What is Anthropology?

 Despite being a serious student of Anthropology for almost 50 years, the question makes me uneasy. I must admit that I have not been able to pinpoint what Anthropology is not. That could have made my job easy. Here I start with some historical facts.

1.      When Aristotle defined man as a “featherless biped walker” did he know he was defining the limits of Anthropology?

2.      In Class 9^th or 10^th I had read a poem starting with the couplet:

“Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;

The proper study of mankind is man”. Doesn’t Alexander Pope, the poet, sound an Anthropologist?

3.       Again, the same year, we had a poem by Tennyson on Crimean War, The Charge of the Light Brigade which most of us  must have read; I remember a few lines:

“Canons to right of them

Cannons to left of them

Cannons in front of them

…………

Into the mouth of hell

Rode the six hundred”

Now, is this Anthropology? “No” will be your standard reply. But, if I tell you that the latest fashions of France of 20^th Century were named after the Generals who lost their lives in Crimean War; and Again, if I tell you that Victoria Cross given by the British government is made of the metals recovered from the remains of the ammunition used in the War, then will it become a part of Anthropological query or not?

I am fond of quoting Murray Last, who began his Foreword to a book by Angela Cheater (1987) with the words, “Anthropology has proved too useful to be left just to anthropologists“. Yet, I feel, Anthropologists have limited themselves to traditional knowledge base either because of the fear of facing criticism or because of their lack of passion for the Discipline. Or they just don’t want to come out of their ‘comfort zone’. Any of these can be true. Here I am talking about Indian Anthropologists.

None can contest that diversity in India – biological, cultural, historical, geographical, ecological etc. – has no parallels in the world. That sets ready environs for all types of anthropological researches. Even the true story of human biological evolution (which cannot be authenticated through genomic studies alone) may be revealed if sincere and proper excavations are undertaken on large scale.

Indian Anthropology can come out of its inertia if Anthropologists raise issues concerning all Indians, in tandem, and follow Action research. Visibility in public as also in media will give them recognition they deserve. Here, I feel that Anthropology, by its nature is multidisciplinary and there is no need to involve ‘others’. We must learn from ‘Hawthorne Experiment” and go alone.  Amen

Mantra To Crack IAS