Category: Non-fiction
Publisher (English): Penguin Books India
Publisher (Marathi translation): Ameya Prakashan
Publisher (Tamil translation): New Horizon Media
Publisher (Punjabi translation): Unistar Books
Rights available: Indian languages (excluding Marathi, Tamil and Punjabi)
In this book, Pavan Varma looks at the consequence of Empire on the Indian psyche. Drawing upon modern Indian history, contemporary events and personal experience, he examines how and why the legacies of colonialism persist in our everyday life, affecting our language, politics,
creative expression and self-image. Over six decades after Independence, English remains the most powerful language in India. Our classical arts and literature continue to be neglected, and our popular culture is mindlessly imitative of western trends. Our cities are dotted with incongruous buildings that owe nothing to indigenous traditions of architecture. For all our bravado as an emerging superpower, we remain unnaturally sensitive to both criticism and praise from the Anglo-Saxon world and hunger for its approval. With passion, insight and impeccable logic, Pavan Varma shows why India, and other formerly subject nations, can never truly be free – and certainly not in any position to assume global leadership – unless they reclaim their cultural identity.
