Sagar Saga

Volume 2 of a personal memoir illustrated with original photographs. In 1967, fresh from University, the author went to teach at a remote University in Central India. Volume 1 recounted his first academic year: his discovery of that recently independent nation, his integration into a society very different from his own and the pleasures and frustrations of working in a new university. Initially stereotyped as a white "sahib," he found this a role which did not correspond to his North of England working class background. This second volume deals with the long summer holiday of 1968 during which he set off South to try to fit his Sagar experience into a wider context. This involved staying with middle-class Indian families - some those of his Sagar students, others relatives and friends of his Sagar colleagues - in non-Hindi speaking states. It also meant an opportunity to visit and interact with other European volunteers, observe their projects and try to form an idea of their contribution to India's "development." Royalties from this volume will be donated to Village Service Trust - which supports Seva Nilayam, a village development centre in Tamilnadu where the author helped out for a week in 1968.