Gopalpur Essay, Research Paper

- According to people in Gopaplur, the Gauda"s

grandfather once lived in the ruined house, and ruled 17

villages. Daily he rode his horse through the villages under his

control, punishing immodest women, and chastising those who

quarrelled or misbehaved. – The Gauda no longer possess great stores of grain and no

longer distributes vast quantities of cloth. Nowadays, people are

turned away from the Gauda"s house when they ask for jobs

or loans of grain or money. – The Gauda is active in politics and has had to establish a

household in Yadgiri, where he lives for a good part of the year.

The Gauda"s wife is unhappy in Gopalpur and presses

continually for opportunities to return to the town where there

are electric lights, running water and people worth talking

to. – When a man"s field is robbed, he goes to the

Gauda"s house to complain. If a man"s wife runs

away, he reports to the Gauda. Whatever the Gauda"s faults

may be, people regard him as the father of the village. He may

not be a great warrior, he may not be a great giver of feasts,

but he is a Brahmin and an educated man. He is "our

Gauda". – The truth is that the Gauda is the creation of the people in

Gopalpur. He exists, because his existence is necessary to the

pattern of life in the village. The basic configuration of the

Gauda"s character is the result of training given to the

Gauda during his childhood by the people of Gopalpur. – Gopalpur creates its Gauda because the village has a need

for a superior being, one beyond the ordinary. Someone is needed

who can deal with the mysterious higher gods. That the life of

the Gauda is one of loneliness, misery and fear is of little

concern to the men and women who gather around his child. – The Gauda faces peculiar problems in the modern age. He must

send his children to the university in order to prepare them for

the government jobs they so earnestly desire. He requires a large

income.Since money that is spent upon the education of the

Gaud"a schildren cannot be loaned to or used to provide

jobs for people in Gopalpur, the Gauda lends relatively little

money and holds few ceremonies.

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? Case Studies: Pg 256- The Kwaio "Big Manî (Keesing 1978)

Pg 258- Trobriand Political Organisation (Weiner 1976)

Pg 310- Kwaio Social Structure and Religion (Keesing 1970)

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