India Unbound - Softcover

Gurci Das

4.09

6,222 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143063014 ISBN 13: 9780143063018

Publisher: Penguin Books, 2000

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

India Unbound is the riveting story of a nation s rise from poverty to prosperity and the clash of ideas that occurred along the way. Today s India is a vibrant free-market democracy, and it has begun to flex its muscles in the global information economy. The old centralized, bureaucratic state, which stifled industrial growth, is on the decline; the lower castes have risen confidently through the ballot box; and the middle class has tripled in the last two decades. This economic and social transformation is one of the major themes of this book. Gurcharan Das recounts the hope and despair of the last fifty years. The Licence Raj created a work environment in which a cousin of the author, on his first day at work in the railways, could precipiate a strike just because he was honest. And on one occasion, the author, even though a seasoned executive, was driven to sit by the polluted Yamuna and weep after a fruitless meeting with a bureaucrat. The transformation began in the golden summer of 1991, when a reticent reformer, Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao, finally changed the nation s course through sweeping economic reforms. A restrictive regime, in which the state dictated everything, from a woman s choice of lipstick to the programmes on television, gave way to the optimism of a rising middle class eager to compete with the rest of the world. It was a quiet revolution, one that has not been chronicled before. Gurcharan Das examines the highs and lows of independent India through the prism of history and his own experiences and those of numerous others he has met following the reforms, from young people in sleepy UP villages to the chiefs of software companies in Bangalore. Defining and exploring the new mindset of the nation, India Unbound is the perfect introduction to contemporary India. The powerful story of a nation's transition from poverty to prosperity. Examining the highs and lows of independent India through the prism of history and his own experiences, Gurcharan Das defines the new mindset of the nation in riveting prose.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:

" Something tremendous is happening in India, and Das, with his keen eye and often elegant prose, has his finger firmly on the pulse of the transformation." - "The New York Times Book Review"
" One of the most readable and insightful book s to appear on India' s tortuous economic path in its 54 years since shaking off British rule." - "Business Week"
" Head and shoulders above the customary bunch. This elegant essay has something for everyone." - "St. Louis Post-Dispatch"
" For American readers accustomed to view India as a land of tigers rather than high-tech and maharajahs rather than microchips, this book will come as a welcome surprise." --"The" "Washington Post Book World"
" Informative, entertaining, and basically correct about India' s need to embrace capitalism more wholeheartedly, for all the costs and risks." -- "The Economist"

"Something tremendous is happening in India, and Das, with his keen eye and often elegant prose, has his finger firmly on the pulse of the transformation."-"The New York Times Book Review"
"One of the most readable and insightful book s to appear on India's tortuous economic path in its 54 years since shaking off British rule."-"Business Week"
"Head and shoulders above the customary bunch. This elegant essay has something for everyone."-"St. Louis Post-Dispatch"
"For American readers accustomed to view India as a land of tigers rather than high-tech and maharajahs rather than microchips, this book will come as a welcome surprise." --"The""Washington Post Book World"
"Informative, entertaining, and basically correct about India's need to embrace capitalism more wholeheartedly, for all the costs and risks." --"The Economist"

Something tremendous is happening in India, and Das, with his keen eye and often elegant prose, has his finger firmly on the pulse of the transformation. The New York Times Book Review
One of the most readable and insightful book s to appear on India s tortuous economic path in its 54 years since shaking off British rule. Business Week
Head and shoulders above the customary bunch. This elegant essay has something for everyone. St. Louis Post-Dispatch
For American readers accustomed to view India as a land of tigers rather than high-tech and maharajahs rather than microchips, this book will come as a welcome surprise. --The Washington Post Book World
Informative, entertaining, and basically correct about India s need to embrace capitalism more wholeheartedly, for all the costs and risks. The Economist"

About the Author:

Gurcharan Das is a columnist for the Times of India and other newspapers, and is the author of three plays and a novel. He graduated from Harvard College and attended Harvard Business School. A former CEO of Procter & Gamble India, he is currently a venture capitalist and a consultant to industry and government leaders. He lives with his wife in New Delhi.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.