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Fieldwork Memoirs of Banaras

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    Preferred Citation: Kumar, Nita. Friends, Brothers and Informants: Fieldwork Memoirs of Banaras. Berkeley: Universityof California Press, c1992 1992. htt :!!ark.cdli".or#!ark:!1$%$%!ft&'%n"(#$!

    Friends, Brothers, and Informants

    Fieldwork Memoirs of Banaras

    Nita Kumar

    UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RESS

    Berkeley Los Angeles London

    ! "##$ The Re%ents of the Uni&ersit' of Ca(ifornia

    )or *om

    +ith me every ste of the +ay

    Preferred Citation: Kumar, Nita. Friends, Brothers and Informants: Fieldwork Memoirs of Banaras. Berkeley: Universityof California Press, c1992 1992. htt :!!ark.cdli".or#!ark:!1$%$%!ft&'%n"(#$!

    )or *om+ith me every ste of the +ay

    A)*no+(ed%mentst is difficult to thank here all those +hose influence left a mark on this rather ersonal "ook, and canonly mention some of them. +ould like to e' ress my #ratitude to the follo+in#: )irst, my teachers,+ho consistently encoura#ed me in my +ritin# in school, articularly *. -. ucy/ and those +hotau#ht me anthro olo#ymuch later, chiefly Barny Cohn and Kim -arriott.

    -y father, Naresh Kumar, +ho first conveyed to me that there +as a via"le realm of the ima#ination/and my mother, *uniti Kumar, for her #reat faith in me.

    -y "rother, *unil Kumar, and my hus"and, *om -a0umdar, "oth of +hom declared my rivate+ritin#s of no u"lic interest, t+enty and ten years a#o res ectively, thus resentin# the necessarychallen#e to an essentially la y erson.

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    -y dau#hters, the t+o Nandinis, rfana and *aras+ati, so unuttera"ly -ine and yet so ther.

    -y collea#ues +ho took the trou"le to read the manuscri t +ith care: Komilla 3aote, 4ko Nakano,4nn 5old, 6ohnny Parry/ and es ecially 7ileen and 5aylord 8aas, "ut for "oth of +hom +ould nothave continued.

    hose in Banaras +ho served so +ell in various ca acities: ilavati, *hanti, Basmati, -arkande, and Na#endra/ and the eo le of Banaras,; my alter e#o of sorts.

    4nd finally, reco#ni in# ho+ the s irit must "e sustained at the first instance, the 4merican nstitute ofndian *tudies and the *ocial *cience 3esearch Council, and the +onderful editors at the University ofCalifornia Press.

    Nita Kumar Banaras-arch 199%

    Note on Trans(iteration4lmost all 8indi, Urdu, and Bho0 uri +ords are translated +hen they first a ear, unless their meanin#is sufficiently clear from the te't uotations in 7uro ean lan#ua#es +hen readin# @estern social science, felt my use of ndian terms+as re>uired to #ive a flavor of my su"0ect.

    he name use for the city of my research, Banaras, is o ular +ith residents, "ut is one of at leastthree fre>uently used names. Aaranasi is the official name of the city, and Kashi the older name, used ina reli#ious and cultural conte't today.

    Introdu)tion)rom 6uly 19 1 to 4 ril 19 $, ke t a diary in the field, makin# entries +henever loneliness andfrustration seemed to reach a eak, or +as consumed "y self? ity at the ho elessness of my task, or

    less often, +hen sim ly +anted to e' ress myself a"out somethin# remarka"le, or rarer still, to e'ultin a s ecial trium h. should add that scri""lin# is a ha"it for me diary?like, essay?like scri""lin#

    "ut one +hich constitutes an end in itself. o make it u"lic needs some 0ustification. har"or anacademic "ias a#ainst the tendency to+ard vul#ari ation,; the notion that a ersonal e' erience can "eelevated to the status of a universal one. am usually sus icious of othersD im ulses to confide, +hetheras auto"io#ra hy, as thinly dis#uised fiction, as sentimental 0ournalism, or as reflections on oneDs +ork.Eet +hat have roduced here are memoirs, and am not too distressed "y them

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    encounter of one sensi"ility +ith others.

    he ur ose of these memoirs is to descri"e the rocess of field+ork, not as a hiloso hic e' erience,+ith afterthou#ht, "ut as a ractical e' erience, in all its ra+ness and candor. here is afterthou#ht, to

    "e sure, in that have arran#ed my o"servations into cha ters, rovided headin#s, and e ered them+ith comments very fe+, everythin# said and done, "ecause am im ressed at ho+ far have comesince then. But have refrained from re+ritin# and craftin# a fresh narrative that e' lains in retros ect

    the com le'ities of the encounter "et+een *elf and ther. -y ur ose is served "y leavin# my story asit stands: a narrative that o"0ectifies the field+orker "y focusin# on the initial shock of reali ation thatthe encounter is a sensitive, creative rocess callin# into lay latent, unackno+led#ed facets of

    ersonality as +ell as more deli"erately cultivated rofessional talents, and that in this difficult rocessthe researcher is sur risin#ly un re ared.

    8o+ much more +ould have liked to kno+ on e'actly this su"0ect "ack in 19 1: that there +assomethin# inevita"le a"out my feelin#s of intimidation and e'citement, i#norance and confidence, andlater, alienation and infatuation/ that field+ork is "y its very nature an am"itious, o timistic, very

    ersonal effort to +oo over indifferent stran#ers throu#h a series of "um"lin# ste s. ike every other#raduate student a"out to hurtle off to the field, had "een educated in many #ood theories andmethodolo#ical ers ectives and +as ade t at analy in# the acce ted master ieces. But that rimary

    hase of ethno#ra hy called field+ork had not "een art of the curriculum, lar#ely "ecause it +asconsidered somethin# incommunica"le. ike others in the same situation, had a mental ima#e offield+ork that derived chiefly from half?secret incursions into the refaces and introductions ofcontem orary ethno#ra hies/ for the rest, my seniors and teachers assured me that it +ould +ork out,;as it did for everyone, that +ould kno+ ma#ically +hat to do once #ot into the field, that nothin#could "e fi'ed or laid do+n in advance.

    hey +ere only artially correct. No+, after ten years of field+ork, if someone +ere to ask me e'actlyho+ to #o a"out it +ould ro"a"ly #ive the same ans+er that my collea#ues #ave me in 19 1, namely,that it de ends on +ho you are, +here you #o, and ho+ you choose to deal +ith +hat you encounter.But +ould also recommend that the otential field+orker read u on the su"0ect and "e re ared to "e

    un re ared. )ortunately, there are volumes availa"le no+ that had not "een roduced in 19 1. am notreferrin# to field+ork manuals +ith cha ters on >uestionnaires, usin# a recorder, and so forth thou#hthey are valua"le as +ellF1G "ut rather to the #enre of self?>uestionin#, refle'ive anthro olo#y thatseeks a "etter understandin# of every ste in cultural studies. -y memoir 0oins this #enre and attem tsto dissect one sta#e of ethno#ra hy, field+ork.

    7very e' erience is uni>ue. *ome anthro olo#ists re ort that their field+ork has not "een difficult atall or that the difficulties have not "een si#nificant enou#h to remem"er or comment on. +ould saythat in most such cases time has erased etchin#s that +ere once much shar er. here are three e'cellentreasons +hy field+ork e' erience is +orth sharin#.

    )irst, the erson?s ecific; nature of field+ork, to use 5eert Ds hrase, the hi#hly situated nature ofethno#ra hic descri tion this ethno#ra her, in this time, in this lace, +ith these informants, thesecommitments, and these e' eriences, a re resentative of a articular culture, a mem"er of a certainclass; needs as much ela"oration as ethno#ra hers have the time, atience, and talent to #ive.F2G hetrend of u"lishin# reflections on field+ork; is clearly emer#in# in anthro olo#y. am callin# for ane'tension of the #enre called "y that name.F$G he im ortant "ooks and articles on refle'iveanthro olo#y; u"lished in the ast t+o decades, articularly in the 19 %s, are still rare enou#h to

    "arely cause ri les on a dece tively smooth surface. 4s these +orks remind us, anthro olo#ists haveal+ays +arned a"out su"0ectivity and have offered +ays to control it, "ut these reflections areovershado+ed "y the sheer monumentality of the edifice they have created. -y oint is sim le: theethno#ra hy is the #oal, of course, "ut +hen so much of +hat com rises this final roduct is directly

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    related to the situation of the investi#ator, it should no lon#er "e re#arded as narcissism or a +aste ofintellectual and u"lishin# resources

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    leasure, returned to find in the follo+in# years that this "ur#eonin# field of reflective,deconstructionist studies e'cluded me ually otent ro"lems of definin# su"0ectand methodI the ersonal ro"lems of sheer ad0ustmentI o continue the "orro+ed ima#e: not only theethnographies "ut also some of the reflections on them are "ein# roduced more and more "y those in

    loincloth. n "oth #enres there are similarities and differences +orth notin# "et+een the one7thno#ra her of the @est and the *olicitous ndi#ene of the hird @orld.

    @e have to strike a careful "alance "et+een these similarities and differences. 4 native like me, rivile#ed, alien, discoverin# her other?ness and her one?ness simultaneously, remains nevertheless theanthro olo#ist and scholar, one +ho inevita"ly under#oes the usual trials and tri"ulations of field+ork.his introduction, on the one hand, +ill "e attractive to those interested in identity formation,;

    articularly in the hird @orld as o osed to the ostmodern @est. he te't, on the other hand, is fullof the nitty #ritty of field+ork and is likely to seem e'ceedin#ly familiar, may"e even re etitive, toanthro olo#ists. But the t+o as ects, the ersonal and the rofessional, have to "e seen as coe'istin#.)ield+ork consists of e' eriences shared "y all anthro olo#ists/ the ersonal and the eculiar aresi#nificant as >ualities that alwa!s "ut differentl! characteri e each individual e' erience. @hile this

    introduction discusses +hat +as im ortant in my identity formation,; the "ook itself, in its reoccu ation +ith #ettin# thin#s done, tells of yet unacce ted facts: that life in ndia is as full ofcontradictions, ain, and "eauty as else+here/ that ost?colonial u er classes are, for all their confusedsensi"ilities, the same as other u er classes/ that 7astern! riental!4sian scholars have most of thesame +orries as @estern ones/ that one may for#et oneDs ersonal and historical identity for certain

    ur oses "ut must remem"er it for others. n short, my em hasis on the ersonal arises from myreco#nition of its im ortance in my rofessional develo ment as a social scientist, not in an a+arenessof myself as a hird @orld scholar.;

    ast, field+ork memoirs are +orth sharin# "ecause for other s ecialists studyin# the re#ion they are asaccurate as more ri#orously lanned investi#ations. 4 society can never "e +ron#, and all e' eriencesin the field are to "e taken seriously. 5iven the limitations of any studyDs ers ective, a reflection ononeDs "ehind?the?scenes, mundane field e' eriences allo+s "oth researcher and reader to refine theirunderstandin# of the +ay thin#s +ork. find my memoirs enli#htenin#, for e'am le, on such su"0ectsas middle?class versus oor ndiansD stand on hos itality and servility to office, or on the ra#maticvalue of hierarchy, reci rocity, and e'chan#e. *uch insi#hts com rise an ethno#ra hy

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    of the eo le +ho tolerated it e>ually so. suffered from the unarticulated e' ectations of those +ho#ro+ u +ith servants +aitin# on every +him the e' ectation of comfort rovided "y the loyalcoo eration of all and condemned any situation that +ould make it im ossi"le. -y ndia +as one ofease/ had never really acce ted that oor communication, inade>uate su lies of necessities, thediscomforts of dam ness or drou#ht, or the un redicta"le ersonalities of others could adversely affectme. 4lthou#h eleven years of livin# a+ay from such a life?style, includin# ei#ht years of economic

    inde endence as an academic, had sufficiently declassed me that felt little "ut re u#nance for theadministrators of ndia, the dee er roclivities that had "een cultivated "y livin# in the Cantonmentsand Civil ines remained. Eet continued to strive to understand this instinctive shrinkin# from the

    oor, and to understand the oor themselves, in +ays that never strove to understand anyone +ithmoney or o+er/ the latter mercilessly condemned "ecause they had the sti#ma of familiarity.

    Banaras +as such a mystery to me +hen arrived there in 19 1 ironically because +as an ndian ande' ected to have a rivile#ed insi#ht into it. n fact, from Banaras +as thrice removed: throu#h myeducation and u "rin#in#, than +hich there is no #reater molder of attitudes/ "y lan#ua#e and lin#uisticculture/ and "y re#ion and re#ional culture.

    -y education, like my motherDs, had "een conducted +ithin the four +alls of various Catholicconvents, the lon#est stay "ein# in uckno+, from +hich there +ere ne#er field tri s to othernei#h"orhoods, other institutions in the city, to encounter ur"an life directly. @e +ere fed on the "readand "utter of *hakes eare and homas 8ardy, and ima#ined myself akin to those +ho roamed the7n#lish countryside and rha sodi ed on *easons of mist and yello+ fruitfulnessM; his #reat olarity

    "et+een internal and e'ternal +orlds has "een elo>uently descri"ed "y countless e'?colonials, "oth athome and e' atriated.F12G alk of it makes me uncomforta"le "ecause it is so much a art of the mentalmakeu of us @estern?educated ndians that it is ne#er discussed "y us amon# ourselves. t is reservedonly for a @estern audience, and +hen +e attem t to communicate it, it is ironically oversim lified and

    ro"lemati ed "y "oth arties. * ace does not ermit me to deal at len#th +ith this matter/ even "y "roachin# the su"0ect, "y renderin# it as a ossi"le 7ast?@est conflict, feel am doin# it an in0ustice.Banaras is not the issue/ thanks to my education, +ould have "een a stran#er or rather, an o"server

    any+here in ndia, cultivatin# as did attitudes of ity and distress at the ractice of caste, of dis#ustat atriarchy, of scorn at ritual, and of noncom rehension

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    oint at +hich, even if could not understand every s oken +ord, could understand the sense. n myo+n s eech, es ecially, could note the chan#e: could #radually deliver myself of more and morecom licated thou#hts or ro ositions and emer#e from the trial antin# "ut victorious. )or Urdu, +hichdiffers from 8indi in scri t and artly in voca"ulary, the ath follo+ed +as the same, althou#h

    ro#ress +as much slo+er.

    )inally, Banaras +as unkno+n to me "ecause of +hat te't"ooks call the re#ional diversity; of ndia,

    eastern Uttar Pradesh "ein# culturally distinct from +estern or central Uttar Pradesh, +hence myancestors had come. his diversity le#itimated my otherness: every ndian #ro+s u +ith thee' erience that re#ions, cultural styles, classes, and intellectual a roaches and ideolo#ies have little incommon +ith one another/ that natural; ractices and attitudes child rearin#, treatment of elders,

    "ehavior to+ard #uests vary dramatically from su"caste to su"caste, even from family cluster tofamily cluster/ that in meetin# a ne+ erson seemin#ly as ndian as you, you may actually confront aculture distant from everythin# you take for #ranted.

    7ven +ithin a family, encounters +ith the ther; can "e severe. had never in my various conventsituations read any reli#ious te't "ut the Ne+ estament. But had one #randfather +ho +as stee ed ina"stract U anishadic hiloso hy and another +ho +as a assionate devotee of the incarnation 3ama.he former meditated three hours in the dark every mornin#, sat on the "ench of the Uttar Pradesh8i#h Court durin# the day as -D ord, and layed tennis in the clu" in the evenin#. he latter +as as ecialist on the $amcharitmanas and had u"lished his o+n version of it. -y o+n father recited7n#lish oems as if they +ere Aedic hymns, that is, +ith re#ularity and di#nity, and also +rote 7n#lish

    oetry in the tradition of the 3omantics. ivin# a"road for five years startin# at the formative a#e ofnineteen, "ecame certain that +ould marry a forei#ner and felt my ro hesy fulfilled +hen choseto marry a Ben#ali. -y first visit to Calcutta as a dau#hter?in?la+ +as a hy"rid of ima#es: unfamiliarhumidity/ the s+ollen 8oo#hly/ cone?sha ed Aietnamese; hats on men +ith stran#ely Chinesefeatures/ odd syncretisms of a suddenly unfamiliar British race +orkin# on another unkno+n race +ho

    ointedly

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    and recise, more trained and rofessional, to+ard understandin# my society. he choice of historicalanthro olo#y, then, +as a first ste to+ard activism of a sort, thou#h anthro olo#y is hardly re#ardedas such. did not +ish to remain sim ly a sensitive individual, +ith luck may"e an elo>uent +riter. +anted to have a techni>ue, a theory, a clear?cut method, ri#orous ideas. )orei#n as felt to Banaras, am very ndian; in an emotional sense a art from the accident of my "irth lace, and, as #re+ todiscover, Banarasi.; adore the monsoons and early, early mornin#s in summer. em athi e +ith

    mau% and masti uite e' ected +as thee'istence of a voca"ulary that e' lained; stran#ers like me so efficiently, +ith no room fordisa#reement or amendment. 4t the first mention of +ritin#, for e'am le, there +ould "ekno+led#ea"le nods: &ha!ara hai. 'ekhika hai( < *heDs a oet. *heDs a +riter;=. 4t any allusion tohandicrafts or artisans, the looks +ould "e even more kno+in#: they reco#ni ed the ty e; the artylady of means +ho took a fancy to collectin# "ric?a?"rac and even did somethin# hel ful for themanufacturers in the "ar#ain. -ost s+ee in# "ut least trou"lesome +as the res onse to all my othermeetin#s and +anderin#s that they found difficult to cate#ori e: &hauk hai( < tDs her ho""y, herfancy;=.

    @hat did actually #o to researchI t +ould "e a ro riate to a end a co y of my research ro osalhere, "ecause stuck closely to it, considerin# it a stron# anchor in my tur"ulent sea. n my +orstmoments could look at it and remem"er, 4h yes )hat*s +hat Dm su osed to do.; -y to ic +aso ular culture,; that is, leisure; and entertainment; activities, +hatever eo le claimed +as theirfun; and leasure,; all terms that +as a+k+ard +ith, +hile erfectly confident of the method ofdiscoverin# the ro er terms u on >uestionin# informants. -y su"0ects +ere the artisans of Banaras,a"out +hose e'istence and num"ers kne+ a fair amount from census re orts. f Banaras itself,

    articularly its history and #eo#ra hy, felt that had read everythin# availa"le +hen +as in Chica#o, "ut this kno+led#e receded ra idly as ste ed into the field. -y a roach +as to com"ine history andcultural anthro olo#y, +hich in my mind meant, ra#matically s eakin#, t+o thin#s: +ork in the

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    archives until your eyes fall out and han# around +ith the su"0ects of your study until you kno+everythin# there is to "e kno+n a"out them.

    remem"er ausin# +ith dismay on the very eve of de arture for Banaras a villa#e ethno#ra hy inmy hand, no dou"t and askin# uncertainly of my hus"and, havenDt made a #ood choice, have ,

    lannin# to study BanarasI should have chosen to do villa#ers, that*s +hat +ould have "een achallen#e.; 4nd my hus"and, de enda"le crutch and tonic as al+ays, stated +hat may "e re#arded as

    the enter riseDs e i#ra h: Eour artisans +ill "e sufficiently like villa#ers. Challen#e enou#h.;

    Notes1. Bruce 6ackson, Fieldwork

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    art Onen +hich +e learn of the difficulties of likin# anythin# a"out a ne+ lace, from ossi"le livin# >uartersto its naturally eni#matic nature. n +hich +e also learn ho+ shyness and a res ect for othersD rivacyhave to "e overcome to do field+ork "ut that +hen you do #et close to eo le you cannot hel "utreco#ni e their inviola"ility. n +hich finally +e hear of ro"lematic #uides and methods, of fruitless

    searches, and of the vast challen#e of inter retin# anythin# at all.

    " h'si)a( and Cu(tura( Sho)*s

    4 ma of the laces discovered in Banaras.

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    ur initial tri to Banaras +as for the sin#le ur ose of findin# a lace to live. )riends in Chica#o +ho+ere in different de#rees alumnae of Banaras research had #iven us three names in a city ofa ro'imately one million. ne of the three contacts +as a dru#store o+ner +ho directed us to a "ankmana#er +ho, it +as rumored, +as havin# a house "uilt. ur ur#ency then, and al+ays, +as a+k+ardto eo le in Banaras. hey +ould, one and all, res ond to a re>uest +ith, 0o %a!ega( < t shall "edone;=. @e +ould counter +ith an im olitic @henI; or, +orse, 8o+ a"out no+I; he "ank mana#er

    had many visitors, many cu s of tea, and many flies in his office. sat +ith my ermanent little "undleof "a"y on the only seat availa"le, and *om"a"u stood ne't to me. @e looked and felt uncomforta"le,out of lace, and des erate. he "ank mana#er a"andoned his cro+ded office to sho+ us his house. tstruck us as hi#hly desira"le 0ud#in# "y its desi#n and its convenient location in the central +ard ofBhelu ura, on the #rounds of the old Ai0ayna#ram estate, +hich +as "ein# artitioned and sold off forcommercial develo ment. But the house had many months of +ork to #o, and the o+ner +as not evensure that he didnDt +ant to live in it himself. 5oaded on "y our interest, ho+ever, he not only romisedit to us "ut assured us that it +ould "e ready "y the end of the month. @e retended to "elieve him/ +eneeded to.

    ur initial im ression of the city did not chan#e on that visit: dusty, dirty, architecturally unremarka"le.ne could not readily feel any interest in it, leave aside love for it. Perha s the only remarka"le thin# in

    that tri +as that the mana#er of our #uest house turned out to "e a *anskrit scholar +hose s eech +as e ered +ith syllo#isms. 8e also stands out in my memory "ecause of the rolon#ed stare he #ave usas one of our arty

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    ros ects of findin# somethin# remained as distant as ever. @e had e'hausted our t+o or threeac>uaintances

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    occasionally visi"le in a lone shaft of sunli#ht, "ut, dee in the Banaras galis, visi"le all the time,lookin# not mysterious and #raceful as they can at other times, "ut ositively threatenin#. o shareoneDs livin# s ace +ith flies that "red on the refuse litterin# the streets +as a ossi"ility soon re0ected,thou#h for months after+ards continued to feel "etrayed "y BanarasDs filth.

    had mentally admitted defeat re#ardin# my va#ue dreams of +here to live "efore +e ever found the lace +e did: the first floor uely contrastin# one. @ith its t+o dyin# alm trees, it looked u#ly and inhos ita"le from theoutside. nside it +as a daily reminder of the tastelessness of a certain class of Banarasis. 7ach roomhad three lar#e +all cu "oards +ith olished +ooden doors mounted on the +alls, all rotrudin#out+ard. +o rooms +ere connected to "athrooms and mi#ht have served as "edrooms, e'ce t that onealso contained the entrance +ay. @hat +as erha s the livin# room had five massive cu "oards andcould "e reached only "y #oin# ast the kitchen and the other "edroom. he sole e' lanation for thefloor lan +as that the o+ner had intended to rent each room out se arately, an e' lanation confirmed+hen he sho+ed sur rise that +e +anted the entire five rooms.

    ur main +orry +as ho+, articularly +ith its collection of cu "oards takin# u all the +all s ace, tomake the lace liva"le for the ne't ei#hteen months. he cro+nin# touch +as that the central corridor+as doorless/ if +e +ished to secure the house, +e +ould have to lock u each room se arately. n a

    ractical daily "asis, this meant that certain creatures like monkeys had access to every room. @eeventually #ot used to comin# u on them, a"out once a +eek, cleanin# u the food on the dinin# ta"le,ransackin# the fruit "asket, sneakin# into the kitchen, even layin# +ith toys, as +ell as destroyin#+hatever +as left on the front orch and the "ack roof, of course. @hat +as unfor#iva"le +as that theyre#ularly de leted our +ater su ly "y takin# ela"orate drinks from the ta on the roof and then royallylea#ing it open. @e tried securin# the ta "y every means short of "all and chain, "ut their #odlikea#ility

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    issue, reali ed once in Banaras, +as not an authentic versus an imitative life?style at all, "ut mos>uitoscreens, hy#ienic toilets, and ro er laces for thin#s uirm "y almost touchin# you, or sin#, or demonstrate sores and am utated lim"s. hey sim lysat in a line all do+n the ste s on one side like normal eo le #oin# a"out their 0o"s. hey had their

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    "o+ls in front of them, +hich they and donors alike re#arded as sufficient declaration of ur ose.*ome, in fact, +ere "usy cookin#, +ashin#, foldin# clothes, or rayin#. here are more "e##ars inBanaras than in any other city its si e, and there can "e no t+o +ays of thinkin# a"out them. t is theirlot to "e# as it is yours to #ive. 4 chance event has laced them there/ "ut for the #race of 5od, there+ould "e you. here is a"solutely no >uestion of "rushin# them off as undeservin# the commonmiddle?class attitude to+ard "e##ars. hey do not in#ratiate themselves. Eou can i#nore them, as you

    can i#nore an architectural or a natural feature in the landsca e, "ut you do not necessarily feel in theri#ht. hey are in the ri#ht in "ein# there. t has "een sanctioned in the scri tures and confirmed "ycenturies of social ractice.

    @e +ere un re ared, ho+ever, and dismayed, not merely "y the "e##ars, "ut even more so "y thes>ualid stalls, "y the unlova"le co+s and "ulls ruminatin# or e'cretin# on the road, and "y the +holeune'citin#, de ressed scene and its inha"itants. @e +alked on to the river, and there it +as "efore us,+ide and #ray and >uite still. 4nd there +ere the um"rellas on the #hats, a favorite illustration fortourist "rochures. Boats la ed at the "ank or la ily floated ast. 4ll activity +as su"dued. his +asa"out 11 a.m., the time < +as later to discover= +hen the riverside takes a "reak from its early mornin#and evenin# eak hours.

    4s +e stood on the to ste , clutchin# our "a"y in her *nu#li, surveyin# the still +ater and theum"rellas, +as conscious of not #oin# a"out this the correct +ay. ur senses +ere not alert, oure' ectations +ere not readied, our mood +as not ri#ht. @e came erha s to "e +ooed, to "e sur risedand im ressed, to "e confirmed in our 0ud#ment of Banaras as a otentially fascinatin# lace. nstead,here +as a scene that didnDt reach out and serve u a feast "ut +aited indifferently to "e attended to, if+e liked, to "e understood and inter reted. 4t the least, +e could have come at a time of characteristicactivity, erha s +ith a local erson +ho +ould either communicate or casually let sli his o+nfeelin#s a"out the lace.

    @e stood and +alked around for some time. @e didnDt #o do+n to the +ater, not only "ecause +ecould see everythin# from the to "ut also "ecause +e felt as if +e had seen it all. he most interestin#thin# for us that day +as a ha+ker +ith a "asket of lentils "alanced on a "am"oo hour#lass stand. hey

    +ere little colorful hills of arrot?#reen, mustard, "ro+n, and e er?red dals, and he himself smiledand san#. his active little marionette stood out a#ainst the dull, still "ack#round as "oth incon#ruousand #ratifyin#. @e did not note any of the other "i# or small features that mark Lasash+amedh andother #hats the *itala tem le, for e'am le, or the 5an#a tem le, or even eo le +ashin# clothes that +as to rha sodi e a"out later. @e +ere disa ointed and "ored, and could sense +hy. t +as alesson not very clear, "ut >uite o+erful in the fallacy of tourism. f you +ant to kno+ a lace, startdi##in# to understand it from the first day. LonDt look around as an outsider +ith the va#ue notion offamiliari in#; yourself +ith the surroundin#s and "ein# charmed "y their intrinsic >ualities.

    @e "eat a hasty retreat to the covered verandah of the stores, a li#ht dri le havin# started. @e +aitedout the dri le "y lookin# carefully for a sari for our ne+ a!ah, or maidservant: not chea or coarse, "ut>uiet, modest, clean?lookin# < refera"ly +hite=, and of course not too e' ensive. 8avin# made our

    urchase, +e +ere a little fortified and decided to continue our e' lorations. @e took a ricksha+ toChauk.

    he Chauk, or *>uare, as in every old North ndian city, is the central, cro+ded, indi#enous "a aararea. o me, +ith the t+o decades that have s ent in distant Cantonments and Civil ines, it stands foreverythin# fascinatin# and #lamorous in the ndian city. he Chauk is in fact interestin# for everyone,from those seekin# "ar#ains and e'otic roducts to those curious a"out social structure, history, andculture. he Banaras Chauk is on a hill, and to reach its nucleus the rickshawalla had to ull the t+o ofus +ith our various "undles u a slo e of a ro'imately five hundred yards

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    +ith a sense of "etrayal and acute discomfort. 4s +ith livin# in filth, it +as as if +e +ere suddenly "ein# made to artici ate in activities not to our taste.

    he u hill of Chauk

    should add that those +ho live in Cantonments never take ricksha+s, and Ne+ Lelhi does not havethem at all. @e looked around ea#erly, "ut the touristDs disa ointment a#ain a+aited us. he sho s andsi#ns and eo le cro+ded into our vision from all directions "ut meant a"solutely nothin#. By the time+e reached the to of the hill, the center of Chauk, a dri le had started a#ain.

    hat day stands out articularly "ecause +e had em"arked on t+o ma0or discoveries: Lasash+amedh#hat, the fa"led millennia?old seat of the en 8orse *acrifice, and Chauk, nerve center of the city. Butmost of our early e' eriences +ere like that. @e had only the va#uest notion of +hat to e' ect of

    laces such as, say, Banaras 8indu University. @e +ould ack u "a"y and "a"y thin#s and ride a+ayon a ricksha+, fallin# over ourselves on the +ay to stare at assin# si#hts. he "a"y seemed much morein tune +ith her surroundin#s, erched hi#h on one of our la s, le#s s+in#in#, chortlin# contentedly.8er +orld, unlike ours, +as limited to +arm sun and fresh air and the security of her erch. urs, or

    should say mine, +as afloat in "oundless s ace as strove to construct a ma : @hat kind of lace isthisI 8o+ shall understand itI; @hen +e reached our destination, there +ould "e a "lank,incom rehensi"le +all. @e +ould #o around, okin# at this or that, tryin# to kee u our enthusiasm.But the truth +as that +e did not en0oy those early days of discovery. 7ach tri +as a disa ointment.here +as nothin# to make of +hatever +e sa+, artly "ecause of the very nature of the o"0ects of ourattention and artly to "e a#ain unfair to tourists "ecause of our acka#ed tour a roach. But to "efairer, it +as more es ecially "ecause of my lack of re aration as an ethno#ra her. had not trainedmy senses/ had not re ared my >uestions. hat +as the missin# vital link, a notion of the a ro riateAuestions. had never read a thick ethno#ra hic account of an! ndian city. 8avin# chosen Banaras forits hoary, alim sest?like venera"ility, +as discoverin# that its a#e did #ive it an inscruta"ility +hichconfounded my naive e' ectation that it +ould rove allurin# and irresisti"le at first si#ht. did not

    have sufficient information a"out the lace. could not have had: there +as no+here to #et it. +asthere to iece it to#ether.

    @hen com are those early days +ith later ones, it seems incredi"le that one can look at so much yetsee so little, or +ant to en0oy and a reciate so intensely yet not "e a"le to do so. 8ad +e "y somechance "een o"li#ed to leave after one or t+o months, +e +ould have had ractically nothin# to re ortof Banaras, e'ce t the aridity of our residential area, the difficulties of survival, the lack of com any,and the eni#matic and unattractive nature of #hats and streets.

    carried on my archival +ork steadily throu#h all this. -y first tar#et +as the Na#ari Pracharini *a"ha,the *ociety for the * read of Na#ari. Na#ari in this conte't +as a eu hemism for 8indi, not in its literalmeanin# of the *anskrit?derived scri t, "ut as a cultural? olitical tool. ocated in the northeast, across

    the city from us, the societyDs archives +ere a clatterin#, "one?shakin# half?hour ricksha+ ride a+ay.uckily for me, the route took me throu#h the heart of the city every day, thou#h the virtues of thisroute +ere more evident in the "e#innin# than +hen my senses "ecame dulled "y hundreds of tri s.6ust as there is an u hill and do+nhill to the Banaras Chauk, there is an u hill and do+nhill tofield+ork. Clim"in# u ainfully ulled u manually "y informants, analo#ous to the Chaukrickshawallas, you mi#ht even say you reach a hei#ht of clarity and erce tion. 4t a articular oint,inevita"ly, the decline "e#ins, and as you #o do+nhill thin#s "ecome fu y a#ain, esca in# you, youare +orn out, and your e' eriences are all anticlimactic.

    ne of the calculations al+ays had to make as +e a roached Chauk +as, do leave my ricksha+,

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    +alk u hill, and then take another one for the ride do+nI )or had to ne#otiate the center of Chauk,from a ma0or crossin# called 5odaulia at one end to another called -aida#in at the other, and then #o afe+ yards further east. r, de"ated, do retain my ricksha+ "ut ali#ht and +alk alon#side it for thestee est art of the clim"I tried each variation several times "ut never resolved the dilemma. @alkin#alon#side my ricksha+ marked me as a fool and a forei#ner lon# after sto ed "ein# these thin#s.ryin# to "ar#ain for a ne+ ricksha+ in the middle of Chauk, +here the rickshawallas +ere at their

    most su ercilious, +as al+ays a dou"tful ro osition. +ould inevita"ly +aste recious minutes, and atri "roken u into t+o +as al+ays more e' ensive. he days that refused to make u my mind andsat, dummy?like, on my athetic little carria#e as my man slave inched me u the stee hill +ere moreuncomforta"le still. 7very moment of the 0ourney +as s ent in cursin# the system, the #eo#ra hy of the

    lace, the >uality of the creakin# ricksha+, and my o+n stu id indecision.

    *uch mental ressures revented me from thinkin# ositively or ima#inatively a"out the u hill half ofChauk, +hich +as in any case the market for roducts, such as electrical #oods, cloth, time ieces, andeye+ear, for +hich had no use. rather des ised the lar#e, clean sho s and their +ell?dis layed

    roducts. he do+nhill art of Chauk +as more su"dued and interestin#, +ith a ma0or ost office from+here you could even make international tele hone calls. t ended in the crossin# of -aida#in, for+hich, a#ain, could not care at all, +ith its ta'i stand, one of the t+o "i##est in the city, dis layin#

    ro+s of, in Banaras, white cars. @ho took them and +here couldnDt ima#ine, seein# that there +as "arely s ace to #o on foot or "y ricksha+ in most arts of Banaras. here +as also a tem o; stand those three?+heeled auto ricksha+s that +ere desi#ned for t+o and carried, as a rule, si' or seven

    eo le. >uickly found out +ho took those. he first time volunteered to accom any a ne+informant, 4"dul 6a""ar and his family on their hursday tri to the shrine they atroni ed, +e reachedthe main road and "e#an "ar#ainin# +ith the drivers of different modes of trans ort. 4 tem o, at tenru ees, +as chosen. *i' of us cro+ded into the vehicle, e'cludin# 4"dul 6a""ar, +ho shared thedriverDs seat in front. @e +ould have needed at least three ricksha+s at five ru ees each/ thou#ht,his is ho+ rickshawallas +ill "e inched out.; 4t the -aduadih shrine, had a minor ar#ument +ith

    the family +hen tried to ay the ten ru ees myself. t seemed condescendin# on my art, "ut couldnDt ima#ine ho+ they could afford so much out of their mea#er earnin#s. n fact +as sur rised

    that they ar#ued +ith me. n their situation, +ould have immediately let someone vastly "etter offthan me ay the fare. t +as 0ust one of those s+ift and fre>uent lessons in their different attitudesto+ard honor, de"t, and e>uality.

    here +ere t+o other routes "y +hich ty ically arrived at this crossin# of -aida#in, and they "othdeserve to "e descri"ed here. ne +ent throu#h Pan Lari"a, the +holesale market for che+in# to"acco,

    "etel nuts, and leaves, and all the related condiments that #o into the makin# of the Banarasi pan. t +asa narro+ lane fronted "y tall attached "uildin#s/ on the #round floor +as an o en store each fe+ s>uareyards. 8ills of to"acco, coated +ith silver, color, or erfume, and "askets of symmetrically arran#ed

    pans, accessi"le only from the central artery, +ere all dis layed to assers?"y and +ere al+ays o en tomy scrutiny. his e'treme o enness made for the result that, occasional resolves not+ithstandin#, never started a conversation +ith any of the merchants and never num"ered one amon# my informants.here +as not a corner or crevice to take refu#e in/ to start a conversation there +ould have meantholdin# u the traffic and collectin# a cro+d.

    he other route sometimes taken "y my rickshawallas +as throu#h the locality called alla ura. hevery first time +e s+un# into it, asked the driver, @ho lives hereI; 8e turned "ack to #a e at me inske tical amusement, +ho lives hereI ; e' lained, mean, 8indus, -uslims, artisans,merchantsMI; 4nd the rest of the tri +as a nice discourse on the social com osition of alla ura,thou#h have al+ays felt #uilty a"out makin# rickshawallas talk +hile um in#. alla ura had certainfeatures that al+ays struck me as medieval even thou#h kno+ there is nothin# medieval,; modern,;

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    or ancient; a"out Banaras. here +as a lar#e mansion, for e'am le, in +hich "elieve lived ele hants,for a si#n han#in# outside read, 7le hants can "e hired here for marria#es, rocessions, etc.; 4nd, trueenou#h, had seen ele hants #o to and from that lace, clutchin# lar#e leafy "ranches in their trunks,#ra""in#, as it +ere, a >uick snack around the corner. here +as no unity to the alla ura area/s ra+lin#, crisscrossed "y lanes, evidently very oor, could not >uite #ras it. al+ays assed ano en +orksho +here drums of various sha es and of different shades of leather +ere made and stored.

    hat +as medieval. +as still lookin# at all this, it mi#ht seem, from the vanta#e oint of the tourist. 4lthou#h descri"emy first im ressions casually no+, even indifferently, +as very serious a"out everythin#, and curiousto the oint of a"surdity, thou#h often amused, in s ite of my seriousness, not at them "ut at theconfrontation of me and them. +as strainin# to understand, and could sense at least ho+, +ith every

    assin# day, had to try less and less hard. ne #lim se of somethin# o ened u a +orld of meanin#s.ne comment from a asser?"y e' lained many thin#s. o look into, "ehind, and under shades anddoor+ays "ecame my second nature. o act s+iftly, +ith >uestion, direction, note"ook, or camera

    "ecame a ha"it the ade tness of +hich sur rised me.

    Both these routes met at Ka"ir Chaura, a crossin# named after the saint Ka"ir and famous for manyreasons. here is somethin# very meanin#ful a"out crossin#s for Banarasis, and they kee referrin# totheir main ones. n a "ook on Banaras, the old?time resident Aish+anath -ukher0ee takes his readerson a tri around the city. 4ll his oints of reference are crossin#s, laces +here one territory ends andanother "e#ins and +here cross?movement is ossi"le, a artial reflection of the sta"le and culturallydifferentiated constitution of nei#h"orhoods in old cities. ndian crossin#s are intersections of fourroads

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    a study of the iron #oods industry or of the ironmon#ers of ohatiya after my remature and totallyunsuccessful initial incursions. But the ohatiya crossin# came to sho+ itself as endlessly fascinatin#.4t the -uslim mournin# eriod of -oharram, the rocession called Luldul assed throu#h in its mostchokin# and ushin# hase and #ave me an intuition a"out the attractions of cro+ded laces. 4tAish+akarma Pu0a and Lur#a Pu0a, and a#ain at 3amlila, there +ere many sta#es and cano ies for the#ods and it +as easy to catch the or#ani ers.

    o the immediate south of ohatiya +as Nakhas, +here car enters had their +orksho s. Nakhas led toKashi ura, the locality of the "rass +orkers and co ersmiths. 4ll the nei#h"orhoods "ordered on oneanother, connected "y hidden lanes traversa"le on foot. 7very time +as in ohatiya, the surroundin#s+ere less and less o a>ue. he city +as a "lank ma #radually "ecomin# filled in +ith lanes, "y+ays,and turnin#s, dotted +ith names of localities, individuals, and homes. Because of the ro'imity ofohatiya to the archives, it "ecame one of my first e' loratory field+ork sites. n a #iven day, +ould+alk hundreds of yards in the galis, +ith sto s to visit a do en eo le #radually assumin# the status of#ood friends: a car enter, a co ersmith, a tea seller, a +ido+ +ith a pan sho , a oliceman ya+nin#on a "ench, and so on.

    4nd +hatever dou"ts may have entertained a"out informal conversation as a method of field+ork,u on en#a#in# in it and seein# the incom ara"le richness of my results "ecame a total convert. Noconceiva"le >uestionnaire could have revealed to me the casual details, the ironies, the su remelyconfident or the hesitant tone em"edded in eo leDs conversations. he ride +ith +hich a lace +as

    ointed out or an event mentioned, or, on other occasions, the utter indifference, if not do+nri#htdeni#ration, of tone and mannerism these +ere all ri ed "its of information to me, and the only +ay could have #ot them +as the +ay did, "y loiterin# around, ada tin# to the informantDs ace andinimita"le style.

    he archives of the Na#ari Pracharini *a"ha in Aishesh+ar#an0 +ere a fe+ hundred yards further eastof ohatiya, "eyond a steady ro+ of teasho s. easho s, around +hich much of my day revolved, cameto fi#ure as ivotal elements in my +ork. #ave them a fair amount of thou#ht. 4 tree +ith a heftytrunk +ould "e taken as the startin# oint for the construction of a teasho . )rom one side of this trunk

    a lar#e stove

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    in>uire, BiscuitsI *+eetI *altyI BreadI; as laced my order for tea. @hen arose to leave, knees+ould "e ulled in and "acks strai#htened on the "enches had to ass. f my +ay +as held u "y a

    erson not ayin# attention, there +ould "e cou#hs and erha s a +arnin# announcement. 4s "rushed ast someone +ith his "ack to me, the sho kee er t+irled around and "arked at him, adies ; No oneever, ever, in my one?and?a?half years of atrona#e, tried to talk to me. Nor did s eak to anyone. 4fterconsiderin# it at len#th, decided that in this one case the atmos here and inner harmony of the lace

    had to "e reserved from my active interference.

    / The Li-rar' and Its Surroundin%s Na#ari Pracharini *a"ha itself +as unreco#ni a"le as a li"rary and invisi"le as a "uildin#. 3ed,symmetrical, #racious, it stood inde endently in its com ound. 3ecently the decision had "een made touse the land in front for commercial ur oses. his meant the construction of a ro+ of t+o?story sho sthat sold te'tiles, dry #oods, tea leaves, and medicines. 4ll that +as kno+a"le of the *a"ha from theroad +as a #ate, half?concealed "y the teasho , and a front of modern stores +hose o+ners, if asked,+ould most likely deny that any li"rary e'isted in the vicinity. f you did #o "ehind the stores, youcame to the lar#e red "uildin#, im ossi"le to evaluate immediately "ecause it loomed over you and

    could not "e vie+ed in ers ective as lanned. he remainin# o en land on "oth sides had "een ruined,too, as an aftereffect of the construction: iles of "ricks, i es, and "roken?u stone lay around. neach "rick +as inscri"ed the +ord "10 $,( a fact that u led me until it +as revealed that the kilnfrom +hich the "ricks came +as o+ned "y a devotee of the holy men of the sect of that name, a sect +as to ay a #reat deal of attention to in my research. hese small revelations +ere like #ifts of the#ods: after seein# those "ricks needed no more evidence that it was a live cult.

    nside the Na#ari Pracharini *a"ha +as a dark hall, fifty yards lon#, at the center of +hich stood amassive +ooden ta"le for readers. 4t its head sat five or si' officials of the *a"ha, some scri""lin# orturnin# over a#es, most lookin# out restfully. he +hole lace +as still, uncro+ded, unencum"ered.n three sides of the hall +ere verandahs studded +ith doors to the outside, many of +hich +ere o ento let in sunli#ht and air. 4fter you #ot used to the lace, it +as leasant. he hall +as too dark for me,

    "ut the verandahs +ere ideal cool in summer, sunny in +inter, erfect for +atchin# the rains in themonsoons. +ould ull a "roken chair and ta"le to my desired s ot, "alance my folio of ne+s a ers t+ice the si e of the ta"le on one side, and lace my note"ook on my knee.

    note the use of "roken; here: most u"lic o"0ects in ndia strike one as "roken or in disarray. nlyt+o e'ce tions shine out as models of orderliness and a state of erfect maintenance, "oth of +hich #re+ u +ith

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    #ot to +ork. ne man on a ste ladder +ould ass do+n the volumes, each of considera"le +ei#ht, toanother man on the #round, +ho then called out the date on the volume, and thus their search

    ro#ressed as stood "y and fid#eted. had nothin# a#ainst the men +ho ran the lace, or even a#ainsttheir system of +orkin#, e'ce t that it +as very "ad for the materials. he dust and accom anyin#s iders and insects o"viously dama#ed the a er. -ost of the volumes had too much +ei#ht ato them/ #athered they +ere too oversi ed to "e shelved u ri#ht. But "ecause their s ines +ere not marked, the

    movin# around that +as re>uired +hen a scholar needed a articular volume ulled and ounded at the "indin#s. here is a"solutely no dou"t that the materials used +ere in a far +orse condition after called them. couldnDt think of a ready reform. learned #radually of the o+erful eo le of the *a"ha,the mem"er of Parliament and the mem"er of the e#islative 4ssem"ly +ho held court in the officeand #uest rooms in the com le' "ehind the *a"ha. kne+ they +ere unconcerned a"out the conditionof old ne+s a ers and could not "e motivated to do anythin# a"out them unless they "ecame an issueat the level of state or national olitics. donDt +ant to "e un0ust. *urely there +ere other, moreacademic, mem"ers of the Na#ari Pracharini *a"ha Committee. But they +ere never mentioned/ nordid they make themselves kno+n "y si#nin# anythin#, or comin# around, or sho+in# themselves in anyother +ay. kne+ only of the oliticians at the to and then the foot soldiers at the ta"le in the hall.

    "e#an my +ork there smoothly enou#h: entered one day, si#ned some forms, made a de osit, and

    started lookin# throu#h lists. n the first day made a reliminary note of a"out t+enty 0ournals that+ould "e of interest to me. looked throu#h the issues of only t+o 0ournals in detail in the ne't fifteenmonths. hen, alarmed at the fast?a roachin# end of my stay, >uickly scanned a do en more. But left feelin# that had "arely #lim sed the real treasures of Na#ari Pracharini *a"ha, and thou#h have#one "ack since continue to feel that +ay.

    he men +ho sat at the head of the ta"le +ere a little like the three or four vultures in /ungle Book

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    natural conversations +ith eo le, askin# them +ho they +ere, and tellin# them, of course, +ho I +as.But at that time the dark hall +as a recious retreat from my ener#y?drainin# natural; conversationson the street and my sycholo#ically e'haustin# curiosity. 4t Na#ari Pracharini *a"ha could "emyself, not my self as resented to others/ could think my o+n thou#hts and "e almost o"livious tothe +orld as scri""led a+ay.

    @hat did scri""leI he first +eeks, as usual, +ere difficult to com rehend or to 0ustify. read throu#h

    the one a#e on Banaras in every issue of the fortni#htly Bharat /iwan, "e#innin# in 1 (, and +rotedo+n +hatever seemed of interest. 8avin# no immediate intention of chan#in# the research to icoutlined in my ro osal thou#h thou#ht mi#ht in the lon# run, since everyone seemed to tookdo+n mention of all festivals, music erformances, other u"lic events, the city itself, olitics if they+ere interestin#, and social affairs, that is to say, everythin# "ut the strictly accidental: the local thefts,fires, and carria#e accidents, +hich seemed to dominate the ne+s. +ish could say that found thin#sa"out, or even casual mention of, lo+er classes and artisans. But they mi#ht as +ell not have e'isted.he +orld of Bharat /iwan +as one of middle?class, educated babus, interested in +orld affairs and

    olitical analysis, socially com etitive and some+hat amused "y one another/ their city +as hummin#+ith activity, includin# the Parsi theater, +restlin# matches, "alloon?flyin# demonstrations, the Calcuttacircus, in?house arties and rece tions at 8oli, Li+ali, and a do en other festive occasions of the year.

    he Banaras of Bharat /iwan +as much like the Ne+ Eork of the >ew orker. t seemed some+hatirrelevant to me, +ith my stated interest in the lo+er classes, "ut do##edly ke t co yin#.

    @ithin +eeks the icture started chan#in#. knew +hat the 0ournalists +ere talkin# a"out, not "ecausetheir re orta#e chan#ed "ut "ecause my notions of the city and its life "e#an to fill in and develo .7verythin# in Bharat /iwan, for e'am le, +as al+ays #iven a seasonal reference. 4h, the month of*a+an ; it +ould rha sodi e. Ba"u so and so and arty +ent on a icnic to *arnath.; r, tDs theseason for %hulas

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    "efore the dayDs +ork, and tea and snacks in the afternoon. Unused to this, +ould stuff myself in themornin# and +ould feel dull and heavy for the ne't t+o hours. 4nd the truth is that no matter +hat youeat in the mornin#, you #et hun#ry a#ain in the afternoon. here +as little choice "ut to flee to theteasho a#ain, as did in mid?mornin# and mid?afternoon. *ometimes the e## and toast; concoction

    roduced there +as >uite delecta"le. 4t other times fortified myself +ith "iscuits and "uns. 7lse+herein the city findin# somethin# to eat +as not such a ro"lem. here +ere fruits a? lenty, as +ell as corn,

    cucum"ers, eanuts, and so on, accordin# to season/ and there +ere, as far as +as concerned,e'cellent s+eet sho s. But in the street from -aida#in to Na#ari Pracharini *a"ha there +as nothin# toeat e'ce t at the teasho s. nce found a lone ha+ker sellin# third?rate #uavas, "ut he must havereali ed that he had lost his +ay, "ecause he never a eared a#ain.

    ne day, driven "y my stomach, decided to #o the other +ay from -aida#in, that is, east+ard, to+ardtotally unkno+n areas. had +alked "ut a fe+ yards +hen found myself in the midst of +hat seemeda #radually thickenin# mela, a fair. t must "e a s ecial day, thou#ht #reedily, lookin# left and ri#ht foreasily collected information. didnDt venture more than a hundred yards or so, +alkin# in a strai#ht,safe line from Na#ari Pracharini *a"ha. Peo le s+armed over the road and avement/ ha+kersoccu ied the middle of the road, and "uyers cro+ded "ehind them to a roach the avement stores.7veryone, of course, roceeded on their "usiness +ithout noticin# me. he one interaction could think

    of +as to 0oin in the "uyin#, +hich +as the idea that had "rou#ht me there ori#inally. "ou#ht voraciously, until it struck me that had no +ay of #ettin# my urchases home. didnDt carry asho in# "a#, and the "est the lar#er sho s could offer me +as a half? a#e from an old ne+s a er. heha+kers had not even that, and #estured to+ard the end of my sari. mi#ht have #uessed +here +as

    "y reason of the #oods "ein# sold: foodstuffs ran#in# from commodities +as "lind to, such as ghi, oil,and 0a##ery, to fruits, ve#eta"les, and snacks. @hat articularly attracted me +as the ran#e of batashas,cris +hite su#ar confectionery. had eaten such s+eets in childhood, "ut as "alls a"out one inch indiameter. 8ere +ere ovals and s heres u to ei#ht inches +ide. -y cloth shoulder "a#, in +hich carried recious notes, +as soon crammed +ith #uavas, batashas, savory lentils, and other odddelicacies ra idly turnin# to crum"s and ul . hastily took a ricksha+ and +ithdre+. herickshawalla had to +alk till he came out of the #lutinous mass of human "ein#s.

    4 sim le measure of my i#norance a"out Banaras, and a"out ndian city life in #eneral, +as the factthat had thou#ht this +as a mela, a s ecial fair, and had failed to reco#ni e it as the cityDs main+holesale center for food: the market of Aishesh+ar#an0. nce the northeastern side of the city had

    "een incor orated into my ran#e of activity, +ent throu#h Aishesh+ar#an0 fre>uently. Curiouslyenou#h, the cro+d +as never a#ain so over+helmin#, nor did the rickshawallas have to disem"ark totake me across. he roducts on sale never a#ain seemed so e'otic or desira"le. came to seeAishesh+ar#an0 as a dirty, chaotic, difficult lace +ith too much hay stre+n around and, as aconse>uence, too many +anderin# co+s and far too much co+ dun#. here came a time +hen it +ascon>uered as +ell, a time +hen +ould #o to a house askin# for old residents and ar#ue confidently+ith the nei#h"ors a"out +ho had actuall! lived there/ or late at ni#ht +ould turn "riskly into a t+o?

    foot?+ide lane unmarked "y any road si#n to #o to the house of my friend, Pandit BaikunthanathU adhyaya, to record his sin#in# #rou / or +ould crisscross the ma e of lanes that lay "et+eenAishesh+ar#an0 and Chauk in the early mornin# or late ni#ht and, "etter si#n of con>uest still, +oulddo this in the com any of 8indu informants leadin# me to tem les and -uslim com anions sho+in#me to mos>ues.

    Lurin# these days of refu#e in the Na#ari Pracharini *a"ha, my earliest days in Banaras, +as#atherin# coura#e to "e#in field+ork in earnest. -y first attem ts, to a roach an im overished familyof "rass +orkers in u'a and the arro#ant ironsmiths in ohatiya, had roved total failures. he "rass+orkers had in effect re>uested that kindly #et off their remises and never return, and the ironsmiths

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    had communicated the same invitation "y continuin# to hammer at their iron sheets +hile >uestionedthem. have one +eak #enealo#y and one a#e of disconnected notes for each. But those meetin#s hadindeed "een undertaken in a tentative +ay. 4s +ith the first visit to the river, had sim ly not "eenready. 4ll this "un#lin# in the first month of my stay +as, u on reflection, artly deli"erate. +as notan'ious to roceed +ith a strict rofessionalism that o"tained immediate results at the e' ense ofinsi#hts into the com le'ities of the +orld +as settin# out to construct.

    he method of actin# like a child in another culture in order to learn its #rammar; suited my redilections. n those first days +as sli#htly too naive, overly careful to assume kne+ nothin# andhad to learn all. +as scared to im ose "y mistake my cri led, o"no'ious middle?class!u er?class

    resu ositions on these ro"ust natives. nly the! kne+ +hat they +ere doin#, and thou#ht should "e re ared to discover it the slo+, ainful +ay, +ithout even the #uarantee of success that a child hasunless could ass the test of childlike naivete.

    By Li+ali, at the end of cto"er, had made a ma0or "reakthrou#h on all fronts, as they say of "attles,and had the same ima#e of con>uest in mind. kne+ metal+orkers and +ood+orkers and had visited+ith a +eaver. also had romises of friendshi from a otter and a ainter. @hen think in +onder atho+ it ha ened, can credit it to nothin# else "ut sheer erseverance, the assa#e of time, and anincidentally #ro+in# reali ation that did not need to de recate myself to a reciate others.

    0 Un*no+n 1ods and Life2St'(eshe story "e#ins +ith Aish+akarma Pu0a uiry concernin# the ori#in of theicono#ra hy, thou#h all a#reed that the Aish+akarma icon +as not very old. 4fter +anderin# aroundtheir stalls for a +hile, +isely decided to avoid them on this, their "usiest day. 4s discovered slo+ly,many days +ere e>ually "usy, and it +as im ossi"le to find them in a >uiet moment. hey +ere al+ays#ettin# their roducts ready for the ne't festival, and they had an unnervin# ha"it of fo""in# off thecurious intruder +ith a olite Lo come after Li+ali; or +hatever the ne't event on the calendar +as.Conse>uently, the eo le #ot to kno+ on that momentous day, the 1 th of *e tem"er, +ere not ottersat all "ut a family of co er +iredra+ers.

    u'a 3oad, althou#h close to the center of the city, +as a safe lace to han# around in, not teemin#+ith o"0ects, eo le, and im ressions like Chauk. t +as a modern road, more so than the so?called

    Ne+ 3oad, cro+ded enou#h, "ut not over+helmin#. No one kne+ +here the soa y?soundin# name had

    come from. here +as a heoso hical *ociety office and school +ithin a lar#e, shady enclosedcom ound, and there +as the vast 3amakrishna -ission 8os ital, +hose name had never suited

    o ular tastes and "een re laced "y Kauria 4s atal; the Co+ries; 8os ital, from the a#e +henco+ries re resented the smallest unit of currency. here +ere also one or t+o estates +ith massive+alls and #ates, no+ "ein# su"divided and sold off. inin# the street +ere ne+ sho s tailors, storesfor ready?made clothin# and electrical a liances mostly around the *ikh 5urud+ara, the +holecom ound evocatively called 5uru"a#h, the 5arden of the 5uru. 4t the main crossin# on the street+ere older sho s, for s+eets, "icycle re airs, "askets, ottery/ one had "een converted into a videostore. Potters o"viously lived off the road to the north side/ 0ust +here the northern lanes 0oined the

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    main road +ere little dis lays of clay toys and other clay roducts for sale +hen ainted, for dryin# inthe sun +hen not. n 19 1 19 2 u'a also had a video arcade, and, in the same cate#ory as far as +asconcerned, t+o tem les, "oth under s readin# "anyan trees, that hosted all?ni#ht ro#rams once a year.he arcade rovided me +ith one of the most memora"le si#hts ever encountered in Banaras. neday, on the other side of the road near the arcade, +alked a man clearly from another a#e, +ith hisdhoti, kurta, gamchha

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    unem"arrassed and unfalterin#. he pu%a had sat throu#h at the Aedanta *ociety in Chica#o for aheadache?laden t+o hours, +ith every flo+er uicklydisinte#ratin# #rou hel ed me "y su lyin# a >uestion, comment, or even e' ressive #esture.

    4t least kno+ the house,; told myself the ultimate ar#ument "ecame used to #ivin# +hen could not "rin# myself to force +hat +ould not yield.

    -y first real artici ation may +ell "e said to have "een none too dramatic. here +as no suddenshock of discovery, no vision of vistas rollin# forth. But had seen Aish+akarma Pu0a, and if it +as

    "rief, triflin#, casual so "e it. he informants could not "e +ron#.

    @hen came "ack to this house a month later, acka#e of s+eets in hand, sei in# u on the occasion ofLi+ali, none of the eo le kne+ +ere there, and met a totally ne+ cast of characters. 4t a hand

    um in the courtyard, ri#ht ne't to the entrance +ay, a fresh, erky youn# +oman +as +ashin# someutensils. Lo you +ork hereI; asked innocently. @hy, no his is my house ; she told me. +as notsure +hether to "elieve her, "ut then she led me u stairs. *he +as Usha, the older of t+o dau#hters ofone of the se arated "rothers. -is0ud#in# her status sim ly "ecause she had "een cau#ht doin#domestic chores +ith her sari tucked u and her hair disheveled #ave me such an elo>uent e'am le ofmy narro+, middle?class re0udices that +as almost cured of them. s ent the rest of the day +ithUsha and Nisha and their mother ticed across the courtyard in the middle for an hour "y their

    pattidar* s family and count that as the "e#innin# of Phase , +hen you not merely #et ac>uainted,scri""le do+n "asics, and +alk a+ay thinkin#, 4t least kno+ the house;/ "ut rather you artici atein your hostsD activities, reco#ni e each mem"er of the family, feel comforta"le in their home, andde art +ith their e'hortations to come a#ain soon.

    Usha had attended school, as Nisha +as doin# no+. hey shared one school dress, and "oth had studio hoto#ra hs of themselves in it. heir full name for school ur oses +as Aerma. his +as, for me, theinside vie+ of the school#irls in identical uniforms, each +ith a lacea"le name, that had seen all mylife. Neither the uniform nor the name "elon#ed; to the #irl, as had assumed they did all throu#h myschool days Usha must have "een a"out si'teen and had "een married a fe+ months. *he +as s endin#her first Li+ali after the +eddin# in her natal home, as +as the custom. 8er father?in?la+ +as e' ectedany time for a meal.

    he meal itself +as an eye?o ener on many counts. he father and father?in?la+ sat do+nstairs in thekothari, +here they +ere served/ they e'chan#ed not a +ord +ith any of the +omen, includin# me. he

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    food itself, the flour, ghi, ve#eta"les, and fuel for cookin# had all "een s ecially "ou#ht for the #uestand sufficed only for him and his male host, +ith some leftovers for the +omenfolk. he ghi +asenou#h, for e'am le, for puris for the men/ as it #ot used u , the dee ?fried delicacies +ere re laced "y+ell?#reased toasted parathas, then "y dry rotis +ith sim ly a lin#erin# touch of ghi on one side. nlya taste of ve#eta"le +as left over, and this +as >uietly ut aside for Usha and NishaDs "rother, Bahadur.4 art from the se#re#ation of the se'es and the o"viously limited resources, the third eye?o ener +as

    the sheer frolickin# fun of it all, as +e, the #irls, ke t u a "anterin#, #i##lin#, carefree e'chan#e allthrou#h the cookin#, servin#, and eatin#. su ose must have e' ected de ressed s irits, somee' licit si#ns of de rivation, scarcity, and o ression, some si#ns of revolt may"e, of the oor a#ainstthe rivile#ed, of +omen a#ainst men, as one ate dry and the other rich. But these +omen +ere havin#a +onderful time/ and , as one of them, chatterin# ceaselessly a"out UshaDs school, their nei#h"ors in

    Nai Basti, UshaDs father?in?la+, and their a+ful pattidars, felt, too, that life +as fun, "ut ke t+onderin# ho+ to e' lain it.

    heir e'hilaration u on the occasion of the festival and the dau#hterDs return home +as matched "ymine on the inau#uration of Phase . 8avin# "een confined to one small +orld as a child, also had a

    personal need to e' and my arena of e' erience into other +orlds. )ield+ork once it succeeds "eyond a oint allo+s you to do that. had suddenly, rather ma#ically, "ecome a rivile#ed insider,

    reco#ni ed "y some hitherto unkno+n Usha, Nisha, and family, as one of them.he overty of the house +as "rou#ht home to me only on my later visits. here +as ne#er enou#h toeat. made #ifts under every rete't could think of till didnDt need any and develo ed the techni>ue,later to serve me every+here, of resentin# a "o' of s+eets +ith the "arely audi"le murmur, rasadhai( < 5odDs leavin#s;=. never sa+ Usha a#ain, "ecause she de arted for her in?la+sD home shortlyafter Li+ali. 8er father, discovered, +as unem loyed, su osed to have #one cra y u on the shock ofthe artition +ith his only "rother in their hitherto harmonious family. he household +as su orted "ythe other male in the family, ten? or t+elve?year?old Bahadur, +ho o erated the +iredra+in# machineand earned the usual three to four hundred ru ees a month. Bahadur looked morose, his father avoidedthe house alto#ether, and the mother and dau#hter took in all kinds of +ork to kee "usy, since there+as nothin# to do at home in the a"sence of food to cook and ossessions to take care of. hey rolled

    papars, dry lentil cakes, at the rate of one ru ee er hundred and hooked chains of artificial "eads atei#ht annas er t+elve do en. +atched them endlessly. reali ed ho+ much difference an individual

    ersonality makes, and indeed a s ecial event like a festival. @ith Usha #one and the silly a"andon ofLi+ali over, there +as not a trace of the #aiety and li#htheartedness that had left me +onderin#. n thatsense, had "een ri#ht to +onder.

    had al+ays held my o+n stern vie+s on the referential treatment of sons over dau#hters. But seein#in this case ho+ the mother and dau#hter to#ether earned thirty ru ees a month and +ere inca a"le ofdoin# anythin# else, and ho+ the far youn#er "oy earned t+elve times as much and su orted them, could understand the lo#ic of treatin# him as s ecial and su erior. 8e didnDt drink, #am"le, or kee "adcom any, they said, in the voice of those +ho +ould neither control nor interfere, and could foresee

    youn# Bahadur maturin# into a #ruff, distant, uncommunicative man around +hom the +omenfolk ofthe family +ould flutter, "ecause, after all, he had sacrificed his childhood to kee everyone alive. 4sfor the female rota#onist of the tale, his sister Usha, not only had she had a ha y childhood "ut she+as still "u""lin# over +ith the 0oy of a child, untouched "y any care.

    4t Nai Basti had a #lim se from the very "e#innin# of somethin# that +as #oin# to confront medirectly only later, +ith -ohan al, ara Prasad, and such close comrades: the dan#ers ofoversim lification re#ardin#, amon# other >uestions, the characteri ation of the oor, the class?s ecificnature of leasures, and the assivity of +omen.

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    3 Further ursuit of Informants4 The 5eta(+or*ers4s *e tem"er advanced and the monsoons dre+ to a close, it suddenly "ecame ossi"le to achievemuch more in any #iven day. 7ven so, re#retted the end of the monsoons. )rom the moment +e hadreached Banaras in 6uly, had reali ed that there +as a lot of cultural activity; there. f you took oneof the t+o key roads traversin# the city from center to south, you assed Lur#a tem le and ulsi -anastem le. he area around them al+ays seemed festive, +ith cro+ds "lockin# the roads, hundreds of littlestores, flo+ers, s+eets, ri""ons and trinkets for +omen, uddles, and monkeys. t +as *a+an, the fifthmonth of the North ndian 8indu calendar, the time of year for fairs and music and small localcele"rations.

    @hen say local,; mean it. None of the eo le +e encountered +as a"le to tell me of even t+o orthree of the cele"rations, leave aside the +hole variety or ran#e of them. had to discover them formyself over the ne't fe+ months, fervently ho in# that +as searchin# for, and then lookin# at, theri#ht thin#. t +as a de ressin#, disheartenin# rocess. U on hearin# of my research, a olice ins ector,head of the central, im ortant Chauk thana and an e' erienced officer +ith many years in the sector,remarked, h his is *a+an, so youDll find lenty of festivities.; ressed him ur#ently: +hat festivitiesI; 8e looked at me as confidently as ever: h @ell, this is *a+an, so, letDs seeMin

    *a+anM+ell, there are lots of festivities.M; 8is name, Chandra Bhushan, +as inned on his shirt, "ut remem"er it +ith difficulty, for after this inaus icious "e#innin# he never evolved into a friend or aninformant.

    8e did assist me in unforeseen +ays thou#h. 8e had hel ed us "uy a refri#erator in Chauk

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    +eavers +hatsoever. Nor did he seem to kno+ that the +eavers of Banaras +ere concentrated in t+oareas, 4dam ura and 6ait ura, >uite distant from +here he had taken me. @hen made this discoveryand reali ed ho+ far a+ay these t+o +ards +ere, felt such a set"ack that didnDt venture "ack to-adan ura for another fe+ months.

    hat day +e +ent to Banaras *ilk Cor oration, or B*C; as its o+ners called it. @e sat in acomforta"le office?cum?sho+room on +hite sheets s read +all to +all, "acks restin# on "olsters,

    everyone rela'ed "ut me. nce a#ain my mind +as on +hat the most a ro riate >uestions +ould "e. intervie+ed them at to s eed, scri""led do+n +hatever they said, and understood almost nothin#. #athered that a hu#e family ran the B*C, +ith a do en "rothers and sons either introduced to me oralluded to. Both "ecause the B*C ran o+erlooms and hired semiskilled la"or from villa#es outsideBanaras and "ecause those +as s eakin# +ith +ere o"viously not +eavers, >uickly rele#ated theencounter to the "ack of my memory, to "e resurrected only +hen had to formulate an o inion a"outsari "usinessmen. 5ovind 3am kne+ +hat he +as doin#, "ut his choices in social interaction +eredifferent from mine: he liked to mi' e'clusively +ith "etter?off eo le. 4 second foray into the galis +ith him roved e>ually frustratin#. his time he took me to a museum; of the metal roducts ofBanaras that also served as a clu"house, meetin# hall, and dis lay room for a society of traders in metal#oods. t +as in the control of one Ba"u *harad Kumar 3asto#i, head of one of the "i##est such tradin#

    houses, +ho had his "usiness do+nstairs in the ad0oinin# "uildin# and his home u stairs. )or myenli#htenment he had called in t+o of his craftsmen, +ho mostly smiled and said yes; to everythin# asked. he other activities that afternoon consisted of feastin# on #reasy s+eets and savories andtourin# the ceilin#?hi#h #lass closets stuffed +ith rather u#ly "rass, co er, silver, and 5erman silverartifacts. took do+n the addresses of the t+o artisans +ith ade tness, and as thanked 5ovind 3amu on leavin#, told him, @ell, no+ can #o to their homes and see ho+ they live.; 8e +as distrau#ht.No, no Eou should not #o to these eo leDs nei#h"orhoods. t isnDt seemly ; hatDs +hen reali ed,

    "elatedly, that his ideas of a ro riateness +ere different from mine, and that could dis ense +ith hishel . 4s shook off his offers of further assistance, he #ave an en#a#in# smile that left me s eechless:hen you are determined to #et rid of meI;

    n a day or t+o, set off on the trail of the first of the t+o metal+orkers, -aster *ita 3am, nakkas

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    Kashi ura +as the home of the "ra iers and co ersmiths of Banaras, as kne+ it to "e the home of theone artisan had met. 8e had #iven me his mohalla and had assured me that to find him need only askfor -aster *ita 3am, nakkas, in Kashi ura. asked do ens of eo le, and no one could tell me +herehe lived. here are, a arently, lenty of masters; and lenty of nakkases, and, seemin#ly, no *ita3ams. *o it has "een throu#hout my research. "e#an to re#ard +ith "itterness the myth of

    ersonali ed, face?to?face contact in the traditional city, +here everyone kno+s everyone else in a

    mohalla. 4fter my first fe+ +eeks in Banaras, stron#ly resisted residentsD efforts to resent theiraddress as Q, of mohalla E, ask anyone,; and +ould insist on havin# their house num"er, +hich every "uildin# in Banaras ossesses, and a #ra hic descri tion of ho+ to reach it.

    he +hole day searched for -aster *ita 3am, my lone contact amon# metal+orkers. @alkin# "ackand forth on the road +ith his va#ue address in hand, "ein# #a ed at s eculatively "y idle sho kee ers, felt a trifle more kindly to+ard 5ovind 3am Ka oor and a little more tolerant of his rotective tisnDt seemly ; 7>ually tiresome, couldnDt fathom the lace, +ith all those machine arts sho s linin#the streets. @here did all those "rass +orkers and co ersmiths han# outI @hen finally sa+ a sho+ith metal roducts rominently dis layed, sto ed at it, determined to make this my com ensationfor the other disa ointment.

    4t the sho sat a "eautifully a#ed man +ho could neither see nor hear +ell. )or all that, he had timeand +armth, and +elcomed me. hat first day didnDt care +hat asked or +hat he said, as lon# as could #et ac>uainted or, less eu hemistically, in#ratiate myself +ith him. f course, it +as rather easynot to care a"out +hat he said, "ecause all he said that first day related to himself as he sa+ his needs,not to himself as sa+ my need of him. 8e ke t re eatin#, Ba"u, if you can #et a 0o" for any of mysonsM have four, and there is not enou#h +ork for themMBa"u, +e can make anythin#, +hatever you+ant to #et madeM here are t+enty?five eo le in this house, and +hat else is there to sayM overty,Ba"u, overtyM here is no market no+, no +ork for usM; 4nd on and on. t +as not a "e#innin# fullof leasure and satisfaction, as had unconsciously antici ated +hen +e started talkin#. But here +as ametal+orker at last, an ancient one at that, and here +as , firmly lod#ed, determined never torelin>uish him, and all that he +as sayin# ho+ever limited in sco e +as necessarily rue and 3eal.7ven if his com laints of overty had never fi#ured in my calculations as the refrain +ould re eatedly

    "e su"0ected to, thrilled at the situation itself +hile feelin# a"0ectly hel less a"out the content of theconversation.

    -ohan al, the old man, sat in the sho to occu y his time

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    said a"out him. +as ut in a >uandary re#ardin# the interaction of economic and other controllin#conditions of life till could not in all honesty se arate them from each other at all. 4fter "ecame are#ular visitor, had met -ohan al at different times of the day, on different days of the year, had eaten+ith him, lau#hed +ith him, heard the story of his life, told him my o+n, and sim ly had sat +ith himfor many, many hours "e#an to feel that life +as a matter of moods and flavors and te'tures. 8o+and +hy one did thin#s +as as im ortant as +hat one did. neDs actions +ere al+ays affected "y stron#

    rinci les and hiloso hies, not merely "y sheer need; and necessity.; @ith -ohan al fully andfinally lost my assum tions of determinism. *oon after #ettin# to kno+ him, +as asked "y anintelli#ent +oman comrade also +orkin# +ith eo le;: *o, +hat is the "asic motivatin# factor forthese oor artisansI; could sense the ran#e of ans+ers her mind +ould acce t economic necessity,rest as a com ensation for heavy manual la"or, caste, reli#ion and felt a sudden #a o en "et+een usas heard myself e' ress an un remeditated thou#ht for the first time: @hy, theyDre 0ust like us.heyDll #o for a +alk if they feel like it, chat +ith friendsMtake u theaterM;

    -ohan al had taken the seemin#ly e'traordinary ste of launchin# a theatrical #rou that rehearsedevery evenin# after +ork. 8e loved to talk of it, to descri"e its roductions, "oast of its re ertoire and>uality, and articularly of the accolades received in various com etitions. *ome+here in the "ack ofmy mind lurked dis"elief, not full and total, "ut sufficient to demand some roof. 4ccordin#ly

    estered him to let me take hoto#ra hs of the sta#e curtains they had used, +hich

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    most of my comrades and all those elo>uent o"servers of the same confusin# +orld that +as studyin#,all the Nai auls, Aed -ehtas, Nirad Chaudhuries, and U amanyu Chatter0ees. hey +ere all, it seemedto me, reoccu ied +ith their o+n feelin#s a"out the o"0ects of their #a e, not +ith the o"0ectsthemselves. found it more difficult at that oint to talk +ith someone from my o+n class andeducational "ack#round than +ith my eo le; such as -ohan al.

    art T+on +hich there is #reat ro#ress in findin# informants, in #ettin# closer to them, and most of all inunderstandin# them throu#h the use of indi#enous cate#ories. n +hich also there are many dead ends,as in tryin# to find +eavers/ and distractions, as in tryin# to kee the household runnin# efficiently,dealin# +ith the death of a family mem"er, and usin# olice contacts to advanta#e.

    6 A Shift in Te)hni7ueLurin# my first months in Banaras my ro"lems, ho+ever, +ere less of inter retation than of #ettin# tokno+ eo le. "ecame anicky as *a+an assed me "y, follo+ed "y the ne't monsoon month ofBhadon, and still had located almost no cultural activities.; +ent to talk to my local #uide andevery"odyDs mentor, Lr. *uryanath 5u ta. Lr. 5u ta al+ays had a mysterious, satisfied e' ressionim lyin# a kno+led#e of many thin#s that +ould never #et shared sim ly "ecause you couldnDt askhim a"out them since you didnDt kno+ +hat thin#s they +ere. Eou could #uess at random, as did, andsometimes hit the mark. @hen asked a"out the 3amlila, Lr. 5u ta "ecame suffused +ith e'citementand talked ra idly for hours. r, +hen you missed, as +hen asked a"out the indi#enous system of+restlin# in akharas, he could look as #rum y as a child and say somethin# like, h, a lot has "een+ritten on that already,; or, re#ardin# the culture of a articular community, sim ly, No such thin#e'ists.; But all these idiosyncrasies aside, Lr. 5u ta +as one of the most kno+led#ea"le eo le inBanaras on the su"0ect of the cityDs social and cultural life.

    8e told me that at that very time an im ortant mela, or fair, called *ohariya -ela +as in ro#ress, socalled "ecause it lasted si'teen < solah = days. t +as "ased at akshmi Kund

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    a#ain the ne't year +ith three +omen all "earin# trays to +orshi akshmi, arrivin# in the evenin# andstayin# on as darkness fell. But this first time, "ecause +as keyed u +ith e' ectation, "ecause +asstill so i#norant, and "ecause it +as the middle of the day, found nothin#.

    here +ere stalls on either side of the lane from a"out a furlon# "efore the tank to the tank +ith itsnei#h"orin# tem le. -ost of these +ere manned "y children, their arents "ein# "usy +ith more

    roductive +ork. Children take over many stalls around mid?day as mothers +ash and cook, fathers

    "athe and eat, and youn#sters are made to sit still after school. he stalls all sold clay roducts, mostlyima#es of akshmi and a variety of toys, +ith some toys like the 3amlila "o+ and arro+ alreadymakin# an a earance, 3amlila "ein# ne't on the festival calendar. he variety +as not as #reat as itseemed at first si#ht. 4fter had e'claimed over a little clay .A. set and "ou#ht a fe+ other charmin#oddities, there +as no attraction in the stalls. made some effort to find out from the children +herethey lived, +ho made the toys, ho+, and so on, "ut they +ere really not the eo le to ask and did notrelish "ein# interro#ated. have found it a+k+ard to a roach children as informants on the +hole

    "ecause it is difficult for me to +ei#h their interest a#ainst their indifference and to talk on their level.-y +orst moment +as +hen started havin# a #ood time +ith a #rou of five or si' dusty little "oyson a street near ohatiya, "e#innin# to understand their #ame, their fun, and their ersonalities. Beforede artin# +anted to +rite do+n their names and +here their homes +ere, driven "y my familiar #reed

    to kno+ one more erson that could come "ack to later. hen made the #i#antic "lunder of resentin# each +ith a coin for a treat. ike +ildfire the +ord s read over roofto s and throu#h dusty galis, 5et your name +ritten and receive a coin Come and #et aid for your name ; have nevermade a less di#nified retreat.

    4fter loddin# throu#h all the lanes of the akshmi mela, thou#ht that should at least enter thetem le at the center of it all. here +ere a fe+ +orshi ers here, alon# +ith "athers at the tank, and alittle more to o"serve. But once inside, could feel everythin# floatin# a+ay from me. he olduneasiness feel in tem les came "ack, alon# +ith >uestions not to "e resolved "y mytholo#y: @hat isthisI @ho is thisI @hat do doI @hy is everyone doin# +hat they doI; also never kno+ +hat tofocus on as o"server in a tem le and try to take in everythin# at once: the architecture, the scul ture,the ritual, the social dramaM4fter this e' erience of my first mela, +as truly at a loss and in need ofconversation. had heard of Aish+anath -ukher0ee for some time/ an amateur author, historian, andethno#ra her, he seemed to vie +ith *uryanath 5u ta for the osition of #reatest e' ert on Banaras. sou#ht him out at his lace of +ork, the ndian -edical 4ssociation, +here he +as on the editorial

    "oard of "pana &wasth!a uestions for him, of +hich one +as, @hatis a mela I;

    Aish+anath -ukher0ee +as confused "y my to ic, o ular culture. ike most eo le talked to in the "e#innin#, culture; meant for him the #reat musicians and +riters of Banaras, and o ular culture;+as a contradiction in terms. 8e ke t listin# for me all the #reat; eo le should s eak +ith, and theystill +ei#h on my conscience as a task never accom lished. ke t tryin# to elucidate my ur ose tohim. @hen told him that had "een to a mela "ut could not com rehend it, and that had heard of

    others like the Nakkatayya "ut couldnDt #uess the sense of them, he seemed to erceive a lo#ic. 8enever did tell me a"out melas, "ut +e came to another milestone in my research.

    Eou kno+ the most s ecial thin# in BanarasI; he said that first day. Peo le like to #o on icnics.;

    PicnicsI; asked incredulously. Ees, they #o outside, cook, and eat.;

    *ince +hen has this "een #oin# onI; >uestioned, convinced that it +as a thorou#hly middle?classactivity, at "est learned do+n+ard throu#h tricklin#; or see a#e.;

    *ince al+ays. Banarasis have al+ays loved to do this,; he ans+ered com lacently.

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    4nd does it continueI; ersisted, +onderin# +hy, if he +as correct, had come across no si#ht ormention of this activity.

    t +as o ular till 19( .; discovered later that most eo le used 19( as a landmark in theirmemories to denote some ma0or chan#e durin# their lives. r they +ould say, t+enty?five to thirtyyears,; im lyin# 19( , or sim ly, "Cadi ke sama! se( < *ince nde endence;=. hey meant, as it+ould turn out after further >uestionin#, +ithin one #eneration, or +ithin their livin# memory, that they

    had "een familiar +ith somethin# in their youth "ut that their children +ere not.he lead that -ukher0ee #ave me +as confirmed in the most direct +ay ossi"le less than a +eek later. +as talkin# to 3am0i *ah#al, o+ner of Khatri -edical 8all in the heart of Chauk, as +ell as a te'tilestore across the street and a store of dried fruits and fruit drinks. @hen he had a visitor, instead ofre#alin# the erson +ith the usual tea, he +ould offer, say, a #lass of a le 0uice "ut unlike thecustomary tea offered at each visit, his refreshment +as limited to the first visit "ecause it +as so muchmore e'otic, s ecial, and e' ensive, or so it +as in my case. 3am0i *ah#al is a scion of one of the old,esta"lished families of Banaras, not one of the rais, or aristocracy, "ut on the frin#e. 8e is active in hiscommunity and is founder?mem"er or secretary of assorted cultural or#ani ations such as Na#ari Natak-andali

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    he ne't time visited -ohan al, ut to him the >uestion, @hat is the manoran%an uor is >uicker.;But "y that time, had sto ed takin# everythin# informants said at face value. could di# "eneath thesurface of their s eech >uite effectively to uncover the latent references and re0udices. also learnedto chan#e my style of >uestionin# from the innocuous, @hat is I; or ell me a"out ,;+hich failed as surely as askin# a reschooler < +as to learn=, 8o+ +as schoolI @hat ha enedtodayI; @ith indi#enous cate#ories, had ossession of a key, felt, +ith +hich to unlock eo leDsminds and mouths, one +hich never failed at its task. he element of sur rise +as essential in itsde loyment the first time. @ith a ne+ +ood+orker friend, for e'am le, turned suddenly in the middleof a conversation a"out somethin# else to ask, 0ow man! times a year e'actly did you #o to bahrialang I; 4nd ara Prasad looked at me ha ily and chortled, @ell, +e have to #o to *arnath and3amna#ar, as you kno+. 4nd then in the NavratrasM t adds u to >uite a lot.; @ith my ne+

    metal+orker families +ould smoothly inter0ect into a discussion of, say, overty, hen thereDs the#oin# out, the "athin#Msoa Mthat must cost >uite a lot.; hey +ould e' ress a reciation of my

    ers icacity and roceed to ela"orate in #ratifyin# +ays. By then also, if further documentation +asneeded, had my first hoto#ra hs of bahri alang revelers, on their +ay +ith bhang and lota

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    meetin#s. 4n hour +ith him felt other+ise like time +ell s ent. he only other discomfort e' erienced +as in retendin# shared his taste +hen he "e#an sho+in# me the choicest e'am les ofBanaras +ood+ork. nly the handmade +ooden idols struck me as +onderful, utterly lifelike andcharmin#. @ho made thoseI @here did the ideas come fromI Usually from calendars, +as informed,and my heart sank. had e' ected somethin# more artistic; and creative. 3am Chandra then unrolledsome calendars for my "enefit and "oasted articularly a"out one that he +as #oin# to order the

    craftsman to make ne't: the Panchmukhi

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    the floor, and +e talked to and fro for an hour, re eatin# much, and mostly at cross? ur oses. 4 fe+thin#s "ecame clear, ho+ever. ara Prasad +as very sick. here +as no money in the house. t +as nearLi+ali and the +a#es for ast +ork had yet to "e collected. But ho+I ara +as too ill to #o any+here.8is +ife never ste ed out, she did not like to meddle in all this. @hy +as he not restin# then, +here+as heI 8e had decided to make his +ay to the doctor, restin# and #oin#, sto in# and +alkin#, as she

    ut it, +hich thou#ht +as +onderfully descri tive.

    Aery soon +as on my old track a#ain, leadin# +ith her to let me someho+ hel them. *he resolutely+arded off my offers, va#ue as they +ere. Dm not sure +hat had in mind erha s findin# out +hichroute ara Prasad had taken, follo+in# him, and hel in# him "y the el"o+ to the doctorDs. kne+ didnDt have the coura#e or the confidence to take out some money and hand it to her. hinkin# over thescenario many times in my mind, concluded that #ivin# her money +ould seem the hei#ht of insult,sittin# there as +as, an uninvited and uncom rehended #uest.

    7ven as my heart #re+ heavy at the ho elessness of overty, and no less at the hysical seclusion andresi#nation of this +oman, as an anthro olo#ist +as mentally notin# useful; facts, such as the nameof the doctor atroni ed, one could say, "y the +ood+orkers of Kho0+a, or the economic, educational,and #ender divisions that characteri ed Bho0 uri and non?Bho0 uri s eakers. o file a+ay informationthus, even +hile e' ressin# and indeed e' eriencin# sym athy for a li#ht, al+ays aroused in me thean'iety that +as reducin# the situation to a drama, even a farce. an one "e detached and concernedat the same timeI

    7m irically s eakin#: yes. +as often "oth. reali ed, ho+ever, +hich attitude had recedence for me. o"viously had a roclivity for detached o"servation: +as makin# a rofession out of it. t took me afe+ more years and some +ell?intentioned "ut mis#uided efforts to #ras ho+ could also mark a +ell?defined s ace for actin# on my other roclivity: to interfere in areas desi#nated as ro"lematic.

    -y ne't visit to their house +itnessed ara Prasad ro erly medicated and restored. Lis layin# hisunla"eled "ottle of violet mi'ture to me like a tro hy, he #reeted me hos ita"ly and in the ri#ht state ofmind to take time off for conversation. 4s all further visits revealed, he +as as "usy as only the #rosslyunder aid iece+ork +a#e earner can "e: he had to #et throu#h the first sta#e of carvin# at least tenstatues every day. could only sit "y him and +atch, calculatin# that one >uestion er five minutes +asall should su"0ect him to.

    ara PrasadDs home +as a roached "y a narro+ gali si' feet across that "ranched off the main