Twice Born Men In America

Reproduction of the original: Twice-born Men in America by Harriet Earhart Monroe

Twice Born in Men America by Harriet E. Monroe, first published in 1914, is a rare manuscript, the original residing in one of the great libraries of the world. This book is a reproduction of that original, which has been scanned and cleaned by state-of-the-art publishing tools for better readability and enhanced appreciation. Restoration Editors' mission is to bring long out of print manuscripts back to life. Some smudges, annotations or unclear text may still exist, due to permanent damage to the original work. We believe the literary significance of the text justifies offering this reproduction, allowing a new generation to appreciate it.

Reproduction of the original: Twice-born Men in America by Harriet Earhart Monroe

In January, 1908, a great calamity came to me in the form of destruction by fire of most of my earthly property and the death in the fire of a loved sister. The event had in it some other elements of great pain not necessary to mention here. If my soul had not been anchored in Jesus, the combination of sorrows would have broken down my mentality and sent me to the asylum. As it was, I stood steadily trusting God, knowing that all things worked together for good to those who love God. I was sure I was a lover of God, and so, while every fiber of my body and soul ached with unspeakable pain, I never doubted God's love, care and sympathy. In the midst of this grief I received a letter from Mr. George W. Wheeler, the President of the Executive Board of the Gospel Mission, saying about this, “Come down to the Gospel Mission, look it over and see if you care to come in with us in the work of saving souls. Unless we secure a woman of large executive ability, our work can scarcely go forward.” I answered that I would be glad to join them, and the next week, the first week of September, 1908, I received a letter from the Secretary, S. M. Croft, saying I had been elected to the Executive Board of the Gospel Mission, which met once every week. The following Monday I met with the Board, where I heard a letter from Mr. Tyson, saying that he withdrew from the Board because the dormitories were badly kept. Then followed a letter of the same kind from a Mr. Fritz, and another from Mr. Sidell. As soon as the session, which was largely a prayer service, was closed, Mr. Wheeler accompanied me to look over the dormitories. I never saw or dreamed of such conditions. The very walls were alive with vermin. In the story above the chapel were fifteen vile beds, and on the third story above us we saw a floor covered with dirty, wrinkled newspapers. I said, “Where do the men sleep?” “On the beds you saw in the third floor and on these newspapers.”

In The Twice-Born, Aatish Taseer embarks on a journey of self-discovery in an intoxicating, unsettling personal reckoning with modern India, where ancient customs collide with the contemporary politics of revivalism and revenge When Aatish Taseer first came to Benares, the spiritual capital of Hinduism, he was eighteen, the Westernized child of an Indian journalist and a Pakistani politician, raised among the intellectual and cultural elite of New Delhi. Nearly two decades later, Taseer leaves his life in Manhattan to go in search of the Brahmins, wanting to understand his own estrangement from India through their ties to tradition. Known as the twice-born—first into the flesh, and again when initiated into their vocation—the Brahmins are a caste devoted to sacred learning. But what Taseer finds in Benares, the holy city of death also known as Varanasi, is a window on an India as internally fractured as his own continent-bridging identity. At every turn, the seductive, homogenizing force of modernity collides with the insistent presence of the past. In a globalized world, to be modern is to renounce India—and yet the tide of nationalism is rising, heralded by cries of “Victory to Mother India!” and an outbreak of anti-Muslim violence. From the narrow streets of the temple town to a Modi rally in Delhi, among the blossoming cotton trees and the bathers and burning corpses of the Ganges, Taseer struggles to reconcile magic with reason, faith in tradition with hope for the future and the brutalities of the caste system, all the while challenging his own myths about himself, his past, and his countries old and new.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.