Akash Kapur

Fascinating but ultimately disappointing, this journalistic account focuses primarily on south India--which is fine, but the book purports to be about ALL of this enormous country. The arc of the narrative descends into horrific accounts of violence and environmental degradation only to rise at the end into a not quite credible acceptance and equanimity. A good book to read to get a handle on how India changed rapidly in the middle 2000's (dates are a bit murky throughout) but my friends who have spent time in that nation were more dissatisfied than I was.… (altro)

Akash Kapur in his recent book "India Becoming" examines the complexities of contemporary India. Kapur tells two major stories in his fascinating book. First is the story of progress in India. Kapur, in his recent return to India after years abroad in the United States,"sees a new sense of purpose and direction" in a country that had lost faith in itself. Secondly, Kapur sees a darker tale of the "destruction and disruptions" caused by economic development. Kapur writes about this incredible growth in profit and possibility and its inherent dangers as "one process, two outcomes." Kapur, through a series of personal excursions across India and the richly nuanced interviews that he conducted with individuals from all walks of Indian life, sees and hears painful stories of loss and "of banishment from a way of life established over centuries." Kapur almost seems to rationalize these changes as a form of necessary collateral damage. But he pulls back and instead sees the rapid change in contemporary India as a story of loss and renewal. A tale of ruin and reinvention. These dualities define the Indian condition in the early 21st century. India is on a journey. Kapur's India is an exciting and at times dangerous rush into the future. An important book for global understanding.… (altro)