India Social

Annawadi is a makeshift settlement in the shadow of luxury hotels near the Mumbai airport, and as India starts to prosper, Annawadians are electric with hope. Abdul, a reflective and enterprising Muslim teenager, sees "a fortune beyond counting" in the recyclable garbage that richer people throw away. Asha, a woman of formidable wit and deep scars from a childhood in rural poverty, has identified an alternate route to the middle class: political corruption.

In the 19th century India was under British rule. It was also a land in need of social reform. This period gave rise to several movements in the country, some of them reformist, others fighting for independence. In the course of these struggles, many individuals distinguished themselves by leading the campaign for change and bringing about a new awakening in the country. Unsung Heroes is a tribute to the courage, vision and sacrifice of some of these brave sons and daughters of India. Volume I features Mahatma Jotirao Phule, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Sarojini Naidu, Bal Gangadhar Kher, Maulana ...

Confessions of An Indian Immigrant: Dawn of IT Opportunities in the Land of Promise by Aithal is a compelling personal memoir that chronicles the journey of an ambitious young professional who leaves behind the bustling streets of Mumbai to pursue the American Dream. Set during a pivotal time in global history—before smartphones, social media, and the digitization of everyday life—the book offers a vivid recollection of life as an Indian immigrant during the early days of the information technology revolution. The narrative begins with Aithal’s decision to move to New York, a ...

On 23 May 2019, when the results of the general elections were announced, Narendra Modi and the BJP-led NDA coalition were voted back to power with an overwhelming majority. To some, the numbers of Modi's victory came as something of a surprise; for others, the BJP's triumph was a vindication of their belief in the government and its policies. Irrespective of one's political standpoint, one thing was beyond dispute: this was a landmark verdict that deserved to be reported with intelligence and without bias. Rajdeep Sardesai's new book, 2019: How Modi Won India, does just that.

Everybody Loves a Good Drought is the established classic on rural poverty in India. Twenty years after publication, it remains unsurpassed in the scope and depth of reportage, providing an intimate view of the daily struggles of the poor and the efforts, often ludicrous, made to uplift them. An illuminating introduction accompanying this 20-anniversary edition reveals, alarmingly, how a large section of India continues to suffer in the name of development so that a small percentage may prosper.

Is zero odd or even? Find out how India drove around the problem on this episode of Now I Know. Zero is an even number. Let’s get that out of the way. But if that gave you pause, you’re not alone – it can be a little hard to internalize. That’s why Wikipedia has a surprisingly long entry discussing the subject and why, according to a study from the 1990s (as explained by the BBC), “people are 10% slower at deciding whether zero is odd or even than other numbers.”

In March 2019, two militants were killed during a siege at a house in Nowgam, on the outskirts of Srinagar. One of them was known simply as 'Idrees Bhai'. The encounter was forgotten for the most part, until investigators came upon a mangled phone that had been destroyed by Idrees Bhai. When the Samsung smartphone began to reveal its secrets, investigators realized they had hit upon a motherlode.

For a brief moment on December 27, 2007, life came to a standstill in Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto, the country's former prime minister and the first woman ever to lead a Muslim country, had been assassinated at a political rally just outside Islamabad. Back in Karachi--Bhutto's birthplace and Pakistan's other great metropolis--Rafia Zakaria's family was suffering through a crisis of its own: her uncle Sohail, the man who had brought shame upon the family, was near death.

Viceroys is the story of the British aristocracy sent to govern India during the reigns of five British monarchs. It is also the story of how the modern British identity was established. British history from the Hundred Years War onwards gives an impression of how the British were seen. It is a misconception or, more kindly, a British view. Until the 19th century the British did not have an identity readily recognised throughout the world. Even the Elizabethans were never established other than as great individuals. From 1815, an image of Britain as the first superpower was built that would make do until even the 21st century.

India’s fundamentals are, no doubt, stronger now than ever before, but the country also faces several old and new challenges in the areas of politics, economics, and governance. India Ahead: 2025 and Beyond highlights the immediate priorities that need to be tackled. The primary focus of this book is to promote the country’s national interest in the long run, irrespective of any party-specific political agenda - be it the right, the left, or the in-between.

In India Positive, best-selling author and columnist Chetan Bhagat brings together essays that work as a manifesto for change. Examining a gamut of subjects—from education to employment, from GST to infrastructure, from corruption to casteism—Bhagat reflects on what we can do right in order to move forward and become a truly modern, progressive country. He expresses in this book his belief that, if we want to see reform, we—as citizens—need to be the solution. If our country is to shine, Bhagat says, we need to stand up and be 'India Positive Citizens'.

The public intellectual in India is an endangered species. Should we care? In this well-argued book, Romila Thapar and others tell us why we should. Thapar begins by defining the critical role that such individuals play in our societies today. Collectively they are the objective, fearless, constructive voice that asks the awkward questions when government, industry, religious leaders and other bulwarks of society stray from their roles of ensuring the proper functioning of a country.

Through a lyrical narrative of her journey to Tibet in 2007, activist Canyon Sam contemplates modern history from the perspective of Tibetan women. Traveling on China's new "Sky Train", she celebrates Tibetan New Year with the Lhasa family whom she'd befriended decades earlier and concludes an oral-history project with women elders.

In the next decade and a half, China and India will become two of the world's indispensable powers - whether they rise peacefully or not. During that time, Asia will surpass the combined strength of North America and Europe in economic might, population size, and military spending. Both India and China will have vetoes over many international decisions, from climate change to global trade, human rights, and business standards.

The story of the birth of India's states is the story of the birth and continuing rebirth of India, the nation. It is a story that everyone in India must know, from young to old. This rigorously researched book lays out the fascinating political and historical circumstances of the birth of India's states and union territories.

From Truman's remark to now, it has been a long journey. India and the United States, which share common values and should have been friends, found themselves caught in a cycle of resentment and mistrust for the first few decades following Indian independence. In A Matter of Trust, Meenakshi Ahamed reveals the personal prejudices and insecurities of the leaders, and the political imperatives, that so often cast a shadow over their relationship.

Spirit of India, by A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, is a book focused towards the connection of youth and nation. This book revolves around the aspirations, issues and dreams of the Indian youth in the contemporary India. As the time has changed over 60 decades of independence, the population of the youth has grown to require more and more education, growth in career, and overall development. In this time of personal ambitions, the spirit of one, India looks endangered to the author, as has been addressed in this book.

India's relations with the People's Republic of China have captured the popular imagination ever since the 1950s but have rarely merited a detailed understanding of the issues. Individual episodes tend to arouse lively debate, which often dissipates without a deeper exploration of the factors that shaped the outcomes.

In this explosive book, best-selling author Shashi Tharoor reveals with acuity, impeccable research, and trademark wit, just how disastrous British rule was for India. Besides examining the many ways in which the colonizers exploited India, he demolishes the arguments of Western and Indian apologists for Empire on the supposed benefits of British rule.

More than half of India is under the age of 25, and the country is set to have the youngest population in the world by 2021. But India's millennials are nothing like their counterparts in the West. Snigdha Poonam's remarkable cultural study of the unlikeliest of fortune-hawkers travels through the small towns of Northern India to investigate the phenomenon that is India's Generation Y. She travels through India's badlands to uncover a theater of toxic masculinity, spirited ambition, and a kind of hunger for change that is bound to drive the future of our country.