Why I Am a Hindu Paperback – October 2, 2018

His picture of Hinduism's tolerance of other beliefs and religions is partially accurate.By and large, Hindus do not kill heretics as some other religions historically did, and some still do. However, social ostracization is common for those who do not toe in line.I am a Hindu but do not believe in idolatry or the caste system.I believe in a decentralized God whose presence can be felt within oneself, in nature, and every living being (Advaita).However, I have no quarrel with those who follow other paths for salvation, so long as they do not create a climate of hatred and enmity.I fully agree with Sashi Tharoor's criticism of the Hindutva movement, followed by the present Government in power. I want to go further by saying that no Government should have the ability to direct the beliefs of individual citizens so long those beliefs do not cause harm to other citizens or the society in general.No law should be enacted that discriminates against one citizen from another.There should be no mixing of politics with theology, and all citizens should have equal protection under its laws.I would like this book to be translated and published in many Indian languages so that it may be more widely read in India.

"Why I Am a Hindu" was written in the context of growing electoral victories by the Hindu nationalist BJP political party (which claims to represent "real Hinduism" and to speak for a Hindu India rather than the secular pluralism of Gandhi and Nehru) and so written primarily for an Indian audience.I read it for a different reason: There is no end of English-language literature on Hinduism written from one of two perspectives: either erudite, academic analysis or wit a specifically Christian, and usually missionary, view. (There's a lot of material that amounts to, "How to talk to a Hindu about Jesus" which presumes that Hindus need to be something other than what they are.)I wanted to follow the advice of the late Krister Stendahl of Harvard (in later life the Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala) who said that if you want to understand a religion, talk to its adherents, not its detractors.Hinduism could not have a more articulate proponent than Dr. Shashi Tharoor, who is Hindu both by birth and conviction and also thoroughly at home in the English-speaking intellectual world. For an American reader, a great strength of this book is precisely that it was not written for a Christian audience--since I am not at all sure that someone from an Abrahamic tradition even CAN really grasp Hinduism, in all of its hospitable plurality and avoidance of sectarian certainty.But if you're willing to try and engage Hinduism on its own terms--the only approach with any integrity, after all--then this is a wonderfully helpful book, and one worth reading more than once.Non-Indian readers should be willing to skip around, though, since not all sections will be relevant to their interests.

I am a Hindu by birth. It never occurred to me to oppose the practices by people around me. Like I choose what I want to eat in a cafeteria I practised methods the religion the way I felt comfortable with. It affords me the freedom to see God in away,shape and form that provides me freedom of thought and methods. This aspect of Hindu faith makes it appear disorganized and chaotic to the outside observer of life of people living in India regardless of the religious affiliation of people being observed. The authors brings this point out very vividly in this book.

Many congratulations, Shashi Tharoor! I am a "dyed in the wool" atheist, but I still bought, read and thoroghly enjoyed this book. I do hope it is translated into some of the major Indian languages for wider circulation and understanding. For such education is sorely lacking, resulting in the vicious wave of fundamentalism sweeping the country virtually unchallenged……see some of the reviews in Kindle!!