Few books in recent years, if any, offer such a comprehensive overview of what ails India, its politicians and its people; and few writers, apart from Nirad Chaudhury and V. S. Naipaul, benefit so obviously from the perspective Tharoor offers, that of an Indian with a profound empathy for his native culture, combined with the insight made possible by following India's progress from afar. --New York Times A hard-hitting, powerfully analytical and supremely articulate new book. . . . Tharoor discusses the 'flawed miracle of ...
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Few books in recent years, if any, offer such a comprehensive overview of what ails India, its politicians and its people; and few writers, apart from Nirad Chaudhury and V. S. Naipaul, benefit so obviously from the perspective Tharoor offers, that of an Indian with a profound empathy for his native culture, combined with the insight made possible by following India's progress from afar. --New York Times A hard-hitting, powerfully analytical and supremely articulate new book. . . . Tharoor discusses the 'flawed miracle of Indian democracy' from various angles, opting for a take-no-prisoners approach as he criticizes politicians, unpacks layers of misguided governmental policies and exposes the atavistic tendencies of special-interest pols. --Newsday Tharoor looks back at his country's first 50 years of independence, describing its challenges (illiteracy, poverty, sectarian violence and the ever-present caste problem) and its triumphs (a thriving democracy, a burgeoning economy) in lively, informative prose. He is particularly adept at describing all that India and Indians are not--not the same ethnicity, religion or language--to arrive at the nation's essence: that 'the singular thing about India was that you could only speak of it in the plural'. --Seattle Times
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Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
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Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
Sashi's fluid style of writing is brought out well in his discriptions of the complexity of blending old and new in India. In this book Tharoor argues that as a nation India has not achieved its goal, with huge problems plaguing the country such as abject poverty, illiteracy, rundown healthcare systems, separatist movements in Punjab, Kashmir, and the North East.
The book is a comprehensive analysis of all walks of India life, post-1947. but the focus of the book is politics and the criminalisation in Indian politics. While rejoicing democracy in Indian, he presents a analytical but critical view of the decline of Indian politics under the Congress and Nehru-Gandhi family. He discribes Indira Gandhi as "autocratic," Sanjay Gandhi as 'thuggish," Rajiv Gandhi as pilot with no sense of political wisdom and Madam Sonia as 'less educated, but somehow hyped as a Cambridge scholar by Indian media'. The book is an interesting read on Indira Gandhi's emergency rule, subsequent election debacle, rise of the right-wing Hindutva brigade and economic reforms.
The book is easy to read and insightful on the pros and cons faced in India being a democracy, with its emphasis on consensus and mandate. The inaction of govenment and difficulty in taking tough decisions on any front, whether it is the economic reforms initiated a decade ago or the population control program to curtail Indian burgeoning numbers. Yet, there is strenght in India's pluralism, its blend of people who have no single common thread of language, caste, creed, costume or custom to unite them.
