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South Asia News Center for South Asian Studies University of Hawai‘i Spring 2004 Cowpath Crossings: Of Vitamins & Veils: Stories of Immigrant Indian An Interview with Dr. Doctorsin Muncie Maneesha Lal September 2003. by Himanee Gupta “Faizabad, that part of n March 19, Dept. of Political Science U.P. was quite far removed as part of its from the world.” O et ’ s start with a “his- “Then one day my father ye a r -round collo- Ltorical fact”: “People came in and said, ‘You quia series, the stopped being human in know that vice principal’s Center for South 1913. That was the year son. He got a scholarship for Asian Studies Henry Ford put his cars on 36,000 rupees–to go to joined the rollers and made his work- Am e r i c a . ’ That was the pin- Departments of ers adopt the speed of the nacle of achievement, going Ethnic Studies, assembly line. At first, abroad. …” Hi s t o r y , and workers rebelled. They quit What does such a story tell Wom e n ’ s Studies in droves, unable to accus- us? For starters, we see, in in presenting Dr. tom their bodies to the new Sa l e e m ’ s life in a relatively Maneesha Lal. pace of the age. Since then, pastoral part of India, an Her talk — “"Of h o w e v e r, the adaptation imagined abroad: a cosmo- has been passed down: politan, sophisticated place Vitamins and we’ve all inherited it to where one finds one’s self Veils: Wom e n some degree, so that we and succeeds. America was Ph y s i c i a n s , plug right into joysticks where, as Abraham Ver gh e s e Tra n s n a t i o n a l and remotes, to repetitive tells it, doctors could “train Me d i c a l Dr. Maneesha Lal motions of a hundred in a decent, ten-story hospi- Research, and the ki n d s . ” 1 tal, where the lifts are actual- Framing of That quote, from Jeffr e y ly working”; “pass board- Osteomalacia in Late Colonial India” — analyzed how Eu g e n i d e s ’ Mi d d l e s e x , certification exams by one’s discourses about the veiling and seclusion of Indian speaks to an inter-crossing of own merit and not through women and debates about vitamin deficiency diseases immigrants and industrial- pull or bribes”; “practice real interacted to shape the identity of osteomalacia as a ization in the early twentieth medicine, drive a big car on ce n t u r y . decent roads, and eventually female malady in late colonial India. Beginning with a Now, let’s flash forward live in the Ansel Adams sec- discussion of the medical to the early twenty-first tion of New Mexico and research on osteomalacia INSIDE century. never come back to this conducted by British Director’s Message...2 2 “America?” wretched town …” women physicians in CSAS Colloquia.......3 “ We lived in a very When Saleem left India the1920s, Dr. Lal went Photo Exhibit........4 remote part of India, you to seek out that imagined on to trace the disease's Letter from India....8 know,” recalls Saleem, a abroad, he was traversing a heightened visibility and Spring Courses.......9 50-year-old plastic surgeon well-worn path: 25,000 evolution through the Spring Symposium....10 in Muncie, Indiana, in Faculty News........12 Continued on page 5 Continued on page 6 Director’s Note South Asia News 2 3 Spring 2004 Events Winning Against All Odds by Monica Ghosh CSAS Colloquia Series he Detroit Pistons and Sonia Gandhi—they ates with his Master's in Library and Information Texemplify the spirit that inspires the work of Sciences. As the Coordinator, he managed all the ebashish Bhattacharya is widely considered to the Center for South Asian Studies (CSAS) at the day-to-day activities of the Center, including sched- Dbe one of the world’s greatest living guitarists. Spring 2004 University of Hawai‘i: Winning against all odds. uling and publicizing the Colloquium Series. He A master of the extremely challenging North Indian Colloquim presentations As a Detroiter who now lives in Honolulu, I designed an excellent poster for the Spring raga, Debashish further stands out for his choice of remain loyal to my “hometown” teams. T h e Symposium, and has updated the Center's web- instrument—a direct descendant of the Hawaiian 2/12/04 Pistons took their motto “Hard pages, making new materials available steel guitar. Monica Ghosh (UH-Manoa) work pays off” and choreo- online and including PDF versions of First introduced to Calcutta by Hawai‘i-born What's Eaten You?: Transposing graphed the perfect performance the newsletter. Stu is both a friend and a musician Tau Moe in the 1940s, the Hawaiian steel Colonial Anxieties on Tigers against all the LA L a k e r s ’ m o v e s . colleague—working with him has been Today the Pistons are the NBA one of the best experiences I could ever 2/26/04 Champions. Under the leadership have. Congratulations to Stu and best Debashish & Subashish Bhattacharya of Sonia Gandhi, the Congress wishes for success in his career! Steel Guitar Comes Home: From Party won the election in India— In my work as the Director I am eter- Hawaii to India and Back the “largest democracy in the nally grateful for the enthusiasm, ener- world”—thereby displacing the gy, and vitality of the members of the conservative BJP g o v e r n m e n t , Executive Committee, who all take which Salman Rushdie rightly such pride in developing and support- called “extremists and ideo- ing the content of South Asian Studies logues.” Through the commit- Monica Ghosh programs at this University. This year Subashish and Debashish Bhattacharya ment and participation of the (standing) with we've had an excellent Colloquium a ffiliate faculty (some of whom Kamla Mankekar Series, which included visitors from serve on the Executive other universities (Maneesha Lal— has since been adopted by many Indian musicians. Committee), the students, and friends of CSAS, Trinity College); and our own faculty (Monisha But beyond his amazing musical abilities, the Center continues to strengthen support and Dasgupta —Women’s Studies and Ethnic Studies). Debashish stands out in the Hindustani slide guitar 3/15/04 develop interest in South Asian Studies generally, The Spring Symposium this year, "Neoliberalism in community for the fact that he plays on several Dr. Lee Siegel (UH-Manoa) and expand those interests uniquely to connections South Asia: Culture, Gender and Labor," was the instruments of his own design, including the 22- Indra’s Net: A Performative with Hawai‘i and the Pacific. brainchild of S. Charusheela (Women's Studies), stringed Dev Veena. Incorporating elements of the Presentation On Indian Magic After two years as the Director, my work in this organized and arranged by a small planning com- veena, sarod, sitar and Arabian kannur, the Dev position draws to a close. This is a fine time for mittee, including Monisha Dasgupta, Kazi Ashraf, Veena allows an emotional range far beyond that of 3/19/04 me to move on and out, the Pistons and Sonia are and Stu Dawrs, and funded by the generosity of the a standard six-string Hawaiian steel. Dr. Maneesha Lal (Trinity College) winners, and I’ve been promoted at the library. S. G.J. and Ellen Watumull Foundation, and the Along with his brother Subashish (himself an Of Vitamins and Veils: Women S h a n k a r, Associate Professor in the English Sidney Stern Memorial Trust. acclaimed tabla master), Debashish came to the Physicians, Transnational Department, was unanimously approved by the Over the last two years, I have had the pleasure University of Hawai‘i in February as an Asian Medical Research, and the members of the Executive Committee as the of meeting and hosting some of the most dynamic Studies Freeman Fund Artist In Residence. Framing of Osteomalacia in incoming Director of the Center. Shankar has thinkers in South Asian Studies, including Gayatri (Additional support was provided by Tradex, the Late Colonial India served on the Executive Committee and with his Spivak, Keya Ganguly, Akhil Gupta, Satya National Organization for Traditional Music expertise the Center will continue to engage in Mohanty, and Dina Siddiqi. At the Library, I Exchange.) While here, the Bhattacharya brothers 4/02/04 critical discussions on issues relating to South A s i a believe my work as the South Asia Librarian has participated in a number of public events, including Dr. Monisha Das Gupta (UH-Manoa) and South Asian Studies. been greatly enriched by my experience as the two concerts, several seminars and a CSAS brown Owning Our Lives: South Asian Another person who will be moving on is Stu Director of CSAS. bag presentation titled Steel Guitar Comes Home: Immigrant Women, Law, and Dawrs, the Coordinator for the Center. Stu gradu- Aloha and best wishes for the summer. From Hawai‘i to India and Back. Rights Claims Exhibit South Asia News 4 5 Spring 2004 atthew S. Lopresti is currently a doctoral Mcandidate in the Department of Philosophy Photo Journals of India at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. This past year has seen him travel from Honolulu to London, all across India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Cambodia. Awarded a J. Watumull Foundation Scholarship nitially presented as part of the Center For ISouth Asian Studies’ Spring Symposium, for study in India in 2003, he traveled to Pune, “Photo Journals of India: Two Students' “Agra Sky”, Taj Mahal Maharashtra, where he lived with a host family Perspectives” went on to inhabit two floors of Agra, Uttar Pradash and studied as a language fellow in the American Photo: M.

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