Life as a Geographer in India
This is the first book on the theme of the life of a geographer in India. The author introspects on her own experiences and engagements with the discipline and explores the life and works of over 24 other geographers from India.The volume documents and acknowledges the commitment of geographers to life, teaching and the subject of geography. Collectively these provide an insight into the growth and diversification of the discipline in the country. The book offers critical perspectives on the changing disciplinary practices within the field of geography by highlighting the major achievements and teaching methods of geographers. It brings attention to the diverse interests, themes and problems in geography pursued by these geographers while also influencing the lives of other researchers and professionals.
This book will be of immense interest to students, teachers and researchers of geography and social anthropology and readers interested in the lives of these influential educators and academicians.
Anu Kapur is Professor of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, India.
First published 2021
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
2021 Anu Kapur
The right of Anu Kapur to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-0-367-68688-8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-71378-2 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-15055-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by SPi Global, India
I have often wondered about the ways in which geographers in India at large are pursuing their profession. How have they acquired their requisite learning and skills to grow the profession? Why have they come to acquire specializations in certain domains? What challenges have they faced? What does their narrative unfold about the times and location of their work? A fraternity hones a discipline. To know about ones members is an important dimension of concern for the subject. This theme somehow seems to have escaped the attention of geographers in India. It led me to ask where one could gain insight into the life of geographers in India.
Websites of the departments of geography in universities today carry brief professional biographies. The write-ups are signboards for universities to flag their faculty. They are designed to a specific template provided by the institutions and are akin to curriculum vitae where facts are listed without any reference to how and why these came to acquire their present form.
A bio sketch on book jackets is a second place that describes academics including geographers providing a pen picture of the author or editor of a book. In the case of the latter, a brief write-up on each contributor is given. This write-up is a one-paragraph description of the professional identity of the geographer. Although written by the author, publishers tend to reword it to suit their marketing agenda.
Obituaries are a third avenue for knowledge about the life of geographers. Almost all geographical journals in India have a section dedicated to the cause of providing a brief biography of deceased professionals. These are written in the nature of a eulogy for ones colleague, teacher or peer. Obituaries published in professional journals in India are few in number. Take, for example, the National Association of Geographers (NAGI), India, the largest professional body of the country; its journal, for the 10-year period 20092019, carried only 20 obituaries, most of which were less than a page and a half. The number is dismal not because editors are selective, but because few have bothered to take the time to write a tribute for a colleague with whom they have occupied offices, across the same corridor, for decades together. This and other such reasons means that even in obituaries the documentation of the lives of geographers in India remains limited in number.
Festschrifts are a fourth outlet which make available life sketches of select geographers of India. Festschrift is a German word meaning a collection of writings, which follows an old academic tradition where a group of authors write articles to create a volume in honour of a colleague or mentor. Since a festschrift is generally for those who have held important positions, it is not difficult for admirers to collaborate and contribute. Such an edited volume is usually published on the occasion of retirement or an important anniversary of the geographer in question. The introductory chapter of a festschrift carries an essay on the life and works of the scholar being honoured. There are a handful of festschrifts in India and these are gaining in popularity.
In this book I have documented the biographies of 24 geographers from India. Along with these biographies I decided to add my own autobiography, bringing the tally to twenty-five. Why have I written about the lives of geographers in India? While a brief on geographers can be read on websites, author blurbs, obituaries and festschrifts, there is a lack of any bio-bibliographies or archives on geographers in India. This book titled Life as a Geographer in India will fill this vacuum. By virtue of becoming the first book on the theme of geographers in India the book cashes in on first ever which, while a tag which has instant appeal, was nonetheless not enough reason to draw me to this theme.
The more important stimulation was that I find life-writing a precious vehicle of communication. It allowed me to relate and understand the forces at play that build a profession. For me, the writing of life was both inspirational and therapeutic. The translation and interpretation of circumstances and events, including my own, allowed me to connect with the joys and trials which punctuate our journey as professional geographers.
I feel strongly that the members of ones academic community are as important as the discipline one studies. A study of the life of geographers provides insights into how the discipline evolved and spread. It is professionals who shape the direction, destination and destiny of a discipline. In continuity with the motivation is also a realization that students of geography in India know little about geographers of their own country. Drawing from our colonial antecedents, the education of geography in India is heavily influenced by the West. Students of geography in India are exposed to lives of geographers in the West, especially, the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Sweden and France. This is also because these are countries which have taken the pains to document the works and worth of their geographers. Whereas it is certainly worthwhile to be acquainted with geographers across the globe there is no denying that it is equally important to understand ones very own in India. For students pursuing this discipline in India the life of geographers on home turf would definitely be more relatable and useful. The familiarity of departments, the opportunities available and explored by geographers in India could be valuable sources of information and direction for Indian students. Many of the geographers whose life is documented in this book have studied in leading universities in the West. Their write-ups could provide scope to understand how scholars have carried the ideas of their alma maters to establish the subject in their native country. The diaspora of India spreads far and wide into every country of the world, with many among the teachers, scholars and students engaged with geography originating from India. Their desire to know about geographers back home makes the writing of life write-ups of Indian geographers expansive in scope. In a globalizing world a reading on life of geographers in India could help forge a bond between communities across borders and boundaries. This work could well enthuse some courageous soul to attempt a spatio-temporal comparison of the life of geographers across the world!
