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wealthiest men in the world , sharing the podium with
their countrymen who constitute forty percent of the
world’s hungry. Changes in India are the result of
many factors, some more tangible or visible than
others—often having much to do with the persistence
of the past and fragility of the future, about modest
victories and difficult challenges. This is what Shashi
Tharoor has attempted to capture in his eclectic and
whimsical compilation of “Reflections on India.”
The volume spans the topics of history, culture,
society and sports, with occasional thoughts on
economy and business. The book is divided into six
parts, each of which focuses on a very broad theme.
However, in spite of this focus, each chapter covers
subjects at times unrelated to one another. For
instance, in his chapter “India at Work and Play” Mr.
Tharoor writes about Gandhi, democracy, Indian
holidays, his Bombay childhood, the sari, police,
literacy, renaming of Indian cities and India’s urban
heritage. In other chapters he tackles not so adeptly,
both serious and light topics: Hinduism and
nationalism, cricket, Bollywood and politicians,
poverty, relations with Pakistan, Indian Muslims, Indian
women, finishing up with a glossary, “A to Z of Being
Indian.”
All the essays, however, fall roughly into one of
the three categories: memoirs, essays on
development and international relations, and pieces
on idiosyncratic subjects, like the decline in the
popularity of the sari, Indian police, name spelling and
superstitions, Indian intelligence services, etc. Essays
in the latter category make for an interesting read, not
least because they are less familiar and rare to come
across in the press. However, when Mr. Tharoor—
perhaps as a result of his background as a former
senior United Nations official—delves into
international relations theory, or topics widely covered
by the media, the tone becomes somewhat dry and
brings to mind a policy memo. These few didactic
chapters aside, the author’s knowledge of Indian
history and domestic politics, reinforced by his
profound concern for the country, personal
experiences and literary skill, makes for an engaging
read.
“Indians Who Made My India” is perhaps my
favorite chapter, thanks to the Mr. Tharoor’s
compassionate and moving account of the lives of
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India’s prominent personages as well as the people
dear to him, including his family and friends. The
author dusts off the portraits of frequently forgotten
or misunderstood political and cultural icons—
Krishna Menon, Srinivasa Ramanujan, M.F. Husain,
Amartya Sen and a few others. In this chapter, he also
candidly writes about his friends’ accomplishments
and their tragedies, rendering a more intimate picture
of his country’s global citizens.
Judging from the book’s subtitle, Mr. Tharoor’s
selected topics are supposed to illustrate aspects of
India’s changing position as a power to be contended
with on the global stage. On one level, most economic
indicators—the Indian economy has grown at the
average rate of 7% in the past few years and poverty
dropped by 10% between 1991 and 2001—may give
credence to the author’s optimistic outlook of India
turning into another Asian tiger. But on another level,
a portrayal of India as an emerging power is too
premature. Although the author mentions India’s
many political, economic and social challenges in the
“Dangers to India’s Future” chapter, he glosses over
the gravity of certain problems. He understates the
Herculean effort required from the government, civil
society and the aam admi, the common man, to meet
the challenges that India faces on its way to creating
broad-based economic prosperity and a tolerant
society.
Problems such as demographic pressures,
communal violence, sectarianism, a weak judiciary,
absence of civic culture and overall apathy, are just a
few of the daunting challenges India’s government
and its people have to overcome. If these issues aren’t
tackled, the inequity gap and sectarianism may tear
India apart. Mr Tharoor’s scenario of the rising India
might be rewritten by India’s desperate masses taking
things into their own hands. The Naxalite movement,
its supra-state status and its resort to spontaneous
tribunals in search of justice, doesn’t make this
scenario that implausible.
The author, however, rightly points out that in
order to leverage India’s soft power—its attractiveness
to the outside world—Indians “must ensure that they
do enough to keep their people healthy, well-fed, and
secure not just from jihadi terrorism but from the daily
terror of poverty, hunger, and ill health.” Moreover, in
Mr. Tharoor’s opinion, the cultural pluralism and
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