"The book is the first ever attempt to examine various socio-cultural aspects of contemporary India ranging from caste and hierarchy and the religious or political conflict resulting from it to literary practice and intellectual life in the public space and making interdisciplinary associations. It does this by going back to various aspects in India's past stretching back several millennia to those owing to public policy after independence. Many of the issues today such as those named above can be traced to racial mixing through centuries which has created a multitude of conflicts that need solutions today. The book is divided into separate chapters corresponding to the issues needing addressing, and a brief note at the conclusion of each chapter makes connections with issues dealt in other chapters. The book has an introduction tracing a significant portion of India's past and an afterword identifying crisis areas in the present"--