Prior to her maiden visit to India, Carola Lentz was already familiar with the country’s cultural, social and political landscape. Despite that, the president of Goethe-Institut and a distinguished anthropologist, admits to finding India “overwhelming” initially.
After a quick tour of the Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan centres in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and Thiruvananthapuram later, she laughs that India would be best called a subcontinent. “India has been on my intellectual map for decades. With my work as an anthropologist in West Africa, it is fascinating to see how India has set the model for so many things,” she recounts.
“When colonial officers from the Indian civil service were sent to West Africa, they tried out the durbar format for ceremonial gatherings. For many events, whenever I researched about memory politics, independence processes, independence politics etc., India has always been in the picture, but I never visited. My first fieldwork was in Ecuador and then since 1987, Ghana. Now the opportunity has come to finally engage with India.”
