The Indians: Portrait of a People by Kakar, Sudhir and Kakar, Katharina Sudhir Kakar; Katharina Kakar

A compelling work on the cultural character of the Indian people...both provocative and revealing Shyam Benegal in Outlook A remarkably perceptive analysis of Indian character Khushwant Singh In this bold, illuminating and superbly readable study, India s foremost psychoanalyst and cultural commentator Sudhir Kakar and anthropologist Katharina Kakar investigate the nature of Indian-ness . What makes an Indian recognizably so to the rest of the world, and, more importantly, to his or her fellow Indians? For, as the authors point out, despite ethnic differences that are characteristic more of past empires than modern nation states, there is an underlying unity in the great diversity of India that needs to be recognized. Looking at what constitutes a common Indian identity, the authors examine in detail the predominance of family, community and caste in our everyday lives, our attitudes to sex and marriage, our prejudices, our ideas of the other (explored in a brilliant chapter on Hindu-M