India Becoming: A Portrait of Life in Modern India

This thoughtful, incisive read comes from the pen of Akash Kapur, the former columnist of the "Letter from India," which appeared regularly in the IHT. Kapur's skill is to tell the 'big' story of India's ongoing economic transformation by focusing the 'small' stories of how that transformation translates into the lives of a dozen or so of this book's subjects.What does come across quite clearly is the author's skill at building relationships. He earns these people's trust and comes back to them again and again through the book's pages. I especially liked the stories involving Sathy, struggling with a world in which his position as the head of a leading family in a small town means less and less, and Hari, struggling with his sexuality in world pressuring him to follow the path of traditional marriage.Kapur eventually comes to see the insidious effects of the transformation: "Development, I came to understand, was a form of creative destruction. For everyone whose life was being regenerated or rejuvenated in modern India, there was someone, as well, whose life was being destroyed."Ultimately, it's a split decision: Kapur reveals that "I had returned from America full of enthusiasm. I celebrated what I saw as the rejuvenation of my home. Later, the enthusiasm started seeming naive, the rejuvenation something of an illusion. My optimism turned to skepticism, occasionally to despair. Now it seemed to me that I had perhaps rushed to judgment on both occasions-- that my initial, positive reaction was as hasty as my later, negative one."If you 'touch' India at all (and anyone in IT does in one way or another), this book is a fascinating read.

This is a fantastic first person, participative narration of the monumental changes occurring in India since the economic liberalization of the 1990s. The author is able to bring an outsider's perspective while being an insider in the story, and able to relate the intricate details of the social fabric without sermonizing, bias, or excessive personal interpretation. It is amazing how in a relatively short book, he has covered such a large swath of topics such as transformation of village life, consumerism in metropolises and their impact on the people's values and behaviors, ambivalence toward religion, changing roles of women in society and changing social mores, the growing environmental and ecological impacts of the new economy, lawlessness and the impotence of law enforcement and its real impact on every day lives, and a host of other related matters. What is truly remarkable is that he is able to do all this by simply tracking the lives of only about ten people in a relatively small locale in Tamilnadu around Chennai and Pondicherry, and in Bangalore, with short sojourns into Mumbai. The writing flows extremely well, and once started, it is hard to put down this book. This reviewer finished the book in one long sitting. This reviewer, of Indian origin, has lived for over thirty years in the US, and on visits to India, goes through the same thoughts and reactions that are reflected in this book. It all rings very true. While the author expresses opinions, they are done in an unobtrusive manner, and largely without judgement, and more importantly, he shares the euphoria about the new wealth creation, as well as the artificiality and rudderless nature of the new consumerism. In the end, he himself comes to peace with these opposing forces and is ready to be a spectator in these transformations and upheavals of a billion people. This is truly one of the best books on such a topic and is a must read.

This is an ethnographic study of how the lives of common people are being impacted by contemporary economic development in India. Kapur’s writing style draws the reader into the lives of his characters as they cope with unique challenges. All the characters in this book are persons who believe in the new emerging India and are committed to making successful lives for themselves. Beneath the stories of the lives of these characters, one can sense Kapur’a own odyssey of re-settling in India after living many years in the United States.Although all the characters are strong-willed, some are naïve, some are ill-prepared and some are very wise, their stories reveal how contemporary economic developments are creating new opportunities and new challenges for some, while affecting the lives of everyone.The basic take away from this book is that urban India is expanding. That is, people from the nearby villages with some education and drive are moving into the cities, and concurrently, cities are encroaching into neighboring villages. Most of these people from the villages are ill-prepared to handle the modes of city life, and their cultural norms that once protected them in the village are a hindrance to successfully negotiate the challenges of city life. Further, as cities intrude into neighboring villages, village life and village modes are breaking and the solitary beauty of rural India is being displaced by environmental chaos.A secondary underlying theme is that the market economy is not being managed by good government, the rule of ‘gundagari’ has replaced yesterday’s license raj.

Human indifference to each other's plight is rampant in India! Accepting one's insignificance is truly sad!

Bought this book because I'm going to be traveling to India next year and I'm glad I did. Kapur's vantage point is a fascinating one, writing as a native who got highly educated in the U.S. but came back home to live and raise a family. The reader sees how dramatically India has changed through his eyes. Overall, the major point is about how technology and corporate growth are changing the country, much is gained but a great deal is lost, and the author explores this is poignant examples. He shows us what is lost in the way of human connection and tradition: Kapur introduces us to people thrilled with their new career possibilities and others devastated by the lost of farmland and livelihoods.

As an English ex-pat living in Tamil Nadu I'm often asked by friends back home to describe the changes happening in India. I have always found it difficult because, whilst I can see what is happening now, I have no experience of the past to compare it to. Now I don't need to try to explain to my friends - I can just tell them to read this book!Mr Kapur has an engaging style of writing, informative but not overly academic, and is able to describe his characters and their lives in a truly sympathetic way. The contrasts between how he remembers India from his childhood and the reality today are striking, the rapid pace of social and economic change creating as many issues for this `new-returnee' as for the people he is describing. The people he has chosen to interview come from varied walks of life and social levels and will give anyone who does not know India well a real insight into what life is like here today.Mr Kapur's hopes and fears for the future are a reflection of the hopes and fears of a whole country as it moves into an ever more important role on the world stage. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand more fully the people of this new emerging nation.

Loved this book - it's written almost like a novel with characters that keep reappearing over the course of the story, keeping the reader turning the pages wanting to find out what happens to his favourite characters. The book looks at different facets of Indian society - an aristocratic landowner, a modern business woman, young people from the country trying to make their life in the big cities, a Dalit etc. I've given it as a present a few times and will probably re-read it soon.

Individual portraits and stories giving a feeling of the dynamics of changes and their consequences in South Indian peri-urban areas. A new world, a century away from R.K. Narayan's but with same or, at least, similar roots. A glimps of what "development and fast progress" can mean in a basically traditional environment. A very good contribution to the understanding of modern India.

Mr Kapur gives a clear portrait of India in transition and by focussing on well-told stories of individual people, he manages to paint a much larger picture of the state of the nation and its contradictions. The writing is clear and undemanding, the observations sympathetic and it's a really good read.What the book lacked for me were several things.Mr Kapur fails to bring out the funny side which strikes westerners when they observe some of the more bizarre goings-on in India, and to experienced India-watchers these reveal that even in all its apparent modernity and aping of the west, India will always remain quintessially indian in its way of being western. The best writing about life must always have some humour.But perhaps my biggest disappointment is that Mr Kapur, having grown up and now living in Auroville and being heir to the wonderful, profound insights of Sri Aurobindo, fails to bring enough of that knowledge and vision to his own observations.India, having for centuries languished in a material poverty for the masses and a generally escapist traditional spirituality as the almost inevitable response, is now going through a riot of material and consumerist indulgence and it is perhaps only once it gets to the inevitable conclusion of that curve of its evolution and finds the emptiness in all the excesses that it will realise again its spiritual treasures but then be ready to integrate matter and spirit in a new, transformed life.

Akash Kapur beschreibt das Leben verschiedener Inder, die er über Jahre hinweg interviewt und die alle für einen Teil der indischen Gesellschaft stehen. Da sind der Landbesitzer aus der alten Elite, der Computerexperte in der Boomstadt Bangalore, die junge Frau vom Land, die jetzt im Callcenter arbeitet, aber auch der Viehhändler und der Müllsammler. Alle Porträts sind präzise und spannend geschrieben, und jedes zeigt die Widersprüchlichkeit zwischen Wohlstand und Chancen einerseits, aber auch das Auseinanderbrechen sozialer Strukturen, neues Elend und die Zerstörung der Umwelt. Ich habe es als wohltuend empfunden, dass dem Leser keine Botschaft verkündet wird, und er vielmehr mit vielen Fragen allein gelassen wird. Ich habe das Buch während einer Indienreise gelesen, und es hat mir die Augen für viele Zusammenhänge geöffnet bis hin zum Verständnis, wie viel eine der allgegenwärtigen Kühe kostet und wem sie wohl gehören könnte. Ich bin zurückgekommen mit unzähligen Eindrücken von einem großartigen und widersprüchlichem Land. "India Becoming" hat mir geholfen, vieles zu verstehen, und ich kann das Buch jedem empfehlen, der etwas über Indien lernen möchte, aber nicht die einfache und griffige Erklärung für dieses Land sucht.