Beware of looking at a book like ‘Brahmin Reborn’ and writing it off as just another ‘missionary biography’, perhaps with nothing new to offer. I’ve made this mistake before, and sadly made it again with this book. How wrong I was!

Bhaskar Sreerangam’s book, written with his daughter-in-law Esther Sandys, is a captivating exploration of his youth as a high caste and extremely religious Hindu in South India. The story is told with incisive self-awareness, and gives a remarkable insight into a man who instinctively seemed to know that his religion was ultimately false, despite not knowing what the true religion was.

We can all relate to the tales of seeking divine reward for religiosity, and the increasingly frustrated desperation for heavenly reassurance in the face of confusing experiences. And in Bhaskar’s first encounters with Christians, and his subsequent conversion, we are given many examples of open-hearted discipleship we would do well to learn from.

This book is an easy read, and it’s one I highly recommend. In a ‘Christianised’ culture, it is sometimes hard to remember how radical the message of the gospel is. But we must remember, if we are to realise how desperately our society needs the gospel. Read ‘Brahmin Reborn’, and you’ll not forget again in a hurry.

Miriam Montgomery, Free Church Books