| Username |
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| da dai |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 10:18 AM
present day nepalese mostly migrated from india when alexander conquered south-east asia. how come only shorter one (like ashu) came to nepal and taller left behind (looking at present demography). Does anyone have an answer to this.
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| John Hancock |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 10:46 AM
Bahuns are actually taller than other ethnic groups in Nepal. Nepali average height is short because of tibeto-burman groups who average about 5'3 or 5'4". They actually represent about 60% of the population. Now bahuns average about 5'7", which actually is an average height in places like Italy or Portugal or Spain. Bahuns make up only 10% of Nepal's population. Even in Punjab, average height is 5'7" or so. South Indians are shorter. Now in scandinavian countries, people average about 5'11" or 6'.
And we didn't migrate when Alexander conquered India.
Just about 100 years ago, average height in Europe was about 5'7" or less. Now due to good life they lead, they eat healthy food, and hence they're taller. Of course, the tallest people are from Africa.
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| rato ra chandra surya |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 12:19 PM
I think the primary reason why Nepalese are shorter than the Indians is the lack of nutrients in our diet including Vitamins. The most important one is iodine. It's very rare that Pahadis get an opportinity to eat fish daily( a good source of vitamins). Traditionally, salt has always been scarce in Nepal, and salt had not been iodized in Nepal untill very recently (like 50 years ago).
Another reason is lack of sanitation and good drinking water. Once you drink water from our tap (forget about water from a pond) you lose all the nutrients/muscles etc you have saved for months. The abundance of worms and their eggs will definitely suck all hormones necessary for longitudinal growth; then how will you grow if there is no growth hormones? If you are lucky you will get growth hormones just enough to make you strong to fight diarhea!
My son(Nepalese by ethnicity) is now 10 months, but as far as his height is concerned he is doing just fine by the American standards (at 96 percentiles). It's too early to say, but my parents-in-law have a comment: the baby will grow taller than myself or my wife. My wife is 5,3 and me is 5,8.
Not only my son, many Nepalese children borne here grow fast!
Let me tell you all one thing: give me good drinking water all over Nepal and I'll give you boys/girls as tall as anyone else! Good drinking water is the only single most important thing for life!
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| John Hancock |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 12:40 PM
No, that's not the ONLY reason. It has more to do with ethnicity than anything else. Kashmiris are as poor as , or poorer than Nepalis but they're pretty tall. Punjabis are also tall. Now South Indians, I would say are shorter than Nepalis. Japan is a rich country, but are the inhabitants tall? NO? Because mongoloids are by definition short. Same applies to Tibeto-Burman groups in Nepal. And as I said before, bauns are taller than any other ethnic group because of them being of Northern Indian racial stock. In case you didn't know, Pahadis, Punjabis and Kashmiris cluster together, which means we probably have common origin, and we procured unique features as time passed by and as we migrated to different areas. So, sorry, we're not as short as you believe us to be.
I am not denying that diet has a lot to do with one's height. For instance, Nepalis born in the US are often taller than those born in Nepal because of them being raised on good food and good environment. My brother who came to the US at a tender age of 5 is 6'3" tall because he got more exposure to better environment and better diet.
Also, don't believe what your parents-in-law are saying. During my stay in Nepal, the consensus was that I would grow up to be a tall guy because of my thin body and long legs Boy, were they wrong. I am just 5'9" tall compared to my 6'3" gargantuan hermano.
In conclusion, it's all about one's ethnicity, proper diet and good environment. African elephants are taller than Indian elephants, right??
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| GGTop |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 01:14 PM
In last two centuries, Europens shot by 30 cms and japanese by 7 inches. Food, fellow Food.
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| anepalikt |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 03:14 PM
It might have been about ethnicity at one time, but nutrition is probably the bottom line. Japanese kids today are much taller than their parents. Same for kids in Nepal. "Mongoloids are by definition short." Thats is wrong! Look at Mongolians and Tibetans. They are some of the tallest Asians around.
BTW, the term "mongoloid" has too much baggage... I'm tying to be PC here, but just thought I'd let you know, in case you don't know already and happen to call some one a "mongoloid" in real life and get pummelled for it. I'd hate to have that on my conscience. :)
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| John Hancock |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 03:35 PM
Well, "mongoloid" is a term used in anthropology, just as "negroid" is also a term used in anthropology. Of course if you call someone mongoloid he's gonna be ticked.
Anyways, regarding tall Mongolians, they are not true "mongoloids". They are what you would call a Turanid type, a caucasian-mongoloid hybrid. Central asia is generally like that. Now Tibetans, in ancient times, also used to marry Persian princesses. The tallest among the Tibetans are Khampas, who supposedly have sharp features, i.e. long nose, long head, etc. Now where did sharp features come from if they are of mongoloid origin?
Folks from Lhasa are supposed to be short. Nepali Tibeto-burman groups barely make it to the medium height range. Japanese Kids are taller than their parents due to better food. Nevertheless, they are short.
As I said, bauns are taller than any other Nepali ethnic group. This is a FACT. It HAS to do with ethnic group. Just go to areas in far Western Nepal that suffer from severe drought and compare them to rich people of Tibeto-Burman origin. You will see that bauns are taller. It's just fact.
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| anepalikt |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 05:09 PM
What about Chettris? Are they shorter than the bahuns on average? I always thought the Chettries were the tall ones.
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I am wondering the whole point of this thread......... so Bahun's on average might be the tallest ethnic Nepalis... ani? ani ke ta?
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| anepalikt |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 05:09 PM
What about Chettris? Are they shorter than the bahuns on average? I always thought the Chettries were the tall ones.
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I am wondering the whole point of this thread......... so Bahun's on average might be the tallest ethnic Nepalis... ani? ani ke ta?
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| anepalikt |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 05:10 PM
sorry about the double post:)
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| John Hancock |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 05:18 PM
LOL. Ok, bahuns and chettris. Not much of a difference between them, no? I think Chettris being taller than bahuns is just an impression of yours. And I was just answering the original poster who thinks bahuns are short, that's all. 5'7" isn't short.
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| anepalikt |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 05:31 PM
5'7"? no comment. :)
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| John Hancock |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 05:37 PM
5'7" is not short. That's the height in Italy, Portugal and Spain. Also, according to a Christian site:
http://1040window.org/nepalprayerguide/day2.htm
"The physical features of Brahmin generally include that of a long head and a long, pointed, narrow nose. They are fair in complexion and tall in stature. A typical Brahman wears a pair of tight "pyjamas", a tobeda (tight shirt), a jacket, a cummerband (kind of suspender), uparna (white cloth hanging from his left shoulder) and a Nepali cap. A Brahmanee (lady Brahman) wears a cholo (blouse) and fariya (sari). "
About Chettris:
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| John Hancock |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 05:39 PM
It doesn't say the same thing about Chettris, so it means we're taller!
http://1040window.org/nepalprayerguide/day28.htm
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| anepalikt |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 06:10 PM
Now i know!
Revel in your height! in your bhoto and cholo!
:)
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| rato ra chandra surya |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 07:49 PM
It's easy to become a toad in a well and think that the well is the universe. Comments like "South Indians are shorter than North Indians" is baseless. I've been to Madras and Vellore and found that some, especially women, are short, but not all. In fact a lot of them are taller than many North Indians. I'd quite a large number of South Indian friends and all of them were taller than me. (I'm taller than an average Bahu by your standard).
Now judge for yourself how correct you are!
In Nepal's context, Bahuns are tall, but only some (well all nepalese are short compared to Siberian people). Usually people with wealth are healhy, a factor leading to growth. Most brahmins are short (shorter than most Newaris or Jyapus) unhealthy, ek laat diyo ki bhutukka marla jasta ... face it ... how many Brahmins are celebrities in sports in Nepal? Almost none... this should tell a lot about physique of Brahmins in Nepal...
Let us steer the subject into a more interesting one... today the Europeans are the people with good physique... do you know how they were about 5 hundred years ago?
Well about 200 yrs ago or so Darwin went to Brazil and so on. He was as usual quite observant and said compared to the people living in some country down there, English are pale, short ill people ( I forgot the exact words). Today who would say Brazilians are taller and healthier than the English?
To be short, the physique of an individual is determined by his genes only part, as the genes will show themselves only if good nutrients and healthy environment are present.
Agreed if genes say the offsprings are to be short, it means they probably are. Again, Brahmins have a "taller gene" than say "Newars", I doubt it.
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| ema |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 07:56 PM
Dear John Hancock, I don't understand your business here in this web and I don't understand you either. Your name is John Hancok which is no doubt is a english name at the same time you said your brother came to the us when he was six years old. Huh! you got a weired brain! better go to neurologist!
Well, I really don't agree with your saying that mongloloids are shoter than baun. It may be true in the older days but nowadays, mongoloids are getting taller than bauns.
My very own brother-in-law who is a hundred percent mongoliod is 5"9" while my own broher who is pure baun like me is only 5"7".
now tell me your point?
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| anepalikt |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 08:11 PM
Did you guys check out that site that John posted a link to? The "Christian" site sounds awefully "unchristian" in its judgment against the "savages" who are "idolators" and "heathens"!
What a joke!
John ji, you have to find a better site than that to be back you up! whatever little credibility you had just went out the door for me.
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| John Hancock |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 08:29 PM
Well, certainly, you are entitled to your opinion, but height doesn't have anything to do with being physically strong. Does a martial artist who can break 24 bricks with his hand have to be tall? Is Maradona tall? Are Nepalis good in sports like basketball? When it comes to cricket, bahuns are better. Newars are more diverse in terms of physical features than bahuns. Some can be as tall as bahuns, while others are as short as Tibeto-Burmans. So if you take the average, Newars will not be as tall as bahuns. The passage I quoted above is from a Christian site, and in my humble opinion, they didn't just come up with the description without thoroughly conducting a research. And there are many sites that iterate this fact.
It is a well known fact that South Indians are shorter than North Indians because they have more australoid blood; there probably are more tribals in South India as well. North Indians, on the other hand, are taller because they have more Aryan blood in them than South Indians. People have done research on this topic, you know. Again, it just boils down to what ethnic group a person belongs to.
Now regarding Europe, Europeans of mediterranean origin, besides Atlanto-mediterraneans, are considered to be short. Alpines are considered to be of average height. On the other hand, Europeans from Scandinavia, people of Nordic origin, are tall. Archeologists have excavated many Scythian sites (Scythians are of Nordic origin) and have found bodies 2000 years or older; they were giants by ancient standards. The Jats and Rajputs of India are of Scythian origin, hence taller than other groups. Average height of a Jat is 5'9".
Again, I am not denying that food does play a big role in physical developments, but there are other factors as well, like the genes a person has inherited, the environment he is living in, the disorders he has inherited, etc, etc. Also, I did say somewhere in one of my earlier postings that Europeans weren't always so tall.
Bottomline: It's not just nurture, as you like to think. It's nature as well.
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| ema |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 08:36 PM
Gadha, this is 2002! How many sleeping pill did yyou take??
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| John Hancock |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 08:41 PM
Ema, you're wrong. Nepal's tibeto-burman groups are shorter than bauns. What I have noticed is that Tibeto Burman groups are taller than bauns at 14 yrs or so, but after that, when hormones kick in bauns get taller. That's why bullies usually are of mongoloid stock because, as I said before, they're taller as kids.
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| J. Hancock |
Posted
on 15-Sep-02 08:52 PM
anepalikt,
Perhaps the site is "Unchristian", but I don't think that pieces of info they have on that site about different ethic groups aren't credible. They must have gotten their data from somewhere. I don't think they just made it up.
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