Being Indian: Inside the Real India

(Paperback)

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A compelling journey through the paradoxes, myths and realities of India, by 'one of the country's most perceptive writers.' (Guardian) In the 21st century every sixth human being will be Indian. India is very close to becoming the second largest consumer market in the world, with a buying middle class numbering over half a billion.It is in the top ten in overall GNP. Yet at least 200 million Indians remain desperately poor. Illiteracy rates are high. Communal violence is widespread; corruption endemic. Brides are still tortured and burnt for dowries; the caste system has lost little of its power and none of its brutality. How are we to make sense of these two, apparently contradictory, pictures of India today And how can we overcome the many misconceptions about India that are fed by the stereotypes created by foreigners and the myths about themselves projected by Indians In Being Indian, Pavan Varma, whom the Guardian has called 'one of the country's most perceptive writers', demolishes the myths and generalisations as he turns his sharply observant gaze on his fellow countrymen to examine what really makes Indians tick and what they have to offer the world in the 21st century.

Reviews

"Pavan Varma is one of India's most admired and widely-read writers of non-fiction, and in Being Indian he has excelled himself ... Brilliant ... Varma shows how India's self-image has been distorted by simplistic myth-making, and sets out to find instead what it really means to be Indian" -- William Dalrymple "A well-researched and urgent inquiry that is informed as much by allusions to Hindu mythological texts as it is by a knowledge of current affairs and popular culture" New Statesman "A stimulating and readable polemic" Sunday Times "Elegantly written ... Being Indian is one of the most subtle recent attempts to analyze the continent-sized mosaic of India" The Economist

Author Bio

A member of the Indian Foreign Service, Pavan K. Varma has served in Moscow, in New York and in Cyprus. He has been Press Secretary to the President of India and is currently director of the Nehru Centre in London.