Abstract
The focus of the lecture is on certain extraordinary learning experiences in the four sites where I conducted fieldwork. These experiences are extraordinary because they stirred my conscience as a citizen of India and revealed that I was living in a deeply flawed society. They pertain to caste discrimination, the power of tradition to subvert the rule of law, the betrayal of the actual tillers in India’s land reform programme, the ugly face of capitalism, and the miserable plight of the poor. Included, in addition, is my analysis of agrarian class. Underlying these experiences is my debt to Professor Srinivas, who inspired me to adopt fieldwork as a mode of generating data for sociological analysis. In particular, I learnt from him the value of empathy for an in-depth understanding of a field situation. To conclude, I argue that because empathy is a unique tool in sociological research, the discipline is the queen of the social sciences.
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