麻豆社

India has a culture and civilisation spanning several millennia and a country with a current population of over one billion. So how do you sum up its history through the lives of just fifty people-- especially given that the country has also been home to several major religions? Professor Sunil Khilnani is the director of the India Institute at King's College, London University, and his new book Incarnations: India in Fifty Lives tells the story of India through fifty key individuals in its history. The book is not just about the powerful and famous and spans a huge variety of people from very different backgrounds:The Buddha, gardeners, slaves, statesmen and artists.

Weekend's Anu Anand spoke to Sunil Khilnani about his work and suggested that a common thread among the people portrayed is a pushing against the prevailing ideas of the time.

(Picture: Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (centre) in 1975. Credit:Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)