Vinay Lal

No one till now has written on the coronavirus against a cultural backdrop as vast as thiscrossing centuries, continents and disciplines. This small book will outrun all the repetitive details of the pandemic with which we are being regularly bombarded ASHIS NANDYVinay Lals 3-D analysis of the what and the why of the COVID experience, is a must read for grasping the finer lines of history, culture and literature invisibly woven into the global response to the pandemic GANESH DEVYLal writes with an ease that is a pleasure to read. This book shows how we can see ourselves in the crisis of COVID-19, in the mirrors of our common, shared but unfinished humanity SATENDRA NANDANThere has never been anything like the Covid-19 pandemic in history. The world as we knew it has changed and the fury of Covid-19 has unleashed new forces, leaving us with an uncertain future. Though its fatality rate, in comparison with some previous epidemics such as the Black Death and the Spanish flu of 1918-20, is strikingly low, and though it follows in the path of epidemics such as HIV, SARS, and Ebola, the coronavirus pandemic has produced outcomes which are altogether unprecedented. There is no other instance where the world was, over three months, brought to a standstill and the global economy shuttered. Most countries imposed a lockdown and shut down their borders. In Italy and Spain, old people were left to die; in India, millions of migrants took to the road. In some countries rulers have assumed emergency powers. America, the worlds superpower, has been brought to its knees. The economic impact of the outbreak has been shattering; the environmental implications may yet be monumental. Investigating all these trends and the social, cultural, political, and philosophical aspects and implications of the pandemic, this book evaluates the fate of humankind and the earth in its wake.

El hinduismo alberga innumerables contradicciones. Es una religión con tanto de mito como de historia: no tiene fundador histórico ni un único libro autorizado, y cuenta con pocas doctrinas centrales. Este libro ofrece una guia sobre esta fe extraordinariamente diversas, y desentraña las complejidades de los dioses y diosas del hinduismo, su sistema de castas y sus ideas sobre el sexo, la vida cotidiana y el ascetismo.

Why do Hindus revere the cow?Must Hindus be vegetarian? Hinduism is the worlds oldest religion, yet the word Hindu was never used before the 18th century by Hindus to describe themselves. it is defined as polytheistic, but Gandhi declared that a Hindu neednt believe in any god. it is a religion as much of myth as of history it has no founder, no single authoritative book, even few central doctrines.Introducing Hinduism offers a guide to the key philosophical, literary, mythological and cultural traditions of the extraordinarily diverse faith. It untangles the complexities of Hinduisms gods and goddesses, its caste system and its views on sex, everyday life and asceticism. Vinay Lal and Borin Van Loons hugely enjoyable tour through Hinduism also explores its links with and differences from Buddhism, Jainism and other religions, the resurgence of Hindu extremism, the phenomenon of Bollywood and the overseas Hindu diaspora.