In 2014 The (in)famous Bollywood hit PK created an uproar among Hindu nationalists and right-wing groups who called for a boycott of the film, which ultimately lead to the physical vandalization of cinema halls, the tearing of posters, and the use of traditional media as well as social media to abuse the director, filmmakers, and the actors for the film's portrayal of their religion (Qadri and Mufti 2016). 1 The plot of the movie is that Peekay, who is an alien that lands in India, is unable to return to his planet after his "remote control" is stolen. As he tries to find his way back home, he learns from humans that only "God" will be able to help him find the device. As he searches for "God", he is confronted by the paradoxical elements of India's different religious dogmas and practices. Jaggu is the female lead of the movie. She is a television news reporter and a non-traditional and progressive Hindu girl who falls in love with a Muslim man from Pakistan while traveling in Europe and the couple decides to marry. Jaggu's father, however, is a very devout follower of a Hindu godman (Tapasvi) who opposes his daughter's union with a Muslim man. After the flop of their attempt to marry, because of religious differences, Jaggu meets Peekay back in India as he is distributing leaflets about a missing "God". She is fascinated by Peekay's quest and convinces the TV channel head to make a show with Peekay exposing the truth about different religions. About midway through the movie (1.41.19 min.-1.43.31 min.) 2 there is a scene that depicts the installation of a wayside shrine by Peekay, the hero of the film, outside of the Department of Mathematical Sciences of Delhi University. In this part of the movie, Peekay brings the devout father of Jaggu along with a TV crew to the entrance of the university in order for Peekay to prove to Jaggu's father that religion is nothing but a money-making "business driven by fear" (Hindi: ḍar kā biznes). He explains to Jaggu's father that because exams are currently being conducted at the college students are terrified. Peekay then approaches one of the trees at the gates of the university and takes a large rock and places it in the flower bed in front of it. He calls the stone the "factory's machine" and the coins and bills he puts in front of the stone are the "investment." He then takes out a pān 3 packet and smears the stone with it leaving a red mark on the stone, as is characteristic of many

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This article discusses the first Indian compilation of the four Vedic Saṃhitās into a printed book in the year 1971 entitled “Bhagavān Vedaḥ.” This endeavor was the life’s mission of an udāsīn ascetic called Guru Gaṅgeśvarānand Mahārāj (1881–1992) who in the year 1968 founded the “Gaṅgeśvar Caturved Sansthān” in Bombay and appointed one of his main disciples, Svāmī Ānand Bhāskarānand, to oversee the publication of the book. His main motivation was to have a physical representation of the Vedas for Hindus to be able to have the darśana (auspicious sight) of the Vedas and worship them in book form. This contribution explores the institutions and individuals involved in the editorial work and its dissemination, and zooms into the processes that allowed for the transition from orality to print culture, and ultimately what it means when the Vedas are materialized into “the book of the Hindus.”

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