Knowing Dil Das — Stories of a Himalayan Hunter is an amalgamation of history, sociology and anthropology put in a biographical set-up. Beginning from the late 1950s, the book portrays Dil Das, a poor peasant, who lived at the foothills of the Himalayas in Mussoorie. Being a localite, he could easily assist and guide the American tourists who were keen on hunting and exploring the surrounding picturesque locales.

The book thus tells us about Dil Das’s hunting expeditions and the wonderful friendships he struck with the visitors and even their children. The author, Joseph S Alter, was one such American visitor who lived in Mussorrie as a kid with his missionary parents and grew up on Dil Das’s hunting trips and story-telling sessions. So, the narrative of the book is often laced with the author’s own reportage and interpretations of certain experiences that Dil Das and he shared together.

This book is divided into four parts, each one focusing on a particular phase in Dil Das’s life. So, the author has titled each part with names from the epic Ramacharitmanas, such as Bal Kand (The Book of Childhood), Aranya Kand (The Forest Book), Shram Kand (The Book of Labour) and Uttar Kand (Himalaya), thus trying to segregate the numerous tales. This makes for better sociological and anthropological understanding as to why Dil Das took certain decisions or why he reacted in a certain way, given his social setting and background.

Through several anecdotes, the the author describes how the world worked years ago. For instance, Dil Das once visited a village up in the Himalayas with some Americans. They shot a couple of mountain goats for the meat, and even though they had the hunting licence with them, the forest guard started creating trouble. To settle the matter, Dil Das offered a bribe to the guard. “Now, in those days everything was cheap, even bribes, so I offered him a ten-rupee note,” Alter quotes Dil Das in the book.

Interestingly, even though Dil Das was a passionate hunter, he was extremely sensitive and had an innate goodness. There is one instance where he says, “Whatever god there is, he is in the heart. One need not go looking around for him. If you believe in your heart, that is good.” It is this  touching simplicity that makes one want to know more about Dil Das.

On the whole, the book is complex in nature, and is ideally suited for research scholars and historians who might understand the environs in a far better way. The language of the book isn’t tough. But the author deals with the varied perspectives about Dil Das’s life as an anthropologist, thus making the book a profound read.

 However, the excerpts from Dil Das’s expeditions that are sprinkled across the pages help considerably in not just making the book slightly easy to comprehend, but also visualising the story better.