Reclaiming Bharatavarsha
Authored by: Sandeep Balakrishna
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Published by: BluOne Ink
Genre: Politics
 
ISBN: 9788196847159
Pages: 336
Weight: 450g
LxWxH: 21.59 x 13.97 x 2.54 cm
 
Book Brief -
          Reclaiming Bharatavarsha is a collection of topical and exploratory essays organized around three broad themes. The first explores various facets of classical Bharatavarsha, which is defined as India before the advent of alien Islamic invaders and British colonisation. The second delves into the condition of an India under successive alien regimes. The impact of these regimes on our culture and society is contrasted with the conditions prevailing in the preceding classical era. The third studies the imprint of these bouts of foreign rule on contemporary national life.
         The three themes taken separately are complementary, and together they offer a scope for comparative analyses of the politics, culture, society, customs, and literature of different eras in the life of this ancient land. From selected episodes drawn from the Puranas and the Mahabharata to the sacred history of the banana, from the 17thcentury Bengali arrack to woke cinema, from the 1962 war with China to hair dyes, the book offers an eclectic mix of atypical essays, the narratives of which are filled with rare anecdotes and vivid details, all of which are backed by scholarly research.             The book also has a contemporary context—the unprecedented transformation of India over the last decade. A major outcome of this transformation is the surge in interest for recovering India’s national and civilizational past. This collective resurgence is an expression of cultural self-confidence, which had fallen by the wayside for centuries. Reclaiming Bharatavarsha is a humble addition to this national endeavour.
 
Author Brief -
Sandeep is the author of the bestselling books Tipu Sultan: The Tyrant of Mysore, which has been widely referenced and quoted in mainstream publications and television programmes, and Madurai Sultanate: A Concise History. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed work, 70 Years of Secularism: Unpopular Essays on the Unofficial Political Religion of India. He has also translated the legendary Kannada novelist Dr S.L. Bhyrappa’s critically acclaimed work Aavarana into English, as Aavarana: The Veil, which is now in its twelfth reprint. Sandeep is the founder and editor of The Dharma Dispatch, an online journal dedicated to Indian civilisation, culture and history, and a contributing editor at Prekshaa Journal.