Read the given passage carefully and answer the next five questions.
My grandfather, like most Nagas who had come into close contact with Europeans, was convinced that education was the only way to get ahead in life. He aspired for his children the kind of life he had seen being lived by the British administration and missionaries. He sent my mother away to school, first in neighbouring Assam, then as far as Shimla. My mother was encouraged by one of the more educated men in her village who told her that with an education in these new times, she could even become like the Indian lady who spoke before the world: Vijaylaxmi Pandit, who represented India at the UN. My father, by dint of his own intelligence and hard work, put himself through the local mission school and college in Shillong. All Nagas of my parents' generation who were able to, chose to get educated in English. For them, it was more than a gateway to upward mobility. In a region where tribes that live no more than 20 kms apart speak completely different languages, it was a medium through which they could communicate amongst themselves and with the world. They became the voice of their people and made English the official state language.
Name the process through which the movement of individuals takes place from their existing status to improved status.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Upward Mobility
Option (1) Sanskritization — Incorrect. Sanskritisation, a term coined by M.N. Srinivas, is the process by which a ‘low’ caste or tribe takes over the customs, rituals, beliefs and style of life of a high, ‘twice-born’ caste. It is one particular route by which a caste tries to raise its status, not the general name for any movement to a better position.
Option (2) Westernization — Incorrect. Westernisation means the changes in Indian society and culture that came from over 150 years of British rule, in technology, institutions, ideology and values. It is about adopting western ways, not about moving up from one status to a higher one.
Option (3) Assimilation — Incorrect. Assimilation is the process by which a smaller group is absorbed into a larger, dominant culture and gives up its own ways, as tribes were absorbed into Hindu society. It describes a change of culture, not a rise in status.
Option (4) Upward Mobility — Correct. Social mobility is the movement of individuals or groups from one position in society to another. When the movement is from a lower status to a higher, improved one, it is called upward mobility. For the Nagas of the passage, education in English was more than a gateway to upward mobility.
NCERT: Social Change and Development in India — Chapter 2: Cultural Change (2025-26)
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