Read the passage and answer the questions that follow:
Modernity spelled not merely new ideas but also rethinking and reinterpretation of tradition. Both culture and traditions are living entities. People learn them and in turn modify them. India's structural and cultural diversity is self-evident. This diversity shapes the different ways that modernisation or westernisation, sanskritisation or secularisation effects or does not effect different groups of people. It is up to you to explore and identify the complex ways modernisation impacts people in different parts of the country or impacts different classes and castes in the same region. And even women and men from the same class or community.
Which among these is NOT associated with sanskritisation?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → ‘Reference group’ in sanskritisation is usually inferior.
Option (1) It is broadly connected to the notion of purity and pollution. — Associated with sanskritisation (Incorrect). In sanskritisation a ‘low’ caste takes over the customs and rituals of a high, ‘twice-born’ caste, which is held to be ritually purer. One criticism is that the process seems to justify the belief in pollution and purity of groups of people.
Option (2) It is a cultural process. — Associated with sanskritisation (Incorrect). Sanskritisation is one of the four processes of change in cultural practices. A group takes over the customs, ritual, beliefs, ideology and style of life of a higher caste.
Option (3) ‘Reference group’ in sanskritisation is usually inferior. — Not associated with sanskritisation (Correct). A reference group is the group whose ways people copy because they want to be like it. In sanskritisation people try to raise their status by adopting the names and customs of culturally high-placed groups, and the ‘reference model’ is usually financially better off. So the reference group is superior, not inferior.
Option (4) A process of mobility. — Associated with sanskritisation (Incorrect). Sanskritisation of a group usually improves its position in the local caste hierarchy. It is a process of upward social mobility, though critics say it leads only to positional change of some individuals, not to structural change.
NCERT (2025-26): “Sanskritisation … The term sanskritisation was coined by M.N. Srinivas. It may be briefly defined as the process by which a ‘low’ caste or tribe or other group takes over the customs, ritual, beliefs, ideology and style of life of a high and, in particular, a ‘twice-born (dwija) caste…” “…Sanskritisation suggests a process whereby people want to improve their status through adoption of names and customs of culturally high-placed groups. The ‘reference model’ is usually financially better of. In both, the aspiration or desire to be like the higher placed group occurs only when people become wealthier.…” “Sanskritisation as a concept has been criticised at different levels. One, it has been criticised for exaggerating social mobility or the scope of ‘lower castes’ to move up the social ladder. For it leads to no structural change but only positional change of some individuals. In other words inequality continues to persist though some individuals may be able to improve their positions within the unequal structure.…” “…Third, ‘sanskritisation’ seems to justify a model that rests on inequality and exclusion. It appears to suggest that to believe in pollution and purity of groups of people is justifiable or all right.” |