A Journey Untold by Michael Dodson
Michael S. Dodson, Professor, Department of History, College of Arts+Sciences, Indiana University Bloomington & Academic Director, Indiana University India Gateway shares his journey of learning and research in India.
Michael Dodson at the Kumbh Mela, Allahabad, India 2013
I first traveled to India in 1995 after finishing my undergraduate degree. I was, then, on the backpacker trail, my Lonely Planet guidebook in hand – a critical resource for newcomers like me in the days before widespread internet. From Delhi, I went to Jaipur, Udaipur, Pushkar, Ajmer, Jaisalmer, Agra, and Varanasi, before ending up in Kolkata and then Chennai. Those were the days of long, slow travel by train and bus, interminable waits in the “tourist only” ticket queues, and unaffordable 2-minute calls home from an STD-ISD-PCO booth. India has changed an awful lot since that time!
What first interested me about India was its incredible diversity of people, language, and culture, as well as the ways that the past and the present co-inhabited India’s physical landscape. So, rather unexpectedly, what had started out as a youthful three-month sojourn in the subcontinent has ended up being my life’s work.
India is my second home, and as a professional historian, I can’t think of a more rewarding and enlivening place to get to work.
I studied Hindi and Sanskrit as a Master’s student in Canada before moving to the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom for my PhD. Most of my early research work was conducted in Varanasi. My first book was a study of that city’s Sanskrit pandits (learned men) and pathshalas (schools) and the ways that Indians used Sanskrit scholarship to critique the cultural underpinnings of British colonial rule during the 19th century. I’ve also written a book about the early days of municipal governance in Varanasi and nearby Jaunpur, arguing that local political interests were key in the evolution of those cities, in terms of their technological infrastructure and the maintenance of their architectural heritage. In both cases, my work has been based in an attempt to really understand local concerns in these cities; to gain an insight into how a teacher or a municipal councilor a century ago in Varanasi navigated the pressures of an imperial power like Britain while also creating a sense of Banarsipan – the “flavor” of being a member of a local community.
Dodson's Publications on India
More recently, I’ve turned my attention to Delhi, and am now working on a book that examines the city’s planning and modernist architecture in the post-colonial period. My interest in Delhi really stems from the opportunities that I’ve had to spend time in the city as the Academic Director of Indiana University’s India Gateway Office, a job I’ve done for nearly eight years now. Delhi has been a wonderful surprise – indeed, I used to just pass through the city as quickly as possible on my way to Varanasi! But now I savor the time that I get to spend there. Delhi is home to such an interesting composite culture and the city itself is a testament to centuries of Indian civilization. On Thursday evenings, I enjoy spending a few hours at Feroz Shah Kotla or Nizamuddin’s dargah. Other days you might find me book shopping at Khan Market, running the trails on the Ridge, visiting an art show at Triveni Kala Sangam, or enjoying some sweets at Evergreen in Green Park.
I’ve been very fortunate to really get to know Delhi and its universities through my work for IU. When we first started IU’s Gateway operations we were located out in Gurgaon. Now, in central Delhi, IU’s office is well-positioned to host a whole range of academic and cultural events and to engage productively with our university and professional partners. I’ve enjoyed working with colleagues at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi, the Aga Khan Trust, the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, the University Of Delhi, and many others also. We’ve hosted musical luminaries such as sarod maestro Ayaan Ali Bangash and the Rajasthani Manganiyar group, The Barmer Boys, writing workshops led by novelist Samrat Upadhyay, and a series of training programs for public health workers and teachers.
India has a vibrant post-secondary education sector and the demand for collaborative research and teaching between the US and India is only going to grow further. I’ve been proud to be involved in such a range of IU’s activities in India and look forward to seeing what we do next. But as for me, come July 2022, I’ll be back full-time to do my research on India’s cities and developing urbanism. I might actually try to make a trip back to Ajmer …
Michael Dodson, March 2022
Some of Dodson's publications include:
- Bureaucracy, Belonging, and the City in North India,1870-1930
- Trans-Colonial Modernities in South Asia
- Banaras: Urban Forms and Cultural Histories
- Orientalism, Empire and National Culture, 1770-1880
