India in Slow Motion

Rating:
Summary: India Plods
Review: "India in Slow Motion" is a collection of extended essays on modern India by the BBC's former South Asia correspondent, Mark Tully. The linking theme is an examination of the Indian political/administrative system and its effect upon Indian society and the economy. Tully's verdict is a damning one - the system is outdated (the fundamentals remain largely unchanged since the British Raj), and is riven by corruption. The result is a deadweight, stifling India's potential.

Tully examines various issues in detail, for example: religious fundamentalism (both Hindu and Moslem) and its links with politics; the stories of individual entrepreneurs; IT developments; the farming industry; and the Kashmir crisis. He sets the context well for the reader, then goes on to relate interviews held with key individuals, and what he found out himself from his travels in India. This is all done in a lively, interesting and informative way.

Tully does have a point of view, his own conclusion that he wishes to put across. Yet, it is a balanced conclusion, realising that the answer to a corrupt political system and archaic (and corrupt) civil service is not a shift to extreme ("pure") capitalism. Rather, the holy grail is a balance between socialism and capitalism - a truly mixed economy minus the corruption, and with a clean civil service.

All of this raises the thorny question of whether corruption is inevitable in a society like India's (Tully and some of his interviewees tackle this head-on). One could expand the argument to say that politicians everywhere are "bought" to a greater or lesser extent - the cost of running political parties does not come cheap, and benefactors surely do not give out of the goodness of their own hearts.

Yet, the deeply-imbibed nature of corruption within the Indian system and the close relationship between the executive and administrative stratas does seem a particular problem, or so Tully would argue. It will be more difficult to disentangle because of that.

G Rodgers

Rating:
Summary: India Plods
Review: "India in Slow Motion" is a collection of extended essays on modern India by the BBC's former South Asia correspondent, Mark Tully. The linking theme is an examination of the Indian political/administrative system and its effect upon Indian society and the economy. Tully's verdict is a damning one - the system is outdated (the fundamentals remain largely unchanged since the British Raj), and is riven by corruption. The result is a deadweight, stifling India's potential.

Tully examines various issues in detail, for example: religious fundamentalism (both Hindu and Moslem) and its links with politics; the stories of individual entrepreneurs; IT developments; the farming industry; and the Kashmir crisis. He sets the context well for the reader, then goes on to relate interviews held with key individuals, and what he found out himself from his travels in India. This is all done in a lively, interesting and informative way.

Tully does have a point of view, his own conclusion that he wishes to put across. Yet, it is a balanced conclusion, realising that the answer to a corrupt political system and archaic (and corrupt) civil service is not a shift to extreme ("pure") capitalism. Rather, the holy grail is a balance between socialism and capitalism - a truly mixed economy minus the corruption, and with a clean civil service.

All of this raises the thorny question of whether corruption is inevitable in a society like India's (Tully and some of his interviewees tackle this head-on). One could expand the argument to say that politicians everywhere are "bought" to a greater or lesser extent - the cost of running political parties does not come cheap, and benefactors surely do not give out of the goodness of their own hearts.

Yet, the deeply-imbibed nature of corruption within the Indian system and the close relationship between the executive and administrative stratas does seem a particular problem, or so Tully would argue. It will be more difficult to disentangle because of that.

G Rodgers

Rating:
Summary: A revelatory and entertaining glimpse into modern India...
Review: As an Indian, I know first-hand that India never ceases to surprise and shock, but when I read this book, I discovered I was surprised and shocked to new levels! This book contains 10 chapters, each a revelatory political or social piece ranging in setting from contemporary to the Indira Gandhi era. In order, the chapters cover 1) the Hindutva movement, 2) child workers in the carpet industry, 3) the Tehelka defence corruption scandal, 4) The Indianization of Christianity in Goa, 5) Cyberabad and Chandrababu Naidu, 6) Sufism in India, 7) Globalization, economic reform and the Indian farmer, 8) VP Singh and his lesser known but equally interesting brother Sant Bux, 9) A Gujarat village that has implemented a successful water harvesting scheme and treats its Dalits well (!), and 10) Kashmir. Tully handles even the potentially depressing issues like militant Hindutva and Globalization extremely well, humanizing them with personal encounters and the relationships that he has built with the protagonists (and antagonists), and avoiding the strident or moralizing tone that could quickly grow onerous, while leaving no doubt where his sympathies lie - with the underdog. Arundhati Roy could learn a thing or two from this man. Those interested in contemporary India have much to glean from this book - the pervasive corruption and governmental malaise that cripples India (believe me, it is worse than you ever imagined), the ordinary and not-so-ordinary citizens who, against overwhelming odds, accomplish amazing things in this environment, and the odd idealist who still thrives, admist pervasive cynicism.