A critic, poet, and novelist with over thirty books, a hundred and twenty-five academic papers, and hundreds of notes, book reviews, and journalistic essays to his credit, Makarand R. Paranjape is currently Professor of English at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Preface; Self, Society and Nation: Indian Notions of Responsibility; 1857: The Religious Roots of Indian Anti-Imperialism; Indian Alternations: Aurobindo, Ambedkar and After; Interrogating Indian Post-Nationalism: Culture, Citizenship and Global Futures; Hindi Hain Hum: An Account of a Vibhashi's Romance with the National Language; The Case for Sanskrit as India's National Language; National Education? Problems and Prospects; Regaining the Indian Eye; Secularism vs. Hindu Nationalism: Interrogating the Terms of the Debate; Plurality, Tolerance and Religious Conflict in India; Towards a Common Future? An Indo-Pakistani Story; The Availability of Mahatma Gandhi: Towards a Neo-Gandhian Praxis; Notes; Works Cited

'Altered Destinations' addresses the complex interrelations of state, nation and identity in India through the medium of culture, and compellingly reframes the debate in the context of the Gandhian concept of swaraj. Engaging with Gandhi's classic text 'Hind Swaraj', which envisioned an entirely new form of identity and governance in India in opposition with its colonial past, Paranjape extends the discussion by exlporing how ideas of autonomy, selfhood, and cultural independence have been expressed, depicted and studied.