Arrow of the Blue-skinned God

The author recounts the story of the Ramayana as he retraces Rama's journey through the India of today. The 3,000-year-old epic chronicles Rama's physical journey from one end of the subcontinent to the other, and his spiritual voyage from man to God. The author's narrative stretches from the birth site of the blue-skinned god in Ayodhya to the epic battlefield of Lanka. Along the way he converses with the commander of a Ceylonese death squad, talks with terrorists in the Punjab and guerrillas in Trincomalee. There are stories of swamis and Brahmins, lepers and laundresses, teenagers and television actors in this account of contemporary India set against the framework of the ancient epic.