Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?

I have started studying South Asia, namely India, since my BA studies in classical Indology and anthropology in Lithuania, at Vilnius University, Centre for Oriental Studies. Before that I had not had a deep interest in Asia or India – my choice was motivated by a wish to study something what seemed interesting, and that would combine cultural and language studies. Towards the end of my BA studies I realized that I am would like to shift my study focus to contemporary India, and I found the MA course in Asian Studies at Lund University well suitable for my profile. Before that, I participated in Erasmus exchange programme at the University of Copenhagen, where I realized I liked Scandinavia, its university atmosphere and quality of the studies. My studies shaped my habit of traveling, living among people from all over the world and always learning from them.  

You graduated from the Masters Programme in Asian Studies in 2010, did you already then know you wanted to do a PhD or what made you choose to do a PhD?

When I embarked on the MA programme at Lund University, I had no idea where I would end up after I graduate. However, I always liked to study, and the idea of doing a PhD became more and more attractive, especially towards the end of my studies. My choice of doing a PhD was then motivated by a few factors – fascination with studies and wanting to learn more and an opportunity to be employed at a university.

Your PhD thesis is titled  'Living with Others: Subjectivity, Relatedness and Health among Urban Poor in Delhi’, could you tell us a bit about this research project and why you chose it?

After my MA studies initially wanted to continue working on the subject of my MA thesis, but I received a grant to work on structural violence and confinement in urban poor neighbourhoods in India, so my topic changed. During my fieldwork, I developed an interest in health issues because these questions were prevalent in the area I worked. I conducted ethnographic fieldwork among urban poor, informal biomedical practitioners abundant in the area, and a governmental health clinic run under a developmental programme designed for the urban poor. In my thesis I explored the role of kin and neighbourly relatedness in women’s health-seeking practices, encounters with diverse practitioners and pharmaceutical markets, and their experiences of illness. I showed how women’s relations structured vulnerabilities in their everyday life, but also entailed ethical knowledge about care, dependency and relational wellbeing. In some way, my thesis is an account of how women’s experiences of illness and encounters with doctors are underlined not only by economic deprivation, but also by relations. My methodology, of spending time in the neighbourhood as well as in he clinic, allowed me to arrive at this argument, and show how care extends beyond a medical institution.

What are you plans now that you have completed your PhD?

Currently, I am a postdoc at NIAS – Nordic institute for Asian Studies, where   am working on developing my thesis chapters into publications. I am also developing research proposals in order to get funding for a project on diabetes in India. Even through health and medical anthropology were not my interests before I had embarked on the PhD, I enjoy working with these sub-disciplines a lot, and want to continue on this path.

Do you have any recommendations for our current students who might be thinking about an academic career?

PhD can sometimes be a very difficult and demanding undertaking, so make sure you really like that type of work. Also, a more practical advice would be not only to choose a regional focus (an Asian Country), but also some disciplinary orientation, such as sociology, development studies or anthropology during your MA. This helps to keep focus and maintain your interests while choosing what to read and which research problems you want to tackle.