INSIDE THE GURU'S GATE - Anpere

division which grants women an active role in domestic spheres but not in the public.
Elderly female interlocutors would sometimes let the man of the household speak on
behalf of the whole family. In one interview the husband dominantly took over the
discussion, while the woman retreated into complete silence. The tendency to give
men precedence of speech was present in conversations with informants of other age
groups, but never posed any major problem as men and women were conversed with
separately.
The interview guide developed around themes regarded significant to a Sikh
way of life. In total it contained fifty questions, including biographical data of the
interviewee. A first group of questions were used to obtain data on the religious identity
and language proficiency of the interviewee, as well as his or her perceptions of
Sikh history and means to pursue religious knowledge. A second cluster of questions
focused on religious space in Varanasi, particularly the gurdwara and the practices
conducted therein. The interlocutor was requested to describe personal worship routines
and explicate collective worship acts in the gurdwara, such as kirtan, seva, simran.
A third group of questions concerned conceptions and practices of the Guru
Granth Sahib and hymns ascribed to the Sikh Gurus. The interviewee was asked to
explain various personal uses of the Sikh scripture at the private house and in the
gurdwara. The fourth set of questions involved different types of religious practices,
such as pilgrimage, festivals, rites of passage, calendar rites, practices in times of
illness and need, which the interviewees were asked to describe from personal experiences.
In a final group of questions the interlocutor was encouraged to develop
personal religious beliefs and meanings of devotion. In every interview several follow-up
questions were added to the conversation. The length of time I spent with
each informant comprised from three to more than twenty hours. I would therefore
meet each interlocutor between one to five times, excluding social visits and small
talks to make our acquaintances. Most of the interviews were conducted at private
houses and shops or in the gurdwara. At the end of the each interview the informant
were asked to bring up themes and topics they considered relevant for a Sikh identity
and a Sikh way of life which he or she thought we had omitted in our conversations.
At the beginning of my field study the granthis and the gurdwara manager
granted permission to use a tape recorder to document liturgies and performances
inside the gurdwara. The semi-structured interviews with Sikh individuals and most
unstructured interviews with performers were also recorded on tape. The accumulation
of material and lack of time prevented me from transcribing the interviews to
English during my stay at Varanasi. Instead I kept notes and transcribed all recordings
when I returned home. In interview situations all informants were firstly
asked if they approved of being recorded. Provided they agreed, I would keep the
tape recorder in my bag with a small microphone attached outside to avoid making
the rolling tape a disturbing factor. Only in one case did the son-in-law of an elderly
male repondant ask me to switch off the recorder because he considered the information
conveyed politically charged. In conversations with others I experienced that
people would be somewhat reserved at the beginning of our conversation, but
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Published on www.anpere.net in May 2008