ABSTRACT
Muli lives three miles from Bhubaneswar, the capital of the eastern coastal state of Orissa. In Bhubaneswar itself, as in other Indian cities, the different untouchable castes, of which the Bauris are one, experience no obvious public discrimination. But in Muli's village, the old ways persist: although legally permitted to do so, untouchables enter neither shops nor village temples because they fear high-caste reprisals. A detailed life history like Muli's provides a way to reach behind the surface answers outsiders often receive, grasping from the insider's perspective what he really values and how he interprets his experiences. Muli does not necessarily represent a typical untouchable or villager, for he makes his own distinctive choices and adaptations; others of his caste choose differently. What Muli shares with the other men of his caste is a limited range of choices of life styles determined by a common physical, economic, and social environment.
