India Books

This book is the only guide you need for great Colombian cooking. Written for a somewhat experienced cook, the book assumes you know the basics, and need ingredients and preparation methods. It is heavily weighted toward recipes from Colombia's northern coast, but includes sections on cuisine from other parts of the country, and international fare. Written by Teresita Román de Zurek, a well-respected Colombian author, it will guide you through all the steps needed to produce authentic, delicious Colombian dishes.

If you are not interested in exploring the details of the music biz in India, turn off this site right now; this book is not connected to the Western pop scene. CASSETTE CULTURE is a study of the impact of cassette technology on popular music in North India. It explores the nature of the changes the arrival of widely-available cassettes has made on the structure of the Indian music industry and on popular music itself. I found it a well-written book with an absolute minimum of scholarly jargon, though it is an academic book. The author does not presume knowledge on the part of the reader and gives careful explanations of Indian musical styles, regional cultures, and music industry details. I found the balance between theory and description excellent. There is an interesting discussion of the popular music recording scene in other parts of the world, as well as a thorough historical look at that topic in India itself. The problem of piracy is dealt with in depth. There are three basic issues that underlie Manuel's study. First, the nature of control of the mass media in India. Second, the content of the mass media and how it is presented. And third, the effect of the content on the audience and how they use that content. With these guidelines, he shows how the arrival of cassette technology and cheap cassette players in the 1970s created a revolution in Indian popular music. By the 1980s, a transformation was underway, with the rise of hundreds of small regional producers, as well as a few giants. Escape from corporate control might lead us to think that the cassette ?revolution? was a liberating force, but Manuel points out that this is not entirely so. The new technology has also been used to spread traditional, unprogressive, and even reactionary, bigoted messages through India. Cassettes have fuelled many a regionalist or separatist movement as well as the strivings of many an opportunistic politician.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the combination of music, popular media, technology and culture in India, one of the great civilizations of mankind, which seldom appears in Western media except for disasters, murders, or horror stories . Manuel has written a classic. Buy it.

I could not put this book down! If your intersts is in sociology and social class problems...pick this book up! AMAZING! The stories and the first hand experiences are truly a treat!

This book is an incredible analysis of the Bhat culture. Smart, interesting and sensitive, Casting Kings is a must for those learning about identity in modern India.

Govindan Nair, prone to over-philosophizing about the otherwise ordinary middle class life in south India, explains his views to his neighbour in this brief, entertaining, and surreal novel. A whimsical tone throughout the narrative carries a strong, unmitigated and deplorable stench of melancholy and uncertainty, in the personal lives of a society groping for an identity and purpose. Principles of Vaishnavism and the ills of British rule form a genesis for the thoughts of this thoroughly enjoyable tale.

Swami Nitya-swarup-ananda (1899-1992) was a famous and brilliant monk of the Ramakrishna Order who founded and developed the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture in Calcutta, India. Centered In Truth is an outstanding two volume testament to his life and wisdom. Volume One (654 pages) presents his fascinating biography, including two visits to the United States. Volume Two (474 pages) is collection of his personal writings, commentaries, reminiscences, and memorial lecture programmes in his honor. Shelley Brown became a Vedantist in 1953 and began a spiritual dialogue with Swami Nitya-swarup-ananda that continued until the day he died and therefore is the perfect choice for presenting this great man's life, thought, and accomplishments to a western readership. Highly Recommended.

This book should really go back into print. It is an oft-cited classic of Bornean studies. The author discusses the various ethnic groups of central Borneo, and possible relationships between them surmised by culture, language, and migration histories. This is top-notch scholarship.

Chakra Workout, by Elrond and Juliana Blawyn with Suzanne Jones, is part of the Llewellyn Whole Life Series, which focuses on "the physical--sensation and bodily health--and how it is inextricably linked with the health of our minds and bodies." The Blawyns and Jones, writing from a Tantric viewpoint, explain how to energize the body through exercises for the chakras.

A chakra is a "center of physical and psychic energy." The body contains seven major chakras, aligned along the spinal column. When the chakras are in balance, the body feels energized. Through the centuries, people have developed several different ways of keeping the chakras open and balanced. Blawyn and Jones present several traditions, including T'ai Chi, Chi Kung, Sufi Earth Dancing, Veil Dancing, Whirling, and the Dance of the Four Directions.

They emphasize that no one method is better than the others. Readers are encouraged to try them all before deciding on what works best for them. The authors also recognize that "we need to achieve definite results quickly, because most of us can only set aside a few minutes each day for whatever technique we have chosen."

Blawyn and Jones include several breathing and meditation exercises, and also discuss the role of colors, scents, crystals, and music in energizing the body.

They then explain all the physical exercises in detail, with each technique illustrated with line drawings.

The final chapter explains how physical movement helps to rejuvenate and heal the body. They say that for thousands of years, many cultures have studied and treated the physical body by removing energy blockages. They add that "illness is directly related to the flow of energy in the physical and spiritual body. Therefore, developing the flow of this energy will help you heal yourself."

Chakra Workout is "a beginner's guide on movement and breath." It's the book you need if you're unhappy with your physical and spiritual energy levels and want an integrated way to energize your total system.

I bought this book in Dharamsala, I hope it is also available on the Web.

The book is very short and reasonably concise. Considering its length, it has two major strengths:
1. It concludes with excercises paralleling Reiky II. The comparison of the practice of Kundalini (e.g. through Hatha yoga) to the manipulation of Ki, especially in Reiky, is IMO a very important one. The more angles this esoteric topic is shown through, the better the understanding. Kudos to Ravindra Kumar.
2. Many excercises are given in this booklet that yoga practitioners would define as peripheral to mainstream [Hatha] yoga practice. However, Since Kundalini is all about taking the best out of each type of yoga, this makes for a really wonderful -- better still, irreplacable -- anthology. You simply can't cover more topics than that without a guru.
To conclude, this book complements Hiroshi Motoyama's "Theories of the Chakras", with its impressive chakra-opening-guide appendix by Swami Satyananda.
The book "All You Wanted to Know About Hatha Yoga" by the same author is also recommended. It's very handy, and Hatha yoga is, well, probably very good for you.

"This volume contains some of the most intelligent writing on contemporary India that one is likely to encounter ... an engaging register of language and argument ... a unique publication." Burton Stein, SOUTH ASIA RESEARCH
"...a picture of India that cannot be praised too highly...absolutely essential reading." Gilbert Etienne, REVIEW TIERS-MONDE
"The considerable achievement of this book is to explain so much so clearly and so briefly." R. K. Newman, INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS