Description
This book raises a set of highly pertinent questions with regard to comprehending the complex issues that
arise when plural cultures meet monolithic structures of administration and policy that accompany the
aspirations of the nation state. How does the nation state with its commitment to the quantifiable collectives
of caste, religion, community, and culture respond to the fluid and multiple matrixes of region, history, social
identity, ritual, and language in India? The essays herein explore the problems that arise when shifting
cultural categories are juxtaposed against the more rigidly constructed categories created by institutions
of the state. The issues enlarged upon here are those that the author has often discussed, including the
interconnectedness of the arts and the integration of body, mind and senses in Indian artistic traditions.