FROM SEX AND VATSYAYANA TO CASTE AND HIRA DOM

A family is unable to decide whether a parrot that has landed in their garden is a Hindu or a Muslim. Mutta celebrates her freedom from domestic drudgery. Vatsyayana hands you the keys to sexual bliss. Hira Dom berates the caste system.

Over the centuries, many great empires took root in Bihar where, along with advancements in mathematics, philosophy, science and statecraft, exemplary works of literature were produced. The Book of Bihari Literature is a collection of poems, essays and stories that have flowed from the pens of great thinkers across millennia, who were born or lived in what is modern-day Bihar. This book makes accessible to English-speaking readers the bounty of Bihari literature, and brings to the fore works in neglected languages by ancient philosophers and celebrated contemporary authors alike.

Edited by Abhay K

408pp, ~699; HarperCollins