Book : In Spite Of The Gods The Rise Of Modern India - Luce,

-Titulo Original : In Spite Of The Gods The Rise Of Modern India

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As the worlds largest democracy and a rising international economic power, India has long been heralded for its great strides in technology and trade. Yet it is also plagued by poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and a vast array of other social and economic issues. Here, noted journalist and former Financial Times South Asia bureau chief Edward Luce travels throughout Indias many regions, cultures, and religious circles, investigating its fragile balance between tradition and modernity. From meetings with key political figures to fascinating encounters with religious pundits, economic gurus, and village laborers, In Spite of the Gods is a fascinating blend of analysis and reportage that comprehensively depicts the nuances of Indias complex situation and its place in the world. Review “Superb. . . . The blend of anecdote, history, and economic analysis makes In Spite of the Gods an endlessly fascinating, highly pleasurable way to catch up on a very big story.” -William Grimes, The New York Times“Sophisticated and sympathetic. . . . Richly evocative. . . . Engaging. . . . [Luces] sharp-witted prose brings todays India to life with insight and irreverence.” -The Washington Post“[Luces] research is formidable. . . . [In Spite of the Gods] is stunning in its breadth.” -The New Yorker“Indispensable. . . . [Luce] is a keen observer.” -The Wall Street Journal About the Author Edward Luce is the Washington commentator for the Financial Times and was previously the papers South Asia bureau chief, based in New Delhi. He worked for two years as a speechwriter for former Treasury Secretary Laurence Summers. He studied Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at Oxford. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. 1. GLOBAL AND MEDIEVALIndia’s Schizophrenic EconomyIts stupendous population consists of farm laborers. India is one vast farm-one almost interminable stretch of fields with mud fences between. Think of the above facts: and consider what an incredible aggregate of poverty they place before you.- Mark Twain, Following the Equator, 1897 (1)It took a long time. But finally in the late 1990s India started to build roads that could get you from A to B at something better than a canter. Until then, India’s most significant highway was the Grand Trunk Road that bisects the country from north to south. Laid at various stages by the late medieval Mughal dynasty, then upgraded and extended by the British in the nineteenth century and popularized by Rudyard Kipling in his novel Kim, most of the “GT Road,” as it is known, got acquainted with asphalt only after independence. But it is a single lane and one can rarely exceed an average of thirty miles an hour. So the relative novelty of India’s double-lane expressways still generates a buzz. By 2006, India had all but completed the 3,000-mile “Golden Quadrilateral” expressway linking the country’s four largest cities: Delhi to Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) to Chennai (formerly known as Madras) to Kolkata (formerly known as Calcutta) (*) to Delhi. Average speeds on the better stretches are closer to sixty miles an hour.For some, the expressways have heralded a modern era of speed, punctuality, and hygienic roadside bathrooms. For others, they represent a brash intrusion on the more lackadaisical world they cut through. To me, the new expressways provide an intriguing juxtaposition of India’s multispeed economics. Curiosity-and an instinct of self-preservation-means I occasionally move into the slow lane. One of the best ways of observing India’s galloping new economy is to count the number of car brands that whir past you in the fast lane. You tend to lose count at thirty or forty. In the early 1990s, as India was starting to relax import and investment restrictions on foreign manufacturers, you would at best have counted six or seven makes of car. More than 90 percent of them would have been Ambassadors, the stately but de