Plural Cultures, Monolithic Structures

The essays in this volume raise some pertinent questions with regard to the complex issues that arise when plural cultures meet the monolithic structures of administration and policy that are the inevitable concomitants of the aspirations of the nation state.How does the nation state with its commitment to the quantifiable collectives of caste, religion, community, and even culture, respond to the fluid and multiple matrixes of region, history, social identity, ritual and language particularly when shifting cultural categories are juxtaposed against the more rigidly constructed categories created by the institutions of the state. Consequently, tensions are created by the desire to homogenize as against the historical and social mechanisms of change.The issues enlarged upon in this volume have often been discussed by Dr Vatsyayan, including the interconnectedness of the arts and the integration of body, mind and senses in the Indian artistic traditions.