River Town Chronicles (15 page)

I found both of these trends in Anthropology (the analytical and the activist) to be of little help in navigating the realities of River Town. The analytical approach wasn't of much use because River Town was too complex in terms of caste relations, languages and religious beliefs to be contained within a single, all encompassing theory. As far as dismissing the concept of culture in favor of a coming egalitarian political or social order, one had only to stand in a crowd in River Town trying to explain western concepts of marriage and the family to realize that what one (the anthropologist, in this case) assumes to be self-evident truths turn out to be fuzzy thinking from the point of view of others who hold a different set of what they consider to be self-evident truths. So it is with these opposing viewpoints within Anthropology in mind that I decided to throw out the debates and present, instead, what I experienced in the form of a chronicle of the people, places and events of River Town.

Forty years later, I realize that my biggest regret is having lost contact over the years with Ram Swarup,
bhabhi,
their children and other friends in River Town including Kaga and the
mochi.
My chronicles are nothing more than an account of the time Pat, Tim, Brian, Lori and I were graced with the opportunity to live amongst them and experience the pleasures and perils of River Town with them.