Culture and Demography: A Micro Level Study Between Two Communities Residing in the City of Kolkata, West Bengal

Abstract

We aimed to study the demographic patterns of two contrasting communities, namely Bengali Hindu and Bihari Hindu groups, residing in adjacent clusters in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal. The former were the original inhabitants of Kolkata and the latter were a migrant group from the state of Bihar. We collected data from 164 ever-married females (Bengali [84] and Bihari [80]). Data on household information, demographic variables, and marital distance and preferences were collected using a well-tested schedule/questionnaire from ever-married females of both the groups. Some in-depth interviews were conducted on the participants to get information on the reasons for sex preference in childbirth, preference in selecting mates, determining the age at marriage, and so on. Results showed that both the groups differ with respect to sex ratio and child sex ratio, marital preference, marriage distance, and fertility. It appeared from the study that despite the physical proximity between these two groups, their demographic traits differed sharply. We concluded from this study that the differences in demographic traits between these two groups may be attributed to contrasting cultural attributes of these two communities.