Description'When [my father] realized this was something I had to decide and try out myself...hefinally said: "Well then, become a clown if you must; only be the best Jesuit clown in theworld."'When, at nineteen, Rudolf Heredia-one of India's foremost Jesuit scholars-decided to join the priesthood, it came as a shock to everybody around him.His mother mourned as though she had lost her son, while his father tried tobe understanding. That Heredia would be leaving his large Goan clan that hadloved and cherished him despite the mischief and mayhem he created through hisgrowing up years in Mumbai, was reluctantly accepted. And thus, in June 1960, he began his long and arduous spiritual journey, one in which he found meaningthrough academia and research.In this insightful and engaging memoir, Heredia recounts his life story, frombeing a restless college student who almost joined the Communist Partyof India to joining the Jesuits and immersing himself in academia. Like thejester in a king's court, he stood by the sidelines of the Church, unafraid toask questions, provoking students and superiors, always graceful. Through histeaching and research career at St Xavier's College-his alma mater-and theIndian Social Institute, he inspired young minds and aided the upliftment ofmarginalized communities in the country, such as the Kathkari and Warli peopleof Maharashtra.A Clown for God, a Clown for Others is the story of a life led with conviction andfaith, grace and wit.