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The Indians: Portrait
of a People
In the introduction to the book, the authors have frankly confessed that they have written an "unfashionable book" that may stir "reflexive hostility" by post modernists. They say that they have drawn a big picture, which is like the pattern of forests, without which it would be a "mystifying jumble of trees". The first chapter is devoted to the deeply internalised hierarchical nature of Indian society, where a person’s identity is almost absolutely determined by the rank he occupies. This remains distinctively true for family as well as caste. The strength of the book lies on the masterly exploration of Indian sexuality. Whether it is the fine dividing line between eroticism and love, description of sex from Kamasutra or describing their ideas of a composite Indian woman, the authors hold the readers attention effortlessly. Health and Healing gives a fascinating account of the body, health and Ayurvedic healing in India. In "religious and spiritual life", the authors contrast the Hindu nationalists and the flexible Hindus. The two fundamental qualities of Hindu culture and civilisation is tolerance and universality which act as testimony to constrain the militant outlook and action of Hindu nationalists. They also reflect interesting insights into contemporary religious developments, e.g., the rising popularity of healing gurus such as Satya Sai Baba, Nirmala Devi and Shri Shri Ravi Shankar. A remarkably perceptive analysis of the root cause of an age-old hostility between the Hindus and the Muslims reconditions the mind of the reader. They have tried to identify various factors that have contributed to it: civilisation conflicts, colonial and rule’, economic factors, identity crisis and demographic perspectives. The final chapter is on the Indian mind in its various manifestation: Moksha, Dharma, and Karma are the three elementary concepts influential in the Hindu world view, the belief in the existence of ‘ultimate reality’ and the Indian intuitive relationship with the divine. The book abounds with Indian myths, legends, proverbs and several amusing anecdotal evidences that cover up the weaker parts of the book. On the whole, the book does make a good read. It is easy, elegant and informed prose with understated criticism. To be precise, the book deepens our understanding of not just our lives but our minds as well.
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