Namit Arora chose a life of reading and writing after cutting short his career in the Internet industry. Raised in the Hindi belt of India, he lived in Louisiana, Northern California and Western Europe, and travelled in scores of countries before returning to India over two decades later in 2013. He is the author of
The Lottery of Birth, a collection of essays, and the novel
Love and Loathing in Silicon Valley. For more about him, visit shunya.net.
'Deepens our sense of the wonder that was India' ~ Pankaj Mishra
'A gem of a book that is a joy to read . . . You can almost touch and feel the centuries and millennia as they pass by' ~ Tony Joseph
'Arora explores how Indians lived, ate, loved, built, fought and made sense of the material, rational and spiritual world down the ages . . . [A] mega-ambitious project' ~ The Hindu
'A wonderfully evocative book. Arora invites the reader to reflect on the past, without overwhelming her with dry historical facts but luring her in with vivid human stories' ~ Prof. Mohan Rao
A BRILLIANT, ORIGINAL BOOK THAT REVEALS INDIA'S RICH AND DIVERSE HISTORIES
What do we really know about the Aryan migration theory and why is that debate so hot?
Why did the people of Khajuraho carve erotic scenes on their temple walls?
What did the monks at Nalanda eat for dinner?
Did our ideals of beauty ever prefer dark skin?
Indian civilization is an idea, a reality, an enigma. In this riveting book, Namit Arora takes us on an unforgettable journey through 5000 years of history, reimagining in rich detail the social and cultural moorings of Indians through the ages. Drawing on credible sources, he discovers what inspired and shaped them: their political upheavals and rivalries, customs and vocations, and a variety of unusual festivals. Arora makes a stop at six iconic places -- the Harappan city of Dholavira, the Ikshvaku capital at Nagarjunakonda, the Buddhist centre of learning at Nalanda, enigmatic Khajuraho, Vijayanagar at Hampi, and historic Varanasi -- enlivening the narrative with vivid descriptions, local stories and evocative photographs. Punctuating this are chronicles of famous travellers who visited India -- including Megasthenes, Xuanzang, Alberuni and Marco Polo -- whose dramatic and idiosyncratic tales conceal surprising insights about our land.
In lucid, elegant prose, Arora explores the exciting churn of ideas, beliefs and values of our ancestors through millennia -- some continue to shape modern India, while others have been lost forever. An original, deeply engaging and extensively researched work, Indians illuminates a range of histories coursing through our veins.
Namit Arora is one of the most acute observers of contemporary India, and in his new book he extends his gaze to the past. Resourcefully researched and elegantly written,
Indians deepens our sense of the wonder that was IndiaNamit Arora is the finest kind of travel companion: curious, well-read, even-tempered, and imaginative. Touring India's oldest cities with him is an acute pleasure. Arora dissolves the time between the past and the present, revealing how complex and diverse India has always been, and how, by misunderstanding our history, we run the danger of mismanaging our present.
Indians is both timely and necessaryNamit Arora has created a gem of a book that is a joy to read. It defies categorisation, as it seamlessly combines travelogues, historical accounts and biographies. This approach brings alive ancient, medieval and modern India in such a way that you can almost touch and feel the centuries and millennia as they pass by. It takes a remarkable feat of insightful writing to cover such a long period within a single volume while also avoiding a top-down perspective. An easy, entertaining and engaging bookNamit Arora explores how Indians lived, ate, loved, built, fought and made sense of the material, rational and spiritual world down the ages . . . [A] mega-ambitious project . . . He draws in philosophy, competing themes and ideas making the book as much about beads, pottery and food as it is about how Indians might have thought in times past. This ability to compress a complex discussion on people, places, things across thousands of years and yet never let the reader once think of it as a shallow journey is a hallmark of the book. Arora's work assumes added significance [as]being attentive to all manners of Indians today is an act of defiance. The author is clearly not shy of discussing contentious issuesPainstakingly researched,
Indians is a pleasure to read. Significant arguments accompany the utterly fascinating information showered by it. Any rival history that wishes to refute this book's conclusions had better find credible dates and solid evidence, for Namit Arora has set a high barArora is a deft writer: his excellent descriptions of the places he visits bring the reader along with him. Ancient is leavened with modern; the arcane made relevant . . . [He pushes] back against what he sees as manipulation or even fabrication of India's history for contemporary political ends[E]ngrossing . . . possesses both intellectual substance and popular appeal, and is difficult to slot in any one category . . . An ambitious bookNamit Arora brings an enquiring mind, a clear head and a light touch to bear on a miscellany of Indian history's foundational texts and most significant sites.
Indians is illuminating, absorbing and a joy to read. I defy anyone to peruse it and not feel richly rewarded by its insights
Indians is a wonderfully evocative book. I loved how Namit Arora invites the reader to reflect on the past, without overwhelming her with dry historical facts but luring her in with vivid human stories. Though not an academic historian, he is besotted with history [and] has the rare and marvellous ability of humanising it for usPossessed by wanderlust, Arora takes the reader on an intricate and perceptive journey through India, against the weight of the past and challenges of the present. In this beautifully crafted travelogue, Arora celebrates the momentous and the everyday in India's history, offering astute observations on its cultural fabric, illuminating its richness and frailty with insight and compassion. A brilliant and original achievementNamit Arora researches like a scholar, travels like an adventurer, and tells the story of a civilization like a born storyteller. India has been written to death.
Indians shows us that it can yet be written about in new and revealing waysNamit Arora takes us on a delightful journey through six magnificent archaeological sites and offers eloquent accounts of several major travelers of India. A gripping read with scholarly rigour, this book will interest both general readers and scholarsA very well put together snapshot of India's long history ... Arora's writing style is crisp, concise and well-reasoned. His keen observations, a sympathetic understanding of human nature and sense of humor make the reading of the book an enjoyable experienceA conducted tour [that] illuminates the enchanting history of India ... admirably demonstrates that pride in one's past can be invoked quite effectively by making it intelligible and bringing it alive, without having to needlessly glorify it.Options: spend a decade thinking and reading deeply about the early history of India, and going to all the key places. Or read this 250 page book, Indians, by someone who has done the work. An extraordinary feat of imaginative framing, achieved through close observation.[W]ell-researched ... aligns [on the Aryan migration] with the findings of research papers across various scientific disciplines by reputable scientists.Written in evocative, often ecstatic, prose, it fills the growing demand to draw a new narrative about being Indian ... replacing the dull, untrue or often motivated historical narrative with a more open, evidence-based and empathetic perspective on shaping the idea of India.Arora's gracious empiricism is the through line ... His "lost worlds" have been excavated by others, yet no one has submitted them to such collective, enlightened inquiry.
Indians offers [the reader] a place in the first row, where history is happening just in front of his/her eyes, and stories of the past are alive and full of meaning.Ambitious, and audacious ... deals with complex and knotty questions with confidence and elan.Paints a vivid picture of the bygone days ... a very well researched and immensely engaging piece of work.
