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Book Excerpts

Electric crematorium won’t give moksha, caste Hindus won’t touch dead. Dom jobs in Banaras safe

In 'Fire on the Ganges: Life among the Dead in Banaras', author Radhika Iyengar writes how no ‘upper-caste’ Hindu will be willing to perform the task of burning corpses, even if the said work has been ‘glorified’ for centuries as the only way of ‘providing moksha’.

Our ‘smart devices’ know more about us than we do. Don’t put blind faith in companies making them

In 'The Third Way: India’s Revolutionary Approach to Data Governance', Rahul Matthan presents an original view of the role technology can play in data governance.

Nepal’s politicians are hiding a democratic deficit. Look beyond the elections.

In 'Nepal', Lok Raj Baral unpacks the idea and practice of democracy in the South Asian nation, disentangling the tensions and balances between representation and governance.

Kingfisher Airlines to Victoria’s Secret—How authority bias brings governance failures

The authority bias gets concretized due to long tenures of board members which erodes their actual independence from the owners or promoters.

Travelling storytellers from Bengal – How Patua artisans preserve oral histories

The practice of carrying patas, or scroll-paintings, and performing patua across villages on auspicious occasions was widespread in eastern India, particularly in Midnapore, Murshidabad, Birbhum and Purulia districts of Bengal.

Overdressed, deluded—how Brahmins viewed Buddhists in medieval India

In ‘Dust on the Throne: The Search for Buddhism in Modern India’, Douglas Ober provides a new perspective on India’s modern Buddhist revival.

Central Railways sent special train, museum gave statue for Ambedkar’s Buddhism conversion

In 'A Part Apart: The Life and Thought of B.R. Ambedkar', Ashok Gopal uncovers the unrelenting toil and struggle that went into the making of Ambedkar legend.

Ashoka edicts silent on caste order. Runs counter to what we’re taught about varna history

In 'Ashoka', Patrick Olivelle writes that the social groups encompassed by Ashoka's notion of dharma were mostly familial or broadly within the family orbit.

What led to Gandhi’s desire for sex into complete lockdown? It’s the sacral chakra

In 'Becoming Gandhi', Perry Garfinkel talks about Gandhi’s relationship with sex, and the controversy that has followed him since his days in South Africa.

MK Stalin’s politics began in a saloon. Hairdressers nurtured the Dravidian movement

The saloons subscribed to most Dravidian Movement publications. It was in these places that rationalism, ethnic solidarity and love for the language were inculcated.

On Camera

We’re deeply pained by scientists describing Surya Tilak project as ‘trivial, criminal waste’

Former Director General of CSIR and a retired professor at IIA, Bengaluru, respond to the statement issued by more than 300 scientists criticising the Surya Tilak project for Ram temple in Ayodhya.

These 5 digital inclusion projects are bridging gender gap in financial literacy

While approximately 1.4 billion adults globally remain 'unbanked', according to the OECD, these people are more likely to be 'women, poorer, less educated and living in rural areas'.

Vice Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi to take over as Chief of the Naval Staff

He has been the chief of personnel and the flag officer commanding-in-chief, Western Naval Command, in the rank of vice admiral.

These 6 states are key for Modi’s ‘400 paar’ target. They’re also where Opposition can stop him

While this contest looks so predictable in large swathes of our political landscape, it is also more keenly contested than 2019 in some states.