Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

In this book, Ramin Jahanbegloo converses with twenty-seven leading Indian personalities—social scientists, journalists, activists, artists, and sports persons—to gain an understanding of contemporary Indian society. Jahanbegloo, an Iranian-Canadian philosopher and Gandhi scholar, raises interesting questions about the seeming contradictions of life in India: the long history of religious tolerance juxtaposed with growing religious fundamentalism, democracy being challenged by a persistent caste system, the Indian ethos of equality contested by the low status of women, affluent urban areas that contrast with the impoverished rural tracts, among other issues.

Excerpt from India Revisited So, after a peaceful night at anchor in the mouth of the Thames, it was one long day of perpetual, if unexpressed, farewells all down the Channel for the passengers of the Peninsular and Oriental steamer Parramatta, bound to Bombay. A chill October breeze had set the light green waves dancing, but our powerful vessel Of 5000 tons did not deign to move seriously to these land-locked billows; and the greater part Of the hundred and fifty ladies, military Officers, children, nurses, and travellers embarked for the Indian passage were able to keep the deck as point after point of that well-known and'well-loved coast passed into the misty horizon astern. Shakespeare's great bright cliff; the folded downs above Folliestone, half-veiled by sea clouds and half-lighted by pale sun shine; the low chine of Dungeness'and the lofty white buttresses of Beachy Head; the faint gleams of houses and hanging smoke, to Show where Eastbourne, Hast ings, and Brighton sate on the sea's brink, - these, every one of them recalling unforgotten friends and bygone scenes, rise up from the West and glide away into the East, until the Parmmatta steams within her own length of the Royal Sovereign Light Ship, steering for the southernmost corner of the Isle of Wight. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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