Archive - March 21, 2011

Ruffling the Peacock’s Feathers by David Howard Day (Kenya 1965–1966, India 1967–68) Xlibris September 2010 402 pages Paperback $23.99, ebook $9.99 Reviewed by Tony D’Souza (Ivory Coast 2000–02, Madagascar 2002–03) RUFFLING THE PEACOCK’S FEATHERS, anthropologist David Howard Day’s memoir of his two years living in Saratpur, a north Indian village “on the broad Gangetic plain” during the late 1960s as a Peace Corps Volunteer, is a hefty tome, and touches on all the familiar experiences encountered by Vols in the field. Day recalls the heat and rigors of daily life, what it’s like to be under the microscope of a foreign culture little exposed to Westerners, the difficulties of dealing with cooks, rickshaw drivers, minor bureaucrats, and nosy neighbors, while at the same time making lasting friendships with a few select individuals who are often poorer and less educated than the upper class strivers who would impose themselves on him . . .