The Right sort of civilisation

The subject of Hindu civilisation has acquired in India a new political idiom, especially in recent years

Pavan Varma, a retired Indian Foreign Service officer who dabbled in politics for a few years, made a name for himself after writing a perceptive commentary on Ghalib, the Urdu poet, and a thoughtful analysis of Tulsidas, the 16th century Bhakti poet who wrote in Avadhi to popularise Ram in north India. Both books received wide acclaim from the cognoscenti and the layperson. There were no traces of controversy either. But his latest book — The Great Hindu Civilisation — treads on a far more sensitive issue and his treatment of its central theme is potentially controversial. And Mr Varma