Biography of Arundhati Roy 

Arundhati Roy was born in 1961 in Kerala. Her mother, a Kerala native, was Christian; her father was a Hindu from
Bengal. The marriage was unsuccessful, and Roy spent her childhood years in Aymanam with her mother. The
influence of these early years permeates her writings, both thematically and structurally.
Roy's mother, who herself was a prominent social activist, founded an independent school and taught her daughter
informally. This freedom from intellectual constraint allowed Roy to write, as she puts it acccording to Jon Simmons
on his "Arundhati Roy Web", "from within"; the ability to follow her inner voice, rather than having a set of restrictive
rules ingrained in her, has been an integral part of her accomplishments as an adult writer. She comments that
"When I write, I never re-write a sentence because for me my thought and my writing are one thing. It's like breathing,
I don't re-breathe a breath... Everything I have - my intellect, my experience, my feelings have been used. If someone
doesn't like it, it is like saying they don't like my gall bladder. I can't do anything about it."
In addition to the style of her writing, its subject matter also reflects the cultural texture of her childhood. Of Kerala
she says that "it was the only place in the world where religions coincide, there's Christianity, Hinduism, Marxism and
Islam and they all live together and rub each other down...I was aware of the different cultures when I was growing up
and I'm still aware of them now. When you see all the competing beliefs against the same background you realise
how they all wear each other down." The deep-seated nature of Roy's activism may also be traced back to her early
years, and the rural beauty of the landscape in which she spent them: "I think the kind of landscape that you grew up
in, it lives in you. I don't think it's true of people who've grown up in cities so much, you may love building but I don't
think you can love it in the way that you love a tree or a river or the colour of the earth, it's a different kind of love. I'm
not a very well read person but I don't imagine that that kind of gut love for the earth can be replaced by the open
landscape. It's a much cleverer person who grows up in the city, savvy and much smarter in many ways. If you spent
your very early childhood catching fish and just learning to be quiet, the landscape just seeps into you. Even now I go
back to Kerala and it makes me want to cry if something happens to that place."
At age sixteen Roy left home, and eventually enrolled at the Delhi School of Architecture. This training, like her
elementary education, proved instrumental in shaping her as a writer. In The Salon Interview, she likens the creation
of a piece of literature to that of plans for a building: "In buildings, there are design motifs that occur again and again,
that repeat -- patterns, curves. These motifs help us feel comfortable in a physical space. And the same works in
writing, I've found. For me, the way words, punctuation and paragraphs fall on the page is important as well -- the
graphic design of the language." But despite her affinity for the trade, Simmons reports, she left it after a few years to
work on projects for the screen, writing first a television serial, which failed due to lack of funding, and then two
screenplays, neither of which brought her great success or fulfillment. She then published a criticism of the acclaimed
film "Bandit Queen"; the controversy that followed resulted in a lawsuit against her.
In the aftermath, she vacated the public sphere, focusing her energies on The God of Small Things, which was
published in April 1997. About six months later it was awarded the Booker Prize; Roy is the first Indian woman ever to
achieve this honor. The book has been a stunning success both in India, and internationally. Roy says that her use of
the English language was not so much a conscious decision for her, as a choice imposed on her because "There are
more people in India that speak English than there are in England. And the only common language that we have
throughout India is English. And it's odd that English is a language that, for somebody like me, is a choice that is
made for me before I'm old enough to choose. It is the only language that you can speak if you want to get a good job
or you want to go to a university. All the big newspapers are in English. And then every one of us will speak at least
two or three - I speak three - languages. And when we communicate - let's say I'm with a group of friends - our
conversation is completely anarchic because it's in any language that you choose."

Work Cited
Smyrl, Becky. "Bio on Arundhati Roy." Haverford College. Web. 01 May 2011.
<http://www.haverford.edu/engl/engl277b/Contexts/Arundhati_Roy.htm>.http://www.haverford.edu/engl/engl
277b/Contexts/Arundhati_Roy.htm
 Kerala History
Kerala the southern most state of India took birth on 1st November 1956, long after Indian Independence on 15th
August 1947. Beforehand it was three Independence provinces named Malabar, Cochin and Travancore. Kerala
originally got its name after the first ruler, Keralian, who ruled one of these Independent provinces in the early
Centuries.

Kerala Stretch along from Gokarnam to Parasala with Arabian Sea as the border on one side. The other border is the
western Ghat with the rich flora and fauna.

According to the Hindu mythology Parasurama, the sixth incarnation of Mahavishnu (The God-Lord), created Kerala.
Parasurama flung his "Mazhu" (a weapon) from Kanyakumari (cape comerin) to the sea and the sea receded to
create the land Keralam.

Kerala is a 560-km long narrow stretch of land. At the widest, Kerala is a mere 120-km from the sea to the mountains.
Gracing one side of Kerala, are the lofty mountains ranging high to kiss the sky. And on the other side the land is
washed by the blue Arabian Sea waters. The land is covered with dense tropical forest, fertile plains, beautiful
beaches, cliffs, rocky coasts, an intricate maze of backwaters, still bays and an astounding 44 glimmering rivers.
Kerala's exotic spices have lured foreigners to her coast from time immemorial.

Earlier, Kerala was made up of three distinct areas. Malabar as far up the coast as Tellicherry, Cannanore and
Kasargode with the tiny pocket-handkerchief French possession of Mahe nearby (it was returned to India in the early
1950 's and is now administratively part of Pondicherry). This area belonged to what was once called the Madras
Presidency under the British. The middle section is formed by the princely State of Cochin; the third comprises
Travancore, another princely State.

Archaeologists believe that the first citizens of Kerala were the hunter-gatherers, the ting Negrito people. These
people still inhabit the mountains of southern India today, consequently, they had a good knowledge of herbal
medicine and were skilled in interpreting natural phenomena. The next race of people in Kerala were believed to be
the Austriches. The Austric people of Kerala are of the same stock as the present-day Australian Aborigines. They
were the people who laid the foundation of Indian civilizations and introduced the cultivation of rice and vegetables,
which are still part of Kerala scene. They also introduced snake-worship in Kerala. Traces of such worship and
ancient rites have been found among the Aboriginal tribes of Australia. Austric features can still be seen fairly and
clearly among the people of Kerala today. Then came the Dravidians (The Mediterranean people). Dravidian
absorbed many of the beliefs of the Negrito and Austric people, but they were strongly inclined to the worship of the
Mother Goddess in all her myriad forms: Protector, Avenger, Bestower of wealth, wisdom and arts.

The Dravidians migrated to the southwards, carrying their civilization with them, though leaving their considerable
cultural input on their successors, the Aryans (Indo - Iranians). But Kerala is still strongly influenced by the Dravidian
culture: urbane, cash-crop and trade oriented, and with strong materialistic biases. The Aryans have made a deep
impression on Kerala in late proto-historic times.

Jewish and Arabs trade's were the first to come to Kerala sailing in the ships  to set up trading stations. The Apostle
of Christ, St. Thomas- An Apostle -is believed to have come to Muziris in AD 52 and established the first church in
Kerala.

Portuguese discovered the sea route to India from Europe when Vasco da gama landed with his ship near Kappad in
Calicut in AD 1498. Slowly the Kerala society became a mix of people belonging to various sects of Christianity, Islam
and Hinduism. The arrival of Portuguese was followed by the Dutch, the French and finally the British. The State of
Kerala was created on the 1st of November 1956. The Keralites celebrate this day as 'Kerala piravi' meaning the
'Birth of Kerala'.

The modern Kerala is divided into fourteen Districts with Trivandrum as the State Capital. Kerala is the first place in
the world where a Communist Ministry came into power by General Election in 1957.

Work Cited
"OurKeralam.com - Kerala History." Welcome to OurKeralam.com. Web. 01 May 2011.
<http://www.ourkeralam.com/keralaataglance/history.htm>.
 Marriage
In India there is no greater event in a family than a wedding, dramatically evoking every possible social obligation,
kinship bond, traditional value, impassioned sentiment, and economic resource. In the arranging and conducting of
weddings, the complex permutations of Indian social systems best display themselves.
Marriage is deemed essential for virtually everyone in India. For the individual, marriage is the great watershed in life,
marking the transition to adulthood. Generally, this transition, like everything else in India, depends little upon
individual volition but instead occurs as a result of the efforts of many people. Even as one is born into a particular
family without the exercise of any personal choice, so is one given a spouse without any personal preference
involved. Arranging a marriage is a critical responsibility for parents and other relatives of both bride and groom.
Marriage alliances entail some redistribution of wealth as well as building and restructuring social realignments, and,
of course, result in the biological reproduction of families.
Some parents begin marriage arrangements on the birth of a child, but most wait until later. In the past, the age of
marriage was quite young, and in a few small groups, especially in Rajasthan, children under the age of five are still
united in marriage. In rural communities, prepuberty marriage for girls traditionally was the rule. In the late twentieth
century, the age of marriage is rising in villages, almost to the levels that obtain in cities. Legislation mandating
minimum marriage ages has been passed in various forms over the past decades, but such laws have little effect on
actual marriage practices.
Essentially, India is divided into two large regions with regard to Hindu kinship and marriage practices, the north and
the south. Additionally, various ethnic and tribal groups of the central, mountainous north, and eastern regions follow
a variety of other practices. These variations have been extensively described and analyzed by anthropologists,
especially Irawati Karve, David G. Mandelbaum, and Clarence Maloney.
…
In South India, marriages are preferred between cousins (especially cross-cousins, that is, the children of a brother
and sister) and even between uncles and nieces (especially a man and his elder sister's daughter). The principle
involved is that of return--the family that gives a daughter expects one in return, if not now, then in the next
generation. The effect of such marriages is to bind people together in relatively small, tight-knit kin groups. A bride
moves to her in-laws' home--the home of her grandmother or aunt--and is often comfortable among these familiar
faces. Her husband may well be the cousin she has known all her life that she would marry.
Many South Indian marriages are contracted outside of such close kin groups when no suitable mates exist among
close relatives, or when other options appear more advantageous. Some sophisticated South Indians, for example,
consider cousin marriage and uncle-niece marriage outmoded.
Rules for the remarriage of widows differ from one group to another. Generally, lower-ranking groups allow widow
remarriage, particularly if the woman is relatively young, but the highest-ranking castes discourage or forbid such
remarriage. The most strict adherents to the nonremarriage of widows are Brahmans. Almost all groups allow
widowers to remarry. Many groups encourage a widower to marry his deceased wife's younger sister (but never her
older sister).

Work Cited
"India - Marriage." Country Studies. U.S. Library of Congress. Web. 01 May 2011.
<http://countrystudies.us/india/86.htm>.
 The British Empire in India: Company Rule, 1757-1857
Despite desperate efforts at salvaging their tottering power and keeping the British at bay, many Hindu and Muslim
rulers lost their territories: Mysore (1799, but later restored), the Maratha Confederacy (1818), and Punjab (1849).
The British success in large measure was the result not only of their superiority in tactics and weapons but also of
their ingenious relations with Indian rulers through the "subsidiary alliance" system, introduced in the early nineteenth
century. Many rulers bartered away their real responsibilities by agreeing to uphold British paramountcy in India,
while they retained a fictional sovereignty under the rubric of Pax Britannica. Later, Dalhousie espoused the "doctrine
of lapse" and annexed outright the estates of deceased princes of Satara (1848), Udaipur (1852), Jhansi (1853),
Tanjore (1853), Nagpur (1854), and Oudh (1856).
European perceptions of India, and those of the British especially, shifted from unequivocal appreciation to sweeping
condemnation of India's past achievements and customs. Imbued with an ethnocentric sense of superiority, British
intellectuals, including Christian missionaries, spearheaded a movement that sought to bring Western intellectual and
technological innovations to Indians. Interpretations of the causes of India's cultural and spiritual "backwardness"
varied, as did the solutions. Many argued that it was Europe's mission to civilize India and hold it as a trust until
Indians proved themselves competent for self-rule.
The immediate consequence of this sense of superiority was to open India to more aggressive missionary activity.
The contributions of three missionaries based in Serampore (a Danish enclave in Bengal)--William Carey, Joshua
Marshman, and William Ward--remained unequaled and have provided inspiration for future generations of their
successors. The missionaries translated the Bible into the vernaculars, taught company officials local languages, and,
after 1813, gained permission to proselytize in the company's territories. Although the actual number of converts
remained negligible, except in rare instances when entire groups embraced Christianity, such as the Nayars in the
south or the Nagas in the northeast, the missionary impact on India through publishing, schools, orphanages,
vocational institutions, dispensaries, and hospitals was unmistakable.
The British Parliament enacted a series of laws, among which the Regulating Act of 1773 stood first, to curb the
company traders' unrestrained commercial activities and to bring about some order in territories under company
control. Limiting the company charter to periods of twenty years, subject to review upon renewal, the 1773 act gave
the British government supervisory rights over the Bengal, Bombay, and Madras presidencies. Bengal was given
preeminence over the rest because of its enormous commercial vitality and because it was the seat of British power
in India (at Calcutta), whose governor was elevated to the new position of governor-general. Warren Hastings was
the first incumbent (1773-85). The India Act of 1784, sometimes described as the "half-loaf system," as it sought to
mediate between Parliament and the company directors, enhanced Parliament's control by establishing the Board of
Control, whose members were selected from the cabinet. The Charter Act of 1813 recognized British moral
responsibility by introducing just and humane laws in India, foreshadowing future social legislation, and outlawing a
number of traditional practices such as sati and thagi (or thugee, robbery coupled with ritual murder).
As governor-general from 1786 to 1793, Charles Cornwallis (the Marquis of Cornwallis), professionalized,
bureaucratized, and Europeanized the company's administration. He also outlawed private trade by company
employees, separated the commercial and administrative functions, and remunerated company servants with
generous graduated salaries. Because revenue collection became the company's most essential administrative
function, Cornwallis made a compact with Bengali zamindars, who were perceived as the Indian counterparts to the
British landed gentry. The Permanent Settlement system, also known as the zamindari system, fixed taxes in
perpetuity in return for ownership of large estates; but the state was excluded from agricultural expansion, which
came under the purview of the zamindars. In Madras and Bombay, however, the ryotwari (peasant) settlement
system was set in motion, in which peasant cultivators had to pay annual taxes directly to the government.

Work Cited
"India - The British Raj, 1858-1947." Country Studies. U.S. Library of Congress. Web. 01 May 2011.
<http://countrystudies.us/india/17.htm>.
 Christianity
The first Christians in India, according to tradition and legend, were converted by Saint Thomas the Apostle, who
arrived on the Malabar Coast of India in A.D. 52. After evangelizing and performing miracles in Kerala and Tamil
Nadu, he is believed to have been martyred in Madras and buried on the site of San Thomé Cathedral. Members of
the Syro-Malabar Church, an eastern rite of the Roman Catholic Church, adopted the Syriac liturgy dating from fourth
century Antioch. They practiced what is also known as the Malabar rite until the arrival of the Portuguese in the late
fifteenth century. Soon thereafter, the Portuguese attempted to latinize the Malabar rite, an action which, by the mid-
sixteenth century, led to charges of heresy against the Syro-Malabar Church and a lengthy round of political
machinations. By the middle of the next century, a schism occurred when the adherents of the Malankar rite (or Syro-
Malankara Church) broke away from the Syro-Malabar Church. Fragmentation continued within the Syro-Malabar
Church up through the early twentieth century when a large contingent left to join the Nestorian Church, which had
had its own roots in India since the sixth or seventh century. By 1887, however, the leaders of the Syro-Malabar
Church had reconciled with Rome, which formally recognized the legitimacy of the Malabar rite. The Syro-Malankara
Church was reconciled with Rome in 1930 and, while retaining the Syriac liturgy, adopted the Malayalam language
instead of the ancient Syriac language.
Throughout this period, foreign missionaries made numerous converts to Christianity. Early Roman Catholic
missionaries, particularly the Portuguese, led by the Jesuit Saint Francis Xavier (1506-52), expanded from their
bases on the west coast making many converts, especially among lower castes and outcastes. The miraculously
undecayed body of Saint Francis Xavier is still on public view in a glass coffin at the Basilica of Bom Jesus in Goa.
Beginning in the eighteenth century, Protestant missionaries began to work throughout India, leading to the growth of
Christian communities of many varieties.
The total number of Christians in India according to the 1991 census was 19.6 million, or 2.3 percent of the
population. About 13.8 million of these Christians were Roman Catholics, including 300,000 members of the Syro-
Malankara Church. The remainder of Roman Catholics were under the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India. In
January 1993, after centuries of self-government, the 3.5-million-strong Latin-rite Syro-Malabar Church was raised to
archepiscopate status as part of the Roman Catholic Church. In total, there were nineteen archbishops, 103 bishops,
and about 15,000 priests in India in 1995.
Most Protestant denominations are represented in India, the result of missionary activities throughout the country,
starting with the onset of British rule. Most denominations, however, are almost exclusively staffed by Indians, and
the role of foreign missionaries is limited. The largest Protestant denomination in the country is the Church of South
India, since 1947 a union of Presbyterian, Reformed, Congregational, Methodist, and Anglican congregations with
approximately 2.2 million members. A similar Church of North India has 1 million members. There are 473,000
Methodists, 425,000 Baptists, and about 1.3 million Lutherans. Orthodox churches of the Malankara and Malabar
rites total 2 million and 700,000 members, respectively.
All Christian churches have found the most fertile ground for expansion among Dalits, Scheduled Castes, and
Scheduled Tribe groups (see Tribes, ch. 4). During the twentieth century, the fastest growing Christian communities
have been located in the northeast, among the Khasis, Mizos, Nagas, and other hill tribes. Christianity offers a non-
Hindu mode of acculturation during a period when the state and modern economy have been radically transforming
the life-styles of the hill peoples. Missionaries have led the way in the development of written languages and literature
for many tribal groups. Christian churches have provided a focus for unity among different ethnic groups and have
brought with them a variety of charitable services.

Work Cited
"India - Christianity." Country Studies. U.S. Library of Congress. Web. 01 May 2011.
<http://countrystudies.us/india/58.htm>.
 Education and Society
Historically, Indian education has been elitist. Traditional Hindu education was tailored to the needs of Brahman boys
who were taught to read and write by a Brahman teacher. During Mughal rule (1526-1858), Muslim education was
similarly elitist, although its orientation reflected economic factors rather than those of caste background. Under
British company and crown rule (1757-1947), official education policies reinforced the preexisting elitist tendencies of
South Asian education. By tying entrance and advancement in government service to academic education, colonial
rule contributed to the legacy of an education system geared to preserving the position and prerogatives of the more
privileged. Education served as a "gatekeeper," permitting an avenue of upward mobility to those few able to muster
sufficient resources.
Even the efforts of the nationalistic Indian National Congress faltered in the face of the entrenched interests
defending the existing system of education. Early in the 1900s, the Congress called for national education, placing an
emphasis on technical and vocational training. In 1920 the Congress initiated a boycott of government-aided and
government-controlled schools; it founded several "national" schools and colleges, but to little avail. The rewards of
British-style education were so great that the boycott was largely ignored, and the Congress schools temporarily
disappeared.
Postprimary education has traditionally catered to the interests of the higher and upwardly mobile castes. Despite
substantial increases in the spread of middle schools and high schools' growth in enrollment, secondary schooling is
necessary for those bent on social status and mobility through acquisition of an office job.
In the nineteenth century, postprimary students were disproportionately Brahmans; their traditional concern with
learning gave them an advantage under British education policies. By the early twentieth century, several powerful
cultivator castes had realized the advantages of education as a passport to political power and had organized to
acquire formal learning. "Backward" castes (usually economically disadvantaged Shudras) who had acquired some
wealth took advantage of their status to secure educational privilege. In the mid-1980s, the vast majority of students
making it through middle school to high school continued to be from high-level castes and middle- to upper-class
families living in urban areas. A region's three or four most powerful castes typically dominated the school system. In
addition, the widespread role of private education and the payment of fees even at government-run schools
discriminated against the poor.
The goals of the 1986 National Policy on Education demanded vastly increased enrollment. In order to have attained
universal elementary education in 1995, the 1981 enrollment level of 72.7 million would have had to increase to 160
million in 1995. Although the seventh plan suggested the adoption of new education methods to meet these goals,
such as the promotion of television and correspondence courses (often referred to as "distance learning") and open
school systems, the actual extended coverage of children was not very great. Many critics of India's education policy
argue that total school enrollment is not actually a goal of the government considering the extent of society's vested
interest in child labor. In this context, education can be seen as a tool that one social class uses to prevent the rise of
another. Middle-class Indians frequently distinguish between the children of the poor as "hands," or children who
must be taught to work, and their own children as "minds," or children who must be taught to learn. The upgraded
curriculum with increased requirements in English and in the sciences appears to be causing difficulties for many
children. Although all the states have recognized that curriculum reform is needed, no comprehensive plan to link
curricular changes with new ways of teaching, learning, teacher training, and examination methods has been
implemented.

Work Cited
"India - Education." Country Studies. U.S. Library of Congress. Web. 01 May 2011.
<http://countrystudies.us/india/37.htm>.
 Caste and Class
The word caste derives from the Portuguese casta , meaning breed, race, or kind. Among the Indian terms that are
sometimes translated as caste are varna, jati, jat , biradri , and samaj . All of these terms refer to ranked groups of
various sizes and breadth. Varna , or color, actually refers to large divisions that include various castes; the other
terms include castes and subdivisions of castes sometimes called subcastes.
Many castes are traditionally associated with an occupation, such as high-ranking Brahmans; middle-ranking farmer
and artisan groups, such as potters, barbers, and carpenters; and very low-ranking "Untouchable" leatherworkers,
butchers, launderers, and latrine cleaners. There is some correlation between ritual rank on the caste hierarchy and
economic prosperity. Members of higher-ranking castes tend, on the whole, to be more prosperous than members of
lower-ranking castes. Many lower-caste people live in conditions of great poverty and social disadvantage.
According to the Rig Veda, sacred texts that date back to oral traditions of more than 3,000 years ago, progenitors of
the four ranked varna groups sprang from various parts of the body of the primordial man, which Brahma created
from clay. Each group had a function in sustaining the life of society--the social body. Brahmans, or priests, were
created from the mouth. They were to provide for the intellectual and spiritual needs of the community. Kshatriyas,
warriors and rulers, were derived from the arms. Their role was to rule and to protect others. Vaishyas--landowners
and merchants--sprang from the thighs, and were entrusted with the care of commerce and agriculture. Shudras--
artisans and servants--came from the feet. Their task was to perform all manual labor.
Later conceptualized was a fifth category, "Untouchable" menials, relegated to carrying out very menial and polluting
work related to bodily decay and dirt. Since 1935 "Untouchables" have been known as Scheduled Castes, referring to
their listing on government rosters, or schedules. They are also often called by Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma)
Gandhi's term Harijans, or "Children of God." Although the term Untouchable appears in literature produced by these
low-ranking castes, in the 1990s, many politically conscious members of these groups prefer to refer to themselves
as Dalit (see Glossary), a Hindi word meaning oppressed or downtrodden. According to the 1991 census, there were
138 million Scheduled Caste members in India, approximately 16 percent of the total population.
The first four varnas apparently existed in the ancient Aryan society of northern India. Some historians say that these
categories were originally somewhat fluid functional groups, not castes. A greater degree of fixity gradually
developed, resulting in the complex ranking systems of medieval India that essentially continue in the late twentieth
century.
Although a varna is not a caste, when directly asked for their caste affiliation, particularly when the questioner is a
Westerner, many Indians will reply with a varna name. Pressed further, they may respond with a much more specific
name of a caste, or jati , which falls within that varna . For example, a Brahman may specify that he is a member of a
named caste group, such as a Jijotiya Brahman, or a Smartha Brahman, and so on. Within such castes, people may
further belong to smaller subcaste categories and to specific clans and lineages. These finer designations are
particularly relevant when marriages are being arranged and often appear in newspaper matrimonial advertisements.
…
Inequalities among castes are considered by the Hindu faithful to be part of the divinely ordained natural order and
are expressed in terms of purity and pollution. Within a village, relative rank is most graphically expressed at a
wedding or death feast, when all residents of the village are invited. At the home of a high-ranking caste member,
food is prepared by a member of a caste from whom all can accept cooked food (usually by a Brahman). Diners are
seated in lines; members of a single caste sit next to each other in a row, and members of other castes sit in
perpendicular or parallel rows at some distance. Members of Dalit castes, such as Leatherworkers and Sweepers,
may be seated far from the other diners--even out in an alley. Farther away, at the edge of the feeding area, a
Sweeper may wait with a large basket to receive discarded leavings tossed in by other diners. Eating food
contaminated by contact with the saliva of others not of the same family is considered far too polluting to be practiced
by members of any other castes. Generally, feasts and ceremonies given by Dalits are not attended by higher-
ranking castes.

Work Cited
"India - Caste and Class." Country Studies. U.S. Library of Congress. Web. 01 May 2011.
<http://countrystudies.us/india/89.htm>.
Communism