Fuller's excellent work does a good job of making the complexities of Hinduism comprehensible even to a non-expert--not an easy task. The Hindu religion is of course not an institution in the Western sense, but rather a collection of beliefs and practices, ever-changing, in many cases highly local, and bewildering to the Western monotheistic mind with its "330 million" gods. Its complexities both drive and result from the infinite complexities of Indian society itself, and an understanding of Hinduism is crucial for any understanding of the country. I read the book in preparation for my second trip to India, and it made the experience infinitely more enjoyable and understandable.

Fuller's explanation of the principle of "hierarchy" as the underpinning for both Hinduism and Indian society as a whole was very enlightening, as one realizes that it is completely antithetical to Western thought which values individual freedom above all else. Particularly good is the description of the structure of Hindu worship, or "puja," which despite its infinite variations Fuller contends consists of 16 (more or less) steps, of offerings and services to the deity. The description of the caste system, which bears almost no relationship to the Western notion of class, is excellent. Fuller's explanation of the concept of purity, and how it drives the status and treatment of women, is also very good.

More casual readers may feel a bit bogged down as later chapters explore more esoteric subjects such as devotionalism and village rituals. From a scholarly point of view, I'd say this book is at the college text level, and like college texts it gets more complex as you work your way through. But this work is more than worth it even if you focus on the first few chapters. Highly recommended!

Fuller provides an up-to-date presentation of the popular practice of Hinduism in India. Using ethnographic data and personal field research in a Minakshi temple in south India, Fuller provides a window into daily worship unladen with ancient textual scriptures and controversial philosophies, however, giving careful representation of the traditional, and mainly centralist, view of Hinduism as a point of reference. Fuller presents the basic why's of Hindu practice in an easy-to-follow format and language throughout the text. Beginning with an anthropological account of Hindu society in India, he continues with chapters on gods and goddesses, worship, sacrifice, rituals, devotion, pilgrimage, and misfortune, giving special attention to women's issues in the second chapter on devotion. I found this work extremely helpful in understanding the practical application of many previous works' attention to the Vedic texts and philosophies. A work of this subject and caliber had been lacking in Hindu scholarship until this book.

THis Review is BY Scholar, author eminent Indian thinker, Sita Ram Goel (OF VOICE OF INDIA FAME....WEBSITE//WWW.VOI.ORG) *********** ***** "It is a remarkable fact," write Fr. Bede, "that the Church has been present in India for over fifteen hundred years and has had for the most part everything in its favor, and yet in all this time hardly two in a hundred of the people has been converted to the christian faith. The position is, indeed, worse even than this figure would suggest, as the vast majority of Christians are concentrated in a very few samll areas and in the greater part of India the mass of people remains today untouched except in a very general way by the christian faith. It is necessary to go even further than this and to say that for the immense majority of the Indian people Christianity still appears as a foreign religion imported from the West and the soul of India remains obstinately attached to its ancient religion. It is simply not a matter of ignorance. This may have been true in the past, but in recent times there has been a remarkable revival of Hinduism, which is more or less consciously opposed to Christianity, and the educated Hindu regards his religion as definitely superior to Christianity."  The state of things described by Fr. Bede would have caused no concern to a normal human mind. There is nothing obstinate about Hindus remaining attached to their ancient religion which has given them a large number of saints, sages and spiritual giants, and enriched them with an incomparable wealth of art, architecture, music and literature. There is nothing wrong with Hindus who find their own religion more satisfying than an alien faith brought in by imperialist invaders. Moreover, Christianity has yet to prove that it has something better to offer in terms of spiritual seeking or vision and attainment. But the missionary mind, unfortunately has never been a normal human mind. It has always suffered from the hallucination that it has a monopoly on truth and that it has a divine command to strive for the salvation of every soul. That alone can explain why the mission in India, instead of dismantling itself, is making determined efforts to regroup and return for yet another assault on Hinduism.  The mission strategists are now making Christianity drop its alien attire and get clothed in Hindu cultural forms. Christianity is being presented as an indigenous faith. Christian theology is being conveyed through categories of Hindu philosophy; Christian worship is being conducted in the manner and with the materials of Hindu puja; Christian sacraments sound like Hindu samskaras; Christian Churches copy the architecture of Hindu temples; Christian hymns are being set to Hindu music; Christian themes and personalities are being presented in styles of Hindu painting; Christian missionaries dress and live like Hindu sannyasins; Christian mission stations look like Hindu ashrams. And so on, all aspects of Christian thought, organization and activity are being disguised in Hindu forms. The fulfilment will be when converts to Christianity proclaim with complete confidence that they are Hindu Christians.  A remarkable book that in a few pages unravels the wily missionaries' ploys. It is said that a million pounds are being used a day by Great Britain alone for conversion to Christianity. Add to that the huge sums that are being invested by the other western powers for the same purpose and one can roughly visualize the immensity of the problem Hinduism faces. To make matters even more difficult Hindus are now burdened with a self-proclaimed secularist Government from which Hindus can only expect opposition of the worst kind and the most heinous of sabotage and damage.  Every Hindu worth the name should read this book. 

This book is a superb book for those with an open mind and for those who are not aware how the christian missionary appratus is working for the past two millenia in the process of annihilation of native religions, cultures and nations. For those who enjoy the books of Ram Swarup, Goel and Koenrad Elst, this book is one more brick in the ideological strengthening of hindu nationalism and their appreciation of other peaceful nonsemetic national cultures. The author is a great original thinker.His writings will definitely open readers mind and made them to think more. A must for any indologistas to a gullible reader, who is fed by the staple stuff written by marxists,mullahas/missionaries/hindu baiters/alieanted hindus. This book is not to be read but need to be preserved in the personnal collections of all truth seekers. This is is one of my personaal clooections and I read it many times.

When I picked up the book Celebrating Perfection in Administration, I was expecting to find a few points on how to administer in a more perfect way,
something that in my role as an administrator I was eager to know. When I opened the cover and saw the subtitle, "Politics is a pious profession," I was curious--this sounded like an oxymoron, yet I was intrigued.

By the time I finished the book, my awareness had been expanded from the trivia of day-to-day administration to the perfect administration that takes
place in our cosmos at every second through automation in administration through Natural Law. I was inspired to have a glimpse of what national administration could be--to see the beautiful results that a government could provide for its people. Not only did I now see that there is the possibility
to simplify everything and have ideal administration of every area of life, but I realized that I could easily adopt and implement these principles myself.

How? The key concept seemed to be consciousness--collective consciousness and
individual consciousness. By handling that, everything else could be managed. How to do it? The Transcendental Meditation technique (TM) was the key. The
knowledge in the book was empowering, but the knowledge I gained of myself by learning TM was a whole other level of power. I could see that if everyone had access to this, that all administration could be perfect, and, yes, politics could really be a pious profession!

Whether one administers a nation, a state, a city, or a few people, the knowledge in this book is essential, and the secret to living the knowledge is practicing Transcendental Meditation.

Celebrating Perfection in Administration provides a practical handbook for how to align human administration with the perfection of Nature's administration.

Think about it. (Maharishi inspires you think about things in ways you've never thought about them before.) Do the planets collide in space? What maintains them in their perfect orbits? What governs the cycles of day and night so reliably? Every day we take for granted the perfect orderliness of Nature's functioning.

Throughout the book, Maharishi demonstrates how each area of government administration-education, health, etc.-can be made vastly more successful by aligning the awareness of the administrators (and the people they are administrating) with Nature's own unlimited intelligence. He presents the example of the Indian Government today. India is not utilizing this key secret of Nature's functioning, even though this knowledge is available in India's own Vedic heritage.

Maharishi's insights have sliced through centuries of the loss of Vedic Knowledge--the oldest and most complete tradition of knowledge in the world--and brought this timeless wisdom of totality of life into the present, where it is sorely needed. He provides a practical formula here to make the administration of modern India perfect--a formula so universal that it could easily be applied to every other nation.

Even if, like me, you're not directly involved in government administration, the book is still fascinating and relevant. Maharishi defines administration much more broadly than most of us would. After reading Celebrating Perfection in Administration, I realized that each of us--whatever our walk of life--is involved in administration every day. We administer every aspect of our own lives, and how perfectly we do this determines how successful and efficient we are in fulfilling our desires.

Seeing Maharishi's vision of how perfect every kind of administration can be, I felt deeply motivated to apply this wisdom to administer my own life more and more perfectly--and I felt deeply grateful that someone living on earth today is bringing out knowledge that can restore perfection to human life.

China Mailbag Uncensored-- a stunning book full of color, character, and the atmosphere of India, Burma, and China during World War 11. The story is told through the culture-shocked eyes of a young U.S. Army lieutenant as he writes illustrated letters to his bride at home. Punctuated with pictorial cartoons and picturesque art, this page-turning book takes the reader through experiences on a Jim Crow train as it races toward the Pacific to launch its soldiers on an adventure through submarine-infested waters to get to the China-India-Burma theater of war. The drama unfolds in the crowded streets of Calcutta, sweeps you across the Himalayan Mountains, and impresses upon you the scenes of war-torn China. Lou Glist, the artist-author, is there to join the Chinese in their fight against a Japanese foe who has conquered and occupied more than one-half of their country. Lou pictures starving soldiers, coolies carrying impossible loads, farmers working rice fields with oxen, Buddhist temples, hardships, disease, misfortunes, and life situations where there is no clean water, electricity, air conditioning, heating, and all the comforts of home. Imagine yourself in a strange land, living with people who have strange customs, a strange language, strange food, feeling the pain of anxiety, and laughing at yourself and your own reactions. If you do this, you will appreciate what this gifted , young soldier went through to give us a stream of human interest episodes on his odyssey of 18,000 miles. As you are drawn through this steady flow of observations, you will understand why these letters to Lottie are such an enduring treasure. You also will have a new appreciation for the sacrifice American soldiers, sailors, and marines made to give us global peace and prosperity today.

China Mailbag: Uncensored, is a wonderful book. It drew me into the story because the book is made up of first person accounts of war, of the movements during WWII in China and India, and of the love an American GI had for his newlywed wife. The book is extremely interesting because it paints a detailed picture of what life was like for troops during WWII and contains a vast amount of entertaining anectodes, telling of funny meetings with chinese locals, and how difficult it was for soldiers to live the lives they were accustomed to in a foreign land. The book made me feel as though I too, had received letters from a GI abroad - the more of the book i read, the more i couldnt wait to turn to the next page. This is a book that any person, from young adults to fellow veterans of war would love to read. An entertaining, educational, overall lovely story is waiting for you! I encourage you to read it!

This probably rates as the finest effort by Western Music students of Khan Saheb to document in ENGLISH the many compositions for volcal and instrumental music. Khan Saheb represents the spiritual and the sublime in Indian Classical Music. He is not only the greatest living Indian Musician and Teacher, but also a caring human being who loves his students as much as his own children. Let's hope that the next book from Khan Saheb or his students is forthcoming shortly. k. deepak Kapoor

The bulk of this book consists of notated compositions as taught by Khansahib in class at the Ali Akbar Khan College in California. The music is in the prinicipal ragas of the 10 thaats. Although this is a small fraction of the wealth of music available in this tradition, it is plenty to get started. The rest of the book is a concise but still thorough presentation of form, style, history, and theory of North Indian music. A fantastic piece of work!

Compared to most Indian cook books, I would rate this very highly. I've been waiting to purchase this book based on reviews I've read of Ms. Doshi's other cookbook, which is no longer available. This new book is quite long, with many recipes so I haven't been able to try many of them yet. However, the recipes that I have attempted thus far have been great. Much of the recipes are unique and cooking instructions are very easy to follow. The only criticisms I would have is that, because of its size and dimensions, it does not easily lend itself to cooking while following the instructions--it's hard to keep the pages open--and the book could have benefited from more illustrations. Otherwise, this is a first rate cookbook.

A vegetarian who grew up in India, but who never really mastered Indian cooking (I was what Americans would call a "military brat") I find this book to be absolutely essential. The recipes I've tried thus far -- my favorites being the Biryani (spicy rice with yogurt) and the 'Gulab Jaman' dessert (rose-flavored dumplings) -- have yielded dishes that remind me of the best meals that I enjoyed in India, when I last lived there.

In addition to the hundreds of scrumptuous, majority low-fat recipes in this book, I particularly appreciate Chef Doshi's attention to detail in explaining procedures and ingredients. Chef's Doshi's knowledge is vast, and the wonderful stories with which she embellishes her text are an added delight.
Highly recommended for novice and advanced cooks alike!

I read about this book in "Economic Times" a month or so ago and bought a copy for myself. I am working with a similar company like Crompton Greaves and hence was interested in the book.

From the first page to the last page...the only way I can describe this book is..really really good! I have read the books by lots of management gurus and am really tired of people telling me what to do..this book is a pleasant surprise!

Being familiar with Indian business environment, I am really impressed with this work..as a matter of fact, I have already started some evaluation in my plant based on the book!

In short, a must-have book for all the people interested in how Indian firms are facing up the challenges of globalisation....worth every rupee!

This book is one of the few management/business related books that does not "preach" the readers about what they "should" do, but rather analyzes the realities as they exist for thousands of firms around the world while the firms are grappling with the issues of competing in foreign environment.

The detailed analysis of supplier relations is very cogent and timely in these days of global supply chain management and hollow organisations.

An ideal companion for all business people and researchers interested in Asia...

this book was an excellent guide to malaysia, it not only helped my camping trip there, it was enjoyable as a book as well

This book an invaluable resource for anyone traveling to Malaysia. Did you know it's highly offensive to hand someone an object with your left hand? This book explains the local customs and cultures, so you will be a welcome guest, not one who is just tolerated.

George Curzon was born in the Victorian era with an extremely privileged family background. This excellent biography relates the multiple rises / falls in his career - I enjoyed the book because of the insightful account of the timeless contradictions of Curzon's character; he was born to an aristocratic family, yet worked incredibly hard all his life; he inspired great loyalty amongst those who worked with him, but thoughtless offense to other senior political figures contributed to missed opportunities; hopelessly out-dated on issues such as women's rights and empire, his views on foreign policy issues were well ahead of his time. David Gilmour gives a great overview of a life which started at the time of the Great Exhibition and ended just before Britain's humiliations of the Gold Standard in the 1930s. People who enjoyed Titan (Rockefeller) may well enjoy this account of a flawed but dynamically positive man.

Lord Curzon was a major figure in British politics at the turn of the century. Immensely accomplished as well as ambitious, he served in several of the highest postions in government, including as Foreign Secretary and Viceroy of India. It is Gilmour's achievement that he manages to convey the complexities of the man, his overweening ambition, his insecurities and also, his tremendous drive to succeed. This a greatly detailed biography, but it is at the same time also very readable. It does not bog down in the minutiae of detail, and keeps a very articulately expressed story-line going. A book of immense interest to those keen on the politics and social and cultural history of that era.

This man is extraordinary! While we desire wealth, security, good health, and so much more, Vic Olsen's autobiography touches my heart as I see the tremendous passion and commitment of a Christian missionary to help the people of Bangladesh while ignoring the superficial desires of our society. His life trumps the stereotype delusional missionary of the same era portrayed in The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. You may reject his perspective that Jesus Christ is the Messiah (although he provides a logical defense), but think again what this man did because he committed his life to Jesus Christ. Is not this world better off because of this man's decision? Now, what am I going to do?

If you're looking to do some missionary work and your going into the medical field, this is the book for you. Viggo Olsen's story in Bangladesh is extemely inspiring and lets you see how the Father truly works through him.