that ethnic identity is what people 'feel' about who they are. It is
> what a person would like the world to know and how he/she would project
> himself/herslf in their most intimate personal and sexual relationships. On
> this basis, I have a marker for ethnic identities.: matrimonial columns in
> the case of India and lonely heart advertisements in western countries.
>
> I am sure you are aware of the multipage matrimonial columns in all Indian
> newspapers in small letters. There you find people describe their identites.
> You find "Ezhava youth", "Balija Naidu bride", Sikh Ramgarhia, Thodai
> mandalam Mudaliar, Karuneegar graduate, Punjabi khatri, Valluvar bridegroom,
> Tenkalai aiyangar, Telugu Baptist lecturer, Syrian christian Graduate,
> Mulukunadu brahmin and hundreds of other indian identities. But guess what?
> there is no one calling himself/herself as Dravidian - with an exception, I
> have seen some Andhra dravida brahmin which are a caste group.
>
> I have quickly flipped through more than 100000 mariage ads over a number of
> years. But there is never, never, never a Dravidian - either South or North
> or West or East India.
>
> This shows dravidian identity applied to persons is a fiction created by
> Indologists and Historians. When no one identifies as Dravidian in their
> personal relationships and even in the anonymity of newspaper ads, then such
> a person does not exist. Ethnic identity , to have any meaning, must have
> personal meaning for individuals including their private lives
>
> If you flip through Lonely Heart ads in the west, you can see Scottish
> youth, French school teacher, Mediterranean lady, English genleman, german
> businessmn, Arab youth and so on. But even in these ads , there is no
> Dravidian.
>
> I have not come across any American catholic , but if you across such a
> description in sufficient numbers in American magazines, then you can
> conclude there is an American Catholic identity


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