Shashi Tharoor

minorityhood is a state of mind, Mr. Diggs. It is a sense of powerlessness, of being out of the mainstream, of being here on sufferance. I refuse to let others define me that way. I tell my fellow Muslims: No one can make you a minority without your consent.

The Mahabharata declares, 'What is here is nowhere else; what is not here, is nowhere.

And then, of course, there was the sari itself. What a garment, Randy! There isn__ another outfit in the world that balances better the twin feminine urges to conceal and reveal. It outlines the woman__ shape but hides the faults a skirt can__ _ under a sari a heavy behind, unflattering legs are invisible. But it also reveals the midriff, a part of the anatomy most Western women hide all the time. I was mesmerized, Randy, by the mere fact of being able to see her belly button when she walked, the single fold of flesh above the knot of her sari, the curve of her waist toward her hips. That swell of flesh just above a woman__ hipbone, Randy, is the sexiest part of the female anatomy to me. And I didn__ even have to undress her to see it. I was completely smitten.

Above all, as a Hindu I belong to the only major religion in the world that does not claim to be the only true religion. I find it immensely congenial to be able to face my fellow human beings of other faiths without being burdened by the conviction that I am embarked upon a __rue path_ that they have missed.

If America is a melting-pot, then to me India is a thali, a selection of sumptuous dishes in different bowls. Each tastes different, and does not necessarily mix with the next, but they belong together on the same plate, and they complement each other in making the meal a satisfying repast.

Hindu fundamentalism,_ because Hinduism is a religion without fundamentals: no organized church, no compulsory beliefs or rites of worship, no single sacred book. The name itself denotes something less, and more, than a set of theological beliefs. In many languages _ French and Persian amongst them _ the word for __ndian_ is __indu._ Originally __indu_ simply meant the people beyond the river Sindhu, or Indus. But the Indus is now in Islamic Pakistan; and to make matters worse, the word __indu_ did not exist in any Indian language till its use by foreigners gave Indians a term for self-definition.

Everything is recycled in India, even dreams.

India is not, as people keep calling it, an underdeveloped country, but rather, in the context of its history and cultural heritage, a highly developed one in an advanced state of decay.

India shaped my mind, anchored my identity, influenced my beliefs, and made me who I am. ... India matters to me and I would like to matter to India.

Mahatma Gandhi was as devout a Rambhakt as you can get _ he died from a Hindu assassin__ bullet with the words __é Ram_ on his lips _ but he always said that for him, Ram and Rahim were the same deity, and that if Hinduism ever taught hatred of Islam or of non-Hindus, __t is doomed to destruction.