Manu Pillai's Gods, Guns and Missionaries is a logical thesis of the evolution of modern day Hinduism in all it's complexities. Nearly half the book is references - as if Mr.Pillai wanted nothing to seem like an opinion.

There is no easy way to say this, but if you are a 30-50 year Indian adult of any faith and not a jerk, you would probably have had to overcome so many biases that was fed to you as a kid. Travelling with this book over the last two months, I have had a chance to reflect on childhood memories growing up in an orthodox family. I still remember a Christian neighbour, to whose house I was prohibited to go since "They will convert" me and a Hindu subsect neighbour who gave me coffee in plastic cup. Caste is wound whose scabs are better left unpicked.

Manu Pillai, a product of this generation, makes a bold argument on how the land of many faiths and beliefs were brought under the umbrella of Hinduism and the role of the colonisers (and the missionaries) in this evolution. He weaves together a coherent narrative from various strands of history across geographies and time periods and becomes a master storyteller.

When the British landed on the shores as traders - how would they have made sense of the different practices, languages and customs in the existing social order? How would English education impact the social order and how did Brahmins, who had access to this, take control of the Hindu identity? The missionary strategy to bring "enlightenment" to the country has many unforeseen consequences, major of which is teaching the natives how a religion needs to be used as a propaganda.

The second half about the various samajs and the role of the independence movement to cleanse the bad practices and caste atrocities is a fascinating read. The book makes you almost convinced, the evolution is a positive one.

I encountered this line in the last chapter of the book about Savarkar - "History, in his books, that is, appears not in its own context or on its own terms but as raw fodder to support a predetermined position.. 'conscripting the past to tell a story' rearranging the events to address present day contingencies". And I smiled at the meta reference.

A great attempt at sense making with just enough room for doubt to not become the definitive history of Hinduism.