Verrier Elwin and his Man Friday Shyam Rao Hivale had quite a romp while Elwin churned out 'seminal' writings on central India's indigenous people. The image here is of Kosi Bai, a Raj Gond, Elwin's second wife, who is still alive in Dindori. The muck-racking efforts of a few journalists like Raman Kripal have brought to light Kosi and some of the personal failures and exploits of Elwin. As Kripal's articles appeared after Ramachandra Guha's 'comprehensive' biography on Elwin, Guha was forced to respond. Guha's book does detail how Elwin came to shake-off the moral yoke of both the Church and Gandhi, and sheds light into the casual relationships both Elwin and Hivale entered into. Guha has said, 'the truth is rather more complicated.' The truth is that the truth is even more complicated than Guha understands it to be. There were a lot of simultaneous relationships going on. Elwin, the poet anthropologist, 'married to his typewriter', was far behind Hivale when it came to women. While Elwin's relationships have become subject to attention, Hivale's exploits, even more numerous, remain less known. This document is an FIR filed by one Kachri Bai in 1944, where she shows how she was used by Hivale (Chhote Bhaiya). The FIR does not show up in Guha's book and it provides a rather interesting peek into those productive times.
Kachri Bai FIR
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