Full paper here: link
A brief background
This project is my first independent foray into archival research as I attempt to write a single chapter in my own family history. I will be focusing on my paternal grandfather’s professional life insofar as the ways it complements and contrasts his religious horoscope. This line of inquiry provides the opportunity to dissect the cultural milieu surrounding birth and life in the Hindu tradition — giving insight into the intricacies of the Hindu calendar and how the stars predetermine life itself. Between तिथि [/tīt̪ʰiː/] (the lunar day) and राशि [/ɾɑː.ɕí/] (the groupings within it), one finds picture of a full life in its broadest strokes that paint out a timeline for both the extraordinary and the mundane.
In some sense, this essay is an exercise in witnessing reflection — a demonstration of how one contorts the past to fit or reject their own prophecy as they see best. My objective (to a small extent) then becomes one of clarifying the line between fact and fiction, to take a look beyond the biases of my family and the innumerate errors of archival record-keeping that came with three generations of rapid urbanisation, literacy, and social change following Indian independence. Equally, the discrepancies themselves have a story to tell, for example the inconsistent dating of births highlights the struggle between maintaining religious-cultural practices and industrial ambitions for upward social mobility.
As the above case demonstrates, the project presupposes conscious contention with the larger historiographical questions that surround writing a life: What is the role of the biographer? What does one choose to write about? How does one thread the line between the ‘private’ and ‘public’ life of their subject? Does the work narrow in on the minutia of an individual or serve as an introduction to an entire community? How does the essay make sense of the way the subject talks about their own life?
In answering these questions the paper took a much different turn than initially expected — I have linked it above and I am always happy to talk about this further. I can be contacted at jainhiya1212@gmail.com or via Twitter