India Books

Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) was really somebody. I've owned and eventually given away at least half a dozen copies of this book over the years. I mean, I tend to force it on people. It changed my life.

The writer I'd compare him to, perhaps weirdly, is Joseph Conrad - if the young Conrad had, instead of going to sea, run away to join a museum and become an art historian, curator, philosopher and intellectual bridge between worlds. Certainly both men have a similar way of making you pay attention to every single word, and - this is so rare - repaying that attention with insight, not only into what the author means by what he's saying, but what he's actually talking about ie. the subject under discussion.

In a novelist this is a great thing, but in a historian of thought, art, mythology, metaphysics etc. it's almost miraculous. He spent his life explaining what we look at when we look at art - and why art matters, what it's for. Every sentence that he wrote was written to assist. And these good intentions are almost tangible.

In 1975, I dropped out of architecture and wandered off to become a poet, to the despair of my family and the amusement of my friends. At first this mostly just involved smoking pot and waiting for something to happen. Then I found this book. Just the footnotes are a virtual study guide to the wisdom of the world. Plato and Shankara, Aquinas and Eckhart and Plotinus and the Upanishads etc. It was all new to me back then, this book my door.

It was like my Yoda. It taught me how to read and think and start to know things for myself, and find the next book too, and the book after that. It also, and this was so important, helped me understand (in a way that didn't fall apart the first time someone called me on it) why art of any kind is not only worth doing, but doing well, the best you can. I love this book.

If you're interested in art (in any form, not just pictures on a wall) you will be interested in what he has to say. You might not accept all of his argument, but in the process you'll have thought harder and more clearly about where you stand than you ever normally get the chance to. And you'll learn things you didn't know. Because in this little book, as in all his work, Coomaraswamy is trying to pass on a vast and ancient and fruitful tradition in the best way that he can. And I'm grateful to him for having tried so hard, and succeeded so well.

I mean, it's just a bunch of essays, but hey - go for the paperback. It's cheap and well made (by Dover, a company that knows how to bind books) and you just might like it.

Definitely one of the most accessible works by A.K. Coomaraswamy and a good introduction to his oeuvre, of which the present book is somehow the sinthesis. Themes such as the meaning of art in its universality, the relationship between beauty and truth, and utility of art are developped to their maximum extent. The strenght of the thesis of the author, the almost perfect rigour of his analisys, the impressive richness of documentation provided, are such as to strike one's knowledge on the matter to the point of being able to change reader's relationship to the present reality.

When I picked up the book Celebrating Perfection in Administration, I was expecting to find a few points on how to administer in a more perfect way,
something that in my role as an administrator I was eager to know. When I opened the cover and saw the subtitle, "Politics is a pious profession," I was curious--this sounded like an oxymoron, yet I was intrigued.

By the time I finished the book, my awareness had been expanded from the trivia of day-to-day administration to the perfect administration that takes
place in our cosmos at every second through automation in administration through Natural Law. I was inspired to have a glimpse of what national administration could be--to see the beautiful results that a government could provide for its people. Not only did I now see that there is the possibility
to simplify everything and have ideal administration of every area of life, but I realized that I could easily adopt and implement these principles myself.

How? The key concept seemed to be consciousness--collective consciousness and
individual consciousness. By handling that, everything else could be managed. How to do it? The Transcendental Meditation technique (TM) was the key. The
knowledge in the book was empowering, but the knowledge I gained of myself by learning TM was a whole other level of power. I could see that if everyone had access to this, that all administration could be perfect, and, yes, politics could really be a pious profession!

Whether one administers a nation, a state, a city, or a few people, the knowledge in this book is essential, and the secret to living the knowledge is practicing Transcendental Meditation.

Celebrating Perfection in Administration provides a practical handbook for how to align human administration with the perfection of Nature's administration.

Think about it. (Maharishi inspires you think about things in ways you've never thought about them before.) Do the planets collide in space? What maintains them in their perfect orbits? What governs the cycles of day and night so reliably? Every day we take for granted the perfect orderliness of Nature's functioning.

Throughout the book, Maharishi demonstrates how each area of government administration-education, health, etc.-can be made vastly more successful by aligning the awareness of the administrators (and the people they are administrating) with Nature's own unlimited intelligence. He presents the example of the Indian Government today. India is not utilizing this key secret of Nature's functioning, even though this knowledge is available in India's own Vedic heritage.

Maharishi's insights have sliced through centuries of the loss of Vedic Knowledge--the oldest and most complete tradition of knowledge in the world--and brought this timeless wisdom of totality of life into the present, where it is sorely needed. He provides a practical formula here to make the administration of modern India perfect--a formula so universal that it could easily be applied to every other nation.

Even if, like me, you're not directly involved in government administration, the book is still fascinating and relevant. Maharishi defines administration much more broadly than most of us would. After reading Celebrating Perfection in Administration, I realized that each of us--whatever our walk of life--is involved in administration every day. We administer every aspect of our own lives, and how perfectly we do this determines how successful and efficient we are in fulfilling our desires.

Seeing Maharishi's vision of how perfect every kind of administration can be, I felt deeply motivated to apply this wisdom to administer my own life more and more perfectly--and I felt deeply grateful that someone living on earth today is bringing out knowledge that can restore perfection to human life.

I was intrigued by the fact that the story was about a soldier and his life outside of the army. There is so much more to this character than you would expect. It's a great read for anyone who loves period pieces.

I would recommend the novel "The Chains of Honor" by Robert C. Bachman as, in my opinion, it is a great book even when compared to the best selling authors of today. As a reader, I felt I was living the story. I literally lost myself among the pages.

This book is unpredictable as the main character Allen Decker travels through life's twisted ways in college, at home and in the service of his country during WWII, during which time he finds that the world can be a very small place.

This novel , if not anything else, clearly explains how the myth of Gandhi was created, not by Gandhiji himself but by his ardent followers who consciously (and deliberately) made a myth out of Gandhi. The insatnce of Jayramacharya is a very good example. We also get to know that Gandhi was considered a "avatar" during his lifetime.

If someone wants to study the effects of myths on human society this novel is a must for him coz, the myth of Gandhi caused a event unprecedented in world history (even today) -- a non - violent struggle for independence .... and ulitimately ...success!

This is not to denounce Gandhi, rather is a tribute to the man who could lead 400 million people into non-violent struggle, who had the moral authority to call back his own struggle if it went violent (even if it was in a critical stage).

I would say , a must also for those who wonder and want to know about the miracle of indian-freedom-struggle.

I wholeheartedly echo the first reviewer's recommendation. On top of that, the style in which the novel is narrated -- Rao's incorporation of oral tradition and the way in which we gradually get to know the narrator -- makes it an exciting and fascinating read. (It was also innovative in terms of the development of Indian fiction in English.)

A note about which edition you choose: at least one edition (published by New Directions, 1963) includes about 50 pages of endnotes, written by Rao himself, for readers unfamiliar with Indian references and terms. (Very helpful if you want to know more, but easy to ignore if you don't need hem.) I'm not sure whether or not any other editions include these notes, but I do know that the modern edition from Oxford India Paperbacks (1989 plus later reprints) does NOT.

Captures the harsh life on Bombay streets that most of us deny
the existence of.

The following hindi movies "Salaam Bombay" and "Chandni Bar"
on same theme are worth watching.

The children of Bombay who live on it's streets will strike a note deep to your heart if you open it to the pain and joy of their daily LIFE.

This book combines the literary approach and the socio-political approach in such a delightful manner that it may be considered as both history of literature and literature on history. As a history, it is amazingly informative of the Chinese Americans' life in the past one and half centuries, their weal and woe, tears and laughters. As literature, it is surprisingly readable, and full of sensible judgments from literary perspectives.

The design of the jacket cover, however, somewhat falls short of doing full justice to the quality of the book. Especially, the Chinese graphs in the background might mislead potential readers to think that Chinese American literature is more Chinese than American, a misconception that the author himself endeavors to correct in the book.

Do you know what happened to the altar food left open in the Wild West by early Chinese immigrants? You can find the answer in Xiao-huang Yin's path-breaking book Chinese American Literature since the 1850s. The volume is a careful study on Chinese American cultural and historical experience seen through a fascinating reading and documentation of Chinese American writing over the past 150 years. I think Yin's book is a fine example of what the Chinese call "yasu gongshang," i.e., to be appreciated by both the academic and general audience, perhaps the highest standard for all writing.

Yin has offered to the field of Chinese and Asian American studies the first comprehensive overview of Chinese American literary experience from the beginning of Chinese settlement in North America down to the present time. I believe Yin's book has redefined and enriched our perception of Chinese American literature in two significant ways: first, his research has offered us a fuller and engaging look at the early Chinese immigrant writing of the 19th century, and more importantly, it embraces the entire world of Chinese American literature in both Chinese and English. Although it is the concensus of the field that bilingual and transnational approach is most desirable in Chinese American studies, truly bilingual and transnational research is still very hard to find. Yin demonstrates that bilingual and transnational approach is not only most fruitful but also a necessity in Chinese and Asian American studies. What is most impressive is the sense of balance Yin's commentary achieves in dealing with varied voices, often contending, in the worlds of Chinese America. The seven chapters of the book not only includes a historical in-depth view, but also incorporates distinctive perspectives such as immigrant, Eurasian, second-generation, American-born, native-Chinese/American, anti-/pro-assimilation, etc, which together constitutes a rich, diverse, and often contradictory, picture of Chinese American experience. Last but certainly not the least, trained as a cultural historian and Asian Americanist, Xiao-huang Yin combines the best of solid historical research method with an acute literary sensitivity that produces a powerful effect.

Even though this is an academic book based on solid research, it is surprisingly a very easy read. Here is the good news for the general reading public: there is no hard-to swallow academic jargon in Yin's book. Another aspect I find that it is such an entertaining read is that his notes are full of "gems." Not only will you find who ate the altar food, you can also find, for instance, who said "white man first, socialist second," who's the first Chinese graduate from an American college, how much money a Chinese-language writer in America makes, etc. Given the increasing importance of the Chinese American community in the making of a multicultural America, Yin's timely book is well-suited to benefit the general reading public in their understanding of major (cross-) cultural issues facing Chinese American communities not only historically but also in the ever-changing dynamics of the present.

This is a must-have, not just for reference on your library shelf, but as a practical workbook - which simulates the first year's study at the famous Ali Akbar Khan college of music in California (as the title declares).
What most appeals is the clarity of the editing by George Ruckert - himself a formidable performer, teacher and academic on the subject. Peppered with enjoyable photos and quotes from Khan-sahib himself, this book makes the learning experience as close as it can to being with a master, and would be a valuable aid even if you do have the real "guru" experience.

i use this book pretty much every day
has history, theory, tons of exercises and plenty of compositions to help you begin to learn some of the basics of hindustani classical music
i've had other books before, but often they just list ascending and descending scales and sometimes a chalan which doesn't really help you grasp the real sound or core of a rag - of course, a book can't come close to actually studying with a master, but this can definitely help during the times where we must study without a teacher

This probably rates as the finest effort by Western Music students of Khan Saheb to document in ENGLISH the many compositions for volcal and instrumental music. Khan Saheb represents the spiritual and the sublime in Indian Classical Music. He is not only the greatest living Indian Musician and Teacher, but also a caring human being who loves his students as much as his own children. Let's hope that the next book from Khan Saheb or his students is forthcoming shortly. k. deepak Kapoor

The bulk of this book consists of notated compositions as taught by Khansahib in class at the Ali Akbar Khan College in California. The music is in the prinicipal ragas of the 10 thaats. Although this is a small fraction of the wealth of music available in this tradition, it is plenty to get started. The rest of the book is a concise but still thorough presentation of form, style, history, and theory of North Indian music. A fantastic piece of work!

"Unputdownable" :-)
If you are jaded by religious/philosophical literature, this book will refresh you.
If you are not interested in religion at all, you will find Climbing Chamundi Hill incredibly entertaining.

Mr. Glucklich, when is the next one coming?

Reading this book was like reading no other I book I have ever read-you need to really think as you read, expand your mind and way of seeing the world. It is very rewarding and I recommend it to people who like a challenge, who like to change their way of thinking, who like to think philosophically and deeply.

The story and meaning of the Sacred Tree is related well in this book. The social and religious meanings, as well as symbols, are expounded on. This is a good book for grades 10, 11, & 12.

Enlightening commentary on all 3 ancient Indian scriptures (Vedas, Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita) in one book. Sri Chinmoy transcends mere commentary by providing us with spiritual illumination on the inner meaning of these important works. Sri Chinmoy is a fully realised spiritual master (who conducts meditation for the United Nations), and his very words provide us with direct spiritual inspiration/enlightenment.