Word: indianism
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Veganism is an extreme form of vegetarianism, and though the term was coined in 1944, the concept of flesh-avoidance can be traced back to ancient Indian and eastern Mediterranean societies. Vegetarianism is first mentioned by the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras of Samos around 500 BCE. In addition to his theorem about right triangles, Pythagoras promoted benevolence among all species, including humans. Followers of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism also advocated vegetarianism, believing that humans should not inflict pain on other animals...
...disappointingly familiar (denunciations of the destruction of old Beijing, lamentations over the supposedly materialistic nature of Chinese college students), but these are worth thumbing through for the sharp comparisons Aiyar makes between China and her own country. Interviews with Beijing's toilet cleaners prompt her to ponder their Indian counterparts. The former harbor entrepreneurial dreams and say they prefer toilets to farmwork; the latter endure a lifelong stigma as "untouchables." In China, Aiyar observes, the word servant "described a job that someone did rather than defining the essence of who they were...
...Aiyar offers little economic comparison, but she does ask one very pertinent (and Indian) question: How has China been able to build fabulous highways when the pothole-ridden streets of her homeland have hardly changed? Millions of her compatriots would love to know why China's path out of poverty is so much quicker than their own. Maybe if the neighbors spent more time together, some answers would emerge...
Salman Rushdie. Anita Desai. Amitav Ghosh. If you have to describe Indian literature written in English, words like highbrow and worthy come to mind. But while the country's serious writers - most recently Aravind Adiga - continue to attract international acclaim, domestically they are being overshadowed by a new breed of author...
...pile is Chetan Bhagat, whom fellow pop author Anirban Bose calls the "Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary of Indian mass-market publishing." Bhagat's three books, the first of which was published in 2004, have sold more than a million copies. One has been made into a Bollywood film and another is in production. "Chetan Bhagat's success demonstrated that there was a huge market for Indian fiction, with everyday Indian characters acting out everyday Indian stories," says Bose. "Publishers took note that homegrown talent was finding a voice, and that publishing authors like us was not only not risky...