Knowing Dil Das: Stories of a Himalayan Hunter

212 Pages·1999·13.489 MB·English

by  Joseph S. Alter

Knowing Dil Das
Contemporary Ethnography
Series Editors
Dan Rose
Paul Stoller
A complete listof books in the series
is available from the publisher.
Knowing Dil Das
Stories of a Himalayan Hunter
Joseph S. Alter
PENN
UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
Philadelphia
Copyright©2000UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
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UniversityofPennsylvaniaPress
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Alter,JosephS.
KnowingDilDas:storiesofaHimalayanhunter/JosephS.Alter.
p. cm. - (Contemporaryethnography)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-8122-3524-X(cloth:alk. paper). - ISBN0-8122-1712-8(paper:alk. paper).
1.Ethnology-India-Garhwal. 2.Das,Dil,d.1986. 3.Garhwal(India)Biography.
4.Cultureconflict-India-Garhwal. 5.Friendship-India-Garhwal. 6.Hunters
India-GarhwalBiography. I.Title. II.Series.
GN635.I4A727 1999
305.8'00954- dc21 99-32283
CIP
For Gerry
and
for Betsy
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In other words, is there a mythology of the mythologist? No doubt,
and the reader will easily see where I stand. But to tell the truth, I
don't think that this is quite the right way ofstating the problem. "De
mystification"-touse awordwhichisbeginningtoshowsignsofwear
isnotanOlympianoperation.WhatImeanis thatIcannotcountenance
the traditional beliefwhich postulates a natural dichotomybetween the
objectivity of the scientist and the subjectivity of the writer, as if the
former were endowedwith a "freedom" and the latterwith a "vocation"
equally suitable for spiriting away or sublimating the actual limitations
oftheir situation.What I claim is to live to the full the contradiction of
my time, which maywell make sarcasm the condition oftruth.
-RolandBarthes, Mythologies, tr. Lavers, 1957 [1972], p. 12
No onewilldenythatin questionsofhistoric authenticityhearsaydoes
not equal eye-witness; for in the latter the eye of the observer appre
hends the substanceofthatwhich is observed, bothin timewhen and in
the place where it exists, whilst hearsay has its peculiar drawbacks. But
for these, it would even be preferable to eye-witness; for the object of
eye-witnesscan onlybe actualmomentaryexistence, whilst hearsaycom
prehends alike the present, the past, and the future, so as to apply in a
certain sense both to that which is and to that which is not (i.e., which
either has ceased to exist or has not yet come into existence). Written
traditionis one ofthe speciesofhearsay-we mightalmost say, the most
preferable. How could we know the history ofnations but for the ever
lasting monuments ofthe pen?
-Alberuni, Alberuni'sIndia, tr. EdwardSachau, 1030 [1964], p. 3
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Contents
Preface xi
PartI. BalKand / TheBookofChildhood
Chapter1. Dil Das-Enslaved Heart 3
Chapter 2.Woodstock School: Protestants, Peasants,
and Ethics 10
Chapter3. ATiger'sTale 28
PartII.AranyaKand / The ForestBook
Chapter 4. Coapman's Fall 37
Chapter5. Hearts ofDarkness 67
Chapter6. Land Masters: Purebred History 83
PartIII. ShramKand / TheBookofLabor
Chapter7. Dairying: AnUntold Story 89
Chapter 8. Slippage: Out ofWork,Through Hunting 116
Chapter 9.TheTerms ofFriendship 135
PartIV.Uttarkhand / Himalaya
Chapter10.The Heartofthe Matter 143
Chapter 11. AHybrid History ofEncounter 165