Transmission of ideas and feelings to younger generation: a study of adolescents belonging to Mirpuri community in Jammu

The present research exercise was conducted to assess the perception of adolescent members of Mirpuri community about the impact of divide created by displacement from across the LOC in 1947 on their lives. It further aimed to investigate the effects of displacement at personal, familial and social levels from phenomenological perspective and documentation of the extent of transmission of ideas/ feelings related to displacement to younger members of the community. The information was collected through a questionnaire in view of adolescents’ preoccupation and better expression of ideas through written medium. Purposive sampling was employed to choose the respondents depending on their availability and consent to participate in the study. The findings of the study indicated that the sample adolescents did not have detailed information regarding the history of Mirpur and the only partial information they had was provided by their grandparents and in some cases by their parents. Youngsters seemed to identify more with the cultural traits of the host Dogra community since they were born and brought up amongst majority of Dogra families. The dialect of Mirpuri language could not be mastered by them in the absence of appropriate role models speaking the language. Moreover, they had lesser interest in the religious aspects of their community and they preferred to practice the rituals for the social and personal value and to please the elder members of their families. They did not know much about variations in Mirpuri and Dogra culture. It was observed that Mirpuri adolescents tend to have a more globalised perspective on their identity as for most of them the nation and the state presumed more priority than their community.