Gods, Guns and Missionaries: The Making Of The Modern Hindu Identity, Manu S Pillai
When European missionaries first arrived in India in the 16th century, they entered a world both fascinating and bewildering. Hinduism, as they saw it, was a pagan mess: the worship of devils and monsters by a people who burned women alive, performed outlandish rites and fed children to crocodiles. But soon it became clear that Hindu “idolatry” was far more complex than white men’s stereotypes allowed, and Hindus had little desire to convert.
But then, European power began to grow in India, and under colonial rule, missionaries assumed a forbidding appearance. During the British Raj, Western frames of thinking gained ascendancy and Hindus felt pressed to reimagine their religion. This was both to fortify it against Christian attacks and to resist foreign rule. It is this encounter which has, in good measure, inspired modern Hinduism’s present shape. Indeed, Hindus subverted some of the missionaries’ own tools and strategies in the process, triggering the birth of Hindu nationalism, now so dominant in the country.
In Gods, Guns and Missionaries, Manu S Pillai takes us through these remarkable dynamics with an arresting cast of characters – maharajahs, poets, gun-wielding revolutionaries, politicians, polemicists, philosophers and clergymen.
The Gujaratis: A Portrait of a Community, Salil Tripathi
Who are the Gujaratis, really? Where do they come from? Why are they the way they are? How do they earn, politick, pray, create, make merry, and even kill when they feel threatened? How do they build a sense of self and community and then take it too far, making “others” out of Dalits, Muslims, and denotified tribes?
In The Gujaratis, through wide-ranging scholarship, original research, and a lifetime of observing the community he was born into, journalist and writer Salil Tripathi crafts an engrossing account of the community.
From the holy town of Somnath, steeped in incense and distorted histories, to the high-octane corporate boardrooms of Mumbai, down the bustling avenue of Hovenierstraat, the heart of Belgium’s diamond trade, to lonely American highways dotted with Patel-owned motels, Tripathi dissects the Gujarati presence in India and across the world and observes the strengths, weaknesses, and idiosyncrasies of the community. We learn about asmita, the essence of being Gujarati, and understand what it means to be “Gujarati” as the author traces the epic story of his people through centuries of social, political, and cultural upheavals.
The Notebook of Kabir: Thinner than Water, Fiercer than Fire, Anand
Over the years, as a publisher and editor, Anand immerses himself in the works of Babasaheb Ambedkar and other anticaste thinkers. He gives up his practice of music and poetry, blaming his disenchantment on caste. One day in Delhi, Anand starts looking for Kabir. He finds him here, there, everywhere. He begins to pay attention to the many ways in which Kabir’s words are sung, and translates them. Soon, Kabir starts looking out for Anand.
The songs of Kabir sung by a range of singers – Prahlad Tipaniya, Fariduddin Ayaz, Mukhtiyar Ali, Kumar Gandharva, Kaluram Bamaniya, Mahesha Ram and other wayfarers – make Anand return to music and poetry. Anand translates songs seldom found in books. Along the way, he witnesses Kabir drawing on the Buddha, often restating ancient suttas in joyous ways.
Ananda: An Exploration of Cannabis in India, Karan Madhok
In this lively, well-researched, humorous, and occasionally trippy account of ganja, Karan Madhok looks at every aspect of the cannabis plant: botanical, spiritual, medical, and recreational. Madhok hits the road in search of cannabis strains around the country, including a visit to the Himalayan hamlet that is home to the world-renowned Malana Cream (which has inspired various counterculture movements); looks for the mythical Idukki Gold in Kerala; seeks the Sheelavathi variety in the Andhra/ Orissa region; portrays the travails of addicts, and details the shadowy world of gangsters and suppliers; hangs out with devotees who openly consume bhang and other derivatives of ganja; and visits hospitals and clinics which use the drug for a wide range of therapeutics.
The Green Book: An Observer’s Journal, Amitava Kumar
Amitava Kumar shows us that great literature often begins as jottings made in writers’ notebooks. His examples extend from Virginia Woolf and John Berger to Mohandas Gandhi and Shiva Naipaul. In Kumar's own notebooks, we find written accounts and drawings of travels across continents: among mountains and rivers, walks in parks and journeys on highways, even a visit to a prison. In each instance, we discover what comes from noticing. There are many ways of seeing – but seeing is, in fact, being.
The third book in the series that started with The Blue Book and continued with The Yellow Book, The Green Book gives us an insight into the mind of a writer.
Nehru’s India: Past, Present and Future, Aditya Mukherjee
Sovereignty, democracy, secularism, pro-poor orientation and modern scientific outlook, core values of India’s Independence Movement have in short been described as “the Idea of India”. Jawaharlal Nehru not only fought for these values during the freedom struggle but also played a pivotal role in implementing them in the newborn nation after independence. His life, philosophy and works throw light on his vision for India: its civilisational past, the roadmap for the post-independent nation and possibilities for a future.
With its focus on Nehru’s understanding of history and of India’s cultural past, the book opens a window to his deep understanding of communalism and commitment to secularism. His absolute faith in a democratic society and invaluable contribution to its nurturing on Indian soil, his efforts in building an independent and egalitarian economy, and a society suffused with scientific temper, provide us multiple insights into the life and work of one of the greatest figures of the 20th century.
All information sourced from publishers.
