Jan 2015
around the hut gathered a crowd
the Englishman had made them proud
by taking an Indian wife.
what kinda man he could be
a white skin yet unhesitatingly
embraced a native's life.
they viewed him with awe
to his kin a flaw
living and loving in a thatched house.
he was a bishop's son
that made an alien land his own
and Kosibai, a Gond woman, his spouse.
the Englishman had made them proud
by taking an Indian wife.
what kinda man he could be
a white skin yet unhesitatingly
embraced a native's life.
they viewed him with awe
to his kin a flaw
living and loving in a thatched house.
he was a bishop's son
that made an alien land his own
and Kosibai, a Gond woman, his spouse.
Verrier Elwin (1902-1964), one of the rare European anthropologists to assimilate into non-European society in order to have a thorough understanding of the other peoples. An Oxford-educated theologian turned anthropologist, born into the family of a clergyman, Elwin joined the Christian Service Society mission to India in 1927. In the course of his proselytising, he converted himself to an βIndianβ.
Gond, tribal hill people of central India.
Gond, tribal hill people of central India.
