Over the centuries many people have had a lot to say about Shimla: some love it, others hate it, but it never fails to provoke a response in people and people often feel so moved that they want to put down their thoughts in words. It is then perhaps surprising that Anthropologists have written so little about Shimla. The classic anthropological book discussing Shimla is Ursula Sharma's informative, but slim, volume, which was published 26 years ago by Tavistock. This gives some interesting insights into the domestic lives of Shimla's women, but is understandably restricted in terms of its discussion of Shimla and is increasingly dated. Recently Danniel Allen Solomon, who has been known to comment on this blog, has been broadening things through his discussions of contemporary human/animal relations and I have been doing my part by travelling around Europe and America talking about space, landscape, place and faith in Shimla.
As part of this, I have recently been asked to write about Shimla for the American Anthropological Associations' blog. Those who are interested in what I have been saying can read my post here:
http://blog.aaanet.org/2011/03/14/places-in-search-of-a-purpose-colonial-cathedrals-in-postcolonial-india/
Regular contributors to this blog can. if they wish, post their comments on the AAA blog, or back here, either way I will read the comments with interest and be sure to respond to the responses.
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