becoming a marginal native

8/13/2019 Becoming a Marginal Native

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Becoming a Marginal Native

Author(s): Lancy LoboSource: Anthropos, Bd. 85, H. 1./3. (1990), pp. 125-138Published by: Anthropos InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40462119.

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Anthropos5.1990:125-138

Becoming MarginalNativeLancy obo

Abstract.India s a cultural osaic.n this utobiographicalpiece,he uthor,missionaryocial nthropologist,native fKarnatakatate,with differentanguage,eligion,nd cul-ture,elineatesis nculturationrocessn villagenGujaratstate, ithnotheranguage,eligion,ndculture. issionar-ieswere ightlyonsideredsproto-anthropologists.his apersets utpersonalieldworkxperiencesf modern-dayis-sionary,ho s alsoa trainedocial nthropologist.tpresentsfairlyich thnographicndculturaletails,nd nsightsntolifen villagenwesternndia. tprovidesseful lues egard-ingmethodologicalspects f fieldworko studentsf ndiansocietynd culture.Dhoria,northGujarat, ndia,field-work]Lancy obo,Ph.D. 1987,M.Phil.1981 Delhi University);1982-1983ieldworknDhoria; tpresentt Centre or ocialStudies, outhGujaratUniversity,urat.- Publications:Articlesn differentournals; he Thakors f North ujarat(forthcoming;elhi).The riseofanthropologywesmuch o theac-countseft y ravellers,dministrators,ndChris-tianmissionaries.issionaries erenotparticu-larlyrainedodoscientificieldworksthe radi-tion f ieldworkamemuchater.Most f hemis-sionariesad nabidingnterestnthepeople ndtheirulture.hey ealizedhat firsthandnowl-edgeofthepeoplewasessentialo communicatewith hemffectively.ence, ome f hemission-ary ccountsfpeoples ecameourcematerialorthe ater-daynthropologists.issionaries ererightlyonsidereds proto-anthropologists.This aper ets ut odelineateersonal ield-work xperiencesf a modern-day issionary,who s also a trainedocialanthropologist.hewords Christian"nd missionary"renotmuchwelcomednmanyraditionalindu illages. hispapernarratesn detail heobstacles, rials ndtribulations,nd encountersndexperiencesf ayearong ieldworkn a north ujarat illage n-dertakenormy h. D. It alsoaims tsystematiz-ingmy ieldworkxperiencesn the ightfthoseof ome thernthropologists.

1. Selectionf theDistrictndtheVillageMyresearchtatement asas follows:The Tha-kors fDhoria.A Studynthe ocial ndCulturalLifeofKshatriyasfRuralNorthGujarat."Thevillage chose orntensiveieldworkasDhoria,whichies enkilometresest f he own fKadi,theheadquartersf he outhernmostalukasub-division)f the amename nMehesana istrict.Thisdistricts theheart fnorth ujarat, ormingto ome xtent culturalrea, he ther uch reasbeing peninsularGujarat (Saurashtra), entralGujarat, nd southGujarat.The tribal eltallalong astern ujarat ould econsideredsform-ing n areaby tself.Mehesanadistrict eldother ttractionsorme.First,thadbeen he eatofpower f heRaj-putrulers fGujarat uringhemedieval eriod.The Muslimswhosucceeded hem ave also lefttheirmprintn north ujarat. inally,heMara-thas, .e.,theprincelytate fBaroda,hadMehe-sana s the argestivisionf heirtate ndheld tuntilndependence.I underwentfewntellectualxerciseseforeI beganmy ieldworknDhoria.For sixmonthsworkedna dissertation,TheAgrariantructureofMehesana rant fBaroda tate 860-1920"ormyM. Phil, see 1981). analysed hereinixtyyears ftheagrarianocialhistoryf this egionpriorto Independence. found thattenurialchangeshad brought bout social structuralchangesntheregion. oncretely,heBrahmins,Vanias, ndRajputsost heirandsmainlyo thePatels.The dissertation ork mplied onsultingtheGazetteers,heCensus, nd theSurveyndSettlementeports,esides eadinghe heoreticalliteraturen grarianocial tructure.his xercisegaveme a fineibraryntroductionothedistrictand, o some xtent,o thewhole fGujarat romthehistorical,ocial, nd economicngles.1 ForfurtheriscussionnculturaleographyfGujarat,eeBhatt 980.

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126 Lancy oboAftermyM. Phil, xaminationundertooktwomonths'ieldtripoMehesana istrict.select-ed fivemediumizemulticasteillages rom achoftheeleven talukas f the districtnd visitednearly ifty-fiveillages. hepurpose fthe xer-

cisewas oget feel f hedistrictnd ts eople.keptmy yes nd earsopenandmymind lert opick pclues, rends,ndwavelengthsf hepeo-pleby nteractingith hem.A letter frecom-mendationromMr. BabubhaiShahwho ran anumberf esidentialchools olvedmy ccommo-dation roblem. neof he eachersnevery esi-dential chool ccompaniedme to thevillages fmy hoice nitsvicinity.ince thevillagers adknown heteachers,heywelcomed s and thisfriendlyttitude acilitatedur interaction. yidentityasthat f researchtudent,or easonsI will xplainater.Atthe ndof his ieldtriphadnotes n every illage visited. he noteswereclassifiednder he ollowingeads:generalnfor-mationoncerninghevillage; opulationompo-sition; aste composition;iteracy;tructureflandholding; eansof production;elations fproduction;he role of moneylender,andlord,and landless griculturalabourers; lternativemeans f ivelihood,speciallynthenonagricul-tural ector; heroleof thedairy; heroleof theHinduresidentialchools; mmigrationnd emi-grationf abourers;ecyclingfsurplus ealth;distributionf benefits fdevelopment;gricul-ture; rop atterns;heproblemfuntouchability;thevulnerabilityfthe ower tratanmatterse-gardingealth; asteconflict;olitical umblingsintheregion;ndso on.Firsthaving library-viewnd then first-hand ield-viewf thedistrict,selected villageforntensiveieldworkastingor majorpart fthe nnual ycle. choseDhoria, s itfulfilledyresearchequirements.t wasa medium ize mul-ti-casteillage. horiahad a populationf1256.Nearly 4% wereThakors, raditionallygricul-turalabourersndmarginalarmers;6% werePatels rPatidars,mostlyandowninggricultur-ists;and the remaining0% weredistributedamong other astes uch s Nadia scavenger),Wankarweaver),Ravalia drummer),umbhar(potter), alandbarber), abari cowherd), titBawa (Shivapriest), adhu Rama priest), ndBrahminritualpecialist).heThakors howerethe ocusfmy tudy ere he argestaste nDho-ria. Dhoriawas a fairlyepresentativeillage fthe istrict.could asily et ntroducedoDhoriathroughmost espectablendacceptableman.Theproblemsfmy esidencenthis illageweresorted ur atisfactorily.

InDhoria had o decidewhethercouldhirea room osetupmy wnhouseholdrfind ccom-modationn someone lse's house.The village,however, ad norentableooms,ince ll theva-cant ooms adbeenhired ut othe illagechoolteachers. he formerMukhi villageheadman)offered eaccommodationnhisownhouse.TheMukhindhiswife, advaPatels y aste, othntheiratefifties,ere hildless.hehadundergonehysterectomy.e hadnotyieldedo thepressuresto marrynotherwife.A childless oupleem-bodies bad omen nd thenecessityf a son swell-knownntheHindudeology. onsequently,my resence aswelcome or while. preferredtostay t thishousefor everal easons:a) Theanthropologistantingostudyhe ocioculturallife fa people annot ind betterettinghanfamilyor his urpose;b) thefamilysthebestsettingor nculturationndfor cquiringslice flife f thepeople; c) my nitial cceptancendcredibilityould epend erymuch n thepersonthrough hom would be introducednd withwhomwould eassociated;d) I wasnot n po-sition o do myowncooking ecause did notknow ookingxceptmakingeaandcoffee;nd(e) setting pa house fmy wnwouldhave n-tailedgreaterxpenses.2. The Outsider-InsiderroblemThe outsiderttemptingo become n insidersthe rux f the nthropologist'sodeof tudyingthe atters culturend ociety.venthoughwasan ndian ndnot nAmericanrEuropean,wasan outsiderothevillage.Whilepeople appreci-atedmyknowledgeftheiranguagendalsomyprevioustudiesfMehesana istrict,was none-thelessnoutsidernseveralounts.belongedoa differenttate, poke differentanguage,ub-scribed oanothereligion, yway f ifewasdif-ferent,nd,mostmportant, y astewas a prob-lem.Howwould surmounthesehurdles ndbeaccepted nd becomepartof the culture wasplanningostudy?Atoneextremehere avebeenanthropolo-gistswho had "gonenative," .e., their peech,dress, atingndsleeping abits,nteractions,o-cialrelations,ndpersonaldentificationad allbegunoapproximatehenormsf he ommunitytheywere tudying. t theother xtreme herehave beenanthropologistshoremainedprivi-leged trangers"nthecommunityhey tudied.Both hese xtremesreunacceptableor cientificobjectivity.nthe ormeraseone s sodeep nside

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Becoming MarginalNative 127the ommunityhat ne acks ufficientistance oobserve he ulturendertudy.nthe atter aseone s o far ut hat ne s not ufficientlyear heculturene sstudying.nbetweenhe wo ies he"marginalative"see Frelich 970)who canbeconsideredspart-insiderndpart-outsider.ostanthropologistsould ttempto becomemargin-al nativesuringheir ieldwork.ecomingmar-ginal ativewithinhe ulture setouttostudysdelineatedn this aper.Theprocessfbecomingmarginalative astwodistincthough verlappinghases: 1) thepassive esearcheriodnd 2) the ctive esearchperiodseeFrelich 970: 8).The firstsprimarilyan adaptation eriodwhenthe anthropologistmust earnhow o survivehysically,sychologi-cally,ndmorallyn a strangeulturaletting.nthe econd eriod eattemptso collect uantita-tive swell s qualitativeatathat spertinentotheresearchroblem.3. The Passive ResearchPeriodMymajor ctivitiesuringhepassive esearche-riodwere:ntroductionothe illagendvillagers;establishmentfrapport ith hevillagers;oun-teringhe spy"problem;stablishingne's den-tity;elf-socializationr nculturationn henativeculture;ndparticipantbservation.et mede-scribehese ctivitiesneafternother.Onecannotust nter villagenGujarat x-cept erhapss a "peripatetic"endorr nenter-tainer. neneeds o havea definitentroductiontothe ersonnewantsomeetnthevillage. heMukhinwhose ouse was oreside ad brotherwhohaddonePh. D. inSociologynd was a lec-turernoneofAhmedabad'solleges. will allthe ormerP and he atter P.MP and hadde-cided hatwewould otoDhoriaust efore iwa-li. loadedmy uggagento a jeepandsetouttoDhoria longwithMP andhisfamily, ho weregoinghere or heDiwaliholidays.After ha-nastotea and snacks)at AP'shouse,MP and setout nto hevillage.MPwasknownndrespectedy hemajorityf hevillag-ersbecause fhishumane utlook, isacademicqualifications,hecampshe conductednthevil-lagegivingt facelift,ndhisbeing he nly er-sonfrom horiato haveowneda bungalownAhmedabad.eople ameout o meethim ndbeinhiscompany.MP neverhidfromme thecon-sciousnessfhisdistinctiveontributionoDhoriaandtheuniqueplacehe held n thevillage.Nowonderefirstookme o seethe alio stoneme-

morial)rected oa certainashaPatel, memberofhis aste,whohaddieddefendinghe illageat-tlefromhemarauders.henMP tookme totheprimarychool, o hekiosk,nd otheRama em-ple, llbuilt y he atels f he illage.Three 'sare a mustoany illage,"MPtoldme, thepado(service uffalo),anch five lderlyrbitrators),andPatel memberfPatidar aste)." was toldthat hevillages hich idnothavePatels nthemhad noface tallMPstayednthevillage or earlyight ays.Eachdayhe tookme to a fewmembersfone ofthe astes nd ntroduced e othemn he ollow-ingmanner: This sLaunciBhai. He comes romsouth ndia.He plans owrite bookonDhoria.He studiesnDelhi.He has tudiedur anguage."Then here ere ounterqueriesromillagers. yname osed ome roblems.hey implyouldnotpronouncet. For some was LaunciBhai,forsomeother an Singh, ndformanymore wasRanjit.A few illagerssked, Does southndiameanRameshwaram?"A few illagersadgoneto Rameshwarann apilgrimage,s t soneof hefour hams, reat entres fpilgrimageorHin-dus.) Forthosewho had no senseofgeography,MPconveyedhe ocation fmy ative lace n helocal idiom: Launci Bhai's native lace is veryclose oRavana'sLanka SriLanka)."This ed toanotheruestion,LaunciBhai,do youall wor-shipRavana nthe outh?" denied his. ut aterit truck e hat he uestionerad nmindhen-cident related to the anti-BrahminravidaMunnetra azhagam elebratingavana-Lila noppositiono Rama-Lila,whichwas givenwidepublicitynthenewspapersfewyears go.Thevillagersnquiredboutmy oodhmilk).Doodh in this ontextmeantmother'smilk, utsymbolicallytmeant aste. twaspointlessocon-vince hevillagershat hristianso notbelieve ncaste.2n thevillage,f ne does notreveal ne'scaste, t means nebelongs othe owest aste twasnecessaryor hevillagerso locatemeandidentifye n heirwn ategoriesoas to reatmeandbehavewithme n mannerhatwasfittingothecommunity'sorms. thereforehought,is-cretions thebetter art f valour. o, myreplywas, I belong otheChristianhettyaste,whichisperhaps quivalento the aste fPatels rRaj-puts fGujarat, oth fwhich reabsentnmy r-ea. Each Statehas a predominantlyandholdingcaste ikePatelsnGujarat, atilsnMaharashtra,Reddys n Andhra radesh, nd Okkaligas ndLingayatsn Karnataka."3 esidingn a Patel'shousemeanthat was a Patel, requivalento aPatel, rhigherhan Patel. shall how ater ow

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128 Lancy obomy dentificationithPatelshad,ofcourse, tsown dvantagesnddisadvantages.maymentionin hemeanwhile,owever,hat hadtoshapemybehaviour s would befit Patel,though heywould olerate certain mountfdeviance romit as I was a stranger.4. MyBachelor tatusQuite few imes eopleraised uestionsboutmy achelor tatus.Whywas notmarried venthoughwasofmarriageablege Theelderlya-dies werenot toofond fhaving bachelor e-scend ponthevillageesttheir aughtersnvitepotentialrouble. ightromhe eginningmadeit lear o thevillagers:ust syoumarryff ouryoung eryarly whichhocksme so also t snaturalor ou oget hocked o hear hat n outhIndiapeoplemarryelativelyate. n the outh,said,peoplefollow heformula,Pahelannokri,pachhihhokri"First job,then wife). hevil-lagers ound his ensible ndnodded heir eadsinapproval. xplanationfmy elibatebrahma-chari) tatusnthe Jesuit rder ould revealmymissionaryffiliation,ndmy dentityndaccep-tance urelysa researchcholarouldbe eopar-dized. heCatholicmissionariestationedtKaloltownwere ctive ntheneighbourhoodfDhoria.Givingntryo a missionaryven for cademicpurposes,nd hat oorightn he entref he il-lage where heMukhi's ousewaslocated)wasunthinkableor he illagers yresearchupervi-sor,himselfGujarati, adanticipatedhis rob-lem nd uggestedhat stickomydentitys a re-search cholar. herefore decided o "delink"myselfrom hemissionarynterprise.5. IntroductionttheTempleYardThe Diwalidaycame ust fewdays fter firstwent othevillagewithMP. Atthreenthe fter-noon he emple ells ang ndmost f he lderlyPatelmales ccupied he emple ard. twas cus-tomaryntheDiwaliday achyear or Brahmin

astrologero readto theassembled illagersheforecastor he oming ear ontainedn he lma-nac.Thevillage ad Brahminriest-cum-astrolo-ger rainednKashi.He came o the ssemblyndreadandexplainedn hisown nimitableay heforecastoncerningrops, attle, lants,ains,li-mate, rices fagriculturalroducts,nd o on. Icould bservehat otmanyook he xerciseeri-ously. twas a dyingnstitution,utbroughto-getherhe atels ormallynce yearn he empleyard. twas also anoccasion opaytheir nnualcontributiono theBrahminriestnd theRamatemple riest.Just efore hegatheringastodisperse, Ptoldme hat twas good ccasion or im o ntro-ducemeto thegathering.oreover,ewantedopayhomage oVinobaBhave whohad died theprevious ay.MPwas anadmirer f Vinobawhowasa close ssociate fMahatmaGandhi. o, hegotup andgaveanelaboratentroductiono meandto thenature fmy tudy. henhespoke tlengthnVinobaBhave, Asper hehighest in-du dealsVinobadeclined ood hree aysbeforehisdeath,water wodaysbefore isdeath, nd,the astofall,gaveup air, .e., voluntarilyith-drew romhisife."Just hen nold, harpwittedPatel sked: Isn't hat uicide?" hisgeneratedlot of aughtermong hecrowd.MP hadnoan-swer. heoldPatel's emarkiterallyestroyedheatmosphere P had so carefullyuilt ptogivehomage o the ateVinoba.MP had ntroduced e tomore hanhalf fthe illage uringis tayn he illage.Myrepeat-edpleas ohim o ntroduce e o he hakors hoformedearly alf fthevillage ell ndeaf ars.Onhindsightrealize hatt wasnot asyfor imtodo iteither. atels ndThakorswere t ogger-heads, ndMPdidnothavemanydmirersmongtheThakors,houghte wasmore cceptableothemhanwasAP.Anopportunityame urway.MPand hadaccompaniedhegarboprocessionofvillagersancingnd inging)othe illage eityKhodiyar's hrinewhich tood in the Thakorstreet. herewemet omeThakors,nd was n-troducedothem. herewas a sort f tudiedn-formalityetweenMP and theThakors.Theylooked tmewithpprehension.esearch idnotmakemuchense othem.uspicion aswritargeontheir aces.6. EnculturationMyenculturationrsocializationnthe ocal cul-ture egannmy ost's ouse. twasforme peri-

2 Caste like symptoms mong Christianshave been high-lighted ysomesociological tudies n somepartsof Indiasuch as Alexander 1967, Lemercinier1981, Kananaikil1986,Wilson 1982.3 InsouthKanaradistrict fKarnataka StateShettyurnameoccursmainlymong heHinduBunts.Christiansonvertednearly 00 yearsago have perhaps n some cases retainedtheirpreconversion aste appellationssuch as Kamath,Sheth, nd Shetty.

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130 Lancy obolater uringmy ieldworkhat omevery riendlyHarijanseasedme, Sir,have ome ea with s."Apartfrom ollectingata on the externalways fbehaviourf hepeople, began oadaptmyselfo their ehaviour.had torestructureyviews n social ndculturalealityf hevillage.had okeep aside" he ulturefmy irthndputon the ulturef thenatives.Attainmentfrap-portwith he eoplewasnot implymitatingheirways,humouringhepeople andmingling iththem.had o ccept he ommunity'sefinitionfculturaleality,nd that ts cultural orldwas areasonablelternativeomy wn.The nitial eri-od in thefieldwas crucial s it nvolvedeplacingmyown cultural ulesand perhapsvalues withthose f hevillagewhichnturn averise o con-siderablenternalonflict ithin e.Very ftenfound hatwhatwascommonensenmy wn ul-turewas utter onsensenthenative ulture. orinstance, ormality,lowery anguage,beatingabout hebush, nd socialschemingespeciallywhen oundut)are ooked own pon nmy ul-ture, ut ome fthese retechniquesf urvivalinthenative ulture.7. What are We Goingto Get out ofYourWork?Oneofthekey emptationsfaced nthevillagewas toprojectn image f"niceguy."Howelsewould makemyselfcceptableoa largemajorityin he illage?didnotgoto thevillages a devel-opmentrproject fficer,benefactorrdonor,oran activist. asically went here s a learnerandrecipient.ime andagain had to facethequestion,LaunciBhai,what re wegoing ogetoutofyourwork?"My xplanationsegardinge-search nterestsidnotmakemuch f an impres-sion nthem.The ncidentf heBhootbungalowhauntedhouse) omewhatelpedmetoput cross eoplean deaofwhat heymightet utofmy esearch.ThePublicWorks epartmentPWD) had con-structedtsbungalowna plot djoininghe re-mationground n Dhoria at a cost of aboutRs.30,000 ut twaslying nused.Thevillagersfelt:Whowould sea bungalowext othe rema-tion round?t ismore or hedead than or helivingf hePWD hadconstructed,nstead f hatbungalow, bus stand n Dhoria twouldhaveserved better urpose.t wouldhaveconnectedfour eighbouringillages. picked pthis xam-pleandtold hepeople, Thosewhoplanfor hepeoplenever onsulthepeople,orrespectheir

culturalensitivities,rtake nto ccount heir o-cial needs,butspendmoney n thingsiketheBhootbungalow. guyikemecomes oyou, itswith ou, ndmakes otes. want ohighlightu-ral ife nd ts roblemsnmy ook, o thathe ol-icymakersndplannersmayread t andperhapsplanmore ealistically.t strue hat our enera-tionmay ot rofitirectlyut fmy ook,but u-ture enerations ighterive omebenefits,ustasyouplant sapling odayndperhaps ourhil-dren rtheirhildren ight et otaste tsfruitssometimen thefuture." his sortofreply idmake n impactnmy uestioners.My ssets s a personamehandyo establishrapport ithhe eople. didnothavemanymate-rialthingso give,except omefrientlyeedis(country-madeigarettes),mallgifts n auspi-ciousoccasions,ndgenerous seofcamera.Bypersonalssets do notmean o ay hat nehas obe a "dashing uy."Shynessndseriousnessrealso assets. nitiallywas a very hyperson, utwhen eoplenoticedmy eriousnessndapplica-tion o work hey ooperated ithme. felt hatimpression anagement,mage uilding,nd so-cialengineeringfrelationshipsad omeplace nmy ife,butmyauthenticity,enuineness,ndhonestylayed major ole n ecuringualitativedata.8. ResearchExperienceOne ofthefirstew xercises conducted astocollect enealogiesf thepeople.Thisforcedmetovisitmany ouses nthevillage. drew p gene-alogies othedepth feight enerationsnsomecases.Thisprovidednoccasion ormutualntro-ductionetweenhevillagersndmyself.eneal-ogiesprovidedmean dea of hekinshipetworksinthevillagewithinachcaste.The genealogicalxercises lso showed hatgenerallyhere re two ategoriesf nformationinanyvillage etting. ne ispublic ndtheotherconfidential.hepublicnformationas vailablerelativelyasily ome, newcomer,ecause, irst,everybodynew tand,second, twas harmless.For nstance, howaswho n he illage, hoheldwhat osition,ndwhowasrelated owhom. en-erally eoplepartedwithuch nformationomewithout uch uss. heconfidentialategoryf n-formationricklednat a later tagewhen uffi-cient apport asestablishedetweenme andtheinformants.o, began ygatheringublic atego-ry nformation.

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Becoming MarginalNative 131tive ouseholdensus sing schedule ithboutthirtyolumns. omeof thecolumnswerecon-cerned ithmore ensitivetems uch sonwershipof and nddegree f ndebtedness.hesequeriesraised eople's uspicionsndtherewas a greatdangerhat hey luffed ith hefigures. ll thesame, noteddown thefiguresnd eventuallycross-checkedith he and ecordsmaintainedythevillageccountant.coveredvery ouseholdin thevillagenmy ensus.Thisafforded e agreat pportunityor stablishingapport ithhepeople.One ncident hile akinghehouseholden-suswasmemorable.entered house,ntroducedmyself,ndexplainedmy esearchnterests.heman, tough hakor, latlyefusedorespondmyqueries. You willnot get anythingere. Goaway." mbarrasseds I was, tried oexplainttohim ncemorewith mphasisn theharmlessnature fmywork.Buthewasunmoved. sawpeople smiling ll aroundme and the crowdswelled. stood here, ot ttemptingoexplainthirdime utwaitingor omethingohappen.Well, his hakor's atherameout of thehouseandratherrudginglyatwithme to answermyqueries.twasmuchaterhat was ofind ut hatthis amilyas oneofthe hreemost otoriousnDhoria.Theold manwasa convictedriminalftheGaikwadira.Thoughld,hewas till hemas-ter rain ehindmanyf henotorietiesommittedby heThakorsn thevillage. his ameman t alatertagewent utofhisway obefriend eandinsistednmy ccompanyingim n hishorsebacktoweddingsndso on.Incidents f noncooperationike the oneabove eftmedepressed. ut ncoolermomentsrealizedhat ot llvillagers ould espondomyenquiriesquallywarmly. t times henonre-sponsendnonflowfdatamademequestionmyownpersonaldequacy. utonceagain n coolermomentsrealizedhatwhile heremighte ele-mentsfpersonalnadequacynwooing espon-dents,heproblemmightlso ie with he espon-dents. espondentsith riminalistoryerhapslinkedmewith he nvestigatorsf thepolicede-partment.had omake ffortsoconvertostilityintofriendlinesss it happened n the case ofthenotorioushakorwho ventuallyecamemyfriend.In thenitialtage fmy ieldworkeoplegen-erallyolunteeredopartwith ublic ategoryn-formation,ut tusuallyncludedn embellishedpicturef he illage,n dealvillage, herevery-thing entnaccordingonormsetdown orRa-marajyaHinduUtopia). wasobviouslyot atis-

fiedwith hisnformation,ut hepeople houghtotherwise.fterbout womonths fstaynthevillage numberfpeopleaskedmewhy washanginground nthevillage espite avingol-lected nough ata tofill t east wobooks Thevillagerssked hequestion ecause hey elt n-comfortablehatwithhe engtheningfmy taywould iscoverhe ther ide fvillageifeocare-fully idden romme.9. Participant bserverIwas s twere, ryingo"film"he ife f he eo-ple n ll ts arietyy ryingocapturet nmy ia-ries. I keptdiariesof day-to-dayappenings,events,ituals,eremonies,tc.Asfar spossiblewaswhere he ctionwas listeningopeople, ndelicitingheiriews,ttitudes,ndnorms fbehav-iour.Participantbservation asthemainmethodI used oobtainmy ata. became smuchspos-sible member f thegroup wasstudying,ndparticipatedullyn ts ocial ife.Hence partici-pated nsocial andritual vents ndagriculturalactivities.held ormalnd nformaliscussions.hunground tkey potsnthevillagewhere eo-plewere ikelyogatheror hit-chat.While ayinghat tookpartnthe ife f hecommunity,must asten o add that kept utoffactionalightshatmighteopardizemy esearchinterests.eoplearealways ivided nto ntago-nisticroupsnd t sonly aturalhat negrouprthe ther ries o winyou ver o ts ide. dentifi-cationwithnegroup an alienate he ieldworkerfrom nother. nemay lsoburn ne'sfingersfone snot areful. or nstance,ensions ere ag-ingbetween wofactionsmong he choolteach-ers n Dhoria. could ee the tormoming. heheadmasterskedme o ntervene ithhehelp fthevillage lders. excusedmyselfyfranklyell-inghimmy ilemma.Yousee, quite ympathizewithhe ituationnthe chool ut am guest ortwo ays.f say omethingwill e accused f id-ingwith particularroup. orthenature fmyresearch ork need he ooperationf ll. hopeyouwillkindlyxcuseme." The manunderstoodmy roblemnd lefthe chool. he storm rokeout nthe chool ndthevillage lderswere eenrushinghere oquieten he wo ides.

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132 Lancy obo10. Spy- Identity TensionThereweremanyourcesf ensionsorme.First,livingn omeone's ouse ffected y rivacy.hethoughtfmeetinghe xpectationsfhostswhowere igidnmanywaysweighedmedown. ec-ond, ustas I wasobservinghepeoples'behav-iour, owere heybserving y ehaviour.eingin anotherulture asto a great xtentimilarobeing fishutofwater. was tthe entre f hestage nd lwaysnthepublic ye, ndthis ener-ated ensionn me.Mydilemma as: f were osetupmyown house n thevillage, o doubtwould avemomentsfprivacy,utbynot ivingin household would reatly iss he ncultura-tionn he ulture ndertudy.he nside iew fcultureanperhaps e best btainedy iving itha household.Another ource of tensionwas the "spy"problem.ven fterwomonthsfmy tayn thevillageome ersons erenot onvincedf hebo-na fidesfmy esearchurposes.ome mongheThakors onsideredme a spyfrom hegovern-ment. hefact hat hevillage ad historyfvio-lent rime nd hat here ere few ersons istill-ingllicitiquor ggravatedheThakors'uspicionsaboutmy resence. tayingna Patel'shousewhowasnot ngoodtermswith omeThakors aveeven reaterredence o their ears. hey houghtthePatelshadplantedme nthevillagewith heconnivancef thepolice.For few atelsmyChristianffiliationasacauseofgrave uspicion.n theearly tages ffieldworkime ndagainmyhost ried o fish utfromme nformationoncerninghemissionariesstationednKaloltown,withhe ntentionffind-ing ut f wason a mission. nenight egot n-noyed ithmeand ccusedmeofhidingrom immyknowledgef thesemissionaries. hentheselfsame ostvisitedAhmedabad, e made t apointocome ver omy ostelNewman all) norder oglean ome"incriminating"nformationaboutmyinkagewith hemissionaries.Myhostnever ailed o openmymail thatcame othevillage. he mail ncidentallyasonlyfrommy esearchupervisornDelhiUniversity,inenvelopesmarkedOn IndiaGovernmenter-vice." The letterswere n English ndmyhostmademetranslatehem orhim.Onceduringmyabsence ehad akenmyettero Kaditaluka en-tre nd hadittranslated. couldhardlymakeashow f esentment,r ducate imn he inerti-quette fmy ulturehat nedoes not pen ome-one's etters.ortunatelyhe bove ctofmyhosthad a positive lement. incehe foundnothing

objectionablen theletters, is suspicionsub-sided.Oncemyhost nd met he choolheadmas-ter, Wankarmemberf anuntouchableaste)from heneighbouringillage.The headmastertoldme hat he eputyromheKalolmission adcome o him fferingo start high chool n thearea,butheturned own he ffer. e added, Nodoubt he missionarieso goodeducationalndhealth,workut heylsoconverteople.Convert-ing eople romheHindu old s a gravein.Evenhelpinghemissionariesnspreadingheir et s agravein. have ivedmyifewell.Now nthe aststages do notwant o commituch sin o et hemissionariesaveentrynthis rea."Afterbout hreemonthsfmytayn he il-lage,when wasawaynAhmedabad,n ncidenttookplace nthevillage, boutwhich came toknownmy eturn. n old ady addied nDhoriaand her relatives ad cometo paytheir ondo-lences.One among hemwasa Rastriya wayamSevak a rightistindu rganisation)ctivist. ecametoknow fmyprolonged resencenDho-ria.He floated rumour,Be carefulbout he e-searcher. ewill ndup preachingis eligion."tseemsmyPatelhostdefendedme,"He has beenhere or he ast hreemonthsndhas not pokenofhis eligiont all."Then he ctivistold he il-lagers nothertory:In a village nowno me aChristian ad come to do research ork orhisPh. D. butwithinshortime ebegan reachinghisreligion.hevillagerseat himupand threwhim ut."When returnedo thevillage confrontedcoldfacesn hePatel treet. few riendsfminecameover ndtoldme about he ncident. rad-ually few atel eaders isclosed heir ears. heworsewas tocomefrom P'swife, deeply eli-giousperson,whowasupset. heaskedherhus-band oclear herumours. took hewhole hingcoolly,ried o aught way, nd old hem,Youknowbestthat have comehere o do researchwork ndnothinglse."AP said, I know t all."Buthiswifewasnot atisfied.hefollowingorn-ingduringur easession he skedme f under-stood he mplicationsf he ccusation hen hesaid, Wehavegiven ou ntrynthis illagendaccommodationnourhouse.Hopeyoukeepourlaaj (good name)bynotpreaching our eligion.Why hould hemissonariesivemoneyndcon-vert eople? fyouhavemoremoney, ive t tome." I assured er hat didnothave toomuchmoneynd understoodll that he aid.Shewasquietened.

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Becoming MarginalNative 133that spokenmy leep. wasdeeplynvolvedndilemma.f had declared ightnthebeginningthatwas missionary,would avenot asily otentryn ny orth ujarat illage.My trategyasto revealmymissionaryffiliationradually,.e.,as andwhen hevillagersame oacceptme. didthis ecause thoughthat must e constantlyaware fmyselfs a socialscientist,ndpeopleshouldcceptme s such ecause havegone herepurelyfor academic and scientific urposes.Therefore,henon-revelationfmymissionaryidentityn thebeginningas a matter fstrategyfor urtheringyresearchnterprise.lso,as amatterf trategy,showed o excessiventerestin reas ike eligionnthe nitialtages,est heirvague uspicionsboutmy inkagewith he mis-sionariese confirmed.Thus heresnodenyinghe act hatmyden-tity roblem ave rise to conflict nd tension,which dded o the ther ources ftensionmen-tionedarlier.haring y xperiencesith riendsatNewman all n Ahmedabadromime o timehelped elieve omeofmy ension.11. SignsofAcceptanceIn the nitialtages f fieldworkhevillage olkpainted beautiful icture f theirvillage.Tomatch itht nd o convincemethey utupwhatiscalled ehearsedehaviour.ut stimewore ffthe nrehearsedehaviourndthehiddenideoffolkife egan o surface. consideredt a land-marknmy esearchhe ay observedignsfun-rehearsed ehaviour.f people could be them-selves eforeme and couldbe myself,tmeanttherewasmutualcceptance.One earlymorningt the end of mytwomonths'tayn he illage,waswoken pbynoiseandcries n theneighbourhood.he Patel nextdoorwasmercilesslyeating isrickety ife, c-companiedyfoulwords.As I cameout of thehouse numberfneighbourserewatchinghe"show."Someofthemwerevisiblymbarrassedthatuch thinghould akeplace ntheir illageand hatoo n he atel treet.Mypresencen thespot adnodeterringnfluencenthewife-beater.Hemerrilyarriedn the show." wasdistressedby he ight. owever, alsofelthappy," otbe-causehewasbeating iswife utbecausemy res-encedidnot other im. twas ymbolicfmy e-ing ne of them. uring heremainingeriod fmy ieldwork,he ameman ook owife-beatingatregularntervals.erbalduels, nd discussionsof he eamyide fvillageifewere ndertakenn

my resence ithoutnynhibitions.felt ccept-ed intheir niverse.How didmy ostess ideher mbarrassementregardinghe ncident fwife-beating?LaunciBhai," he aid, don'tyougetmarried.therwiseyouwillhave nyour amilyhedramayou ustnow sawenacted."She repeated his njunctionwheneverheneighbourook owife-beating.as-suredmyhostess, I reallydid not entertainthoughtsfmarryingnthenearfuture,efinitelynotbeforemy h. D. wasover, ecausemarriageandresearchonotgotogether."houghhe awthepoint,he peculatednmy ehalf.Willyoumarry Gujarati irl? ouhave lreadyearntheGujaratianguage. ou also ikeGujarati ishes,andsinceyoudon'tknowhowtocook,youwillneed omeone o cook. Willyou nvite stoyournativeplace foryourweddingf you marriedthere?"Generally, woman ccompanyingerhus-band rany thermaleonthepillion f scooterormotorcycleets fftthe ntrancef he illageandwalks othehomewhile hemalerider rivesroaringpto t. Shedoesthis utofdeferenceothevillage ormsmaryada). nedaywhen wasgetting eady o ridemymobike ffDhoria toAhmedabad, P'swife aidshewould omewithme toherbrother-in-law'slace nAhmedabad.enquiredf he would itonthebikerightnthePatel treetr shouldwait or er t he xit f hevillage. hesaid, RightnthePatel treet."wassurprisedtthe bilityf anorthodox oman oaccommodate.While haveoutlined hetrails ndtribula-tions f ieldwork,mustmentionhewarmthre-ceivedfrom number fpeople. gratefullye-member hepeoplewho oughtmy ompany,n-vitedmeverywarmlyoteaand ocial vents,ndtook timeout withme leaving sidetheir wnwork. n particular,herewas PashaKaka whoproudlyntroduced e omanyfhisguestssonewhowouldwrite bookonDhoria illagesbig sthe picRamayana. herewere ld adieswho n-vitedme tositnext o them n their otand en-quired boutmywell-beingffectionately.herewere hildren ho ikedmy ompany.herewereyouthsf hevillagewhowould olunteernsolic-ited saucy" nd"juicy" nformationnthe ob-jectionable"reas fvillageife. heywould edu-cate" me in mattersexual withbawdy okes.Therewereyoung irlswhonudgedmefor heirphotographs.t thrilled etoknow romhebe-haviourmanifestationsf thepeopleofall ages,castes, nd also sexesthat had become n in-sider.

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134 Lancy obo12. The AccidentsI sufferedhree ccidents uringmyfieldwork:One, fall romhe adder; he econd, dog-bite,and the hird, mobike ccident n thenationalhighway.AP wasanimpatient an ikemyself.Whenhecalled ut o metogoto nterviewperipateticentertainerhohad andednthevillage, rusheddown he taircase,lipped, ell nbyhaunches,andblacked utfor while.AP later oldmethatseeingmy yeballs ollingather ildlyegot an-ickyndheldme for while.Atthatmoment,tseems, caught is hands o tightlyhathe feltmore anicky.hemoment ewas hakingimselffree rommy rip, heblackout assed way.Hisfright,s he okinglyoldme,waspartlyecauseheconnected y allwith ismother-in-lawhowasonherdeathbednhervillage. hemayhavedied and was perhaps ryingo clutch t himthrough ymediation ater n itwas found utthathediddieapproximatelyround he ime fmy all

One afternoonwasplanningo go to thetempleourt ardwithmy ag,paper, ndpencil.As I wassettingut ofmy treet dogwith nejump ook bite ffmy ant ndtore hrough yflesh. hismeantmy ushingotake even ntira-bies injectionst Vadilal SarabhaiHospital nAhmedabad.When returnedoDhoria, n nter-esting iscussionollowednthePatel treet.Myhosthowed lot f ympathyor he og.Hegavea sermon: It is a dog'sprofessionokeepwatchand tsnatureobite.Well,hemay ot ite or hesecond ime ... Well,oneshould efriendogsbyfeedinghemvery ay. t s a grave in o killdogs.Thedog s less ntelligentomparedohu-man eings.Weshouldakemore are othat ogsdon'tbiteus."Feeding ogs sa religiousitual. otonly omanyillagerseed ogs very ay,but heresal-so an elaboratenstitutionalledVelnoRotlo nthis art fnorth ujarat. n a village omeonetakes he nitiativeomake omehouseholdson-tributecouple f addusballs f weets) rrotlis(bread) nanappointeday, ndhasthemarriedover othenext illage y heKumbharPotter),anddistributedothedogs here. henext illagefixes day ndrepeatshe ameonto a third il-lage.Thechain oesonuntilomeone lansnot ocarrytforward.uringmy taynDhoriatwicesuch hainwas nitiatednDhoria.Violence o animalss abhorredmong heupper astes.Old cowsandbulls resent othe

panjrapol, sylumor ld andunserviceableni-mals. f nakes refound ithinhe esidentialitetheyregentlyicked pandthrownutsidehevillagehabitat. ut theThakors ndother owercasteshavetheir wn deas,and nowonder hehigherastes allthem rave inners.I got mobike ormy seafter ourmonthsffieldwork.incetheday got ttherewasa re-markable hange n somevillagers'ttitude o-wardsme.My tatus ent p n heirstimation.numberfpeople,especiallyhosewho hadde-clined o spend imewithme,startedomingome.Once gave lifto heRama emple riestnmymotorcycleromhoria oAhmedabad.Whilenegotiating road bend the oncoming ruckknocked sdown.Thepriest ad ome uperficialbruises nwhich e appliedkerosene il. I sus-tained collarboneracture. hen gotbacktothevillage fter hreeweeks was toldthat hetime left hevillage nmymobikewas12noon,an inauspiciousime. omeonehadalsohearddonkeyrayingtthe ame ime. f donkey rayswhen ne ets utforome oodwork,t s consid-ered nauspicious.

The misfortunefbeing maleresearcherand, hat oo, neligible achelorsthe ack f c-cess ovillagewomen. eing bit hy ynature,was omewhatistancedromoungeromen.n-teraction ithwomen snecessaryor hey, felt,aregreaterepositoriesf raditionalulturen n-dianvillageshan hemales.Thevillagershem-selves ointedut, LaunciBhai,you hould avea 'female artner'whocoulddeal withwomenwhileyoudealwithmen."Thepoint sthat s afieldworkerhad ofunctionithin yimitationsandmake he est f bad ituationcf. hah 979:31ff.).However, heolder adies,whoembodythewholenessf heirraditionalulture, ere c-cessibleome, nd feltafe ntheirompanyormypublicmage.13. TheActiveResearch eriodQualitativeatawhich eremore ertinentomyresearchroblem egan o flow fterhepeoplehad acceptedme and myresearch lans.Thewords pertinent"nd"problem"houldnotbemisleading.here resome cholarswho abourunderhedea hat,ust sscientistsoto heirab-oratoriesndtest heir ypotheses,n thesameway, or nanthropologisthe illageshis abora-

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Becoming MarginalNative 135tory nd people are hisobjects. Far from t. Theanthropologist'spproach,though cientific,s al-so human. placed myselfn humanbehaviouralsituations,bserved ndrecordedpeople's behav-iour,attemptedo make sense out of it.

During he ctiveresearch eriod soughtnotso much to test the ideas I had broughtwithmefrom utside s toexplorethecategories, rienta-tions,values, and normsof the community fwhich had become a part.While the economistwhoreliesmostlynquantitative ata could marchto thevillageswith neatbundleofhypothesesndproblems,heanthropologistnmany ases has togo initially ith hemostgeneral nd vague ideasabouttheproblemshewishes ostudy.This s notnecessarily disadvantage.The pertinent ues-tions rproblems an bestbe formulatednly fteronehasgonefairly eep into he ocialand culturallifeof the community nderstudy see Bteille1975: 100).The tworealms hat truckme as particularlyimportanturing heactiveresearchperiodwerethose fconflictingntergroupelations nd ofreli-gion.Boththeserealmswererather ensitive ndcame underthecategory f qualitativeresearch.Atthe tageof activeresearch did not haveto beworried bout the anxietieswhichplaguedme inthe nitial tage,namely hoseofprojecting "niceguy" mage,ofnothurtingnyone, tc. I wasmy-self o a verygreat xtent t this tage,because Ihad cultivated numberof good informantse-longing o differentastes and classes.Thefirstdjustment had tomakeduring heactive esearch eriodwas tochangemyresidencefrom he Patel's house. Though the villagewassupposed oform community,herewere nvisi-ble walls whichdid not permitfree interactionamong tsmembers. aste cleavagesandhierarchyprohibited ree nteraction. he lowercastes likeThakors,Rabaris,Kumbhars,Ravals, andHarijancastes could not easily get into a Patel's house.Meeting nthefields, oads,or streetswasanothermatter.While neededto be in touchwith ll, rre-spective fcaste,people couldnot cometo see mewith ase nor could I evercall themto thehousewhere was residing. was getting isturbed verthefact hatAP and hiswifedid not likevisitorscomingnto hehouse. So, I felt hat tayingongertherewould ervenopurpose, ndthereforeeganlooking for an alternativeplace for my resi-dence.Letmefirstnswer hequestion s tohow re-paidmyhosts. n thebeginning was insistentnknowing owmuch shouldpay perday. I said Iwouldbe veryhappytopaybecause I was getting

my scholarshipwhichwas handsomeby villagestandards.Both AP and hiswifedeclinedrepeat-edlyto answermyquery."We are Patels,knownfor urhospitality,"hey aid. I made ita point ofind ut f heywouldappreciate omethingn kindas a return or heir eneroushospitality. heydidappreciate a wall-clockwhose chimes could beheard n thewholePatel street.There have been times whenMP, theAP'syounger rotherecturingnAhmedabad,congrat-ulated me formy djustment bilities this broth-er'splace. He said: "Theyare toughpeople. Theydon't ikeguests ormorethan hree ays.Butyouhad survived or uite long." Perhaps couldstayfive ong months t AP's house, partlybecausethey ikedme, and partly ecause I keptthem ngood humourby taking omething r the other(vegetables, weets,etc.) on myreturn o the vil-lage fromAhmedabad. I had taken care not tocause any rritationothem.Yet I felt twould bebetter orme to get awaybefore heygottired fentertainingme. I was happythat suchdevelop-mentsdid takeplace.The alternative laces forresidencewere:theschoolroom, hetempleroom, roomattached othetube-well, nd a room n a Thakorhouse. I se-lected he chool as itwas a neutral onewhere nycaste could freely pproachme. I laterrealizedthat hiswasthemost ensibledecision took.Thetempleroom was not accessible to lowercastes.The roomattachedto the tube-wellbelongedtothePatels, and theThakors would not thereforeenter teasily.Stayingwith Thakorwould alien-atemefrom thers incetheThakorsweresplit n-to a number fgroups mongthemselves.Whenstayedat theschool, a village potter uppliedmemeals and tea. The potter, hough f owercaste,was acceptableto the Patels.I changedmyresidenceat the beginning fsummer. he time pentunder heasbestosroof ftheschoolwasmost rying. he foodwas worse.used tofinishating nfiveminutes. ut nterms fdata collection hisperiodwas extremely ich. twas thetimeofweddings.People were relativelyfree o come tome. I had extensiveguided nter-views on religion,caste, marriage,worldview,family,education, urbanization,social change,etc. couldnowfocusmy nvestigationn theTha-korsandother owercastesrather han hePatels.My movementswithPatels, therefore, emainedlimited nd I spentthe bulk ofmytimewith heThakors,theservicecastes, and theuntouchablecastes. invitedmyselfor ny vent ntheir omeswhichwas significantormy tudy.Theytook realdelightn explaining o me what wanted. There

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136 Lancy obowere focused interviews, epth interviews,cross-questioning,ross-checking,tc.Duringhisactive esearcheriodwasfree f he ear fhurt-ingthemwithmyquestions, emarks,tc. Attimes,when felt hat herespondent as side-trackingrdeliberatelyttemptingot odivulgethe nformationhat sought, hadtouse "bul-lyingactics,"fcourse, ery actfully.14. The SummerHighlightsThe summerighlightedwo spects fthe ife fthevillage, irst,hereligiousctivities,nd sec-ond, he vertntra-nd nter-casteonflict. hereligiousspectof the ifeof middle nd lowercastesbecame onspicuous uringhis eason asthebhuvasoracles) ame o ife. he ineage od-dessanda hostof othergoddesseswerepropi-tiated. hepropitiationessionswere alleddak-lunorderasarun. aklun s a percussionnstru-ment sed nvariablyor hederasarun hen hebhuva eganvibratings if n a trance. eopleasked im uestionsbout heir oubtsndmisfor-tunes. hey at hewhole ightnd ometimeshefollowingaytoo. I counted 0 bhuvas, o lessthan 8conspicuoushrines,ndmanymore n-conspicuoushrines,.g., thoseunder rees ndbushes. necouldnot ut estrucky he ogic ffolk induismn ontrastith anskritrBrahmi-nicHinduism.he structuralasis ofHinduism,i.e.,caste ivisionsndhierarchy,asreflectednthe ivisionndhierarchymong ods, oddesses,ghosts,oblins,ndspirits.herewerepure an-skriticoddessesuch s Saraswati ndLakshmiworshippedore y heupper astes, ndthe m-pure nes uch s Meladi,Jogni, heher, adak-vai,Rangni orshippedy he ower astes. nbe-tweenhe ure nd hempure ereAmbaji,Kho-diyar,ndBahucharaji howere riginallyocal,impureoddessesemandingloodyacrificesuthavenowbeen levated othe tatus fpuregod-desses nd are henceworshipped ytheuppercastes oo.Whiletwas nterestingonote his is-tinction,neshouldnotbe carriedwayby t ei-ther. atels nd other pper astes aidthat heydid notpayobeisance o impure oddesses, utwhen alamity,ickness,ndtragedytruckhemtheynvariablyaidobeisance othem.My tten-dance tmany essions fderasarun fdiagnos-ing nd xorcizinghe piritseft deep mpressiononme.The econd spect fvillageife hattruck eduringhe ummer asovert onflict.horiahada longhistoryf ntercasteonflict,speciallye-

tweenPatels and Thakors, he twocompetingcastes of northGujarat.Both are agriculturalcastes, ut he atels oldmore and ndhave lsointherecent ast replaced heVaniyas s shop-keepers ndmoneylendersnMehesanadistrict.TheThakorseing umericallytrongernmodernelectoral olitics avebeen ble toemergenthepolitical latformndposea threat o thePatels.Fordecades hese wo asteshavebeen t ogger-heads, heallegationeing hat heThakors,n-stead ofearningheirivelihood,natch tfromothers, speciallyhePatels. The celebrationfHoli hasbeendiscontinuednd nstead ne seesthe olice ost tDhoria, ecause rivateevengeusuallyurfacesndtakes ts ollduring oli.Onseveraloccasions heState ReservePolice waspostednDhoria tthe nstance f hePatelswhoallegedhat hakors erendulgingn rop-lifting.I recorded number fviolent ightshat ookplacebetweenhese wo astes.Manymembersfthese asteswere aken othepolice, s the rimeregisterf this illageying ith hepolice ubin-spector'sffice tthetaluka entreestified.t issaidthat hePatels re onthereceivingndthesedays ndunder ery reat ressureromheTha-kors.The Patels nthevillage ry ndavoidtheThakorsven hysically.any atels ftenhangetheir outef hey ee a Thakor omingromheopposite irection.he Patelshavegiven o theThakors numberf abelswhich eveal heireepseated antagonism.or example,behind heirbacks he atels all he hakorsVaina" Varna),which s derived rom arnasankara eaningn-termixturefraces.What hePatelsmean s thatThakorsre"bastards."t s a loaded ermwhichsignifiesllthats ow,mean, ncouth,ncultured,uncivilized,tc.Time andagain Patelusestheword sanskariuncultured)hile eferringotheThakors.Inthe astGram anchayatlection Thakorbecame sarpanchor hefirstime nthehistoryofthevillage.The Patelsdeeply esent his ndvent heir itternesshenever n occasionpro-vides tself.Theintra-casteonflicturfacednfull orceduringheweddingeason. wasunder he m-pressionhat f herewasconflictetweenastestheremust e at east ntra-castenity. hewed-ding eason onfirmedtherwise.tcalledfor n-tense ocialrelations, hich nturn ot sserted,confirmed,nd reinforced. ost of theprivatequarrels,riginatingrom amily artition,and,jewellery,ndother roperty,ndfightsn ac-count fwomen ndchildren,urfaceduringhisseason.Loudandnoisy erbal uelswere heor-

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Becoming Marginal ative 137der f he ay ndnight.ometimeseacewasre-storednd a settlementrrived tthroughhe n-terventionf aste lders.At times eoplebelong-ing o notherastewere alledn o ntervene. ocastewas an exception. ach caste had its ownquotaofquarrels etween rothers,ncles, ar-ents,ndwhat ot.ThoughheThakors elongedto the same ineagegroup herewereclear-cutgroupsccordingotheirineage egments.herewereno essthan welvemajor roups mong heThakors,ndtowork ut heir lliances ndcom-binations,nclusionsnd exclusions as ike olv-ing riddle.Theweddingeason rovidednexcellentp-portunityor tudyinghe nternalrganizationfThakors. y nternalrganizationmean heun-derlyingrinciplesn whichhe nstitutionfmar-riagemonghemsorganized,iz. clan xogamy,hierarchyf lans, ride-price,hedirectionlongwhich hewomenravelo and from horia, ndofcourse heirmarriageustomsnd rituals.15. ConclusionThe ast ay fmy ieldworknDhoriawaspainfulandemotional. ver he ime, rom n outsiderhadbecomen nsider,memberf neparticularhouseholdswell s amemberf he illage. ela-tionshipserebuilt uringheyear nd hadsomany haisbrothers),ahenssisters), akasfa-ther's rothers),adas grandfathers),nd dadis(grandmothers).hadgone hroughnexperiencewherebyoldrelationsecamewarmnthe ourseoftheyear.Formost f thevillage olks was abhaibrother),or ome wasa saheb sir),forfewmastera schoolteacher),ndformany Tha-korwomen remained photographer.Letme concludewith nswers o questionssuch swhatwas t ikedoing ieldwork?t nclud-ed feelingsffrustration,ears, opesand sola-tion, senseofpersonalnadequacyn theonehandand exciting erformancesnd euphoricheightsn theother.Thenext uestionwas:How did do field-work? had a researchesign ut couldnotfol-low tupmechanicallyn thefield. had to meetmanyventualitiesndthis alled or lotofpres-ence fmindteveryurnf vents. otbeingnpositionfpower ndstrengthutbeing recipi-ent nd earner, hadtomaintain delicate al-ance frelations ithhevillage olks. was uckyto have hese olks eing oodtome n so manyways.Morethan he rtisticesearchesign,t sthe ersonnmewhomattered oren he uccess

offieldwork.yactions ndbehaviourttractedorrepelled eople swell s nformation.ymen-talframework,iz.,receptivityndabilityode-code anddiscernhe nformationountedmuchnthequality fthedata I gathered.n a waythemeaningf hedata s ntrinsicallyonnected iththemannernwhichheyre ollected.hat soneof he easonswhy have tatedome fmy ield-work xperiencesnthis aper.

As a postscriptmust asten oadd that ftermyfieldworknDhoria n 1982-83, havekeptregularontacts ith horia hroughisitsnd et-ters. regularlyeceiveetters rom horiacon-taininghenews boutmy illage. am nformedabout eathsn he illagend nvitedoweddings.I hadnohesitationnchoosing horiafor ield-work or subsequenttudyn"Social ndCultur-alSupportsorheAgingnRuralndia."Over heyears he bondsbetweenDhoriawallas nd mehavegrown armer.heir nowledgefmy einga missionaryocial cientisto ongeromes ntheway four relations.This aper as riginallyirculatedn mimeographedformy he entreorocial tudies,urat. amgrate-ful oProf. .M. Shah or is etailedommentshichhave elpedme orevisehe aper.ReferencesitedAlexander,. C.1967 The Problem ftheNeo-ChristiansfKerala.Man nIndia 7: 317-330.Bteille, ndr1975 Trials ndTribulationsf ieldwork.n: A. Bteille ndT. N. Madan eds.),EncounterndExperience.elhi:VikasPublishingouse.Bhatt, harat .1980 India nd ndianRegions. Critical verview.n: D.

Sophered.),AnExplorationf ndia;pp.35-61. on-don:Longman.Frelich, . (ed.)1970 MarginalativesAnthropologiststWorkNewYorkHarpernd Row.Kananaikil,ose1986 Scheduled asteConvertsnSearch f JusticentheHalls of the SupremeCourts. Social Action 36:101-107.Lemercinier,enevive1981 TheEffectf he aste ystemnConversionsoChris-tianitynTamilnadu.ocialCompass 8:237-268.Lobo,Lancy1981 TheAgrariantructuref Mehesana rant fBaroda

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138 Lancy oboState 860-1920.M.Phil, issertation,resentedo heDepartmentfSociology,elhi School fEconomics,DelhiUniversity]

Shah,A. M.1979 StudyinghePresent ndthePast. n: M. N. Srinivas,

A. M. Shah, nd E. A. Ramaswamyeds.),Fieldwor-ker nd theField.Delhi:Oxford niversityress.Wilson,K.1982 The Twice Alienated:Culture f Dalit Christians.Hyderabad:ooklinksorporation.

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becoming a marginal native

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