The Hindu: An Alternative History

At the risk of sounding absurd, I sort of support the idea of banning the Wendy Doniger book. Please hear me out. Now at least people are interested about the book and are ready to go to extraordinary lengths of procure a copy of the book and read it for themselves to see what was so offensive. It has happened before, with Rushdie’s Satanic Verses.

My colleague is not a reader type. But she wants to look hip, intellectual. So she always carries some book or other with her, which she never finishes. I wonder if she starts them.

A few days after the Doniger booked was banned and the news was all over and with all sorts of people making all sort of noises, she was searching the internet furiously, for a copy of the book. If she gets it free, it’s even better.

Exasperated with her search, I said, okay, I have a copy and I will give it to you, provided you can sustain the interest well after the whole brouhaha has died down. She thanked me politely and then went on searching.

And, she actually found a copy, scanned from the book and uploaded. She was happy. Mission accomplished.

Now, I am not sure she will ever read it. There is nothing that offensive.

Here is a nice article in Quartz why we all should read the book. BY SHOBA NARAYAN.