Grand Plans for my Thesis

It was during the second year of our u of I life that RF announced at a staff meeting that USAID had sent round a circular asking universities if anyone was interested in taking up a project on 'Attitudes to New Foods in Developing Countries'. Almost before he finished, Seymour shot back,' yes, we should take it up – Padmini already has the outline of this project!' he then went on to explain to the group my class project of the previous year, and how I could develop it as my dissertation topic.

RF sent in the acceptance reply and Seymour and I got to work on the detailed proposal. We found out that USAID was interested specifically in attitudes to cow peas in Iran and the hybrid rice varieties in India and the Philippines. It was ideal for me. I would myself do fieldwork in India under a local guide for my thesis while collaborating with research scholars in the other two countries, and Seymour would be the overall coordinator. The next few days we went into a huddle and worked up my class paper into a pukka proposal with deadlines, activity plans and budget.

With summer approaching, we had initial favorable reactions from USAID, and were planning to write to our potential counterparts in the three countries when we suddenly had another piece of good luck. A consortium of Mid-West Universities grant was announced for preparatory work including travel on research proposals from institutions in the area. We applied for it and quite quickly found the two of us funded for travel to all three countries to firm up our proposal. We modified our letters to the three academics abroad, telling them we would meet them in person during summer to work out the orientation and scope of the study, as also their involvement in it.

Seymour and I found all three academics very interested in our proposed collaboration – Dr. Celia in the University of Phillipines in Quezon City, Dr. Prodipto Roy in the Council for Social Development in New Delhi, and a professor in Teheran. We tied up with Prodipto to be my local thesis guide. We also went to Poona, to contact possible collaborators in the Deccan College for the field work/thesis.

The Poona trip helped me meet Annaiya and Gopala. I stayed at home while Seymour stayed in a hotel. But I recall his joining us for a meal when I had to warn him not to use his right hand, which had held some 'juta'/'yenjilu'/[impure through contact with the mouth] stuff, for picking up more from the table.

The Shah was still ruling in Iran, and we were able to sight-see freely in Teheran. Gazing at the famous Kohinoor diamond in the museum that Nadir Shah had looted from India centuries ago, I muttered to Seymour, 'this belongs to us!' One other thing I recall is the very westernized attire the urban educated women wore as against the salwar-kameezes of the housemaid class. I drew curious and sometimes scornful glances when I moved around in the more upscale areas, as I was also mostly in s-ks!