However, within India’s present cultural and political narrative, my home state seems to hide in the wings. Therefore, any book that aims to investigate Karnataka’s cultural present is of particular interest, especially because of the dearth of such works in English. However, Srikar Raghavan’s debut is far from being the ‘genre-bending work of narrative non-fiction’ it claims to be. It is no doubt an interesting set of ideas, and Raghavan has clearly accumulated a vast bibliography and many interviews. Rama Bhima Soma: Cultural Investigations into Modern Karnataka by Srikar Raghavan, Context, Rs 899 (hardcover)From the Spring 2025 issue of ArtReview Asia – get your copy.