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Tracing the ethnographic journey of India

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From the time people started interacting with each other, they have always been curious about how differently other people conduct and go about their lives which is not similar to their own. Over the centuries these exchanges has happened voluntarily or have been brought about by trade movements or territorial invasions. We can trace this cultural evolution through Indian history. Let us take a look at the events that shaped the ethnographic landscape of the India over last few centuries.  Impact created my movement of traders via The Silk Route   In 138 BCE, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty of China (202 BCE – 220 CE), sent his emissary Zhang Qian to the west to negotiate with the Yuezhi people for help in defeating the Xiongnu. Zhang Qian’s journeys resulted in him coming in contact with varied cultures & civilizations in central Asia. The northern Mesopotamian province (present-day Iran) became China’s preferred partner in trade, as part of the Parthian Empire, opening important

Demystifying the concept of ethnography

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Ethnography  is a naturalistic observational method that emphasizes the detailed observation of people in a naturally occurring setting.  An ethnographic approach in Human Centered Interaction originates from social anthropology. Social anthropology is a study of human societies and cultures.  So, what does it really mean?  In a nutshell,  studying the targeted group of people and their culture!   Who are these people? What is their profession? How do they spend their day? What do they believe in? What factors of society they most influenced by? What language do they speak? Etc.  Questions like these breaks down the concept of  ‘the study of people and cultures’.   And data derived from studying these questions can be used to design better solutions to the wicked problems. For example, in India, one needs to understand and study the different regional groups, their languages, their cultures, the society they live in, etc., in order to create a product or a service for them.  e.g. Z