Annaya s Anthropology - NOTES PDF

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Annaya’s Anthropology

The story is a satire on how one’s culture is known through the books in American Libraries. Annaya the protagonist learns about his own traditions, rituals and family situation through the books in Chicago library where he pursues anthropology.The story is known for its subtlety and critique in making every individual realize the importance of knowing and understanding one’s own practices and not blindly following and accepting what is prescribed by someone else in the name of knowledge. As a young graduate, sitting in a library engrossed in a book by an American anthropologist , Annaya sees a picture of a funeral ritual. On closer inspection , he discovers that it is his father’s body which is on the pyre.He realises that his father is dead. Apart from Ramanujan’s ironical point about Indian self discovery in western knowledge , he adds that the revelation of the father’s death will be a cause of grief for Annaya since he was not able to fulfil his filial duties. In Chicago, Annaya marvels at a book by Fergusson, a Ford Foundation Scholar titled “Hinduism:Custom and Ritual” . He is amazed by Fergusson’s extensive knowledge of Indian culture and seems to infer that the distance gives him a larger perspective on viewing things. When looked at from a distance , it is not only India that takes on another shape but the Indian in America also needs to be understood differently.Against ordinary stereotypes of the privileded NRI, the story implies signs of disturbing contradictions entrenched in rituals, customs and practices.Ramanujan engages with the ambivalent Indian identity of a migrant Indian in US. In the course of his reading in US he realises the gaps in his own knowledge of several of the rituals and customs. While in India Annaya read books on western subjects extensively but it was only after travelling to Chicago that he pursued Anthropology (study of human societies, culture and their development)and started to learn about the various customs and practices.At last , he believes that he who came from the East had found an ideal position in the West.He believed that being in America which seemed more Indianized he had found the “American key” to open the closed doors to Hindu civilization.Once while browsing in Chicago library he comes across Steven Fergusson’s book which lists many of the rituals and ceremonies unknown to him with quotations from Manu.Among the many details there was also reference to four aspects of funeral rites . Annaya realized that he had very little experience when it came to funeral rites though he had much theoretical knowledge regarding the same. Annaya’s attention is caught by some photographs in the book and familiar faces only to realise that they document the funeral of his own father.Now as he witnessed second-hand his father’s funeral and mothers shaved head he realises that theoretical knowledge of the entire ritualistic procedure of a Brahmin’s funeral could never have prepared him for the actual experience.His cousin , Sundararaya who runs a photographic studio in Hunsur had performed the funeral rites thus depriving Annaya of his duty.In fact much to his chagrin,he learned that Sundararaya had helped Fergusson in the compilation of adequate material for his book by featuring photos of himself and his family during various ceremonies.So what was for Fergusson an incident in an anthropological study turned out to be an opportunity for Sundararaya and a tragic one for Annaya....