{"product_id":"24085-seeking-begumpura","title":"Seeking Begumpura","description":"\u003cp\u003eAuthor: Gail Omvedt\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Navayana\u003cbr\u003eYear: 2008\u003cbr\u003eLanguage: English\u003cbr\u003ePages: 304\u003cbr\u003eISBN\/UPC (if available): 8189059114\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e Description\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe bhakti radical Ravidas (c 1450–1520), calling himself a ‘tanner now set free’, was the first to envision an  Indian utopia in his song “Begumpura”—a modern casteless, classless, tax-free city without sorrow. This was in  contrast to the dystopia of the brahmanical kaliyuga. Anticaste intellectuals in India posited utopias much before  Thomas More, in 1516, articulated a Renaissance humanist version. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGail Omvedt, in this study, focuses on the  worldviews of subaltern visionaries spanning five centuries—Chokhamela, Janabai, Kabir, Ravidas, Tukaram, the Kartabhajas, Phule, Iyothee Thass, Pandita Ramabai, Periyar and Ambedkar. She charts the development of their  utopian visions and the socioeconomic characteristics of the societies conceived through this long period. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReason and ecstasy – dnyan and bhakti\/bhav – are the underlying themes in this book. They constitute the two  main strands of the utopian vision: the joy taken in the consciousness of a promised land and the analytical power that defines the contours of that land. Together, they make the road that leads to the promised land.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRejecting Orientalist, nationalist and hindutva impulses to 'reinvent' India, Omvedt says all we need to do is take  up the India envisioned by its dalit-bahujan intellectuals and leaders—the Begumpura of Ravidas, the Bali Rajya  of Phule, the Dravidastan of Periyar, the Buddhist commonwealth of the Sakya Buddhists and Ambedkar's  Prabuddha Bharat. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese are contrasted with Gandhi's village utopia of Ram Rajya, Nehru's hindutva-laced socialism and Savarkar's territorialist Hindu Rashtra. Finally, Omvedt emphasizes the continued relevance of the  vision of the anticaste intellectuals in the era of globalization.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eContents\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePreface\u003cbr\u003eIntroductions \/ Visions\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNew Message \/ Whisper in the Kaliyug\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNama \/ Dancing open the Temple\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKabir and Ramdas \/ Envisioning Begumpura\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTuka \/ the City beyond Time and death\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKartabhajas \/ Ecstasy and Reason in the Colonial yuga\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePhule \/ Remembering the Kingdom of Bali\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJyothee Thass \/ The Buddhist Utopia\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRamabai \/ Women in the Kingdom of God\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePeriyar \/ Imagining Tamilnadu\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAmbedkar \/ Prabuddha Bharat\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eConclusion \/ Seeking Begumpura\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReferences\u003cbr\u003eIndex\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The India Club","offers":[{"title":"Gail Omvedt \/ Navayana \/ Hardcover","offer_id":40785725292713,"sku":"24085","price":34.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0582\/1048\/4393\/products\/24085.jpg?v=1625527248","url":"https:\/\/indiaclub.com\/de\/products\/24085-seeking-begumpura","provider":"India Club","version":"1.0","type":"link"}