Just Read : The Hindus : An Alternative History

The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I confess, the only reason I started to read this book was because of Penguin India's cowardly decision to pulp the book, in the face of misplaced fundamentalist rage.

However, despite the sheer size of the book. I found myself drawn to it thanks to Wendy Doniger's refreshing style for what is clearly an academic tome on the Hindu religion.
She never talks down or bores and takes you through the history of Hindu religion, right from the beginning, yes, the beginning, to the way it is practised today.

Essentially the book argues that, "You could easily use history to argue for almost any position in contemporary India." -
It was to me, an eye-opener as it traced the origins of many rites and rituals that still prevail in present-day India.
Another interesting aspect of the book was how it traced the effect of the primacy given to Manu - as defined by Hindu law even today.
The book also focuses on women, the caste system and animals as they were treated by proponents of the religion.

Doniger is witty, pithy and sarcastic and the tonnes of texts and scripts she has had to work with, does not weigh her down.
It is by far, the most entertaining academic book that I have read.

This is a book on a mission and hopefully, it will be able to achieve it in spite of and maybe even helped by the controversy generated by those elements that do not wish the pluralistic and extremely diverse nature of Hinduism to be known.




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