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Blackwell’s is delighted to welcome back to the bookshop Shashi Tharoor to discuss his latest book ‘Why I Am a Hindu’.
Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest and greatest religious traditions. In captivating prose, in ‘Why I Am a Hindu’ Shashi Tharoor untangles its origins, its key philosophical concepts and texts. He explores everyday Hindu beliefs and practices, from worship to pilgrimage to caste, and touchingly reflects on his personal beliefs and relationship with the religion.
Not one to shy from controversy, Tharoor is unsparing in his criticism of ‘Hindutva’, an extremist, nationalist Hinduism endorsed by India’s current government. He argues urgently and persuasively that it is precisely because of Hinduism’s rich diversity that India has survived and thrived as a plural, secular nation. If narrow fundamentalism wins out, Indian democracy itself is in peril.
Shashi Tharoor served for twenty-nine years at the UN, culminating as Under-Secretary-General. He is a Congress MP in India, the author of sixteen previous books and has won numerous literary awards, including a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. His Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India was a Sunday Times bestseller and was named as a Financial Times book of the year.
Join us for what is going to be an extraordinary event, tickets are free to attend but please register your interest in advance. For all enquiries please email [email protected] or call 01865 333623.