In the United States, faith, along with the rest of American culture, has been industrialized, and is now manufactured and sold in the mega-church, an odd cross between a sports stadium and a big box store. But thankfully, for those of us who can’t find salvation beneath blaring florescent lights, we can at least get a semblance of it by purchasing the latest line of scientifically tested diet pills. So while many of us have shunned faith, often under the guise of science and enlightenment, we have created other modes of living, like diet pills and energy shakes, which are no more rational.

Historically, India, with its four-armed gods and sacred cows, has been one of the west's irrational, orientalist fantasies, that has been sought out by anomic Americans. But as India looks to take a leadership role in the 21st century, embracing cellular and wireless technologies, among other new innovations, its exotic elements are starting to look, well, a lot less exotic. This might be a bad thing for the imaginations of many Americans and other westerners, but in all likelihood it will be a boon for many people in India.