India, March 16 -- Alberuni (973-1050), an Islamic scholar, greatly admired Indian wisdom, but was frank enough to admit that much of it was buried under a whole lot of rubbish; one had to be extremely selective. With revived interest in India's past and a keenness to rewrite its history, this caution becomes especially relevant, especially for those tempted to make mythologies and epics their main sources for re-scripting the nation's early history.

Arun Shourie quotes Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's stunning statement, "The Puranas are a bundle of lies" (The New Icon, Gurugram, 2005: Penguin-Viking, Random House, 289). Though merciless in his approach, Shourie's study of Savarkar can be an eye-opener for those who wish to know the real trut...