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Planet India
Creditable is the fact that the author so vividly, yet minutely, captures the aroma of mutating India despite being in the US since early 1960s. After going through the book, the reader can’t help but notice that the author actually has done a lot of footwork, visiting various Indian hamlets to know the ground realities rather than resorting to what is called "table story" in journalistic parlance. Another reason why the book may stand out on the stands is because it is very topical, juxtaposing recent most happenings of Corus takeover, Indo-US nuke deal and Walmart’s proposed entry into India over the challenges that India faces on various fronts. Justifying on why the world looks up to India, the book says post-Iraq war, US image has taken a beating, Europe is struggling with unemployment, Russia has moved away from being an open society and Japan is too much culturally homogeneous to serve as a model for the rest of the world, leaving China and India to serve as role model. Using the method of elimination, Mira Kamdar says that China’s system sits uncomfortably with those nations that value democracy, freedom of expression and a vibrant press, leaving the path open for India to forge a compelling alternative paradigm. The author says changes that have taken place in India have been rapid making the world sit up and take notice. She puts it this way: "During most of my lifetime, India changed but did so almost imperceptibly. Then suddenly, the changes began to come with dizzying speed. With each arrival, I felt I was watching time-lapse photography. No democracy in history has undergone a transformation of India’s magnitude or velocity." The book discusses how recently Arcelor, Taittinger and Corus were tamed by corporate India and how the Indian-American lobbying group helped forge the Indo-US nuclear deal. It also doesn’t fail to remark that the nuke deal is all about profits for American companies as the US Chamber of Commerce estimates $100 billion in energy sales. The book also points out how India is becoming a source of relatively low-cost, highly skilled labour. Amidst the milieu of growing bonhomie between India and the US, the author also discusses the hike in H1B visa cap as well as increase in outsourcing. In fact, the book deals with the growth of each and every sector that now makes India global—animation, television (Tellywood as the author calls it), movies, cellphone revolution, advertising, retailing and the ubiquitous darling, IT, including infrastructure bottlenecks that desi Silicon Valley, Bangalore, faces. It also traces the Tehelka sting, the attempt to gag the freedom of Press and the growth of Indian media after that. The book is realistic as India’s zenith and nadir both find a mention, replete with quotes from men who matter as well as sons of the grassroots. The author has not failed to spot the eyesores in India’s growth story—be it pesticide poisoning, global warming, water crisis, farmer’s suicide, genetically modified crops or AIDS menace. The essence of the book that so beautifully balances evens and odds of this country is that "India is emerging as an innovator of the technology that is driving the next phase of global economy. The challenges it faces are universal. The urgency of these challenges for India is spurring innovative solutions, which, if successful, will catapult India to the top of the new world order. If India succeeds, it will not only save itself, it will save us all. If it fails, we all will suffer. As goes India, so goes the world." She says that India is the world in microcosm. Aptly, India, as a planet of destiny, presently lies in the ascendant of the changing world, orbiting the sun of transformation. No other title could have been more fitting!
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Rising