The claim to racial and cultural superiority of the Aryans over the native dravidians is today found to be all a myth.Today we know that in social DNA the brains is from the south and the brawns is from the north.Modern day India is a tower of babel.There is no glory.A melting pot of confusion.The glory of India is in its ancient dravidian past.The glory of modern India today -- you find them all in silicon valley .U.S.A.The vast majority of software engineers today are all from the south not from the north .That speaks volumes.Even the atomic scientist ,physicists and nobel laurattes are all from the south.Comparatively the north indian aryans can,t brag none of these.Jacob pandians book is an eye opener.Ethnically the north indians are of distinct separate social DNA. The north indians are not indians .They are of non-dravidian extract and are of foreign origin.As Jacob Pandian has so clearly said that the north indian aryans and brahmins are dravidianised indians.A cross breed,of mixed descent.A most enlightening book.Its most unfortunate that the Hindi Raj subjugation of the south still continues today.Due recognition has not been given.As it has been since time immemorial the Hindi Raj has continued in its systemetic and scheming subjugation and manipulation of the south.The north indians don,t have the heartbeat of the south.The north indians neither mix nor blend with the south.It is still an Empire state as Jacob Pandian says.

Wingate here provides the results of years of detailed resarch about conversions in South India. He examines people's given reasons for their or their parents' conversion and looks at secondary sources on the subject while also taking into account the expressed views of those not directly concerned and the current social status of the people involved. Wingate walks the happy middle line in that he neither says that no one would convert to Christianity or Islam out of religious conviction (as the saffron historians would have us believe) nor does he say that socio-economic considerations had no part in most conversions. He provides an excellent analysis of the much-neglected area of reversion/reconversion and raises not a few ethical and logical questions. In all, a very good and remarkably nonbiased book.

This is a truly fabulous book about the possible history of temple women during the Chola period in South Indian. Ms. Orr has very thoroughly and comprehensivly examined and explained her sources and theories. I learned a great deal from this text and was gratified to see all of her assertions backed by epigraphical surveys or the well-documented work of other authors. My one critique would be that the work limits itself to only epigraphical evidence, and does not consider other sources, such as literature, before it draws firm conclusions. I don't think it a failing of the text so much as a gaping hole waiting to be filled.

A huge disappointment!! If you are a Madrasi/looking for authentic or serious Madrasi - tasting dishes, forget it!! This will be O.K for somebody wanting to imitate Madrasi/south indian cooking or for a brand new beginner. Most of the recipes call for couple of basic spices (eg. chilli pd.,turmeric pd.,ginger-garlic)...That's it! But, the names given to these recipes are madrasi-sounding definitely.Any way what kind of cookbook author would call a curry leaf- neem leaf!! I am pretty sure it was not a printing error.

As a tamil Sri-Lankan-American, I was looking for a cookbook that would give me dishes that were more spicier than what you would find in most north indian styled restaurants. This book turned out great. The recipes are very easy to follow and the curries turn out well even if you aren't exact about what you're adding. Some recipes take a long time but worth it.

For anyone who already owns an Indian cookbook - and the place to start is Madhur Jaffey's encyclopedic Indian Cooking - this is a rich source of authentic South Indian recipes. I have tried most of them, and have yet to be disappointed. Be warned though, these recipes produce hotter dishes than most Indian cookbooks, and assume a basic familiarity with Indian cooking techniques. South Indian cooking is associated with vegetarian dishes, but this is Tamil cooking, and there are as many meat dishes as vegetarian, including beef, lamb, pork, chicken and duck. As for seafood, there are wonderful crab, lobster, shrimp and fish recipes. This is an excellent source of recipes for an underappreciated region of Indian cooking.

It is a great book, which gives the picture of how nadars grown because of their unity among themselves and helping their community in all their causes.
It is a must for every nadar to read this Book,
If you are a Nadar you have to have this book,
If you are not, it is a great book to read about the community which came up to the higher economy status by their sheer hardwork, Dedication and their self formed Organisation support.

Dennis Templeman's work on Northern Nadars had emerged out of Robert Hardgrave's study, The Nadars Of Tamilnadu:The political culture of a community in change (1969),often considered as the first classic on Tamil Nadars. Exactly after 30 years of his mentor's work Templeman came out with his masterpiece about how the disjunctive social process of conflict,competition and power equation among the caste members and between castes were instrumental in weakening the effectiveness of nadars caste association at the grassroot level, popularly known "uravinmurais". The mark of difference between Hardgrave and Templeman studies are that the former primarily dealt with how the nadar caste as a whole rose to a 'solid' and 'forward caste' status achieving 'power' and wealth from a lowly position in the social hierarchy i.e just above the untouchable,defined the commonly prevalent notion that hindu caste system is overtly rigid with no scope for any upward mobility.In addition, this work further thrown light on the sphere of 'official' state and national government and on the impact of nadar caste and class affiliations ,intercaste relations and politics within nadar caste association i.e Nadar Mahajana Sangham,on nadars interaction with regional and state level political parties. whereas, the later work focusses on the uncovered dimension of Hardgrave's work i.e conflict within local association, between local associations and between nadars and other communities in local settlement ,which focusses upon the manipulation and use power and the struggle for power at the grassroot level rather than at the regional and national level. Primarily Templeman's work examined these local association under which caste as a whole achieved great cohesiveness and effectiveness,as well as the conditions which ultimately have led to their present weakened state. The methodology used by Templeman to examine the political and social conflict of Nadars were to a large extent influenced by the anthropological study of law, unlike the ethnographical approach used by the conventional anthropologists. The author used legal ethnography to study caste conflicts ,which is similar to the strategy oriented game theory approach adopted by F.G.Bailey and Fredrik. Barth. This work is based on intensive field study over a period of twenty five years in five distinct nadar settlements i.e Madurai( a large town),Aruppukottai(a small town),Palayampatti and Pattiveeranpatti( two villages) and Palamedu(a small village). This book consists of ten chapters , and the first three chapters deals about Nadars ethos,historical development of a caste, changes occured, family,marriage and kinship pattern and the religious tradition and beliefs of the caste. The fourth chapter is devoted for Nadar local association in general where as the fifth chapter highlights how the association began to shed some of their traditional characteristic features were recasted to promote and project nadars interest in changing circumstances. Chaters six and seven vivids the nature of conflict of the aforesaid five nadar settlements. The eigth and nineth capters gives a complete picture of how the changes have occured in the caste and its association within a span of thirty years i.e the timelag between Hardgrave's work to the present author's work on nadars.Templeman had mentioned that the Nadars caste association not only in the sample villages but all the nadar settlements in Tamilnadu has assumed a new role as service organisation catering the needs of both nadars and others,i.e from the communal character to secular character. Templeman diagnosed three cardinal principles that gained currency among the Northern Hindu Nadars viz.,1) Caste as an endogamous group 2) importance of relative caste status and 3)Usefulness of local association. The author's following observation has a merit i.e " the Nadars believe they can perceive the conditions in which different values and actions will be effective, and in their ability to modify their behaviour and values in order to take advantage of such emerging opportunities". While concluding, Templeman talks about Northern nadars agency and ideology and revealed the fact that how nadars have continually reworked their social institutions while working within them. He has borrowed the agency approach generally used by antropologists concerned with law. His comparision of nadars mobility pattern with Saraswat brahmins and Jatavs and how Nadars mobility pattern is superior than the other two communities are quite interesting and unique among the backward castes.

Maya returns to India, her homeland, after her parents find an excuse to send her there for the summer. It's been three years since 15 year old Maya has been to India, the land where she lived as a child for several years with her grandmother. The book is descriptive, and makes you feel like you are transported there. Details are explained when the reader encounters something that may be hard for a non-Indian to understand. There are two main storylines, one dealing with the government that I didn't really care for, and one dealing with the larger story of Maya's connecting to her Indian self. The book got slighly more boring as it went on however.

Yes, this is the year I finally read (and fell in love with) the Harry Potter series, but this book beats it out!

This is a wonderfully written story from the perspective of a South Indian girl whose childhood was split between her grandmother's house in India and her mother's in the United States. It follows her over the course of her first visit to India after a long time, and through a journey to a more adult understanding of her mother and grandmother. What I liked the best about this book is its genuine feel. Not many authors can recreate the thoughts and interests of a teenage girl on paper as Vijayaraghavan has been able to do. I am astounded that it is this author's first published book and eagerly look forward to her future writings.

I found "Motherland" to be a simply delightful book. Maya, the novel's 15-year-old narrator, offers a mix of wry commentary and youthful bewilderment as she leads the reader along her colorful journey towards adulthood. The author has surrounded young Maya with a host of well-drawn secondary characters who round out the novel and give the reader a sense of the broader cultural context against which Maya's story is woven. The tale of Maya's sojourn in India begins as a deceptively straightforward travelogue but does not lack for drama or emotional intensity as matters of family and homeland are brought to the fore. Like a well-crafted Shaker table, "Motherland" possesses a simple beauty that is nonetheless breathtaking. An unpretentious tour-de-force.

David Rudner had taken pains to write about a system which does'nt normally attract the attention of the outside world but should be. He has dealt with it very excellently, concentrating on the common thread that pass through religion social and business practices. By doing so he has brought to light the case of nattukottai chettiars who have practiced globalisation long time back. His writing gives optimism on the system which at first sight will not look right. He had seen the right side of it. His flow of language is very good. And i hope he continues writing on things which is not noticed by the outside world. A job well done.

These pictures, though some are interesting, don't have the beauty and density of those found in other of his woriks. One will not come away with any sense of the landscape or cityscapes of Tamil Nadu. There are too many shots of individuals, but not enough sense of place, and on the whole, not the painterly quality he usually brings to his work.

This book is a history of Carnatic music from ancient times (the Sangam age = 0-300AD) to the turn of the 19 th century. It is organized according to the major musical treatises in Indian music history, including separate chapters for the Sangam age, the Silappatikaram age, the Pallava age, etc. on through Tyagaraja and the post-Trinity composers. For each age, Kuppuswami summarizes the contemporary conception of music theory, the ragas and talas that were commonly used, and the instruments that were popular. The book is focused on music history, and has very little, if any information about general Tamil culture.

As someone who is not a specialist in Carnatic music, I found the text to be extremely oblique. A typical sentence might be as follows: "The 'Navagraha kritis' were composed at the request of 'Suddamaddalam Tampiyappan', who could not propitiate the nine 'grahas' as enjoined by the rigour of the 'Sastras.'" If the terms make sense to you, then you may find the book quite interesting. On the other hand, if you are not South Indian or are not familiar with Carnatic music, you will spend a lot of time scratching your head as you try to deduce the meaning. In general, I found sections of the text to be rather disorganized and repetitious, and rules of capitalization were unique. Nevertheless, the book may prove a valuable resource, since it collates information from many sources (which are very well documented) and presents the information in English. Carnatic music specialists may find valuable gems if they dig deeply. Read quickly though, because the paper that the book is printed on is not designed to last.

it is unfortunate that a third rate actor and politician who only cares for his own survival is being studied likr cholera or plague .recently in tiruchi loksabha poll sukumaran nambuiyar of bjp lost even tough bjp got the electors well atttended .the reason was the village were out raged especially the women folk that a son of the former villain m.n.nambiar who'raped 'and killed so many people !dared contest .how many times his father cast evil eyes on even jayalalitha in 'ayirathil oruvan' .for fools like this no cure pl uday

I was shocked to read what a thirteen year old girl had written about Mr. M.N. Nambiar. For one thing, she knows absolutely nil about this respected man. For another, obviously she has not seen most of his movies either because all she knows is that he "raped" girls in his movies.
Let me inform her that my uncle has been going with Nambiar swamy as he is fondly called by people who KNOW him to Sabarimala the last 30 years. Nambiar swamy is a wonderful human being and his knowlege of history and geography is immense. He is anything but what he potrays on screen. He is a soft, very religious and known for his loving relationship with his wife.
People who do not know the ABC of others should not indulge in tarnishing others image. And what does this 13 year old know about Mr. Sukumar Nambiar? Obviously zero!
Go and study my dear instead of writing rubbish!
maya