{"product_id":"nine-lives-in-search-of-the-sacred-in-modren-india","title":"Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modren India by William Dalrymple","description":"\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBook Summary\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the author of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Last Mughal\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (“A compulsively readable masterpiece” —\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe New York Review of Books\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e), an exquisite, mesmerizing book that illuminates the remarkable ways in which traditional forms of religious life in India have been transformed in the vortex of the region’s rapid change—a book that distills the author’s twenty-five years of travel in India, taking us deep into ways of life that we might otherwise never have known exist.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Buddhist monk takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet—and spends the rest of his life atoning for the violence by hand printing the finest prayer flags in India . . . A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment as she watches her closest friend ritually starve herself to death . . . A woman leaves her middle-class life in Calcutta and finds unexpected fulfillment living as a Tantric in an isolated, skull-filled cremation ground . . . A prison warder from Kerala is worshipped as an incarnate deity for three months of every year . . . An idol carver, the twenty-third in a long line of sculptors, must reconcile himself to his son’s desire to study computer engineering . . . An illiterate goatherd from Rajasthan keeps alive in his memory an ancient four-thousand-stanza sacred epic . . . A temple prostitute, who initially resisted her own initiation into sex work, pushes both her daughters into a trade she nonetheless regards as a sacred calling.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWilliam Dalrymple chronicles these lives with expansive insight and a spellbinding evocation of circumstance. And while the stories reveal the vigorous resilience of individuals in the face of the relentless onslaught of modernity, they reveal as well the continuity of ancient traditions that endure to this day. A dazzling travelogue of both place and spirit.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch2\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan class=\"relative -mx-px my-[-0.2rem] rounded px-px py-[0.2rem] transition-colors duration-100 ease-in-out\"\u003eWilliam Dalrymple is a British historian, writer, and broadcaster, renowned for his deep engagement with South Asian history and culture.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"relative -mx-px my-[-0.2rem] rounded px-px py-[0.2rem] transition-colors duration-100 ease-in-out\"\u003eBorn in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 20, 1965, Dalrymple has spent much of his life in India, which has profoundly influenced his work.\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"relative -mx-px my-[-0.2rem] rounded px-px py-[0.2rem] transition-colors duration-100 ease-in-out\"\u003eHe is a co-founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, the world's largest literary festival, and has authored several acclaimed books, including \u003cem data-start=\"161\" data-end=\"214\"\u003eNine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Best of used books","offers":[{"title":"Used","offer_id":44273632477441,"sku":"2SHKNX8N5-Used","price":150.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0421\/4299\/0495\/products\/InSearchoftheSacredinModrenIndia.jpg?v=1665819142","url":"https:\/\/bestofusedbooks.com\/products\/nine-lives-in-search-of-the-sacred-in-modren-india","provider":"Best Of Used Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}