Neilesh Bose, "Chips from a Calcutta Workshop: Comparative Religion in Nineteenth Century India" (Cambridge UP, 2025)

Mahatma Gandhi's 'Hind Swaraj' outlines his vision for Indian self-rule and critiques modern civilization. Written as a dialogue, the book advocates for moral and spiritual regeneration as the foundation for political freedom. Gandhi rejects Western models of development, emphasizing the importance of traditional values, village industries, and non-violent resistance. He critiques the destructive impact of industrialization, materialism, and the legal profession. 'Hind Swaraj' calls for a return to simplicity, self-sufficiency, and ethical conduct in all aspects of life. The book remains a powerful and influential statement of Gandhi's philosophy.

Neilesh Bose examines the emergence and character of comparative religion in nineteenth-century India, arguing it grew from indigenous reform movements such as the Brāhmo Samaj and Arya Samaj rather than solely from European Christian influence. The book profiles major figures—Rammohan Roy, Debendranath Tagore, Keshab Chandra Sen, and Swami Vivekananda—re-evaluating well-known and lesser-known thinkers who engaged in translation, synthesis, and reform. Bose situates these intellectuals' comparative practices in a broader transregional context, showing how translations, compilations, institutional experiments, and pilgrimages shaped modern religious self-understanding. He also dialogues with Western contemporaries like Ralph Waldo Emerson to highlight convergent comparative impulses. The work contributes to intellectual and religious history by demonstrating that comparative religion was an actively produced and strategic category in modern India.