Planet India by Mira Kamdar
From time to time, I will review books that I am reading. I don’t always read the latest book or the one that everyone is talking about. My taste in books is very eclectic (or maybe just strange) and my posts will reflect that. I recently read a book on India that I believe is a ‘must read’ for anyone trying to understand the political and economical changes in that part of the world.
Mira Kamdar has been a Senior Fellow at the World Policy Institute since 1992 and is also an Associate Fellow of the Asia Society. Her latest book, “Planet India” (2007) published by Simon and Schuster Inc., explores how one of the world’s fastest-growing democracies is transforming America and the world. Kamdar states, “no other country matters more to the future of our planet than India” and then goes on to detail the myriad of areas in which India is now a pivotal player. India’s population of 1.2 billion people makes it the world’s largest democracy and it is in this multiethnic, multireligious, multilingual microcosm that the keys to the new world lie. Quoting an Indian film producer who was asked about the future of Indian movie business, “Who needs the American audience? There are only three hundred million people here,” Kamdar reflected, on just how far the Indian entertainment industry has come.
Kamdar is of Indian heritage from her paternal side and she traveled all over India interviewing hundreds of people in various industries and from widely disparate walks of life for her book. She does a wonderful job of presenting the stark contrasts that exist between cities and villages in India and the challenges facing Indian society which is moving forward and backward at the same time. A point that Nicholas Kristoff, of the New York Times, also makes in comparing the rise of India and China (China and India: The Race Is On; April 2007). Kristoff commented that unless India can bring the education, health and nutrition needs of its villages and its infrastructure to the 21st century, China will soon overtake India. His bet is on China. While Kamdar does not actively compare India with China, she acknowledges that India has her work cut out for her in uplifting the rural areas. The point she does make about the world’s great democracies is that although America “cannot beat China in the long term on sheer economic or military might,” America’s survival in today’s interconnected world will depend heavily upon India’s success.
Kamdar’s story is timely and groundbreaking in a world where the stakes are being redefined at a dizzying speed. She has taken the trouble to explore the issue from various angles. Although, I would have liked to have seen more interviews with military personnel and politicians, her book provides incredible insights into India’s meteoric rise and the challenges she faces as a nuclear-armed country in one of the world’s most unstable regions.
A book that’s definitely worth reading!
Enakshi Choudhuri
