Growing Stories from India: Religion and the Fate of Agriculture

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments In 1996, when Alan Entwistle, now deceased, first planted the seeds of a Balaram project in my mind, neither one of us could have imagined how Growing Stories from India would take shape. Nevertheless, over many years this project grew, and I am profoundly grateful to the many people who have nourished it and me. This book would not be possible without your insights, criticisms and support: David Aftandilian , Corinne Dempsey, Nancy Falk, Joyce Fluekiger, Maxine Grossman , Janet Krengel, Rebecca Manring, Vasudha Narayanan, Cynthia Packert, Laurie Patton, Robin Rinehart, and Clark Wolf. Special thanks to Jeri Neal for pushing me to articulate why this particular story was so important. Friends and colleagues in Iowa State University ’s Sustainable Agriculture group and at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture provided numerous opportunities for me to think through the book’s main arguments. I thank my anonymous reviewers , whose comments were insightful and greatly improved the readability of this manuscript. Anna Peterson deserves special thanks for slogging through multiple drafts of this work, and once again, I reserve a special appreciation for Tony K. Stewart, who helped me see Balaram’s narrative potential. I cannot thank enough Christianna White, who started as my editor, but has become a friend and coach. Her insights and excellent editorial skills polished this manuscript; my mistakes are solely my responsibility . I also want to thank my parents, Mary and Charles Sanford, and my husband, best friend, and partner, Kevin Veach. Many people in India have offered great assistance and hospitality, including Shrivatsa Goswami and his family, the Pandey families of 226 Acknowledgments Baldeo, Robyn Beeche, and C. B. Rawat. Many individuals associated with Dauji Temple in Baldeo were more than generous with their time. My research in India was made possible by a grant from the American Institute of Indian Studies and the National Endowment to the Humanities , and Iowa State University supported most generously the research and travel necessary for this work. Earlier treatments of this material have been published in Worldviews : Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology; Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics; International Journal of Hindu Studies; Sacred Play: Ritual Levity and Humor in South Asian Religions (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2010); and Alternative Krishnas: Regional and Vernacular Variations on a Hindu Deity (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005). ...