ABSTRACT
The first tentative attempts by multinational companies to prize open India's vast but hitherto protected consumer markets have brought in their wake a far more tumultuous process of social and cultural globalization. This chapter examines two forms of bodily practice in India, each offering a distinct and contrasting engagement with the challenges posed by globalization and Hindu nationalism. The first bodily practice is Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) shakha training. The second bodily practice is kalarippayattu, an indigenous martial art from the state of Kerala in South India. The chapter provides a description of a typical session that the author observed in the Thiruvananthapuram kalari from the designated spectator balcony overlooking the kalari pit. Although there are different and contradictory pressures on the cultural spaces occupied by shakha training and kalarippayattu, each in their own way highlights the constitutive role of physical culture in the cultural and political life of a globalizing Indian society.
