Taking a breath from Haryana's slow suffocation of the fairer sex

Okay, I know fieldwork is supposed to be unpredictable, but I'd be perfectly happy if I could maintain some small illusion of control.

Deep breath.

To begin at the beginning, I didn't expect Haryana to be a perfect haven of progress given its skewed sex ratio. Yet given its high literacy rate, wealth, and an appreciation for new technology (the green revolution), I hoped life would be much smoother than in other Indian states.

To make matters worse, I had a fantastic time in Chandigarh and raised my expectations accordingly. I spent dawn jogging around gorgeous Sakna lake with the Himalayan foothills in the background, and the majority of my days were filled with generally-informative meetings, particularly with one of the chief editors of Amar Ujala newspaper, Mr. Yogesh Narayan Dixit, and many officials in Haryana's PR and Judicial offices. With the help of pithy commentary from my refreshingly sarcastic translator, Manmohan Singh, (no relative of the PM) I went off to Yamunanagar feeling relatively prepared to begin fieldwork. Much of what has gone right so far has been thanks to Bhartendu Trivedi of the Hindustan Times, who introduced me to Mr Dixit and many others whose advice has made the journey thus far much more comprehensible.

In fact, these two good souls helped me meet my current source of joy - the Sodi family in Yamunanagar. Mr. Sodi, Bureau Chief of the Punjabi Khesari newspaper in Yamunanagar arranged the first real interview I conducted here. He brought members of a family with an interstate land dispute from the southern tip of Yamunanagar, Gumthala Rao village, to his home. They told me of their case which led to two murders and 65 acres of fallow land. Oh frabjous day.

Anyway, at the end of our meeting the newly-wed Mrs. Gudia Sodi asked me a few questions in perfect English, and ended by inviting me to stay with them in their home and act as my (domestic) translator. I'm incredibly happy living with Gordip, Gudia, and their mama-ji (Gordip's paternal uncle). Mama-ji and I take 4am walks around a nearby park, him a limber 73-year-old walking with his lati (stick) to scare off wild dogs, and me meandering along discussions with my broken hindi. At the end of the day I come home to watch give lessons to some young relatives as I type up my interview notes amidst jokes and tentative questions about my strange habits. [As an aside: The nicest comment I got was from a young lady named Saiba who said "mam, you look so beautiful, like an angel, in your white kourta and all." Given that I am too sweaty to physically shift between work and sleeping clothes each day, I'll take any complement I can get.] Later in the evening Gudia teaches me the finer elements of Indian cuisine, and we chat about things great and small in life. Sometimes we take wild rides in Mama-ji's car late at night - Gordip finding us tasty treats and Gudia translating beautiful Hindi tunes from "Jaab we met". We've even had a proper celebration for a relative's wedding anniversary this past Saturday - Kingfisher and all - with Mama-ji and Gordip pressuring Gudia and me to drink like college boys.

So life is good, right? There are a few research-relavent issues that make me worried (which I describe first) and some cultural issues that chill my blood. I'll start with the kinder issues.

Okay, so all was well until I started pressing about my fieldwork in two villages. I plan to visit 2 neighboring villages w/similar general conditions, but different means of resolving disputes, and then see what sort of fallow land exists in these places in addition to understanding their dispute-resolution procedures. Come to find out: (1) there are informal dispute-resolution mechanisms that are very powerful -खाप पन्चायाट्स।

However (and I appologise for the poor spelling in Hindi - it's a transliteration device similar to babblefish and thus imperfect) these kaap panchayats exist only in Jaat-dominated areas w/in Haryana (although similar panchayats exist for Rajputs and Gujaars in Rajasthan and elsewhere). These areas are all in the SOUTH and I'm in the NORTH. Should I leave the district where only now am I beginning to access relevant case records for another w/kaap panchayats (there is nothing similar in this district i'm told - people simply go to court), or squeeze in some time in a similar, more souther district as time permits? Please do let me know your advice...

(2) Cultural issues... Ahem - anyone who would rather believe all is well please cease and desist your reading immediately. Continue with your good cup of tea or coffee and put aside the blog until I return. Mom - this means you!

So women simply don't leave the home here. Even when I want to take a rickshaw ride of a few km to a nearby, known location like the district court, everyone tries to dissuade me from going alone. Visit a cybercafe or atm down the street? No way. This is the slow, stifling life of women in highly-educated Haryana.

Thus you can imagine the panic that set in when I suggested going to stay in villages. Okay, well I'll find a male interpreter to come with me (my current one is leaving - thus one cause of gloom). NO DOING, I'm told. Why? It's simply unsafe for a woman, especially a foreign woman to stay in a village where she doesn't know people well, who not only will take care of her, but will defend her physically if and when necessary. Apparently there are a lot of violent crimes against women here, and those are crimes against women who are longtime residents of the given villages. I received calls from all of the important men in my life here who are doing their best to protect me, warning me off any overnight stay in villages. One female Indian friend in Bombay who does similar field research told me that most of the violent crimes against women in Delhi are carried out by men from Haryana and Punjab. Upon mentioning this to my translator, (a quasi-Punjabi as I call him) he gave me the most unsettling response ever: "What? People in Bombay have no idea of what goes on in Delhi! Why does she say the crimes are carried out by men from Haryana and Punjab? Biharis and Nepalis frequently rape women as well!"

So I won't be staying in villages. Gordip Sodi has recommended I speak with Lawyers here, who can give me access to land dispute cases in villages, and then I'll go and investigate those particular cases and ask about others through day-trips to villages. This is my current plan, but it is a serious shift- how am I to accomplish my in-depth study of village conflict resolution when I flit in-and-out? Unsure.

Anyway, it's sad to be shuttled back and forth between domesticity and male domains by guardians, especially when my current bodyguard and friend, Manmohan, is departing. However I'll make due, and hopefully find out something interesting.

To end on a happy note, I discovered a fascinating case of vastly different land survey techniques in Haryana and UP - Haryana has something like a grid system, and UP hasn't updated its survey techniques since Akbar's reign, so they're haphazard at best. To make matters more exciting, the Division Commissioner here is experimenting w/use of GPS survey techniques in 5 out of over 700 villages in the district, and I think I could figure out a way to do a very exciting randomized experiment w/survey techniques if he agrees...

take care,
rachel