I am a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame. I received my M.A. Degree in Society and Politics from the University of Lancaster (2014), and a postgraduate diploma in Social Sciences from Nepā School of Social Sciences and Humanities (2011). For the past ten years, I have been actively involved in academic activism to contribute to achieving equality and social justice for Dalit communities across South Asia.
My primary research interest is in understanding why and how caste is still very much alive. How has the caste transformed from generation to generation and fallen under democracy and neoliberalism? What forces are keeping the caste from getting away? I am currently trying to explore these questions from a mental health perspective. At Notre Dame, I am investigating why caste, as an important factor contributing to Dalits’ mental illness, is excluded from Nepal’s biomedical mental health services and approaches and how caste shapes the interaction between psychiatrists/counselors and Dalit patients.