|
||
| This week had a few highly spectacular events and ended with a relaxing break from
the village to take care of some business in Islamabad. I continued my web searching with some Bhalotis and we seem to be getting beyond some of the novelty of the medium and people are requesting serious work related information: seed varieties and prices. I sent a few emails for one of the zamindars but do not expect any response over the Christmas/New Year's holiday. I am not intending to put PARC out of business but we are trying to open a dialogue with a British seed distributor. The highlight of the week has to be the falcon hunt. I am not ordinarily a fan of hunting and I cannot really say I ever enjoy seeing any animals die-- however participating in the hunt was exciting and very educational for me. We took two falcons and two dogs to hunt fot theetr (partridge). I am forbidden to say how many we caught-- the distribution of said theetr is a point of contention among the cousins in the Malik family. One of the priniciple zamindar told me I should get two theetr-- as yet I am still waiting. We left around 9:00 in the morning and first attended a grieving session in one of the villager's homes-- sadly his 17 year old son had died the previous day. It was moving to see the courtyard filled with friends and family all gathered together to wish the family their condolences. I was told that the courtyard will remain populated with visitors for forty days. The hunt lasted all day. It was tiring and hot but, as I say, very interesting. I will say, however, that I slept extremely well that night. Speaking with some of the men in the village I came up with an angle on studying women's role in the village. By chance the subject of purdah came up with a young man. He explained in great detail the virtues of purdah (using historical evidence going back to Hazrat Adam). It then occurred to me that I could attempt a reverse Abu Lughod, Grima sort of study. I can try to understand men's perception of what women do and their role. I realize this does not replace actually being able to speak to women however given the sensitivity of the subject with the Malik family I feel that for the moment I have no other option. I have been given permission to bring in a female anthropologist to speak to the women but have not yet had the chance to look for someone who might be interested in participating in some collaberative work. I came across one false lead ealry in the week. A young Malik onformed me that his fmaily was descended from the famous Ranjit Singh-- the Sikh king who united most of the Punjab under SIkh rule. I was surprised since I had already been told that the Maliks were converts from Hinduism (a very long time ago). Sikhs share caste assiliation with the Maliks- Gujar- so when I was told the story I was prepared to believe. However after questioning several older Maliks I was quickly told that this young man did not know his family history very well. Too bad because it made for a good story. New Year's eve was spent at a relative's house in Taxila. It was quiet New Year's eve with no loud hooliganism. This year the government announced a crackdown on New Year's eve parties. Apparently they had some trouble last year with people drinking alcohol and making a nuisance of themselves. In any event this is not typically a holiday that Pakistani villagers pay much atention to. I went into Pindi in the middle of the week with several of the Maliks to buy a jeep for hunting. We were six people in a four seater car to go there. It was a tight squeeze and it's a good thing that the man sharing the front seat with me is a small man or it would have been distinctly uncomfortable. When I saw the bag of money the Maliks pulled out when we arrived however I understood why we were so many. That much cash requires a little security. This was also a fun event-- an occasion for two generations of Maliks to get out of the village for a bit and enjoy themselves in the city. I finished the week in Islamabad. I had to pick up my photos from the lab (250 photos-- if I waited any longer it would have bankrupted me). I also wanted to speak to some people at the NARC and PARC about our mutual interests in the area. In addition to that my supervisor is back in town and almost recovered from his illness so I wanted to speak to him and arrange for us to tour the area together. I was very kindly given a ride into Islamabad with an extension worker from NARC. My initial plan was to stay in a guest house in Islmabad but Pakistani hospitality being what it is-- this was out of the question. My Islamabadi host very kindly put me up in his cousin's vacant house. I was treated like a king in this temporary home and shown the mehmanawaz (hospitality) that I have only ever encountered in Pakistan. |
||
Return to Home Page |