On Mon, Dec 22, 2008 at 11:57 AM, Thaths <tha...@gmail.com> wrote: > I am in India (Bangalore and Chennai) for the next couple of weeks. I > am looking for recommendations of books (all genres) easily available > in India and more difficult to find abroad. Last year I got some great > recommendations from silk listers hserus, chandrachoodan and ashok. > > So... what are some great books that have recently been published in > India that are worth lugging half way around the world? > > Thaths > -- > "Silly Indians. Our God made their God" -- Homer J. Simpson >
Try "Myth = Mithya: A Handbook of Hindu Mythology" by Devdutt Pattanaik. It's the first I've read that actually makes sense. Here's a telling quote from the introduction: "Mythology tends to be hyperbolic and fantastic to drive home a myth. It is modern arrogance to presume that in ancient times people actually believed in the objective existence of virgin births, flying horses, parting seas, talking serpents, gods with six heads and demons with eight arms. The sacredness of such obviously irrational plots and characters ensures their flawless transmission over generations. Any attempt to edit them is frowned upon. The unrealistic content draws attention to the idea behind the communication. Behind virgin births and parting seas is an entity who is greater than all forces of nature put together. A god with six heads and a demon with eight arms project a universe where there are infinite possibilities, for the better and for the worse." -- Kiran Jonnalagadda http://jace.seacrow.com/
