Vishnu’s Crowded Temple

Author: Maria MisraPublisher: Penguin/VikingYear: 2007Language: EnglishPages: 535ISBN/UPC (if available): 9780713993677 DescriptionOn the sixtieth anniversary of Independence India is again at the centre of international attention. It has shed its image as a poor, tradition-bound backwater to stand poised on the threshold of super-power status, rivalled only by China as the greatest winner in the post-Cold War world order. And yet India remains a baffling paradox, strikingly different from all other global colossi. Juxtaposed with this ‘Shining India’ is the startling poverty apparent to any visitor, with squalid shanty-towns and slums abutting the gleaming call-centres and software laboratories. Moreover, while the achievements of India’s democracy and its awesome creativity are undeniable, so too are the violence, criminality and murderous religious passions of its turbulent politics.Vishnu's Crowded Temple explains the persistence of India’s extremes by presenting a new interpretati