(Audrey) There are days when I hate India, truly viscerally hate this place. Usually I feel this way when I see India drowning in the filth of its unbelievable bureacracy as it tries to take me down with the ship. Today was such a day. It began fine enough, I woke-up in Calcutta, having traveled here yesterday for 5 days of research. In the late morning I headed over to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, a somewhat notoriously difficult place and then, predictably perhaps, my troubles began.
What I wanted is very simple—to see manuscripts with my laptop in front of me. The first part was fine with them, but my laptop was not. I submit that this is sheer idiocy. What possible harm is the presence and use of a laptop going to do to manuscripts? I’ll tell you what’ll hurt the manuscripts—my fingers all over them, having water and other liquids nearby that will spill, and keeping the things in non-climate controlled environments. They were even doing major construction in the reading room today—there was dust everywhere. And my laptop is the threat? I felt like screaming at someone.
Okay, so I’m hand writing notes, taking small breaks every now and then to go out and consult various documents on my laptop. I take off from manuscript work a little early so that I have time to transfer all my notes to my laptop before I forget it all. Where do I go to do this? The Asiatic Society library. I got a library pass in the morning so what possible problem could there be?
I’m typing away when a nice enough lady who I am currently thinking of as Satan incarnate came over—
Do you have permission to use the laptop?
Yes, I have a reading pass (I show it to her).
No. You need special permission for the laptop.
Okay. Where can I get such permission?
From the secretary general. Write them a letter and in a day or two permission will come.
I’m only here for 5 days. Is it possible to get permission today?
Oh no, Secretary General is in a meeting that will go for long time. You write an application and he’ll see it tomorrow or next day.
What can I do? I go up to the Secretary General’s office to try and negotiate. His peons send me back down because I need a recommendation from the librarian (yes, the one who just sent me up). I ask the librarian for a recommendation, and she refuses.
First you write an application. He’ll see it, send it to me, and then I’ll recommend you.
At this point, I couldn’t take it anymore. I started crying. I felt awful, attacked for no reason, and like I wanted to be anywhere in the world but Calcutta. Amazingly it worked, and I’m now posting from the Asiatic Society of Bengal Library. And just as I finished this post, another peon came down to inform me that yes, my permission was granted, and I can now use my laptop… but only in the library he was careful to emphasize, not with the manuscripts. Thanks, sort of.
Tags: archives, Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, idiotic rules, Kolkata, laptop, library, manuscripts, research
November 10, 2009 at 5:20 am |
Having read several of your posts about archivists and librarians in India, I gotta say I’m kind of ashamed I belong in the same profession as them. We LOVE when researchers bring laptops–less work for us (for a few reasons) & they’re happier. Win-win. I know, I know, different culture, different rules. Do me a favor, though. The next time you have a reasonable encounter with a friendly archivist or librarian, will you let me know?
I’ll feel better.
November 10, 2009 at 2:17 pm |
(Audrey) Ha! Don’t be ashamed man—if it weren’t for archivists and librarians, I’d never see any of this stuff, at all, laptop or not. Just for you—I had a very good experience today. The director of a cultural institute in Calcutta arranged for me to see a manuscript held in a private collection. This director had not met me previously, I had no family friends or contacts, and there was no alternative motive. In his own words, he’s just very committed to the idea that researchers should have access to texts. So he convinced these private owners to let me have 2 1/2 hours with this rare, fragile manuscript. Incidentally, this cost him 2 1/2 hours of his own time since he had to be with me as a condition of them letting me see the manuscript. Great guy and the manuscript in question really makes a difference to my research—he definitely gets a mention in my dissertation acknowledgments!
November 10, 2009 at 8:38 pm |
That’s awesome! Yay for cool Calcutta archivist. Thanks for the story.
November 10, 2009 at 2:37 pm |
Just caught your post. Wishing you much less trouble, and look forward to seeing how your research story unfolds.
November 11, 2009 at 6:04 pm |
[...] Adventures: one year abroad a chronicle of travels in India and beyond « The laptop saga with a sort of happy ending Name and Shame… along with some Praise [...]
January 20, 2010 at 5:27 am |
[...] a week-long tirade against the Asiatic Society of Bengal in Calcutta on this blog (and rightly so, begin here), but I don’t tend to note my more positive experiences. Why? In short, there’s little [...]