LIBA 2010-2012

India Unbound- Book Review

Author: Gurcharan Das
By: Ruth Sequeria( F10049) 10/31/2010

India Unbound : Book Review

About the Author: Gurcharan Das born, 1946 is an Indian author, consultant and public intellectual. Born in 1946 at Lyallpur, India (now Pakistan) into a Punjabi Hindu family, Das spent the better half of his childhood in New York as his father was posted there. He graduated with honours from Harvard University in Philosophy and Politics. He later attended Harvard Business School (AMP), where he is featured in three case studies. He rose to become the head of Proctor & Gamble in India before doing a reset at 50 and becoming a writer. He is a regular columnist and contributor to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Times of India. He has also written a new book , The Difficulty of Being Good: On the Subtle Art of Dharma., this book distills some amazing lessons from the Mahabharata on the difficulties with making the right choices and the pitfalls of envy . About the Book India Unbound The Book offers a comprehensive view of the economic and social transformation of India from independence to the new millennium. The author majorly speaks about the Indian Politics, the economy of India. He categorizes the Indian Population in three major groups Spring of Hope (1942-65), the lost Generation (1966-91) & Rebirth of Dream (1991-99). It is a Part memoir, part journalism, part history and part management bible, the book begins shortly before independence and continues until the new millennium. This chapter rightly titled, The Rebirth of Dreams -the era of liberalization 1991 99, is what Gurcharan Das book is all about. The slow, excruciatingly painful but exciting progress of a nation from political independence to real freedom. The death of the License Raj and the birth of free enterprise. However, as other Authors cherish the revolution that began with independence in 1947, Gurcharan Das does not find full cause for jubilation until 1991, when India unleashed a series of economic reforms, the start of an ''economic revolution'' that he believes ''may well

be more important than the political revolution.'' Those reforms were forced upon India, adopted less than enthusiastically when the nation found itself with foreign exchange reserves worth only two weeks of imports. Over the course of what Das calls a ''golden summer,'' a newly installed government surprised everyone by easing foreign exchange restrictions, devaluing the rupee, lowering import tariffs and undoing the byzantine controls that had stifled Indian industry. Many -- Das included -- feel the reforms should have gone further, but the results nonetheless have been dramatic: after decades of chugging along at the so-called Hindu rate of growth (a dismal 3.5 percent per year), the economy grew by an average of 7.5 percent in the mid-1990. The growth in disposable incomes, and the opening up of the country to world markets, has altered the face of Indian society, creating a new consumer middle class. Das argues that these changes are only the beginning of a dramatic reversal of fortunes. ''The theme of this book,'' he writes, ''is how a rich country became poor and will be rich again.''

At the heart of ''India Unbound'' is a deep ambivalence about Jawaharlal Nehru, the architect of Indian independence but also of its disastrous economic policies. Das recognizes the political contributions made by Nehru, and he writes of the admiration he felt as a young man for the handsome leader whose lofty ideals inspired a nation. But, echoing an increasingly common attitude in modern India, he feels that Nehru's faith in Soviet-style central planning cheated the nation of the prosperity enjoyed by some of its Southeast Asian neighbors. Nehru's revolution, Das argues, was incomplete, delivering political liberty but failing to unshackle the nation economically. In one of the more eloquent expressions of this sentiment, he tells of a meeting at which the industrialist Rahul Bajaj is threatened with imprisonment for producing more scooters than permitted by his quota. ''My grandfather went to jail for my country's freedom,'' replies Bajaj. ''I stand ready to do the same for producing on behalf of my motherland.''

Das had a ringside seat at the events he describes, and the result is an engaging account that moves easily from the big picture to the telling anecdote. Through Das, we are introduced not just to the standard pantheon of political figures but to a range of lesser-known characters from the corporate world. These include old-fashioned industrialists like Bajaj and also a new brand of businessman -- entrepreneurs like Narayana Murthy, the C.E.O. of Infosys, India's most successful software company, and Subhash Chandra, the founder of a global Hindi

satellite television channel, often called ''the Murdoch of Asia.'' Organizations such as Spectra mind, Shaadi.com, baazee.com, Silicon Spice, Mantra online Cirrus Logic, etc. The Most interesting part of the book is the way the author has gone through the entire book in terms of different periods of his own life .The way he has compared different points in his life.But the most important thing is to destroy the myth of "mixed economy"which we were following untill 1991.You will read about acts like MRTP etc etc nd .He is also very honest about his views about nehru .He has written bout his negative points but has also said that may be mixed economy was the wisdom tof the time but we failed to change after that . There are two trends pointed out in India Unbound sweeping the world which have recently converged on India. First is the liberal revolution, liberal in terms of opening up isolationist economies and integrating them into the global economy. Secondly is the information economy. He points out one of the oldest concepts in intuitive economy which is that if a poor nation is connected via trade with a rich nation, their standards of living should converge in the long run. Of course he relates this with the relatively recent creation of a true global economy. One of India's biggest failures Das points out has been in the building of human capabilities. Yet now there are government programs implementing the realization that primary education and primary health care are the two most powerful ways to eradicate poverty.

Das also theorizes that due to India's embrace of democracy first and capitalism afterwards, a seemingly unnatural inversion, India faces a plurality of interests, conflicting ideals between Nehruvian socialists, conservative forces of caste, religion and village and the new views of global capitalism. This means that India will not grow as fast as the Asians did industrially, nor will it wipe out poverty or ignorance as quickly. Das relates India's economic advances as a metaphor of an elephant, slow yet unstoppable.

The book thoroughly describes India's past and possible future. However, the book seems to portray an overnight change after the governmental change in 1991 and possibly lacks the acknowledgement of the achievements of prior regimes.

Narrative style of the author: The authors narrative style is excellent, there is a perfect blend between the facts and his own views on them. as the author is an economist his point of views are mostly related in business point of views and how India failed after independence because of the socio-democratic view of Nehru which made Indian administrators to fail miserably because of their lacking in managerial abilities.

After a long narration about the failure of Indian government before 1990, suddenly the narration changes pace when Narasimha Rao, Manmohan singh and Chidhamabaram comes in to the play. He explains how Indian economy grew at a tremendous pace after they opened up free trade with foreign countries. However at some points, the author may look pessimistic as he always criticises Nehru and his governance but all comes good at the end.

Learning from the book India today is a vibrant free-market democracy and has begun to flex its muscles in the global information economy and on the world stage. Now, acclaimed columnist Gurcharan Das traces Indias recent social and economic transformations in an eminently readable, impassioned narrative. Das tells the stories of the major players in a period of rapid and profound changefrom early days of Independence to the current software impresariosand makes comprehensible and compelling the economic and political developments responsible for these changes. He weaves his personal story into the larger context of contemporary history: his familys move t America in the mid-1950s, his education at Harvard, his years in India as a young marketing executive wrestling with a socialist system he feared would undermine the countrys vast potential. He also shows us the reasons behind his optimism for his nations future, among which is the exciting landscape of information technology today. Gurcharan Das has written this book as a retro historian, part autobiography, part a historical overview of India, as globalization changes the face of this diverse cultural mammoth! His views on globalization,

the political scenario, the business culture, along with the socio-economic facets of India are quite agreeable for a pro-globalization person like me. There are many factors affecting a paradigm shift in the way a nation is governed, and the collective perception changes.

There is a cohesive force, which makes a nation move, toward prosperity, and seeks support from a various sorts of people, communities and ideologies. There are, of course issues which should be concerning the neglecting eye. But then, I am a believer of the trickle-down effect of the economy. His stern political views may not be digested by some readers who worship the Nehru-Gandhian (Indira Gandhi & family, to make it clear) reign! There are oppositions voiced against the socialistic inclinations of the economic policy, during the prime ministership of J M Nehru, the plans by Mr P C Mahalanobis, nationalization of private enterprises during the Indira Gandhi period, etc.

On the other hand, there are appreciative stances too, on the new bred community of educated, upmarket professionals. The rest, are the changes which we are seeing in the nation, on an ongoing basis.

Das has created a book that is at once vigorously analytical and vividly written. Impassioned, erudite and eminently written India Unbound is a must for anyone interested in the global economy and its future.