Twentieth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

Religion provides an anchoring point to people to make their spatial identity in the society where they live. During religious practices, people form their identities and a sense of belongingness to a community. In this paper, I analyze how locals and immigrants in the city of Pune, India associate with space during reading a religious text (parayana) called the Gurucaritra. There are diverse ways of conducting religious reading of the Gurucaritra in Pune. I came across three distinctive patterns: home-based individualized reading, home-based group reading, and communal reading at temples. Readers assert their choices of space for religious reading based on several factors. Some readers prefer reading in communal setting over personal spaces. The reasons for the preference for communal reading at temples were limitations of space at their apartment home, to avoid affecting schedules of other family members during the reading session, possibility of making more merit by reading with other committed readers, and professional networking. The reasons for preference for reading in home-based setting were reading in home-space makes home pure, the merit of reading should be kept secret if it must be effective, the purity of mind and body can be attained with a greater integrity at home. Although not as popular as the other two, the choice of home-based group reading is also becoming quite popular. This paper analyzes the connection between diversity in religious practices related to reading and identity formation and belongingness in an urban setting.