India unbound / Gurcharan Das.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Das, Gurcharan.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

India--Economic conditions--1947-.

India.

Economic conditions.

India--Politics and government--1947-.

Politics and government.

Genre:

Autobiographies.

Physical Description:

xix, 406 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : A.A. Knopf, 2001.

Summary:

India today is a vibrant free-market democracy and has begun to flex its muscles in the global information economy and on the world stage. Now, acclaimed columnist Gucharan Das traces India's recent social and economic transformations in an eminently readable, impassioned narrative.

Das tells the stories of the major players in a period of rapid and profound change -- from schoolchildren inspired by Nehru's speeches in the early days of Independence to the current software impresarios -- and makes comprehensible and compelling the economic and political developments responsible for these changes. He weaves his personal story into the larger context of contemporary history: his family's move to America in the mid-1950s, his education at Harvard, his years in India as a young marketing executive wrestling with a socialist system he feared would undermine the country's vast potential. He also shows us the reasons behind his optimism for his nation's future, among which is the exciting landscape of information technology today.

Das argues that the changes of the past fifty years have, at last, amounted to a revolution -- and it is one that has not been chronicled before. With India Unbound, he gives us a book that is at once vigorously analytical and vividly written.

Contents:

Introduction: The Wise Elephant ix

Part 1 Our Spring of Hope (1942-65)

1. Ranting in English, Chanting in Sanskrit 3

2. Smells of the Bazaar 16

3. The Train to Nowhere 27

4. Blind Then, Blind Now 44

5. If We Were Once Rich, Why Are We Now Poor? 52

6. The Paper Route 69

7. Capitalism for the Rich, Socialism for the Poor 85

Part 2 The Lost Generation (1966-91)

8. Bazaar Power 103

9. Lerma Rojo and Taichung Native No. 1 123

10. Caste 139

11. Multiplying by Zero 155

12. Merchants of Marwar 176

13. Dreams in Kabutarkhana 187

14. Licensing Blues 196

Part 3 The Rebirth of Dreams (1991-99)

15. The Golden Summer of 1991 213

16. A Million Reformers 228

17. New Money 244

18. Old Money 261

19. The Rise and Rise of a Middle Class 279

20. Modern vs. Western 291

21. Democracy First, Capitalism Afterwards 310

22. Knowledge Is Wealth 325

23. A New Country 345.

Notes:

"A personal account of a social and economic revolution"--Cover.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 359-387) and index.

ISBN:

037541164X :

OCLC:

45944996