‘I thought the nation was coming to an end’ When Khushwant Singh witnessed the violence of Partition nearly seventy years ago, he believed that he had seen the worst that India could do to herself. But after the carnage in Gujarat in 2002, he had reason to feel that the worst, perhaps, was still to come. Analysing the communal violence in Gujarat in 2002, the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, the burning of Graham Staines and his children, the targeted killings by terrorists in Punjab and Kashmir, Khushwant Singh forces us to confront the absolute corruption of religion that has made us among the most brutal people on earth. He also points out that fundamentalism has less to do with religion than with politics. And communal politics, he reminds us, is only the most visible of the demons we have nurtured and let loose upon ourselves. A brave and passionate book, The End of India is a wake-up call for every citizen concerned about his or her own future, if not the nation’s.

I thought the nation was coming to an end wrote Khushwant Singh, looking back on the violence of partition. He believed then, and for years afterwards, that he had seen the worst that India could do to herself. Over the last few years, however, he has had reason to feel that the worst, perhaps, is still to come. In this fierce, uncompromisng book he shows us what few of us wish to see: Why it is entirely likely that India will come undone in the foreseeable future.

I thought the nation was coming to an end;' wrote Khushwant Singh; looking back on the violence of Partition that he was witness to over half a century ago. He believed then; and for years afterwards; that he had seen the worst that India could do to herself. Over the last few years; however; he has had reason to feel that the worst; perhaps; is still to come. In this fierce; uncompromising book he shows us what few of us wish to see: why it is entirely likely that India will come undone in the foreseeable future. Analysing the communal violence in Gujarat in 2002; the anti-Sikh riots of 1984; the burning of Graham Staines and his children; the targeted killings by terrorists in Punjab and Kashmir; Khushwant Singh forces us to confront the absolute corruption of religion that has made us among the most brutal people on earth. He also points out that fundamentalism has less to do with religion than with politics. And communal politics; he reminds us; is only the most visible of the demons we have nurtured and let loose upon ourselves. Insurgencies in Kashmir and the North-East; caste wars in Bihar; scattered Naxalite movements; and the ghettoization of minorities are proof that our obsession with caste and regional and racial identity has also splintered the nation; perhaps beyond repair. A brave and passionate book; The End of India is a wake-up call for every citizen concerned about his or her own future; if not the nation's.

“[A] sharply observed study . . . richly detailed portraits.”—Economist Somini Sengupta emigrated from Calcutta to California as a young child in 1975. Returning thirty years later as the bureau chief for The New York Times, she found a vastly different country: one defined as much by aspiration and possibility—at least by the illusion of possibility—as it is by the structures of sex and caste. The End of Karma is an exploration of this new India through the lens of young people from different worlds: a woman who becomes a Maoist rebel; a brother charged for the murder of his sister, who had married the “wrong” man; a woman who opposes her family and hopes to become a police officer. Driven by aspiration—and thwarted at every step by state and society—they are making new demands on India’s democracy for equality of opportunity, dignity for girls, and civil liberties. Sengupta spotlights these stories of ordinary men and women, weaving together a groundbreaking portrait of a country in turmoil.

The standard image of the Raj is of an aloof, pampered and prejudiced British elite lording it over an oppressed and hostile Indian subject population. Like most caricatures, this obscures as much truth as it reveals. The British had not always been so aloof. The earlier, more cosmopolitan period of East India Company rule saw abundant ‘interracial’ sex and occasional marriage, alongside greater cultural openness and exchange. The result was a large and growing ‘mixed-race’ community, known by the early twentieth century as Anglo-Indians. Notwithstanding its faults, Empire could never have been maintained without the active, sometimes enthusiastic, support of many colonial subjects. These included Indian elites, professionals, civil servants, businesspeople and minority groups of all kinds, who flourished under the patronage of the imperial state, and could be used in a ‘divide and rule’ strategy to prolong colonial rule. Independence was profoundly unsettling to those destined to become minorities in the new nation, and the Anglo-Indians were no exception. This refreshing account looks at the dramatic end of British rule in India through Anglo-Indian eyes, a perspective that is neither colonial apologia nor nationalist polemic. Its history resonates strikingly with the complex identity debates of the twenty-first century.

This is a study of the cheetah, now extinct in India, through the ages of Indian history. The product of a decade of extensive research, this is the only work which traces the history and ecology of an animal species from the pre-historic period to the recent times. Using a range of sources, from prehistoric cave paintings to oral testimony, it provides a comprehensive account of the animal's interaction with man through the ages, charting its path to extinction and exploring the possibility of its reintroduction in India.

As life expectancy increases in India, the number of people living with dementia will also rise. Yet little is known about how people in India cope with dementia, how relationships and identities change through illness and loss. In addressing this question, this book offers a rich ethnographic account of how middle-class families in urban India care for their relatives with dementia. From the husband who wakes up at 3 am to feed his wife ice-cream to the daughters who gave up employment for seven years to care for their mother with dementia, this book illuminates the local idioms on dementia and aging, the personal experience of care-giving, the functioning of stigma in daily life, and the social and cultural barriers in accessing support.