South Asia / Books

 

Hi-Tech Shiva and Other Apocryphal Stories: An Academic Allegory

by Nazir Ali Jairazbhoy

 

The Hindu Gods and Goddesses conduct fieldwork on Earthculture, trying to determine what went wrong with their creation before it must be destroyed. In Hi-Tech Shiva they are actually Western scholars disguised as heavenly researchers using state-of-the-art documentary techniques and technologies. Data collected from courtesans and swamis is presented at soirées, and leads to hearings in the Heavenly Assembly when even the highly respected Viswanathan, the creator of the universe, finds himself under the gavel of the portly judge, Lord Ganesha. Squabbles over methodology and ethics cause accusations to fly and much of the action parodies academia, exposing the foibles and fallacies of university politics, culminating in a unique vision of entropy.


Soft cover, 230 pages, glossary.



Reviews

"Jairazbhoy weaves eleven 'apocryphal' stories - and they are fun rides from start to finish including the tongue-in-cheek glossary." -The Sunday Times of India (11 July 1993)


"... Jairazbhoy has produced a collection of stories which can only be described as a spectacular foray into fiction." -India West (Feb 7, 1992).


"It presents a powerful message for those involved in research with human subjects (ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, sociologists and psychologists) - a statement on ethics." -Asian Music (1993-1994).

 

ISBN 1-880519-07-0 © 1991 PRICE $15 + S&H

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