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