I first got to meet Surya's wife, Santi, who, you remember, Surya "emancipated" after returning from his meeting with Bill Mollison in Kathmandu two years before my visit.

Then I met his two daughters who he also emancipated and (below), his son
Surya's son and oldest daughter were somewhat confused, they told me, by Surya's sudden act of "freeing" them and weren't quite sure, at first, what it meant because Surya had never really treated them as if they were his "slaves". They now understood it, they said, as a largely symbolic gesture on Surya's part. He was forsaking the traditional Nepali culture where men rule everything and he was, additionally, making a statement that he wanted to make his life sustainable and it could not be if he treated his wife and children as indentured servants. Surya's daughter said she was a little embarassed by the suddenness of her emancipation because she had never heard of any girls in Nepal being "liberated."

These two neighbors of Surya's followed me around constantly observing everything I did and bringing people to me who wanted to ask me questions or point out things they thought I might find interesting. They were like my agents but much more helpful. It was depressing for me when it was time to leave the village finally and say goodbye to everyone.