The world upside-down: Nepalese migrants in Northern India, Martin Chautari, Kathmandu, October 29th 2006

International audienceMy study focuses on high-caste men from mid-western and far-western development regions. They are temporary migrants who spend their life coming and going (āune-jāne)between their village and India. They do not aim at settling down in India but always maintain strong links with their home154. From 2001 to 2003, fieldwork for my PhD thesis (Bruslé 2006) was done in Nepal (Dailekh, Doti, Baitadi districts) and in small towns of Uttarakhand and in New Delhi. Ninety-four in-depth interviews and countless informal discussions were held in Nepali, sometimes with the help of a Nepalese assistant. Observations of migrants’ behaviour in t he city and in their lodgings enabled me to acquire a broad understanding of migrants’ experiences in India. After briefly describing migration processes, I will focus on the migrants’ upside-down world as described by them. Finally, I will show how migrants manage to cope with it