Marriage, Pundor and Modernity (A case study of a village in Hunza)

Abstract

The social exchange system is a common custom observed in South Asian countries. This systematic review aims to a significant contribution to knowledge on social exchange practices of gift-giving on the social organization of marriage among the people of Gulmit Hunza. The current study targets sixteen married women among them eight women were got married before 2000 and eight of them were got married after 2000. The researcher has conducted sixteen in-depth interviews and focus group discussion was held through snow ball technique. The researcher has developed semi questionnaire/interview guide for the collection of qualitative data. The researcher has presented the data in the form of interviews and case studies after taking semistructured, in- depth interviews, categorize the data under three relevant themes. Data is presented and analyzed through thematic analysis. For the purpose to interpret data the researcher has chosen Social Exchange theory. Findings of the current research showed that women do practice Pundor (Vartan Bhanji) at marriages ceremonies and the Majority of the respondents agreed that the early concept of Pundor is changed