Rachel Owen and Dr. John Hawkins, Anthropology Department
My research took place in Andhra Pradesh, South India, in Vishakhapatnam, or Visag, for short. I studied the interaction between Allopathy (Allopathy is one of the terms used to describe western medicine, or biomedicine) and Ayurveda(Ayurveda is the traditional Hindu medicine system used in India for over 2000 years). I was originally interested in how this interaction affected midwives and pregnant mothers in the small fishing village on the edge of the city. As with most ethnographic, qualitative research, my focus changed during the first few weeks as challenges presented themselves and I had to adapt based on the resources available to me. The first challenge I was presented with was the language barrier. Because of the limited time I had to work with a translator or train them on which specific details I needed translated, it was difficult to get the information I needed. It worked better to interview within the surrounding neighborhoods where people spoke English. This created a bias in my research that I became aware of towards the end of the research process: many of these people who spoke English in these neighborhoods were from within the same caste. In India, each caste often has different traditions, opportunities, and even lifestyle, which created a possible bias that I could not compensate for with the limited research time. I interviewed mostly within the Brahmin caste, which is considered to be the upper class. Given that I did not interview people in other caste groups, my research cannot speak to how Ayurveda is used in other castes or if it affects women to the same extent. This bias is one place the research could be expanded or continued in future years.
Despite the limitations of time, group bias, and language barriers, I was able to interview several women, midwives, and Ayurvedic doctors during the two and half months I spent in India. I was also able to interview four Allopathic doctors, as well as tour multiple hospitals to get a sense of India’s medical structure within Andhra Pradesh.
In my review of the literature and research before I arrived in India, I learned that the British colonizers of the 18th century asserted their world views on the native peoples so much that Ayurvedic medicine was disregarded by the colonizers and the Indians they interacted most closely with as folklore. Today Ayurvedic medicine and Allopathic medicine both play a role in Andhra Pradesh, and I was interested in what role each one plays and how they interact with each other. My research questions eventually became “what role does Ayurvedic medicine play in women’s lives?” as well as “how do both medicine systems interact in Andhra Pradesh?” These questions are pertinent to the field of medical anthropology because anthropology seeks to understand how medicine and culture interact. The research findings provide insight into the cultural mindset of the women who use Ayurvedic practices in caring for their families. This is also important to the field of public health as health practitioners seek to find culturally acceptable ways of implementing health initiatives. Anthropological research, like this study, provides the knowledge needed to translate public health knowledge across social and cultural boundaries.
As I toured government hospitals, corporate hospitals, and private hospitals in Visag, I gathered information about the process used to admit patients and the costs associated with different levels of privacy during the hospital stay. As I talked to Ayurvedic doctors and the mothers who acted as informants during the two months of my research, I learned that many small illnesses are treated at home, often with the advice of an Ayurvedic doctor. The family Ayurvedic doctor becomes a close friend to the family, advising them in all aspects of their life and health. In this way, loyalty develops between the doctor and patient. The patient recommends other friends and families to their doctor. This loyalty is not found in allopathic practices, which has allowed Ayurveda to continue thriving even as Allopathic practitioners build their businesses inside the city.
Allopathy has found a place in the city because its methods can treat cancer and chronic illnesses- my informants all mentioned this to me at one point or another- yet small illnesses are almost always treated by the mother and/or Ayurvedic doctor. Mothers carry on the Ayurvedic knowledge and principles and use them to care for their children. Ayurvedic principles direct how to prevent illnesses, what kinds of food to eat, when to exercise and sleep, and to which deity’s to pray. Mothers carry on this information and their children learn it as well. In this way, Ayurveda also survives the pervasive presence of Allopathy. Ayurvedic principles have ties to religion as well as health. These principles inform tradition, rituals in the home, and they are passed down orally from parent to child.
Because Ayurveda holds so much significance in family life through religion, ritual, and tradition, and because both Ayurveda and Allopathy are used for treating different illnesses, both medicine systems have found a place in the city where they thrive. The other finding that answered my research questions included my understanding of how women use Ayurvedic medicine to care for their families. Ayurveda plays an important role in women’s lives because it informs the way they raise their children, the kind of daily prayers they offer, and which doctor she chooses to care for her children should they fall ill.
My research was presented at the BYU inquiry conference in March 2010. I also presented at the Western Social Sciences conference in Reno Nevada in mid April of the same year. Dr Hawkins also helped me write my findings into an honors thesis, presented in partial fulfillment of requirements for graduation with university honors. The honors thesis will be bound into three copies for the university: one in the library, one in the honors office, and one in the anthropology department. It will also be submitted to the Indian Folklore Research Journal for peer review and publication.