Incarnations : a history of India in fifty lives

For All Of India's Myths, Its Sea Of Stories And Moral Epics, Indian History Remains A Curiously Unpeopled Place. Sunil Khilnani's Incarnations Fills That Space: Recapturing The Human Dimension Of How The World's Largest Democracy Came To Be. In This Stunningly Illustrated And Deeply Researched Book, Accompanying His Major Bbc Radio 4 Series, Khilnani Explores The Lives Of 50 Indians, From The Spiritualist Buddha To The Capitalist Dhirubhai Ambani - Lives That Light Up India's Rich, Varied Past And Its Continuous Ferment Of Ideas. Khilnani's Trenchant Portraits Of Emperors, Warriors, Philosophers, Poets, Stars, And Corporate Titans - Some Famous, Some Unjustly Forgotten - Bring Feeling, Wry Humour, And Uncommon Insight To Social Dilemmas That Extend From Ancient Times To Our Own.as He Journeys Across The Country, And Through Its Past, Khilnani Uncovers More Than Just History. In Rocket Launches And Ayurvedic Call Centres, In Slum Temples And Bollywood Studios, In California Communes And Grimy Ports, He Examines The Continued, And Often Surprising, Relevance Of The Men And Women Who Have Made India - And The World - What It Is. Their Stories Will Inform, Move And Entertain This Book's Many Readers. Machine Generated Contents Note: 1.the Buddha: Waking India Up -- 2.mahavira: Soldier Of Non-violence -- 3.panini: Catching The Ocean In A Cow's Hoofprint -- 4.kautilya: The Ring Of Power -- 5.ashoka: Power As Persuasion -- 6.charaka: On Not Violating Good Judgement -- 7.aryabhata: The Boat Of Intellect -- 8.adi Shankara: A God Without Qualities -- 9.rajaraja Chola: Cosmos, Temple And Territory -- 10.basava: A Voice In The Air -- 11.amir Khusrau: The Parrot Of India -- 12.kabir: `hey, You!' -- 13.guru Nanak: The Discipline Of Deeds -- 14.krishnadevaraya: `kingship Is Strange' -- 15.mirabai: I Go The Other Way -- 16.akbar: The World And The Bridge -- 17.malik Ambar: The Dark-fated One -- 18.dara Shikoh: The Meeting-place Of The Two Oceans -- 19.shivaji: Dreaming Big -- 20.nainsukh: Owner Transfixed By Goose -- 21.william Jones: Enlightenment Mughal -- 22.rammohun Roy. `humanity In General' -- 23.lakshmi Bai, Rani Of Jhansi: Bad-ass Queen -- 24.jyotirao Phule: The Open Well -- Note Continued: 25.deen Dayal: Courtier With A Camera -- 26.birsa Munda: `have You Been To Chalkad?' -- 27.jamsetji Tata: Making India -- 28.vivekananda: Bring All Together -- 29.annie Besant: An Indian Tomtom -- 30.chidambaram Pillai: Swadeshi Steam -- 31.srinivasa Ramanujan: The Elbow Of Genius -- 32.tagore: Unlocking Cages -- 33.visvesvaraya: Extracting Moonbeams From Cucumbers -- 34.periyar: Sniper Of Sacred Cows -- 35.iqbal: Death For Falcons -- 36.amrita Sher-gil: This Is Me -- 37.subhas Chandra Bose: A Touch Of The Abnormal -- 38.gandhi: `in The Palm Of Our Hands' -- 39.jinnah: The Chess Player -- 40.manto: The Unsentimentalist -- 41.ambedkar: Building Palaces On Dung Heaps -- 42.raj Kapoor: The Politics Of Love -- 43.sheikh Abdullah: Chains Of Gold -- 44.v. K. Krishna Menon: Sombre Porcupine -- 45.subbulakshmi: Opening Rosebuds -- 46.indira Gandhi: The Centre Of Everything -- 47.satyajit Ray: India Without Elephants -- 48.charan Singh: A Common Cause -- Note Continued: 49.m. F. Husain: `hindustan Is Free' -- 50.dhirubhai Ambani: Fins. Sunil Khilnani. Radio Tie-in. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 595-636).