The Religions of India

The Religions of India

Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism all came into being in India, although Buddhism now is mostly practiced elsewhere in Asia. Islam came from outside, but India's large Muslim minority comprises the second largest Muslim population in the world, after Indonesia's. The calendar is crowded with festivals, and religion is evident everywhere in Indian life -- from politics to art and architecture and the daily activities of millions of devotees.

Hinduism

Hinduism, with its mega-family of gods and goddesses, extends back at least three millennia -- to the hymns and ritualmantras of the ancient Sanskrit Vedas. It is almost impossible to define Hindu tradition in a way that would include all its major variants. Thetradition's hallmark, perhaps, is its ability to adapt disparate elements, from local deities to rival philosophical systems, into a recognizably Hindu context. Perhaps the best way to start is with the Bhagavad Gita, a marvelous work of religious synthesis set in the midst of battle in the epic Mahabharata. Arjuna, one of five brothers who are the epic's heroes, falters on the battlefield, concerned that no good will come of defeating his enemies, who are his cousins. His charioteer, Krishna, an incarnation of the great god Vishnu, reminds him that Hindus believe in reincarnation and their ultimate goal is moksha, or liberation from the endless cycle of rebirth. There are causes for the rivalry that has led to the battle, Krishna says, and as a young warrior, Arjuna must fulfill his particular duty (dharma) through action (karma) that is unconcerned with benefits or reward. Fulfilling one's assigned duty and moral obligation to society is seen as a necessary step toward attaining higher religious knowledge (jnana) and the ultimate goal of union with God through devotion (bhakti). The Gita, as it is called, has a place in the homes of almost all modern Hindus. It does not have canonical authority above that of many other religious texts, yet it gives in outline a basic set of beliefs that are held in common.

Sacrifice is an essential part of dharma and central to the practice of the earliest stage of Hinduism embodied in the Vedas. An offering to a god blesses the worshiper in return. Beginning with the Upanishads, appendixes to the Vedas, sacrifice began to be seen also in metaphorical terms, as the sacrifice of the baser aspect of one's individuality, so that the individual soul, or spirit (atman), can merge with brahman (universal consciousness) and allow the realization of moksha.

Some Hindus also practice yoga, a combination of physical culture and meditation practice that is exemplified by the ascetics and sadhus in places like Varanasi. Yoga (which literally means "yoke" or "union") uses mental and physical discipline to purify the body and rid the practitioner of conscious thought, so he or she can experience a sense of detachment from the realities of the physical world and a higher knowledge (jnana) similar in some ways to gnosis in Western tradition. In the Bhagavad Gita many other forms of dedicated behavior, such as devotion or disinterested action, are described as forms of yoga.

Strictures underlying dharma and karma also help to explain the thousands of castes that divide Hindus and have been conceptualized in a framework of four segregated rankings: Brahmins (priests), Kshatriyas (nobles and warriors), Vaishyas (tradesmen), and Shudras (menial laborers). A fifth grouping (Panchama) falls outside this framework: the lowest rung of society, made up of people who were once commonly known as "untouchables," were named as Harijans, or "children of God," by Mahatma Gandhi and now prefer to be called Dalits, or the "oppressed."

To most Westerners, the caste system seems like fuel for revolution, but it was also a complex and even flexible way of ordering society. In ancient India, unlike in many other places, there was no all-powerful priestly class and slavery was rare. There is evidence of considerable shifting in status of various caste groups, though not of individuals, in Indian history. Still for the lowest categories, the system was doubtless very cruel. While it is said that they accepted their fate, seeing it as a direct result of their karma in previous births, poetry by lower caste devotees from as early as the 12th century explicitly rejects caste. Centuries passed before the untouchables found a way back from exclusion. The catalysts were Mahatma Gandhi and Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, a Dalit leader who was one of the principle authors of the Indian Constitution. Despite their frequent disagreements, Gandhi's and Ambedkar's efforts changed the way modern India thinks about caste and saw to it that discrimination based on caste was legally abolished in 1947. Practically speaking, though, it still regulates much of Hindu behavior, such as marriage practices. Caste is also emerging as a pre-eminent element of Indian politics, much as ethnicity has played a determining role in American politics.

Hindu Temples

The Hindu temple is filled with symbols of belief. Before the structure is built, a priest traces a mandala, which represents the cosmos and determines the placement of all rooms and icons. The center of the temple, called the inner sanctum, represents the egg or womb from which all life originates. This is where the sacred deity resides. The vimana (spire) is directly over the inner sanctum. It draws the attention of the devout to the heavenly realm and its connection with the sacred deity.

Many festivals take place in the temple's mandapams (a front porch that may be an elaborate pillared pavilion or a simple overhang). Water is the agent of purification. Ideally, a temple is constructed near a river or lake, but if no natural water source is available, a large tank is often built, with steps around it. Before the devout Hindu worships, he takes a ritual dip to rid himself of impurities. Daily darshan or viewing of the idol -- usually performed at sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight -- is imbued with sacred traditions. Ancient rituals combine into an elaborate pageantry, with a touching gentleness toward the god's idol, which can include such personalized acts as feeding the deity or brushing its teeth. These rituals are often paralleled in worship in home shrines.

Before the priest enters the temple, he takes his sacred dip. The actual darshan takes place during a ceremony known as arati (a moving flame), which begins with the clanging of a bell to ward off any evil presence and to awaken the sleeping deity. Burning camphor sweetens the air as the priest recites mantras and blesses the idol with oils and sandalwood paste. Next, the deity receives offerings of incense (an aroma favored by the gods), vermilion powder, flowers, and decorative platters of food. Lamps of ghee (clarified butter) and more camphor are waved before the idol; then the priest blesses the devotees, and the door to the inner sanctum is often closed to let the deity return to its sleeping state. Worshipers are given sweets and other food that has been offered to the deity. This food is known as prasada, which one scholar has translated as "the edible form of God's grace," and can be taken home for distribution to friends and family members.

Hindu Pantheon

It is often said that there are 330,000 gods in the Hindu pantheon. For the devotee this bewildering profusion is often simplified by dedication to a single god or goddess, or by concepts of many gods and goddesses as being forms of a few great gods and goddesses. It is difficult to characterize the Hindu concept of multiple divinity, but one comment by the celebrated German Indianist Max Muller may be helpful: Hindus, he suggested, were not so much pantheists as xenotheists: Supreme divinity can be invested serially in the deity being worshiped at any one moment by a particular person.

Hindu gods and goddesses, with the mythology, iconography, and devotional song that surrounds them, are remarkably personalized. This is in striking contrast to the utterly abstract notion of ultimate reality, or brahman, found in the Upanishads and subscribed to by many Hindus even while they worship one or several particular anthropomorphic gods and goddesses. The delight Hindus take in the living presence that incarnation gives to their gods can be seen in a well-known story about Krishna and the gopis, the pastoral maidens of Braj. Visited by a philosopher who expounded the higher truths of atman and brahman, which cannot be seen or described, one gopi said: "That's all very well to know brahman, but can the ultimate reality put its arms around you?"

Most important deities are clustered around the incarnations, families, and mythological associates of two great gods, Vishnu and Shiva, and their female consorts. Brahma, the Creator of the World and the Progenitor of All Living Things, is the third member of the Hindu trinity. He is the keeper of cosmic time and a sort of master-of-ceremonies advancing story lines in myths, but he is not actively worshiped. In sculpture and painting, Brahma has four heads and four arms, each one holding sway over a quarter of the universe and signifying the four Vedas. The rosary that he counts in one hand represents time, and his lotus seat represents the earth. Brahma's vehicle is the swan, symbol of the freedom that comes with knowledge. His consort is Saraswati, the goddess of learning.

Shiva is most famously depicted dancing the tandava dance of destruction, with which cosmic epochs come to an end so that new ones can be born. Shiva is the yogic ascetic par excellence, wearing snakes as garlands, ashes as ointment and an animal skin loin cloth and spending the eons in meditation in the Himalayas. Yet, paradoxically, he is married to Parvati and his family and love life are celebrated in myth and art. The non-anthropomorphic form of Shiva is the linga, a phallic symbol that rests in a yoni, which represents the womb. Worship of the linga, though, is not explicitly phallic worship: the icon is as much an abstract representation of the axis mundi, the axis on which the world spins, or of how divine presence manifests itself on earth to Hindus.

Shiva's consorts take many forms and are often considered as aspects of a general goddess (Devi) or female divine principle (shakti). Principle among these is Parvati -- the daughter of Himalaya with whom Shiva had two sons: Ganesh, the elephant-headed god of thresholds, and Kartikeya, known as Murugan in South India. Other shaktis include Durga, the slayer of the buffalo demon, and Kali, sometimes called the goddess of death and depicted in terrible aspect, wearing a garland of skulls and dancing on Shiva's dead body. Shiva's mount, Nandi, the sacred bull, usually guards the entrance to a Shiva temple. Priests who pray to Shiva have three horizontal stripes painted on their foreheads.

The preserver of the universe, Vishnu, has nine known avatars; a 10th is prophesied. Each successive avatar reflects a step up the evolutionary cycle, beginning with the fish and moving up to the ninth, Buddha, accepted by the all-embracing Hindus as a figure in their own pantheon. Vishnu's most popular incarnations are Rama and Krishna, the sixth and seventh, respectively, who are the two gods that embody humanity. Vishnu priests have three vertical stripes painted on their foreheads.

Vishnu appears with four arms that signify the four cardinal directions and his command over the realms they encompass. In one hand, he carries the lotus, the symbol of the universe. The conch shell, which he holds in his second hand, represents the evolutionary nature of all existence. A wheel in his third hand refers to the rotation of the Earth, with each spoke honoring a specific season of the year. In his fourth hand, Vishnu often holds a weapon to protect him from demons. A common image of Vishnu has him lying on a bed of coils formed by his serpent, Ananta, who symbolizes time. Creation will begin when Vishnu wakes up. Vishnu has two consorts: Bhudevi, the goddess of Earth, and Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, who rose from the foam of the ocean like Venus. Lakshmi assumes a different name with each of Vishnu's avatars. When Vishnu is Rama, she's Sita;when he's Krishna, she's Radha.

Rama is the ideal king. As the hero of the Hindu epic, Ramayana, he slew the 10-headed demon, Ravana, who had kidnapped Sita. This episode, including Sita's rescue by Hanuman, the monkey god and Rama's faithful servant, is celebrated during Dussehra, one of India's most festive holidays. Krishna has three distinct phases to his mythology. Some 19th-century Europeans saw this as the conflation of three different pre-Hindu gods into one Hindu one, but this concept is laughable to Krishna's devotees. In the first phase, Krishna is a playful boy god, stealing butter from his mother's pantry. In the next, he is an amorous, flute-playing cowherd and the focus of a huge body of love poetry. Finally, he is the charioteer of the Mahabharata, interceding on behalf of the heroes and offering the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita.

In addition to these major Hindu gods there are countless village and regional gods, who are sometimes affiliated in myth with the pan-Indian great gods or goddesses. Also, there are many goddesses who are not paired off with male ones or celebrated in Sanskrit texts, including Shitala Mata, the smallpox goddess whose worship continues despite the eradication of smallpox. Since medieval times at least, great devotees from a wide range of castes and communities have also been venerated, with religious communities being organized around their teachings.

Jainism

The origins of Jainism (the name comes from the word jina, or victor) go back more than 2,500 years. Jainism became a powerful sect during the time of Parsvanatha, the 23rd tirthankara (a perfect soul), who lived in the 8th century BC, when Hindu Brahmins dominated much of Indian religious life. As with Buddhism, Jainism developed under the patronage of prosperous non-Brahmin communities. Jains revere 24 tirthankaras, men who devotees believe achieved spiritual victory and attained moksha.

The 23rd tirthankara, Parsvanatha was a prince who renounced his wealth to become an ascetic who advocated honesty, respect for all life in the belief that every creature has a soul, and ahimsa (nonviolence); he abhorred any form of theft and the ownership of property. The 24th tirthankara was Mahavira (Great Hero), who lived in the 6th century BC around the time of the historic Buddha. Mahavira also became a monk and eventually shed his clothes as a sign of devotion and absolute self-denial. He advocated a life of poverty, although he realized that his example would be difficult to follow.

In 300 BC, the original Jain sacred scriptures were finally committed to writing. Jainism also split into two sects: Svetambaras, who wear white clothes, and Digambaras, who practice nudity and believe that women cannot achieve moksha until they are reborn as men. Women, according to Digambaras, are the greatest source of earthly temptation.

Jains reject the existence of a supreme being and divide the universe into three worlds, which, in turn, are divided into numerous levels. The Jain goal is to follow the model of the 24 tirthankaras. Devotees want to cross the metaphorical river of existence and obtain freedom for the soul from all three realms.

The Jain cosmology is a common motif in religious paintings. The lower world, which normally looks like truncated pyramids, represents various infernos occupied by mortals who have sinned. The middle world, which resembles a disc, contains all nonliving matter and life-forms, including human beings who are struggling through the cycle of rebirth and striving for liberation. The upper world, which is often drum shaped with a bulging middle, is the realm of the gods and spirits. Some paintings also take the shape of the Cosmic Man: the truncated pyramids are turned into legs, the disc becomes the waist, and the upper world extends up from the abdomen. When gods are depicted in the cosmos, their visible serenity increases as they move up each level within the upper world.

The restrictions of Jainism are severe. Jains are supposed to avoid all occupations that involve the destruction of any life-form. Consequently, many Jains are members of the trading community, and few are farmers. Jains are not permitted to eat meat or eggs, and many of them even shun vegetables and edible roots that grow underground for fear of ingesting infinitesimally small creatures. They must also take 12 vows that include the practice of ahimsa and meditation, restrictions on the acquisition of wealth and unnecessary belongings, and the commitment to spend some time as a monk or nun.

An important Jain symbol is the swastika, with each appendage representing the four possible stages of birth: life in hell, life as an insect, human life, and life as a god or demon. The three dots on top of the swastika stand for right faith, right knowledge, and right conduct. The half moon above the dots stands for moksha: the ultimate Jain goal. Jain temples are often exquisitely adorned, as another important vow instructs devotees to contribute generously to the construction and maintenance of temples and animal hospitals. The Charity Bird Hospital in Delhi is a remarkable response to this instruction.

Images of the 24 tirthankaras, depicted as ascetics with or without clothes, embellish most Jain temples. Parsvanatha is blue and usually appears with a snake. Mahavira is golden and usually appears with a lion.

Islam

"There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is His Prophet." This, the shahadah (religious creed) and the most important pillar of the Islamic faith, originated with Mohammed (his name means "highly praised"), who was born about AD 571 in the Arabian town of Mecca. A series of revelations from Allah, passed on through the Angel Gabriel, instructed Mohammed to preach against the paganism practiced by the Meccans. Initially, Mohammed saw himself as a social reformer who advocated a virtuous life in a city where virtue had vanished. The Meccans, however, saw him as a menace and a threat and forced him to flee to Yathrib (present-day Medina).

This move in AD 622, which Muslims now call hijra, marks the beginning of the Islamic era -- an era in which Mohammed established the concept of Islam, which means "submission" and "peace," as a way of life that dictated the proper behavior of the individual. By the time Mohammed died in AD 632, the inhabitants of a large expanse of land stretching from Persia to the Pyrenees and from Samarkand (in Uzbekistan) to the Sahara had converted to Islam.

With the death of Mohammed, his father-in-law, Abu Bakr, one of the first converts to Islam, became the next ruler and was called caliph (successor of the Prophet). In AD 656, during the reign of the fourth caliph, Ali, who was the Prophet's nephew and the husband of his daughter Fatima, civil war broke out. Ali moved his capital to Mesopotamia, where he was murdered by Muslim dissidents.

Ali's death signaled the beginning of a period of religious dissension between the traditionalists, Sunnis, who followed the orthodox teaching and example of the Prophet, and Ali's supporters, who claimed Ali's right to the caliphate based on his descent from the Prophet. In time, Ali's supporters broke away from the Sunnis and formed a sect known as the Shia or Shiites (the party of Ali).

Originally political in nature, the differences between the Sunnis and Shiites took on theological overtones. The Sunnis retained the doctrine of leadership by consensus. After Syrians massacred Hussain, Ali's son, at Karbala in Iraq, the Shiites strengthened their resolve that only Mohammed's rightful heirs should rule. They modified the shahadah: "There is no god but Allah; Mohammed is the Prophet of God, and Ali is the Saint of God."

Islam demands submission to God -- a God who is invisible, yet omnipresent. To represent him in any form is a sin, which explains the absence of icons in mosques and tombs. Every bit of decorative touch, often fashioned out of myriad tiny gems, is limited to inscriptions of the holy scripture, the Koran, and the names of Mohammed and his important followers.

Muslims believe that Allah (God) existed throughout time, but humans had strayed from his true teaching until Mohammed set them straight. Islam has concepts similar to those of Judaism or Christianity: guardian angels, the day of judgment, the general resurrection, heaven and hell, and the eternal life of the soul. Muslims are also instructed to follow a strict code of ethical conduct that encourages generosity, tolerance, and respect and forbids adultery, gambling, usury, and the consumption of pork and alcohol.

Other duties of Muslims form the five pillars of the faith: the recitation of the shahadah; salat (daily prayer); zakat (almsgiving); siyam (fasting); and haj (pilgrimage). The believer must pray to Allah five times daily, with each occasion preceded by a ritual washing of the hands, feet, neck, and head. Whenever possible, men pray at a mosque under a prayer leader; this is obligatory on Fridays. Women may also attend public worship but are segregated from the men.

The ninth month of the Muslim calendar, Ramadan, when Mohammed received his revelations, is a month of obligatory fasting from sunrise to sunset for all but the weak, pregnant women, and young children. During this period of abstinence, drinking, smoking, and sexual intercourse are also prohibited.

During his life, a Muslim is supposed to make the haj to the Great Mosque in Mecca to participate in 10 days of special rites, held during the 12th month of the lunar calendar. While on the haj, the pilgrim wears an ihram (seamless white robe) that symbolizes equality and devotion to Allah and abstains from sexual relations, shaving, and cutting his hair and nails. The returning pilgrim is entitled to the honorific "hajji" before his name and a turban carved on his tombstone.

The word mosque, or masjid, means "a place of prostration." It is generally square in shape; constructed from stone, clay, or brick; and has an open courtyard surrounded with madrasas (cloisters) for students who are studying the Koran. After the muezzin (crier) sings the call for prayer from the minaret (tower), the faithful line up in rows behind the imam (one who has studied the Koran). The imam stands in the sacred part of the masjid facing the mihrab (a niche in the wall that indicates the direction of Mecca). When the imam prays, the mihrab -- an ingenious amplifier -- bounces the imam's voice back to the devotees. Only prayers are heard and prostrations are made; ceremonies connected with birth, marriage, and death occur elsewhere.

In addition to prayer at home and at the mosque, popular Islam in India, as also to some extent in Persia, involves worship at the graves of great religious teachers of the past. On the occasion of the anniversary of the saints' death -- the urs, or time of ascent to heaven -- great fairs are held that can attract pilgrims of many faiths from all over India.

Sikhism

Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, was born into a Hindu family in 1469 when the Lodi sultanate, a Muslim dynasty from Afghanistan, ruled over his north Indian homeland. From an early age, he railed against the caste system, the corruption of Hindu priests, their superstitious beliefs, and their unwieldy family of gods. In his poems and teachings, Guru Nanak urged egalitarianism based on love and devotion to a single, nonincarnate divinity called the Wahi Guru and conceived as the embodiment of truth, goodness, and uniquenes (these three words are the translation of the common Sikh greeting "Sat Sri Akal.")

Nanak's view of Sikhism, recorded in the Adi Granth (Sikh holy book), upheld the Islamic idea that the goal of religion was the union with God, who dwelled within the soul. Through meditation and dharma (Hindu concepts), he believed, devotees could rid themselves of impurities, free themselves from the endless cycle of rebirth, and attain eternal bliss. For Hindus at the bottom of society, Sikhism offered equality and tolerance. They gladly converted and became Sikhs (disciples).

During the early years of the Mogul Empire, Sikhism flourished without interference until Emperor Jahangir assumed the throne. Jahangir resented the Sikh view of Islam and ultimately tortured and murdered the fifth guru. When Aurangzeb, the next emperor, revealed his own ruthless intolerance, Gobind Singh, the 10th and final guru, forged the Sikhs into a martial community that he called the khalsa, which means the pure. Gobind Singh instructed every Sikh man to observe and wear the five kakkari (visible symbols): kesh (uncut hair and beard); kachh (boxer shorts); kara (a steel bangle); kanga (a wooden comb); and kirpan (a dagger). All Sikh men also assumed the surname Singh, meaning "lion" (though not all Singhs are Sikh), and Sikh women adopted the name Kaur, meaning "lioness" or "princess." Members of the khalsa were to follow a strict code of conduct that forbade the use of alcohol and tobacco and advocated a life of meditation and courage.

Buddhism

Siddhartha Gautama was born into a princely family in Lumbini, along the Indian and Nepalese border, around 563 BC. Upon encountering suffering during his first venture outside the palace as a young man, he renounced his privileged status -- an act called the Great Renunciation -- to live as an ascetic. He then entered a lengthy meditation that led to his Great Enlightenment, or nirvana.

Transformed, Siddhartha went to Sarnath, near Varanasi in India, and preached his revolutionary sermon on the dharma (truth), also called "The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Truth or Law." His discourse set forth his Four Noble Truths, which define the essence of Buddhism: (1) Life is connected to suffering, (2) a suffering that arises from greed, insatiable desires, and man's self-centered nature; (3) once man understands the cause of his suffering, he can overcome it by following (4) the Eightfold Path.

The Eightfold Path includes right views and right aspirations, which lead to wisdom. Right speech, right behavior, right means of livelihood, and right efforts to follow the path to salvation relate to proper and intelligent conduct. Right meditation and right contemplation bring nirvana (supreme bliss).

Siddhartha Gautama became the Buddha (Enlightened One), or Sakyamunni (Sage of the Sakya clan), and his faith became Theravada Buddhism, a religion of compassion and reason in which images were not worshiped, the existence of a permanent soul (atman in Hinduism) was denied, and the authority of the Hindu Vedas was rejected.

In the 1st century AD, a second school, Mahayana Buddhism, was formed, which introduced the concept of the bodhisattva -- the enlightened being who postpones his own nirvana to help others. Unlike Theravadans, who prayed only before symbols, such as the Buddha's empty throne or his footprints, Mahayanists also worshiped before depictions of the various Buddhas, other gods and goddesses, and revered bodhisattvas. Over time, Mahayana Buddhism divided into subsects, based on differences in philosophical systems or ritual practices.

Ironically, Buddhism did not survive as a popular religion in India after its classical period. This is partly because of the response Hindu thinkers made to the Buddhist challenge, embodied in works like the Bhagavad Gita, partly because increasingly sophisticated philosophy and esoteric ritual held little attraction for lay followers, and partly because major Buddhist institutions were destroyed by Muslim iconoclasts. While Indian teachers brought Buddhism to Tibet and China -- and it spread out from there -- the religion is mainly found in India today at monuments like the Great Stupa at Sanchi or the Ajanta caves and in sculpture in most of the major museums. Buddhist art is one of the great treasure troves of India, evolving over time from stupas holding relics of the Buddha to elaborate temple structure depicting scenes from the life of the Buddha and episodes in his past lives drawn from the Jataka tales. Later tantric Buddhist art, which continued to flourish in Nepal and Tibet, includes a large pantheon of past and future Buddhas, goddesses, Bodhisattvas and historical teachers of the faith.

Two major communities still practice Buddhism in India. The Tibetans include those from Himalayan areas, such as Ladakh, which were closely connected to Tibet, as well as some 100,000 refugees who fled Tibet after the Chinese took over in 1951 and are now dispersed in various parts of India. The Dalai Lama, head of the largest Tibetan Buddhist sect, the Gelugpas, now lives in Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh, where a sizable Tibetan community is dedicated to preserving their traditions and the welfare of the refugee community. The other main Buddhist group, sometimes called neo-Buddhist, was founded by the Dalit leader Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, who urged fellow untouchables to abandon Hinduism in favor of Buddhism, which does not recognize caste.

-by Kathleen Cox and Andy McCord

Kathleen Cox is the author ofFodor's The Himalayan Countries and has written about the subcontinent for numerous American and Indian publications includingTravel and Leisure, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, theWall Street Journal, theLos Angeles Times, and theTimes of India. Andy McCord first went to India in 1971 to live in a village in Punjab where his father was practicing medicine. As a Harvard undergraduate he took a two-year leave to study Indian languages and culture at Banaras Hindu University. Since then he has returned to India as a documentary film scriptwriter, a journalist, and a Fulbright scholar. His poems, translations, and journalism have appeared in publications such as theParis Review and theNation.