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VEGETARIANISM: Doesn't have it so good elsewhere. India enjoys a long tradition of respectable vegetarian cuisine, which is more than can be said for almost any other culture on earth (Chinese being the only exception, but then the Chinese dress up their vegetarian fare to look and taste as much like meat as possible, which rather misses the point). Only in India can one attend a dinner in the certainty of not having to starve for one's principles; only in India do restaurants and five-star hotels serve buffets with separate tables marked “veg” and “nonveg”; and only our country's airlines offer you the choice of a vegetarian meal without having to pre-book it. Vegetarianism in India, particularly if it is for religious reasons, can range from a total rejection of animal products to a refusal to contemplate even vegetables that have grown underground, though an increasing number of “vegans” and “eggetarians” simply don't want to bite into anything that, in its natural state, might have bitten them back.

VILLAGES: Where two-thirds of Indians still live. They are, for the most part, neither the dregs of misery they are sometimes portrayed to be (living conditions in our city slums are surely far worse) nor the idealized self-sufficient communities our Gandhians wish they were (there are too many inequalities and vested interests, and too few opportunities, for that). Our villages are just as susceptible to the encroachments of change, to the influence of the nearest movie theater, to the ideas of the loudest politician, as any of our cities. They have simply lasted longer and changed more slowly because neither the attempts nor the resources have been geared for dramatic transformation. But village India is changing — few villages can claim to be identical in every respect to the way they were even a decade ago — and the pace of change can only accelerate. As urbanization proceeds apace within the lifetime of many readers, villages will no longer house a majority of India's population. And then, as the joke goes, if Gandhiji hadn't been cremated he would surely have rolled over in his grave.

WEDDINGS: The classic Indian social event, glittering occasions for conspicuous consumption, outrageous overdressing, and free food. In a culture where marriage is mostly a family arrangement rather than a legal contract, the wedding is the real opportunity to proclaim a new relationship to society, and brings together friends, business contacts, relatives, and spongers in orgiastic celebration of the act of union. Beneath the surface bonhomie and backslapping jollity, however, lurk the real tensions, as the bride's father asks himself, “Are the groom's party really happy with the dowry? Can I trust the chap who's collecting the presents?”

XEROX: A relatively new feature of Indian life. The cost of photocopying, though it has been dropping, is still prohibitive enough to dissuade all but companies, scholars, and the occasional spy from resorting too freely to it. But the existence of so many roadside sheds with Xerox machines in them is, like our STD booths, a contribution of Indian democracy to the popularization of technology.

YES-MEN: Known north of the Vindhyas as chamchas, yes-men have existed throughout Indian history and will no doubt continue to do so. Their role is sanctified by the tradition of deference, the power of position, the fact of overpopulation, and the alternative of unemployment. No one with money, power, or position moves alone when he can be accompanied by a host of sycophants ready to echo his every nod. Yes-men are not necessarily at the bottom of the social scale; the role can be played at various levels. Thus a peasant can be a yes-man to a contractor who is a yes-man to a landlord who is a yes-man to a party boss who is a yes-man to a chief minister who is a yes-man to a cabinet member who is a yes-man to the prime minister. At no stage in the process does anyone actually think anything other than, “What does my boss want me to think?” Fortunately for the country, somebody up there values the word no.

ZOROASTRIANISM: See Parsis. (This is part of the typical Indian habit of observing the letter of an undertaking, while violating its spirit. It is also known as having the last laugh.)

Index

Abinandan, T. A., 351

Accenture, 389

actors, turned politicians, 79–82

affirmative action, 194, 199, 446–447

Afghanistan, 397, 399–400

Africa, 345–347

agnosticism, 227

Ahmed, A. M. S., 44–46

Ahmedabad, 174, 316, 317

air pollution, 91–92

Ajanta cave temples, 353–354, 360–365

Akbar, M. J., 116

Algeria, 42

Ali, Chaudhury Rehmat, 426–427

Aligarh, 316

All-India Anna DMK (AIADMK), 80–81

All-India Congress Committee (AICC), 176, 185–186

All-India Radio, 442, 447, 467

alternative medicine, 325–331

Ambassador cars, 355, 442, 445

Ambedkar, Bhimji Rao, 191–194

American culture, 398

Amin, Idi, 345

Amin, Mohammed, 324, 346

Amritraj, Anand, 25, 62, 63

Amritraj, Ashok, 25, 62, 63–64

Amritraj, Vijay, 25, 62, 63

Amritsar, 443

Annadurai, C. N., 80

Annan, Kofi, 20

anti-Christian violence, 46–48

anti-Semitism, 21

Arab history, 229–230

Arabic names, 63–67

Arabic numerals, 217, 310, 311–312

Argumentative Indian, The (Sen), 225, 226–227

artistic tradition, 7

Aryabhatta, 217, 282, 312–313

Ashoka, 227, 443, 483

astrology, 301–302, 312, 444

astronomy, 312–313

Atharva Veda, 313

atoms, 313–314

Aurangabad, 354–355, 360–361, 364

authenticity, 73–75

Ayoob, Mohammed, 65–67

ayurveda, 325–331

Azad, Maulana, 177–178, 186–190

Babri Masjid tragedy, 13, 27–33, 50–53, 444

Bachchan, Amitabh, 79, 81, 442–443

backward castes, 446

Bahrain, 282, 343

Baig, Abbas Ali, 57

Bajrang Dal, 48, 73

Bamiyan Buddhas, 49–53

Bangladesh, 11, 41, 229, 427

Bardoli satyagraha campaign, 175

baseball, 99

Benares, 484

Bengalooru, 156

Bertini, Catherine, 142

Bevan, Aneurin, 128–129

Bevin, Ernest, 129

Bhagat, Chetan, 388

Bharatiya Janata Party, 17, 170

bharatiya sanskriti, 51–52, 72

Bhaumik, Mani, 392

Bhave, Acharya Vinoba, 46

Bhindranwale, Jarnail Singh, 209

Bhotmange, Priyanka, 149

bidis, 444

Bihar, 298–299

Birla, 444–445

black money, 445

Bollywood, 69–72, 89, 303, 398, 445

Bombay, 123–126, 154, 293–295, 337–338

brain drain, 347–352

Brand India, 409–411

Brecher, Michael, 203

British humor, 128–129

Buddhism, 193

bureaucracy, 445

buses, 446

Cabinet Mission Plan (1946), 44

Calcutta, 155, 266–267, 289–291

Calicut, 316

call centers, 387–389, 446

Campion School, 123–126

caste, 10, 125, 192–193, 446–447

caste consciousness, 192, 446

Catholic Church, 219–222

cave temples, 353–365

cell phones, 377–379, 447

censorship, 447–448

Chambers, William, 295–296

Chandra, Vikram, 150–151

chemistry, 313