Terrific!

This simple word holds a world of meaning. It implies something extraordinary, something that is truly remarkable. When we describe something as terrific, we are expressing our admiration and excitement.

It could be a terrific performance by an actor on stage, leaving the audience in awe. Or a terrific meal that tantalizes our taste buds and satisfies our cravings. Maybe it's a terrific achievement by an individual, reaching a goal that seemed impossible.

The word "terrific" has the power to bring a smile to our faces and fill us with a sense of joy. It allows us to appreciate the good things in life and celebrate the moments that make us feel truly alive.

So, the next time you encounter something that is truly outstanding, don't hesitate to use the word "terrific" to describe it. Let others know just how amazing it is!

An eccentric and contradictory collection of essays penned by a former Mexican diplomatic official who was based in India. It effectively serves as a personal diary, documenting the numerous thoughts that the country inspired in him during his stay there. This is not a book intended for experts, academics, or even those who believe they know a great deal about South Asia for various reasons. Instead, it is more like a wide-ranging primer on the history, social dynamics, and philosophy of the country. I discovered that Paz was well-intentioned and a decent writer. However, he also contradicts himself from one page to the next and carelessly discards half-formed thoughts throughout entire chapters. This book appears to be adored by many people. While I didn't have any major issues with it, it didn't really speak to me or leave me with many profound thoughts.

It is a Westerner's perspective, or perhaps more accurately, a foreigner's perspective from a land that is similar in some ways yet completely different, located half a world away.

Paz is a humanist and a universalist. His views, although they might be distorted or framed within a context that is not Indian, still hold a great deal of fascination for me.

As a foreigner, he brings a unique outsider's gaze to the subject matter. This perspective allows him to see things that those within the culture might take for granted or overlook.

His humanist and universalist approach also adds an interesting dimension to his views. He looks beyond the specificities of Indian culture and tries to understand the broader human experience.

While his views may not be entirely accurate or representative of the Indian context, they offer a valuable alternative perspective that can help us to expand our own understanding and appreciation of different cultures.

I find his views worthy of consideration and study, as they can provide us with new insights and perspectives that we might not have otherwise encountered.

I had been intending to read this for a long time, with the hope of delving deeper into what India was like several decades ago. However, it ultimately proved to be completely not to my taste.

What followed was a very brief and unfulfilling travelogue, trailed by tediously lengthy, pretentious, and self-indulgent musings on culture, religion, and history in India. Surprisingly, it was also rather reactionary. At certain junctures, for instance, it seemed to imply that Western culture is superior, that European colonialism had a positive impact on the world, and that overpopulation and modern technology are the main culprits behind today's social problems.

Perhaps other readers with a greater inclination towards theology or philosophy might find enjoyment in it, but I simply loathed it - it was in no way what I had anticipated.

It was a disappointment, as I had been looking forward to gaining a more accurate and engaging understanding of India's past through this work. Instead, I was left with a sense of dissatisfaction and a feeling that the author's perspectives were not only one-sided but also somewhat outdated and inaccurate.

I would not recommend this book to others who are seeking a comprehensive and objective account of India's history and culture. There are far better works available that can provide a more in-depth and nuanced exploration of this fascinating subject.

I spent only 5 months reading this, but I learned a great deal. It was truly an enriching experience. The content was so engaging that I found myself completely immersed in it.

Despite the relatively short time frame, I was able to gain a deep understanding of the subject matter. Each page seemed to offer new insights and knowledge.

I would rate this reading experience a 2.75 out of 5. While it had its flaws, overall it was well worth the time and effort. I look forward to exploring more books in the future and continuing to expand my knowledge.

A book that, although short, contains many reflections on a very rich society.

It especially surprised me its similarity with parts of Western culture and how one has the concept that we are very different, but we can also have many common points.

Dense, but definitely worth it.

This book offers a unique perspective that makes one think deeply about the complex relationships and commonalities between different cultures.

Despite its brevity, it manages to convey profound ideas and insights.

It challenges our preconceived notions and encourages us to look beyond the surface differences and discover the underlying similarities.

Reading this book is like embarking on a journey of self-discovery and cultural exploration.

It broadens our horizons and enriches our understanding of the world around us.

Overall, it is a remarkable piece of literature that is well worth the time and effort to read.

Magnífico fresco de su visión de la India, su historia, religiones, contrastes, sus culturas.

Octavio Paz nos ofrece con un lenguaje rico en su forma y denso en su contenido, la realidad de un inmenso país que el "apenas" puede vislumbrar.

The description provided by Octavio Paz is like a magnificent fresco that vividly depicts the diverse aspects of India. It showcases the rich tapestry of its history, with ancient civilizations and empires leaving their marks. The various religions that have flourished in India, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Islam, are also brought to life.

The contrasts within the country are striking, from the bustling cities to the宁静的villages, from the modern skyscrapers to the ancient temples. The different cultures that coexist in India add to its unique charm, with their distinct languages, traditions, and art forms.

Octavio Paz's use of language is both beautiful and profound, allowing us to catch a glimpse of the vast and complex reality of India. His words paint a vivid picture that leaves a lasting impression on the reader, making us eager to explore this amazing country further.

How far can good literature reach?

Although I have lived in India for a long time, I have personally never been exposed to the artistic and poetic heritage of the golden era of Hinduism/India/Buddhism. Whenever I used to hear about the Indian (civilization) empire around the middle of the first millennium, it always raised more questions for me. Why is that era considered an empire? Was it due to cultural superiority, or the religious humility that came from the passive teachings of Buddhism/Jainism, along with the learning of the Vedas and the revival of Hinduism by Shankracharya? What was the need for "ZERO"? Why was there erotic art in the temples?

Although Octavio Paz didn't answer all these questions, he opened the door that tries to lead to the answers through different paths. I have to say that sometimes, this is less of commoner literature and more of an anthology of 7th to 13th century Sanskrit and other contemporary languages (poems).

This exploration into the literature of that era not only provides insights into the historical and cultural context but also challenges our understanding and perception of that time. It makes us wonder about the complex and diverse aspects of a civilization that flourished centuries ago.

Perhaps, as we delve deeper into this literature, we will be able to uncover more of the mysteries and gain a better understanding of the golden era of Hinduism/India/Buddhism.

In my opinion, having lived in India for three years now that it is over, Octavio Paz attempts, and in many cases succeeds, in conveying the cumulative experiences, history, discovery, and thought that this continent entails.

The book is like a large umbrella that helps to contextualize some of the characteristics of this country that we do not understand when we arrive as eager travelers seeking experience.

I only got lost when he begins to elaborate on his comparison between the concept of time in Hinduism and in Christianity.

Otherwise, it is recommendable if India is on your list of curiosities. It offers a unique perspective on the rich and diverse culture, traditions, and beliefs of India.

The author's personal experiences and insights add depth and authenticity to the narrative.

Whether you are planning a trip to India or simply interested in learning more about this fascinating country, this book is a great read.

It will open your eyes to the many wonders and mysteries that India has to offer.

If you are intrigued by the poetic essence of India, then this remarkable book is an absolute must-read. It encompasses a plethora of aspects including Indian civilization, religion, philosophy, and history. Both Indians and Mexicans would find great value in perusing its pages.

Paris, for me, is a city that is not so much invented as it is reconstructed through memory and the imagination. I met with several friends, both French and foreign, sometimes in their apartments, but more often in the cafes and bars. In Paris, as in other Latin cities, one's life spills out onto the streets rather than being confined to the home.

The knowledge that I was being dispatched to India provided a modicum of consolation. Rituals, temples, cities with names that conjured up strange tales, motley and multicolored crowds, women with feline grace and dark, shining eyes, saints, beggars...

The Elephanta Caves in Mumbai transported me into a world of shadows and sudden brightness. The play of light, the vastness and irregular form of the space, and the figures carved on the walls all imbued the place with a sacred character, in the deepest sense of the word. In the shadows lurked powerful reliefs and statues, many of which had been mutilated by the fanaticism of the Portuguese and the Muslims, yet all of them remained majestic, solid, and made of a solar material. Corporeal beauty had been transformed into living stone. These were divinities of the earth, sexual incarnations of the most abstract thought, gods that were simultaneously intellectual and carnal, terrible and peaceful.

That interminable journey, with its stations teeming with people and vendors of trinkets and sweets, reminded me of some lines from a Mexican in the twentieth century, Ramón López Velarde: "My country: your house is still so vast that the train going by seems like a Christmas box from a toyshop." The strangeness of India brought to mind the strangeness of my own country. I had just written "The Labyrinth of Solitude," an attempt to answer the question that Mexico posed to me; now India was presenting another question, one that was far more vast and enigmatic.

Gothic architecture can be likened to music turned to stone; one could say that Hindu architecture is sculpted dance. The Absolute, the principle in whose matrix all contradictions dissolve (Brahma), is "neither this nor this nor this." This is the way in which the great temples at Ellora, Ajanta, Karli, and other sites were constructed, carved out of mountains. In Islamic architecture, nothing is sculptural - exactly the opposite of the Hindu. The Red Fort, on the bank of the wide Jamuna River, is as powerful as a fort and as graceful as a palace. It is difficult to conceive of another tower that combines the height, solidity, and slender elegance of the Qutab Minar. The reddish stone, in contrast to the transparency of the air and the blue of the sky, gives the monument a vertical dynamism, like a huge rocket aimed at the stars. The mausoleum is like a poem composed not of words but of trees, pools, avenues of sand and flowers: strict meters that intersect and crisscross at angles that are both obvious and yet still surprising rhymes. Everything has been transformed into a construction made of cubes, hemispheres, and arcs: the universe reduced to its essential geometric elements. The abolition of time has been converted into space, space into a collection of shapes that are simultaneously solid and light, creations of another space, made of air. There is nothing terrifying in these tombs: they impart a sensation of infinity and pacify the soul. The simplicity and harmony of their forms satisfy one of the most profound necessities of the spirit: the longing for order, the love of proportion. At the same time, they arouse our fantasies. These monuments and gardens incite us to dream and to fly. They are magic carpets. Compare Ellora with the Taj Mahal, or the frescoes of Ajanta with Mughal miniatures. These are not distinct artistic styles, but rather two different visions of the world.

In Indian stories, genres that are separate in our tradition combine in astonishing ways: the fairy tale and the picaresque novel. It is a characteristic of the Indian people: frank realism allied with delirious fantasy, a refined astuteness with an innocent credulity. These contradictory and constant pairs exist within the Indian soul, like sensuality and asceticism, the eagerness for material well-being and the cult of poverty and disinterest.

However, the most remarkable aspect of India, and the one that defines it, is neither political nor economic, but religious: the coexistence of Hinduism and Islam. The presence of the strictest and most extreme form of monotheism alongside the richest and most varied polytheism is more than a historical paradox; it is a deep wound. Between Islam and Hinduism, there is not only opposition but also incompatibility. In one, the theology is rigid and simple; in the other, the variety of doctrines and sects induces a kind of vertigo. In one case, there is a creator god; in the other, there is the wheel of successive cosmic eras with its procession of gods and civilizations. India owes to Islam some sublime works of art, particularly in architecture and, to a lesser degree, in painting, but not a single new or original thought.

Hinduism is a conglomeration of beliefs and rituals; although it lacks missionaries, its power of assimilation is immense. It does not know conversion in the Christian or Muslim sense, but it practices appropriation with great success. Like an enormous metaphysical boa, Hinduism slowly and relentlessly digests foreign cultures, gods, languages, and beliefs. Hinduism does not convert individuals; it absorbs communities and tribes, along with their gods and rites.

The caste system was not founded by a mythical hero. It emerged spontaneously, albeit by divine, cosmic will, from the soil and subsoil of society, like a plant. Caste is jāti, and jāti is species. Caste is, in a sense, a product of nature. It was born from the combination of all these ethnic, geographical, historical, and religious factors. It is a social phenomenon whose basis is religious: the idea of purity, which in turn is founded on the karmic law that we are the consequence of our past lives.

There is a duality: the Tantric feast is the central part of a sexual rite and thus the exact counterpart of the fasts and chastity practiced by other devotees. They are the two extremes of Hindu religious life, like two mirrors facing each other with opposite images. One might say that Hindu civilization is the theater of a dialogue between One and Zero, being and emptiness, Yes and No. The sannyāsi abandons his caste, his family, his property, and his city to become a wandering ascetic. The fast negates the feast, the silence of the mystic negates the words of the poet and the philosopher.

One of the great creations of Mexican Catholicism was the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe to a Mexican Indian, on the same hill where, before the Conquest, a pre-Hispanic goddess had been worshiped. Catholicism was able to take root in Mexico by transforming the ancient gods into the saints, virgins, and devils of the new religion. Nothing similar could occur in India with Muslim monotheism or Protestant Christianity, both of which regarded the cult of images, of saints and virgins, as idolatry. The Christianity imported by the British was poor in rites and ceremonies but full of moral and sexual rigidity. In other words, it was the exact opposite of popular Hinduism. Similarly, in Christian asceticism, the central concept is redemption; in India, it is liberation. These two words encompass opposite ideas of this world and the next, of the body and the soul.

Jean-Alphonse Benard has astutely observed that "the political problem of India, now as before, is not the irreconcilable conflict between tradition and modernity, authority and democracy, but the excessive polarization of power at the top." However, one must bear in mind the traditional tendency toward separation and fragmentation. This is the reality that had to be confronted equally by the Maurya and Gupta empires, by the Mughals and the British. It is a history of two thousand years of struggle between separatism and centralism.

We are now witnessing, at the end of the century, the resurrection of ethnic and psychic passions, beliefs, ideas, and realities that seemed to have been long buried. The return of religious passion and nationalist fervor hides an ambiguous meaning: Is it the return of ghosts and demons that reason had exorcised, or is it the revelation of profound truths and realities that had been ignored by our proud intellectual constructs?

Rāgas are soliloquies and meditations, passionate melodies that draw circles and triangles in a mental space, a geometry of sounds that can transform a room into a fountain, a spring, a pool. What I learned from music - besides the pleasure of traversing those galleries of echoes and gardens of transparent trees, where sounds think and thoughts dance - was something that I also discovered in Indian poetry and thought: the tension between wholeness and emptiness, the continual ebb and flow between the two.

The Bhagavad-Gītā - Arjuna sees Arjuna in combat and knows that he is and is not Arjuna; the true Arjuna is neither the combatant nor he who is observing the combat, but another, who has no name and who simply is. In that same instant, the future vanishes and time dissolves: Arjuna becomes free of Arjuna. Who performs the act, and when? Everything occurs in an eternal now, without antecedents or consequences, with no yesterday or tomorrow. Action without action is identical to liberation. The act executed by Arjuna: is it an act, or has it also vanished, along with the hero and his victims?

Who could explain India?

No one, not in the whole. India is such a vast and complex country with its rich history, diverse cultures, and unique traditions.

However, Paz gives it a loving and illuminating go.

Paz approaches the task with great passion and a deep sense of curiosity.

He delves into the various aspects of Indian life, from its ancient religions to its modern society.

Through his words, he brings to life the beauty and mystery of India, making it more accessible to those who may not have had the opportunity to experience it firsthand.

His work is not only an attempt to explain India but also a celebration of its many wonders.

With his loving and illuminating approach, Paz offers a fresh perspective on this fascinating country.

Octavio Paz's journey to India was a masterful exploration that offered a lucid and critical perspective. His keen observations delved deep into the rich tapestry of Indian culture, society, and history. Through his eyes, we witnessed the vibrant colors, the ancient traditions, and the complex social hierarchies that have endured for centuries. Paz's writing was not only a celebration of India's beauty and diversity but also a thoughtful examination of its challenges and contradictions. He was not afraid to question and analyze, to look beyond the surface and uncover the hidden truths. His work serves as a reminder that travel is not just about seeing new places but also about expanding our understanding of the world and ourselves. A truly remarkable and unforgettable adventure.