India Books

Do you want to bring back a trunk or two full of Silver (real), rubies, pashminas, hand painted bone china and live like the maharanas in the Palaces? Well then this is the book for you. Its simple, but I would never have known to go to these stores and find such treasures without this guide. Who would have thought we would see a silver covered canopy bed for $3000! Its obvious that expensive hotels are nice, but not so obvious where to get good deals on products. You feel like an "expert buyer." I only wish they had more info on "what makes rubies or silver" real or valuable as without this book it seems so easy to fall into fakes (esp Thailand). Instead of half of the book being about haggling, if there were details on good books to read up on about: carpets, jewelry, silver, whatever can be bought in that country, this series would be much better than what it is. Obviously, you can never get a good deal unless you know about what you are buying but it could also be a primer on luxurious things for the armchair traveller.

Rarely does one discover a guidebook that delivers exactly what it promises. This is the perfect reference for the discriminating traveler who enjoys quality, wishes to discover the best shopping sites and wants just enough sightseeing to satisfy their cultural requirements. Traveling with a group of people this book soon became singled out as the preeminent guide for our purposes. The authors descriptions are very accurate and in keeping with my own experiences. Upon my return I can now reread the book and relive my travels.

firdaus kanga is a very dear friend who lives in my neighbourhood. his book is a reflection of his jovial self.

he is the wittiest guy i've ever met, and also, by the way, the most intelligent! this book is a must read.

Trying to grow is the story of a young man named Daryus Kotwal, who grew up in more ways than one, and did not allow his disabilitating disease to overcome him. Set in an endearing idiosyncratic Parsi family the story recreates his struggle with life. The vitality of the story comes from startlingly vivid characterizations. There is also this extraordinary fluency in the description of relationships and heartbreaks.

Autobiographical in nature, Trying to Grow brings a whole new and refreshing perspective to the world of human disability, eliminating any kind of "mush". There is a lot of honesty and energy in the way the story has been told. There is a vein of humor through out giving it a surprisingly upbeat tone. It is an exhilirating book which celebrates life more than anything else.

A wonderful alternative way to heal pshychological blockages in your life. Many people don't realise that healing these help lead the way to a better health. Bach explains all in this easy to understand book. Fears, obsessions, habits all come from somewhere Bach explains. What usually happens is we supress and block. Bach flower remedies help bring to the surface and heal these subliminal/subconscious stagnant pains and worries in a gentle and nurturing way. It helps us deal with them and move on with our lives. Your sure to find the book interesting and informative. You'll recognise something in yourself amongst all the flower remedies. Perhaps even wish to try one or two. Only problem is keeping the numbers down is difficult. You'll soon find a list of 10 remedies you wish to get. Best thing to do is work on what concerns you most and move to the others after each problem has been addressed. A great book to have in your collection for future references. A book you'll read more than once. A book that will never be out dated. Maybe you'll even wish to buy it for a gift for someone. from Chris

A wonderful alternative way to heal pshychological blockages in your life. Many people don't realise that healing these help lead the way to a better health. Bach explains all in this easy to understand book. Fears, obsessions, habits all come from somewhere Bach explains. What usually happens is we supress and block. Bach flower remedies help bring to the surface and heal these subliminal/subconscious stagnant pains and worries in a gentle and nurturing way. It helps us deal with them and move on with our lives. Your sure to find the book interesting and informative. You'll recognise something in yourself amongst all the flower remedies. Perhaps even wish to try one or two. Only problem is keeping the numbers down is difficult. You'll soon find a list of 10 remedies you wish to get. Best thing to do is work on what concerns you most and move to the others after each problem has been addressed. A great book to have in your collection for future references. A book you'll read more than once. A book that will never be out dated. Maybe you'll even wish to buy it for a gift for someone. from Chris

Many years ago, Sumedha was born to a rich family. He inherited great wealth and privilege but gave it all away. He became a hermit and spent his time meditating in the woods. Then, one day, he had the privilege of seeing the Burning Lamp Buddha. Immediately, Sumedha realized it was his calling to become the next Buddha.

Sumedha was reborn as Siddhartha, the son of Queen Maya and King Suddhodana. Siddhartha lived a full of joy, kept away from all of the harsh realities of life. Once exposed to cruelty, sickness, and death, the historic Buddha once again left his life of privilege in his search to become enlightened.

I read Under the Bodhi Tree a chapter at a time with my grandson. This seemed to be just the right amount of text per sitting. This also allowed us ample time to look at and discuss the rich and colorful illustrations.

Under The Bodhi Tree from the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association is an informative and entertaining biography drawing from a collection of stories surrounding the life of Siddhartha, a young prince of India who would become known and revered around the world and down the generations as the Buddha. These are the stories which reveal the memorable life which he led as young readers follow the young Buddha from his sheltered childhood through many short story chapters, each of which depicting another fascinating tale of Siddhartha's transition into becoming the Buddha. With a "kid friendly" text enhanced with vivid illustrations. Under The Bodhi Tree is very highly recommended reading for all young people, but most particularly those engaged in the study or practice of the Buddhist religion.

This book is great. I took a course in Asian Studies (it's my major) and this was used as the sole book for studying India. It explores India from multiple facets: the past, the present, society, customs, role of women, religion, caste, modernization, and international relations. In sum, its a great overview of India. I highly recommend it.

Compiled and edited by Sumit Ganguly and Neil DeVotta, Understanding Contemporary India presents modern-day Indian life, culture, social issues, and political challenges to readers of all backgrounds. From a brief overview of Indian history, politics, economy, the role and status of women, population pressures, religion, the arts, and more, Understanding Contemporary India is a keenly insightful, nicely organized, and superbly presented work which is strongly recommended and accessible reading for travelers, businesspeople, and policy makers wanting a useful and "reader friendly" overview of present day India.

This is one of the most marvelous books of my experience. At first, like India itself, it can be overwhelming. Is it a spiritual book? Is it a travel book? Is it an art book? Then you realise, as in traditional cultures themselves, it is all of these woven into an integrated whole.

Both the photography and the text are first rate. There are excellently composed color photos on almost every other page. However, the text is both very accessible written and very enlightening on the Vaisnava (Vishnu worship) tradition. I especially valued the commentary on how the tradition entered the West through Pythagoras, the Essenes, and the Gnostics. Simularly, the life story of the medieval reformer Sri Caitanya was extremely informative and inspiring- as was the explanation of Jagannath.

The overall structure of this book is that of a pilgrimage to eleven of India's most holy places. Indeed, it is a pilgrimage between two covers. One day I too would like to retrace this pilgrimage myself, first hand.

You really have to handle this book to appreciate its measure. It is in an oversized format, printed on high quality glossy paper, and weighing in at around 15 lbs. There were only 3000 of the first edition printed which in more ways than one makes it truly a rare treasure.

Vaisnava India is an immense, comprehensive, gorgeously illustrated, 759 page, "reader friendly" introduction to the ancient and venerable Vaisnava religious and spiritual tradition of East India. Vaisnava India is filled with dazzling color photographs of classical artwork, sculpture, temples, and much more, enhancing an erudite text by Geary Sheridan (a practitioner of Vaisnava and President of the Vedic heritage Foundation) that explains the basic nature, tenets, and various stories connected to Vaisnava. A superbly presented volume, Vaisnava India is a seminal, core addition to East Indian religious studies reading lists and academic reference collections.

Its an excellent book for all nature lovers. The pictures are just awesome. Must buy for all wildlife fans.

This comprehensive history and guide to the lifestyle of the tiger blends folklore and myths with over 200 color, specially commissioned photos of the Bengal Tiger, plus images of its co-predators and prey. Perhaps the most valuable sections of the book lie in its details on the habitat and range of all tigers in the world. Highly recommended as the definitive tiger guide.

This book was my introduction to Indian cooking as well to getting to understand the Jewish communities of India. I have cooked happily from this book for more than 10 years - no soaking, no complicated purees, no dishes that take hours and hours. Many of the dishes can be made by your average home cook with little difficulty. Other dishes demand more commitment, but are very well worth the results. To anyone who decides to buy, you won't be disappointed. Happy eating!

It is simply a great book. I had been looking for books with Bengali and Tibetian recipes. Most Indian cookbooks make the recipes so elaborate. The recipes in this book tastes like what my mother and grandmother cook! I was so happy to find that my momos tasted like momos from Darjeeling! He writes about everyday food with some special occasion recipes thrown in. And that is what sets it apart feom the elborate cookbooks, a sense of the everyday life. I have many of his books and have enjoyed all of them

A rare book. Powerfull description of a very unusual childood in era of the past from the innocent and fantastic eyes of a child. A window to a different reality, so far and distant from todays society.

The authors/protagonist childood is touchy and painful, but the innocence of the child shines through and was a great lesson for me. A book that will enrich any reader and nourish the mind and soul.

I read this first as an excerpt in New Yorker Magazine. The comfortably upper-middle class family of Ved Mehta was faced with a dilemna; how to educate a blind child in India, where there were really no provisions for a handicapped child. Ved's father made the difficult but brave decision to send him to a blind school, where he'd be surrounded by other children from vastly different backgrounds and religions, a difficult situation in India.

The exciting thing about the book is Mehta's ability to describe, with incredible detail, the feeling, sounds, flavors and smells of his daily life, while portraying his growth and increasing self-reliance. A really touching memoir and one worth reading.

I like this one.
Uncommon,enigmatic,and interesting.
Somewhat scholarly,but not stylized. Anything but dry
and fossilized.
Although I hesitate to draw a comparison,somewhat like
a Vedic counterpart to a good Biblical commentary.
Moderately challenging;with page after page of alluring
imagery and anticipation. Not a huge book but has a lot
of intricate content.
Transliterated proper nouns and terms provide some
practice for those interested in Sanskrit;those who
are not will not find it problematic.
These anthropomorphic deities represent early man's
attempt to explain the forces of nature. Like nature
this literary tapestry is unpredictable,beautiful,and
at times cruel.
The quality of vagueness contributes to a sense of
mystery. Yet there is a hint of a fundamental unifying
principle.
Ample selections from the Vedas with commentary
throughout.
Critical thinking and a dash of poetic imagination,this
book might be your cup of tea.
Works equally well as a stand-alone treatment of the
subject,or stimulus for further study.
Has become one of my favorites;I hope you like it too.

This is a systematic presentation of the divine, human, animal and natural (plants, rivers, clouds, etc.) figures in early Sanskrit literature (mainly the Rig Veda, the Atharva Veda, and the early Brahmanas), with the small number of narratives which actually appear in the early hymns, and some information from medieval Sanskrit commentators. (Technically, some of this is in pre-Sanskrit Vedic, not the systematized Sanskrit of the Indian grammatical tradition....)

The much more elaborate narratives of the Epics and Puranas are not treated as such, and it is NOT a presentation of Hinduism as a living religion; those who want either one will be disappointed. The result is in many cases a list of epithets and attributes, and of family members, enemies, and rivals, at considerable remove in style from the lyrics from which the information has been gathered. It is a place to start looking for data, and is a guide to some (hardly all) of the contents of an extremely difficult body of ancient literature.

Although written in English, it was originally published in 1897-1898 as a part of a German publisher's series of monographs on what would now be called Indo-European Studies. Macdonnell was a leading scholar in his time, and his technical studies continue to be cited with respect. The book is now showing its age, and a replacement would be welcome, but as its second century begins it remains extremely helpful. (At least to someone who wants a concise overview of a huge amount of scattered material.) The proportion of hard data to theory is very high. Macdonnell's work was able to survive changing fashions, and, to judge from citations and bibliographies, was used happily by rival schools of interpretation right through the twentieth century. A rather heavy dependence on nature-mythology (especially solar) seems to show direct dependence on the great commentator Sayana as least as much as on Max Mueller's modern extensions of it, as one would expect of the author's mastery of the sources.

The Sanskrit index is quite comprehensive, and supplements the analytical arrangement of the material. Unfortunately, it lacks an index of texts cited. (In frustration at flipping pages to see if Macdonnell had mentioned a passage which did not have a major name, nor a word for which I somehow happened to know the Sanskrit, I once compiled my own index of his Rig Veda citations. I do not recommend this course to others!) The bibliographical material is, of course, long obsolete. The cautious reader will try to check Macdonnell's etymologies against modern works. He seems to have been fairly careful about accepting speculations not grounded in Sanskrit texts (not rushing to identify Vata and Wodan, for example), but of course, even the great Sanskrit grammarians were sometimes wrong....

The copy I have used for years was printed in India, by a different publisher, with a date of 1974. The paper has not stood up well to the passing decades, and I hope that more recent reprintings will prove more durable. As long as a copy is clearly printed and complete, however, and so long as the reader keeps its limits in mind, the book should be an extremely useful tool.