JULY 17, 2000 VOL. 156 NO. 2

A Remarkable Life in India
He was a political activist, altruist and man of the cloth, but Samuel Stokes' real talent lay in apples
By MICHAEL FATHERS

ALSO IN TIME COVER: Rethinking the Riddle As repression and modernization take their toll on an ancient culture, some believers look to the newly exiled Karmapa as the best chance for breaking the impasse with China • Interview: The Dalai Lama says he still has hope • Dissent: A nun's tale of arrest and torture • Viewpoint: Both sides must compromise before it's too late • Photo Essay: Web-only exclusive--photographs of a forgotten homeland CAMBODIA: Smoke Rings the Registers One man's exploitation is another's development program. Big Tobacco isn't making people healthier, just a whole lot richer INDIA: Pretty Girls All in a Row A winning streak in international pageants encourages middle-class women to flout traditions and flaunt their beauty BOOKS: A remarkable American activist in India • God's Militia: A riveting chronicle of Afghanistan's Taliban SPOTLIGHT MILESTONES TRAVEL WATCH: Finding Rustic Charm Down on the Farm

Six decades before it became fashionable for young Americans to travel to India in search of an alternative life or a new God, the path was blazed by a strong-willed scion of a prominent Pennsylvania family. Samuel Stokes arrived in India in 1904 at age 22, with the noble purpose of doing good. He did plenty of that, as Asha Sharma—Stokes' granddaughter—chronicles in the detailed and sympathetic biography An American in Khadi (Penguin; 369 pages). A devout, idealistic Quaker, Stokes ignored the foreign missionary community in India and wandered the foothills of the Himalayas as a Christian fakir, penniless, helping the sick and speaking only in Hindi. A few years later he was being feted in London by the Archbishop of Canterbury as the founder of a brotherhood of wandering Christian holy men—"an irregular cavalry," in the words of another Anglican prelate, "that would deliver India to Jesus."

But within two years of establishing his brotherhood in 1910, Stokes quit. He asked Indian friends to choose him a wife, discarded his Western ways, dressed in khadi (homespun cloth) and set up a home at the base of the Himalayas, in what is today Himachal Pradesh state. Thus began a philosophical voyage of discovery that led to his conversion to Hinduism in 1932. He took the name Satyanand, or "One who rejoices in the truth."

If that were all there was to his life it would be unusual enough. But there was much more. Stokes was an early member of India's Congress Party and believed strongly that total independence from Britain was the only way. He was close to Mahatma Gandhi, but warned that his civil disobedience campaigns would lead to permanent chaos. In 1921, he was jailed on sedition charges, thus becoming the first American political prisoner in India.

Just as he won prominence as a political activist and a champion of the rights of hill dwellers, Stokes changed direction again, this time turning to horticulture. His name is recorded in India's independence archives, but his legacy lies in apples. Stokes introduced the "American Delicious" variety to India—the only brand of apple now found in Indian shops—bringing instant prosperity to thousands of small hill farmers. Sharma has written a lively and philosophical book, reflecting closely Stokes' mixed personality and steely commitment.

Write to TIME at mail@web.timeasia.com