<p>Identity formation in non-western societies involves paradox, as doctrines</p><p>are frequently overridden by actual practices. The essays in this volume</p><p>discuss different ways in which identities are constructed in unique 'Indian'</p><p>contexts.The emergence of deras in Punjab reflects how continuing caste</p><p>inequality and divergence over spiritual leadership has affected the egalitarian</p><p>spirit of Sikhism, contradicting a basic feature of the faith-the tradition</p><p>of common worship. In the matrilineal Khasi community, men-looking to</p><p>gain equal inheritance rights-use arguments of ethnic purity and indigenous</p><p>rights to downsize women's autonomy and undermine the commanding</p><p>socio-economic position that their own tradition gives them.</p><p>For male sex-workers, their profession, paradoxically, becomes a means</p><p>of sexual autonomy in the otherwise heteronormative world that they</p><p>inhabit. A different kind of paradox marks the social lives of many Indian</p><p>women: in Assam for instance, celebration of menstruation coexists with</p><p>prohibition on menstruating women's entry into temples and participation</p><p>in auspicious events.</p><p>Workplace violence exemplifies how private biases infiltrate public spaces,</p><p>reinforcing traditional marginalities, undeterred by legal safeguards.</p><p>Similarly, the plight of indentured plantation workers in Malaysia</p><p>demonstrates the operation of traditional patriarchy inside a foreign and</p><p>highly sequestered workspace of plantations-within these spaces, women</p><p>experience 'double marginalization'. And the government and middleclass</p><p>response to the COVID-19 pandemic across India demonstrated the</p><p>persistence of traditional biases which perpetuate inequality and oppression</p><p>in the world's largest democracy.</p><p>Comprising these and other discussions on the everyday lived realities</p><p>of individuals and communities in India and the Indian diaspora,</p><p>Ways of being Indian is a remarkable, eye-opening collection. </p>
