THE COURTESAN, THE MAHATMA, AND THE ITALIAN BRAHMIN (PAPER BACK): TALES FROM INDIAN HISTORY

The book is a summary of snippets on various entities related to ancient India - from belief systems, to myths, to people, to unverified hypotheses on "what if Britain had not ...". The interesting part is the trail that leads from these, to their modern day counterparts. The book is printed nicely. The pages do not have the chapter titles (Author name, and Book name on every page!!), making it harder to go back to a previous reading. Overall, a good book for initiating discussions.

The book does not march through history with rigid chronological precision; instead, it meanders, much like Virginia Woolf’s stream of consciousness, allowing the reader to lose and find themselves in the tides of memory and story. Each essay is a portrait—a courtesan challenging moral propriety, a Mahatma navigating a landscape of contradictions, an Italian Brahmin embodying the subcontinent’s bewildering amalgam of identities. These figures are not merely relics of the past but vivid presences, their voices echoing through the corridors of our collective consciousness.

Most people imagine historians as elderly – perhaps old enough to have witnessed many of the events they write about! Manu S. Pillai shatters this stereotype – this is his third historical non-fiction book, but he is yet to turn thirty.History lessons at school tend to clutter our minds with battles and kings, dynasties and dates – but we are unable to grasp their relevance for our own times. In contrast, Manu presents us with a series of sharply focused essays on Indian history, which can be well understood from a contemporary perspective.In a recent newspaper article, the author imagines how a conservative historian would react to this book: “…what history could possibly be encapsulated in a book called ‘The Courtesan, The Mahatma & The Italian Brahmin?’ How could India’s grand narrative—or at least its dignified, decorous version—have anything to do with what our stern old man would describe as a harlot occupying title space with a monk and a saint?”The book in question contains a series of essays divided into two sections titled ‘Before the Raj’ and ‘Stories from the Raj.’ Many of them are about familiar figures, such as Mahatma Gandhi, Wajid Ali Shah, Rani Lakshmibai or Shivaji. Others contain nuggets of history painstakingly unearthed by the author; for instance, there is a chapter about an unassuming seamstress living in Triplicane in Madras in the mid-twentieth century, who turns out to be the widow of the great mathematician Ramanujan. Another little-known story is the one concerning Roberto de Nobili, the ‘Italian Brahmin,’ who tried to spread Christianity by the unconventional route of adopting Indian attire and customs. The chapters can be consumed in small bites, in any order.The coverage seems biased towards Kerala/Travancore – which is not surprising, as the author was born in Kerala and his first book ‘The Ivory Throne’ was about the kingdom of Travancore. In the present book, however, he goes far beyond the erstwhile royalty and covers many trailblazing men and – especially – women from the region.Manu’s writing shows both wit and wisdom (not unlike the work of his former employer, Dr Shashi Tharoor). Consider, for instance, the following description of Jahangir, whom he describes as ‘the endearing eccentric’:“If ever there was a Mughal ruler who lived the good life, that man was emperor Jahangir, in whose veins flowed Persian, Turkic, and Rajput blood—besides double-distilled spirits and a whole lot of wine. Jahangir, who died on 28 October 1627, was the least militarily inclined of the great Mughals, and though he once led a half-baked rebellion against his illustrious father, he preferred having other men fight the battles that mattered. In an age of violence this was something of a character defect, but Jahangir’s indulgence was a mark of stability in the empire he inherited…”The author is at his best while describing women who broke conventions, for instance, his chapter on Meerabai:“Around 1516, when in her late teens, she married Bhojraj, son of the legendary Rana Sangha of Mewar. Their complicated union did not last, however, for in the next decade, Meerabai lost her husband and her footing in his royal household. Her refusal to commit sati might have added to the erosion of status that came automatically with widowhood, but she did not care about being perceived as an inconvenient woman… Meerabai also “disowned, defied and subverted the…values associated with powerful and entrenched institutions—family, marriage, caste, clan, royalty and even the realm of bhakti.” She threw off the weight of expectations from every quarter, and painstakingly embraced only that which brought her closer to God. Passion, flaws, rejection and greatness were all woven into this mortal one, remembered to this day by that fascinating, immortal name, Meerabai of Mewar.”This book is highly recommended to the intelligent reader who wants to know about Indian history and its relevance for our own times.

Getting into this book by Manu S. Pillai was like peeking into an old photo album of India's stories. It was a personal journey through the lives of characters who felt like they could be neighbors.For me, Pillai's storytelling wasn't just easy; it was like chatting with an old friend, a way of storytelling that just clicks. The courtesan, the Mahatma, and the Italian Brahmin became buddies, making history feel like stories shared over a cup of chai.One quote that stuck with me was, 'History isn't a one-way street; it's like a chat between people.' It felt like Pillai handed me a backstage pass to listen in on conversations from way back when turning history into a living thing.As I strolled through the chapters, two parts stood out. First, the courtesan pulling strings in the political shadows, showing that power isn't always in the obvious places. Second, the Italian Brahmin doing a tightrope walk between tradition and change, like a dance between old and new tunes.Pillai's words are more than just words; they're like a guide taking you through a museum of the past. 'Every story is like an old page you can read again,' he said, turning history into a puzzle waiting to be solved.In my world, 'The Courtesan, the Mahatma, and the Italian Brahmin' isn't just a book; it's a time machine to stories that feel like they happened next door. Pillai's love for these stories makes history not something to study but stories to enjoy, shared by a friend who knows how to make them come alive.

The book is a collection episodes from indian history, the stories are beautifully conveyed but at many points lacks context. Could be a very good read for someone with excellence in history, especially someone who had read his previous book but for someone new to history especially deccan history this book might at places compel you to either google the topics or just skip that part. Also a lot of the stories are focused on hindu Muslim unity instead of showing Our cultural past as its pretext claims. Could be a book with a slight of a propaganda.