“In this stimulating book, Sugata Srinivasaraju explores the clash between local cultures on the one hand and the homogenizing impulses of globalisation on the other… his sweep is broad, his tone by turns empathetic and polemical. He acquaints us with the different dimensions of this conflict – economic, political, moral and aesthetic. Through his reports and analyses, Sugata makes a case for a rooted cosmopolitanism that I for one found deeply persuasive.”
RAMACHANDRA GUHA
Historian and columnist
“Spanning across centuries from the earliest extant Kannada literary work of the 850 to today’s Lankesh and Karnad and unblurred focus on the invisible and visible expressions of the cultural consciousness of the great Kannada community, the book is an exemplary discourse of an extremely well-informed, reflective, liberal and committed mind. Though the author’s reference point is Kannada, his concerns are the concerns of all languages of India.
The book contains some perceptive biographical pieces which are moving, original observations of those personalities. Sugata Srinivasaraju’s scholarship and his natural restraint makes the book one of the most illuminating and stimulating commentaries on contemporary Indian society.”
ASHOKAMITRAN
Tamil writer
“This book deserves to be read wherever cultures are threatened; and that means everywhere… Sugata is indeed an exceptional ambassador between cultures.”
JEREMY SEABROOK
British Writer (from the Foreword)
