Yet, India has had a remarkable history of hosting an enormous spectrum
of religious expressions. The present moment has become yet another test
of the Indian people’s resilience of spirit. As brahman rubs elbow with dalit,
and Muslim or Christian with Hindu, and “folk” forms of religion interact
with the “classical,” this is a good time to evoke the sense of humility implied
in the tradition which understands every perception of the truth to be a
dars ́an– a viewpoint – each one a strand in the multicolored fabric of
humanity’s religious life.
Recommended reading
On Contemporary Indian Society
Beteille, A. Inequality and Social Change. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1972.
Biardeau, M. Hinduism: The Anthropology of a Civilization. New Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 1989.
Blackburn, S. and Ramanujan, A. K. eds. Another Harmony: New Essays on the Folklore
of India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1986.
Brass, Paul. The Politics of India since Independence. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1990.
Chandra, B. Essays on Contemporary India. New Delhi: Haranand Publications, 1993.
Chatterjee, Partha. ed. Wages of Freedom: Fifty Years of the Indian Nation-State. New Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 1998.
Daniel, E. V. Fluid Signs: Being a Person the Tamil Way. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1984.
Das, Veena. Structure and Cognition: Aspects of Hindu Caste and Ritual. Second edition.
New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1982.
Das, Veena. Critical Events: An Anthropological Perspective on Contemporary India. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1999.
Dumont, L. Homo Hierarchus: An Essay on the Caste System. Tr. M. Sainsbury. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1970.
Dumont, L. Religion, Politics and History in India. Paris: Mouton, 1970.
Fuller, C. J. Caste Today. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Guha, R. ed. Subaltern Studies I. Writings on South Asian History and Society. New Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 1982.
Gupta, Dipankar. ed. Social Stratification. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Hasan, Mushiru. ed. India’s Partition: Process, Strategy, Mobilization. Oxford and Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 1993.
Jaffrelat, Christine J. The Hindu Nationalist Movement in Indian Politics. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1996.
Menon, Rita and Bhasin, Kamla. Borders and Boundaries: Women in India’s Partition.
New Delhi: Kali for Women, 1998.
Mills, Margaret A., Claus, Peter J., and Diamond, Sarah. eds. South Asian Folklore: An
Encyclopedia. New York and London: Routledge, 2003.
Nehru, J. The Discovery of India. New York: John Day.
Religion in Contemporary India 221