David Gentleman wrote in his superb book about India, by far and away the best book on India we know – apart from A Passage to India and The Far Cry (and do read the Persephone Forum about The Far Cry) – that he ‘particularly liked a stone carving of a cow turning to lick its calf, a magical combination of keen observation and warm emotion’. And it’s amazing to think that the cow licking the calf has survived unharmed at Mahabalipuram for 1200 years. (Oh and The Jewel in the Crown must be added to the trio of India books.)