Vikram Sampath

The Book is thorough, well-written.

As I'm from Tamil Nadu. I took this work, to help me understand, figures outside of Tamil Nadu.

The Part, I liked -- the most, was 7 ways to mitigate Caste System.

My understanding of Caste System is from Tamil Nadu, India.

Therefore, it is interesting to read about other states.

This is coming from someone, who is a Hindu. I look into a Modern Indian, and not much has changed. Maybe -- I might be wrong?

It seems like there is slow change in Caste System, each generation reforms it a bit more than others.
I'd say, Social Conservatism, i.e the view that there is slow change in social structures.

At least, in Tamil Nadu anecdotally. I might be wrong, always welcome for feedback and correction.

As I've read enough History of India, from Historian perspective -- there's 3-4 narratives of Indian History.

Good luck on finding the most accurate one. If you are serious, do put effort to figure it out, and stick with, what's True.

Depending on your values, who you align, you'd align yourself with any of the narrative of Indian History.

I would recommend this work for:

1) Follows Hinduism
2) Wants to build Political Philosophy from Hinduism
-If so, please expand inclusiveness, which is excellent point in Hinduism
3) Biographies
4) Caste System in Hinduism (Chapter 12 only)
5) Interested in India, Politics

Unfortunately, I don't see how this is relevant to Tamil People.

If you disagree, feel free to write to me.

Deus Vult,
Gottfried… (plus d'informations)

This book is endlessly fascinating. It is a tribute to a remarkable lady, a tawaif, called Gauhar Jaan. She is one of the best known singers of her age, and was – in many ways – responsible for the popularization of the gramophone.

Her grandmother was called Rukmani, a common-law wife of a British person. Her mother was named Victoria Hemming, and she married an Armenian Jew called Yeoward. Gauhar Jaan herself was named Angelina. After the parents divorced, her mother started a relationship with a Muslim gent called Khurshid, and later mother and daughter converted to Islam, to be called Malka Jaan and Gauhar Jaan respectively.

A musical journey for both mother and daughter followed, and Gauhar rose to amazing heights, before her downfall. She died virtually penniless.

Vikram Sampath has written an amazing book about a remarkable woman and her mother and grandmother. Along the way, he introduced me to the tawaif tradition, and helped to clear my own misconceptions about them. He also introduced me to the traditions of Indian music.

It is a remarkable book, and a tribute to a woman who should be remembered, and who should have been treated more fairly.

It’s an extremely well written book. I hope that this books gets a very wide audience.… (plus d'informations)