Diane P. Mines is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Appalachian State University. She is author of Fierce Gods: Inequality, Ritual, and the Politics of Dignity in a South Indian Village (IUP, 2005).Sarah Lamb is Associate Professor and Chair of Anthropology at Brandeis University. She is author of White Saris and Sweet Mangoes: Aging, Gender and Body in North India and Aging and the Indian Diaspora: Cosmopolitan Families in India and Abroad (IUP, 2009).

"Everyday Life in South Asia . . . is extremely accessible and has plenty to offer as introductory material for a wide range of topics."—New Asia Books"[T]he book offers keenly observed ethnographic snapshots, theorized by the authors and contextualized by the engaging section introductions. Indeed, the varied, rich, and sensitive portrayal of the ordinary (and extraordinary) lives of South Asians of vastly diverse backgrounds is just one of the volume's many strengths."—Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute"Richly informative but accessible and user friendly for classroom use. . . . This excellent volume of essays belongs in many places—on the shelves of specialists and non-specialists alike."—Journal of Asian Studies"This wonderful collection serves as a unique introduction to cultural life in contemporary South Asia. The essays included here provide insights into everyday life that are unavailable from any other single source. This text will be of great interest to scholars and students in anthropology, sociology, gender studies, religious studies, geography, and communication studies."—Akhil Gupta, University of California, Los Angeles"Mines and Lamb have once again provided an eminently readable, highly engaging and varied set of case studies, organized along major axes of current concern, both practical and intellectual. . . . [A] real joy to teach!"—Margaret Mills, The Ohio State University

• AcknowledgmentsNote on TransliterationIntroductionMapI. The Family and the Life Course Introduction1. One Straw from a Broom Cannot Sweep: The Ideology and Practice of the Joint Family in Rural North IndiaSusan S. Wadley2. Allah Gives Both Boys and GirlsPatricia Jeffery and Roger Jeffery3. "Out Here in Kathmandu": Youth and the Contradictions of Modernity in Urban NepalMark Liechty4. Rethinking Courtship, Marriage and Divorce in an Indian Call Center Cari Costanzo Kapur5. Love and Aging in Bengali Families Sarah LambII. GendersIntroduction6. New Light in the House: Schooling Girls in Rural North IndiaAnn Grodzins Gold7. Offstage with Special Drama Actresses in Tamilnadu, South India: RoadworkSusan Seizer8. Breadwinners No More: Identities in Flux Michele Ruth Gamburd9. Life on the Margins: A Hijra's Story Serena Nanda10. Crossing "Lines" of Difference: Transnational Movements and Sexual Subjectivities in Hyderabad, India Gayatri ReddyIII. Caste, Class and CommunityIntroduction 11. Seven Prevalent Misconceptions about India's Caste System12. God-Chariots in a Garden of Castes: Hierarchy and Festival in a Hindu CitySteven M. Parish13. High and Low Castes in KaraniViramma, with Josiane Racine and Jean Luc Racine14. Weakness, Worry Illness, and Poverty in the Slums of DhakaSabina Faiz Rashid 15. Anjali's Alliance: Class Mobility in Urban IndiaSara Dickey16. Recasting the Secular: Religion and Education in Kerala, IndiaRitty LukoseIV. Practicing ReligionIntroduction17. The Hindu Gods in a South Indian VillageDiane P. Mines18. The Feast of LoveMcKim Marriott19. The Delusion of Gender and Renunciation in Buddhist KashmirKim Gutschow20. Muslim Village Intellectuals: The Life of the Mind in Northern PakistanMagnus Marsden21. In Friendship: A Father, a Daughter and a JinnNaveeda Khan22. Vernacular Islam at a Healing Crossroads in HyderabadJoyce Burkhalter FlueckigerV. Nation-making Introduction23. Voices from the PartitionUrvashi Butalia24. A Day in the LifeLaura Ring25. Living and Dying for Mother India: Hindu Nationalist Female Renouncers and Sacred DutyKalyani Devaki Menon26. Political Praise in Tamil Newspapers: The Poetry and Iconography of Democratic PowerBernard Bate27. Mala's Dream: Economic Policies, National Debates, and Sri Lankan Garment WorkersCaitrin Lynch28. Interviews with High School Students in Eastern Sri LankaMargaret TrawickVI. Globalization, Public Culture and the South Asian DiasporaIntroduction29. Cinema in the Countryside: Popular Tamil Film and the Remaking of Rural LifeAnand Pandian30. Dangerous Desires: Erotics, Public Culture, and Identity in Late-Twentieth-Century IndiaPurnima Mankekar31. A Diaspora Ramayana in SouthallPaula Richman32. British Sikh Lives, Lived in TranslationKathleen Hall33. Examining the "Global" Indian Middle Class: Gender and Culture in the Silicon Valley/Bangalore CircuitSmitha Radhakrishnan34. Placing Lives through Stories: Second Generation South Asian AmericansKirin Narayan35. Unexpected DestinationsE. Valentine DanielReferencesContributorsIndex