ABSTRACT
In this chapter I wish to discuss problems of method in the anthropology of consciousness against a backdrop of what happened during Kamala’s visit. Kamala was our ‘sister’ in the field, who came to stay with us in the UK for six weeks in July/August 1993. Andrew and I lived in Kamala’s home in Tamaphok, a remote hill village in East Nepal, for nearly a year (in 1989). Even after we left her parents’ house to live for a second year on our own nearby, we had her assistance daily for our research. When we left, we promised, as most anthropologists do, to return before too long. We also said (and this, I believe, is less often promised) that we would invite Kamala to visit us in England. Three years, two jobs and one baby later-the time was right for all of us, and we arranged for her to come during the summer break
in her school-teaching year. The occasion raised what I consider to be important and compelling questions about consciousness and method in anthropology.
