Ethnography is the exploration of a group of society, their behavior, beliefs, culture, language, and how they interact with each other. Different people have different cultures and lifestyles which need to be exchanged, observed, understood, experienced, and transferred from one generation to another. Understanding only one's culture and way of life without understanding and considering others is the reason behind the formation of cultural ethnocentrism. To eliminate the sense of culture being superior or inferior, the study, observation, and exchange of one’s culture with others is necessary. Thus, the case study below is the study of a group of social organization and their culture.
I did my observation at the game field at SSC Sherubtse College. With all the necessary instruments and devices, I made an appointment with the coordinator to conduct my observation in his indoor games room. I chose this field to do the observation because people of different cultural and social backgrounds assemble there to play, interact, and showcase their skills and talents with other players. Observation of different behaviors, styles, and languages is possible from that field due to the interactions of different people. There is also the chance to extend myself to interact with the participants.
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It was a sunny day and the music was played at a high volume, chairs and tables were arranged for the players to sit and play comfortably. The rules and regulations were pasted on the wall for the efficient management of the event. Some were shouting at each other and some laughing because of the mistakes their peers made. Some were pointing their hands at the carom board and saying ‘Come on hit it here’, ‘shit you missed it’. In Carom, the first person holds the ball and releases it, but he misses it and the chance goes to his opponent. The process continues until everyone gets the chance to hit the ball. When a group of players were leaving the room without making the payment, an SSC member was asking them to pay the fee, but all of them were pointing at each other to make the payment. Finally, a boy went near the counter and made the payment. One boy left the room to receive a call and his partner replaced him and continued the turn.
I interacted with them by returning the carom ball from the floor to the board and one said ‘thank you’. It was difficult to listen to their conversation because the music was played at high volume and taking photos while they were playing made me nervous. I felt uncomfortable during my observation; everyone was looking at me when I took notes, possibly because the place was meant for playing, not for academic purposes. Two of them were watching the game and also supporting their friend on where to hit it. Most of the players were unknown to each other and we met for the first time during the event. They were quite indifferent to my presence during their match.
I saw that people with different cultural backgrounds assembled there to showcase their talents and experiences acquired from their place. People with different languages came together and played the game, resulting in the learning and exchange of various languages. They interacted more with the players who were in their same year or batch. There was no interaction with the outsiders because college norms restrict it. I also saw some speaking mixed languages (Sharchop and Dzongkha) due to their interaction and conversation with people from different languages. Nu. 20 was the only payment that should be made by the players even if they played 2-3 matches. In my village, girls never used to play carom, and if they did, people would say something about that girl, but here girls were playing without any hesitation and surprisingly they were even winning the matches. They were saying that those who are good at mathematics can play chess well, but I think it is not necessary as it will be based on their interest and creative thinking abilities. The most interesting thing I observed was that no one got angry when their partner could not play well, and a sense of cooperation and zeal was present in every player.
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