The Death of the Brahmin-Liberal (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9789373100432)

Rt. Hon'ble V.S. Srinivasa Sastri (1869-1946): outstanding Sanskritist, orator par excellence in English who earned the sobriquet "silver-tongued Sastri"; a distinguished diplomat: Indian freedom fighter from Tamil Nadu. His influence on Gandhi's politics was very strong in several nuanced ways, especially during the 1920-30s.

Sastri hailed from an orthodox Tamil Brahmin background and yet remained a steadfast Liberal in the truest and best Classical sense. Through fascinating montage, this brief biography uncovers how seamlessly and graciously Sastri wore his strikingly Brahminical traditional beliefs alongside the most cosmopolitan values and ideals of Liberalism without ever seeming to wear either of them on his sleeves.

This book explores the question: "If Srinivasa Sastri were reborn and alive today, how might he have been able to square his catholic Brahmin-Liberal weltanschauung with the Indian zeitgeist today?"

When Sastri died Gandhi wrote: "Death has removed not only from us but from the world one of India's best sons."