Gurcharan Das is a delightful story teller. He also invariably has a point. He tells stories from the Mahabharata and he brings each story to a point. To the difficulty, as he puts it, of being good. What is good? What is evil? Who is right? Who is wrong? As Das' stories from the Mahabharata show, these questions are not easy to decide. But the point surely is, as his autobiographical asides show, that they are compelling questions. Not easy to answer, and one must decide for oneself.

- Rajat Kanta Ray, historian and vice-chancellor, Shantiniketan