May 03, 2018 10:17 AM
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Author: Shashi Tharoor
This book is really useful for people all over the world who want to know everything about Hinduism, and that includes Indians and Hindus themselves.
There is a certain juxtapositioning of facts about the history and details of Hindu scripture throughout the book. The author takes a detailed and longish look at his own identity and decides that the religion he was born into is the religion he wants to see himself in even after 60 years of his life. Naturally, his family and parents played a large role in him believing so, but it’s really gratifying to know that he underwent a lot of study himself to arrive at the conclusions that he has come up with in his text.
He upholds various facets of his religion and also denounces even more facts, in the attempt to ascertain his Hindu identity. The book also has hidden confessions about the author who very subtly writes that he is from a lower caste Nair family, and he also breaks many a heart in his declaration that he was unable to make it to the Secretary General’s post in the UN, where he spent the major part of his life.
We get to know several personal secrets about this author who has done India proud in so many ways. He has an Ishta Devata, namely, Ganpati; he also has many idols of Ganesh all over his house in Tiruvananthapuram together with a huge alcove that boasts of several images and illustrations of nearly every god present in the Hindu pantheon.
He loves and respects his parents, just as he loves and respects all the various facts and data about his favourite religion. He is also not a person that practices caste, and he insists that caste came into Hinduism as a means to evolve into a relevant and responsible religion that has all the respect it can garner for other theories and religions spread over not only the whole world but also within India itself.
This book is a must read for every citizen of the world, and especially every Hindu and every Indian national. The author is justified in promoting Hinduism, but he also slices up the opposition who want to make religious identity into public policy and polity.
After reading this book, you might want to ask yourself ‘Why am I a Hindu’, and you will likely find all the answers here. It is an encyclopedia of Hindu factoids put together with his comprehensive opinion on each and every aspect of Hindu life; you can’t leave the book untouched, but you can soak up all the awareness that this giant of a book has mustered about being a modern day Hin
