The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin Quotes

“self-image did not always reflect lived reality”
― Manu S. Pillai, The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History

“After all, nothing rouses patriarchal masculine pride more than illusions of stoic sacrifice by unreal beauties, who, between managing their heavy jewels and rich skirts, spout tedious lines about valour and fortitude.”
― Manu S. Pillai, The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History

“men who cloaked fragile sensitivities in thundering hypocrisy.”
― Manu S. Pillai, The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History

“And very often, seemingly incongruous elements from the realm of fable and myth lend an ironic congruence to the concrete world of men. All through history, a generous fabrication of mythology has helped politics navigate the awkward corners in which its protagonists land themselves.”
― Manu S. Pillai, The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History

“What Savarkar envisioned in 1940 was a ‘Future Emperor of India’; what India got in a decade instead was a people’s constitution, defended by men and women who brooked no kings and shunned all empires.”
― Manu S. Pillai, The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History

“great empires often fell because of internal contradictions, not external enemies; due to the misguided policies of their rulers rather than the arms of any invader.”
― Manu S. Pillai, The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History

“Before the Ramanandi Nagas turned it into their military seat, the deity in the temple was worshipped by Hindus as Hanuman and by Muslims as Hathile, one of the five saints (panch pir ) of Sufism—Hanumangarhi, in
other words, was a shrine that attracted everybody. It was not a full-blown masjid, but by preventing Muslim access to the shrine at some point, those in charge of Hanumangarhi inadvertently allowed grievances to mount. This, in turn, culminated in the imagined memory of a ‘mosque’ that required
reclaiming, even if this meant shedding blood and sacrificing lives—an example of how extreme piety can quickly transform a shadow from the past into incontrovertible ‘fact’.”
― Manu S. Pillai, The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History