Why I Am a Hindu

Shashi Tharoor

‘[An] important book: it is about the dangers that lie in India’s future as well as the woes and glories of the past … one of India’s most articulate liberals and a leading voice of those who reject the aggressively fundamentalist strains of Hindu nationalism.’

Financial Times

‘Tharoor has undoubtedly done an important work that helps people understand key difference between Hinduism and Hindutva.’

The Georgia Straight

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‘The Hinduism Tharoor proudly asserts and defends is universalist, liberal, and syncretic ... this deeply informative book is a must-read for [anyone] interested in Hinduism and the world’s largest democracy.’ STARRED REVIEW

Booklist

‘A thoughtful celebration of Hinduism as a potentially unifying force.’

Kirkus

‘A profound book on one of the world's oldest and greatest religions.’

Hindustan Times

‘At one point in Orhan Pamuk’s perceptive novel Snow, the protagonist Ka highlights the supreme paradox of religious mobilisation in his part of the world. Defenders of militant Islam draw upon religious vocabularies to justify their politics, without once mentioning God or faith. It is precisely the distinction between politics in the name of religion, and faith, that Shashi Tharoor in this rather charming book on Hinduism and Hindutva seeks to emphasise.’

The Hindu

‘An influential and thought-provoking book, shedding light on many of the contradictions and anomalies of this ancient religion and its chequered history.’

The Bay

’Shashi Tharoor is the most charming and persuasive writer in India. His new book is a brave and characteristically articulate attempt to save a great and wonderfully elusive religion from the certainties of the fundamentalists and the politicisation of the bigots.‘

William Dalrymple

Shashi Tharoor offers a profound re-examination of Hinduism, one of the world's oldest and greatest religious traditions.

Opening with a frank and touching reflection on his personal beliefs, he lays out Hinduism's origins and its key philosophical concepts — including Vedanta, the Purusharthas, and Bhakti — before focusing on texts such as the Bhagadvagita. The 'Great Souls', or key individuals of Hinduism, from Adi Shankara to Vivekananda, are discussed, as are everyday Hindu beliefs and practices, from worship to pilgrimage to caste.

Tharoor is unsparing in his criticism of extremism and unequivocal in his belief that what makes India a distinctive nation with a unique culture will be imperilled if Hindu 'fundamentalists', the proponents of 'Hindutva', or politicised Hinduism, seize the high ground. In his view, it is precisely because Hindus form the majority that India has survived as a plural, secular democracy.

A book that will be read and debated now and in the future, Why I Am a Hindu, written in Tharoor's captivating prose, is a revelatory and original contribution to our understanding of religion in the modern era.

Financial Times

‘Tharoor has undoubtedly done an important work that helps people understand key difference between Hinduism and Hindutva.’

The Georgia Straight

View all reviews

Booklist

‘A thoughtful celebration of Hinduism as a potentially unifying force.’

Kirkus

‘A profound book on one of the world's oldest and greatest religions.’

Hindustan Times

The Hindu

‘An influential and thought-provoking book, shedding light on many of the contradictions and anomalies of this ancient religion and its chequered history.’

The Bay

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 234mm × 153mm

Extent:320pp

ISBN (13):9781925713534

RRP:$32.99

Pub date:14 May 2018

Rights Held: ANZ & NA

High-res cover:Download Image

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL:Download ZIP

AWARDS

CATEGORIES / tags

Hinduism RELIGION / Hinduism / General Memoirs Religion & politics Philosophy of religion BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs PHILOSOPHY / Social PHILOSOPHY / Hindu

AUTHOR

Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor served for twenty-nine years at the UN, culminating as Under-Secretary-General. He is a Congress MP in India, the author of fourteen previous books, and has won numerous literary awards, including a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. Tharoor has a PhD from the Fletcher School, and was named by the World Economic Forum in Davos in 1998 as a Global Leader of Tomorrow.

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Why I Am a Hindu

Shashi Tharoor

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