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Tag: nonfiction

Is Policy Impeding India’s Tryst with Destiny? An Excerpt From In Service of The Republic

Posted on by Penguin India

Etched in India’s history as a period of remarkable growth, the decades spanning 1991 to 2011 saw a surge in wealth creation for the rich, considerable advancement in material comforts for the middle class and a noticeable decline in the number of people below the poverty line.

‘There was an optimism in this period of a kind that was perhaps last seen immediately after Independence. Finally, to many of us, India was getting on its feet,’ write economists and authors Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah.

Post 2011, the slump in the high growth performance of those two decades raises important questions about Indian economics and policymaking. In Service Of The Republic investigates policy and its impact on nations.

***

In mature countries, one element of the privacy problem is well established: the need to restrict government access to information about individuals, i.e., to tie down surveillance by the government into rule-of-law procedures and limit the extent of surveillance. This has evolved in the UK and in Europe over centuries. The conflict between state access to personal information, and human freedom, is particularly seen in the authoritarian governments of the twentieth century. This is the prime problem in the field of privacy, and is a largely settled matter in mature democracies.

In recent years, there is fresh concern about the abuse of information about individuals by firms such as Facebook. European policymakers have pushed to the frontiers of the field with the ‘General Data Protection Regulation’ (GDPR) in the EU.

A simple reading of the contemporary literature on privacy in mature democracies is, then, quite misleading. Such a reader would see the bulk of the contemporary policy discourse as being the debates around GDPR and its enforcement. A reader of this literature would think that Facebook is a major problem in the field of privacy. Policy recommendations in India may flow from this study of the international experience that we have to block information access about Indians by Facebook using a legal instrument on the lines of GDPR. This position would be treated warmly by persons in India who are hostile to foreign companies.

Such transplantation of the international experience would, however, be incorrect for two reasons. First, access to personal information by the state is far more dangerous for individuals as compared with access to this information by private firms. Second, a law like GDPR makes assumptions about UK or EU state capacity. To favour creating a new privacy regulator that will coerce private firms on the question of privacy, without the checks and balances prevalent in the EU, would work out poorly in India.  In the Indian discourse, we have rapidly run ahead to proposing criminal sanctions, in the hands of the proposed ‘Data Protection Authority’.

***

Having developed a nuanced perspective on economics, political philosophy and public administration in their careers as professional economists as well as former civil servants, Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah offer remarkable clarity on the art and  science of policymaking in the meticulously researched In Service of the Republic.

 

An Interview with Kabir Khan- An Excerpt from ‘Directors’ Diaries 2’

Posted on by Penguin India

‘One of the primary principles of directing is making choices, you have to make one about whether something is right or wrong, because there is no middle ground. As a director, you make a choice and then stick with it, all the way.’

Directors’ Diaries 2 is an anthology by Rakesh Anand Bakshi that features the voices of some of India’s greatest film makers – -Shyam Benegal, Tanuja Chandra, Kabir Khan, Abhishek Chaubey, Nandita Das, Shakun Batra, Prabhu Deva and Mohit Suri-as well as significant but often overlooked behind-the-scenes crew such as spot boy Salim Shaikh, make-up artist Vikram Gaikwad and sound designer Rakesh Ranjan.

The book gives a peek into the lives, souls and motivations of these icons and can be a truly wonderful resource for young film-makers.

Read an excerpt from the book below:

Kabir Khan

FILMOGRAPHY: Kabul Express (2006); New York (2009); Ek Tha Tiger (2012); Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015); Phantom (2015); Tubelight (2017)

 

What made you script Kabul Express as your first feature film?

KK: After the 9/11 terror attack in New York, I found myself doing a lot of documentary work in and about Afghanistan. Eventually, I shot two or three documentaries in Afghanistan, as guerrilla short films. I had a huge number of real stories and anecdotes from my personal experiences in Afghanistan, which would churn in my conscious and subconscious mind, and I realized what I had experienced in Afghanistan would make a great story by itself. Thus inspired, I sat down one day to write the story of Kabul Express. In hindsight, it was easy to put it all down as a screenplay, because I basically just had to string together our experiences. I wrote the script within two or three months, which, I think, has been the fastest that I’ve written a script to date.

Considering your films may reflect socio-political themes, do you make them to raise questions or answers?

KK: Neither. Primarily, I just want to tell a story. But I do like to tell a story against a certain socio-political context, which has some sort of resonance, first within me, and then, in society. Having said that, my storytelling is neither agenda-driven nor thoughtdriven. But, yes, I think, I would like to say that I make films that raise some questions and may sometimes give a few answers that have not been heard before.

How did you get someone to produce Kabul Express?

KK: I was married by then and Mini was a VJ with MTV. So, she had a bit of an ‘engagement’ with Bollywood people; MTV VJs were celebrities back then. Mini knew some well-placed people and got me some important numbers of people I could pitch my script to. Jaideep Sahni, a screenplay writer who had written Khosla Ka Ghosla (2006), was a friend, and helped me procure the numbers of actors and producers. I started contacting them.

However, whoever I narrated the story of Kabul Express to reacted with, ‘Wow! What a lovely story! But it is a very “different” film! Difficult to make.’ They felt there was no market for such a film. I was clear that I would be able to shoot it in Kabul, because for me, Kabul was not a location, it was a character in my film; and I had already shot two documentaries there and survived. I was confident that I’d be able to pull off a feature film there.

Meanwhile, I never gave up on trying to cast well-known actors. I went to all kinds of producers and production houses— new, old, semi-old, semi-new, small, very small, medium, big, very big. But I never approached Yashraj Films, because conventional wisdom told me, ‘Yashraj? To produce this kind of film? No way! Are you crazy!’

While I waited for producers to revert, I began to look for actors myself. I approached Arshad Warsi. Arshad’s wife is my wife’s friend so it wasn’t that difficult to meet him. He read the script and was immediately on board. Then, I met John Abraham and he too agreed to be in the film. With these two in, I thought my chances of getting a producer would increase exponentially. However, I was proved wrong. I still could not convince anyone to make the film.

An executive producer friend of mine, without my knowledge, had given the script to Adi [Aditya Chopra of Yashraj Films], because, at that point, he was looking for films outside his comfort zone. This friend knew about it because he was working with Adi. I received a call out of the blue from Yashraj Films. The caller informed me that Aditya Chopra wanted to meet me. I thought it was a prank. I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, sure. Like, hell! Adi Chopra would want to meet me, a first-time film-maker whose script is nowhere close to the kind of films Yashraj makes!’ However, I eventually realized the caller was serious and was indeed calling me from Yashraj Films!

Within five minutes of that call, Jaideep Sahni called me. He had read my script long ago, because I had bounced it off him as a friend. He said Adi wanted to meet me because he had read my script and liked it. Later, I found out that when Adi had mentioned my script to Jaideep, he had replied that he already knew about it because he had read it long ago and liked it too, and had even suggested changes. Adi had then asked him about me and Jaideep had told him, ‘Kabir’s a friend and he is capable of directing this film.’ And that’s when Adi decided to meet me and his office called me.

It was a momentous feeling when I entered Yashraj Films’ office to meet this mythical character, producer and director called Aditya Chopra. When I met him, he said, ‘I have read your script, it really moved me and I want to produce it. When can we start?’ And that was it! Adi stood by me like a rock, from day one.

Can you tell us how you usually direct an actor?

KK: Like I said, I believe in giving minimal directions on the first take. I just convey the context of the scene to them, tell them about the backdrop of the moment they are in at that point of the screenplay, where it’s headed, and that’s it. Once I give them that information, I wait to watch what the actor is going to give me in the very first take, or the rehearsal, building on whatever little I have told them. From that a few questions get answered. For example, are they on the same page as me? Have they gone somewhere else? Is the path they’ve taken more interesting than mine? Should I explore that zone, their intuition, their understanding of my scene? Or have they missed the mark completely? Then and only then do I start putting in or pulling out from their understanding and performance.

Frankly, I don’t know whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing, the way I function with my actors, and I do not know how others direct. It’s worked for me so far, or so I feel.

Grab your copy of Directors’ Diaries 2 today to discover how they were first drawn to the craft of film-making to how they got that elusive first break.

Q & A: HH The Dalai Lama on India, its Teachings and His message to our World Leaders

Posted on by Penguin India

How much has India and its ancient Indian texts inspired your thinking and teaching?

Tibet’s first contact with Buddhism occurred with the arrival of a Chinese princess in the seventh century. But, a century later, the Tibetan Emperor chose to introduce Buddhism from India. He invited Shantarakshita, a venerable monk, philosopher and logician, and the foremost scholar of his day at Nalanda University, to visit Tibet. He advised the Emperor to initiate the translation of Indian Buddhist literature into Tibetan.

We Tibetans have kept this tradition alive since then, with its emphasis on the use of logic and reason and its systematic understanding of the workings of the mind and emotions. As a simple human being, a Tibetan and a Buddhist, I myself am a student of this tradition—indeed, every cell of my brain is filled with Nalanda thought. We learn fundamental texts by heart, study classic Indian and Tibetan commentaries to them, and, on the basis of logic and reason, debate what we’ve learned with each other. This sharpens the mind and yields deep understanding.

 

In the foreword you mention ‘Eight Verses for Training The Mind’, how much has the book influenced you?

This short text the ‘Eight Verses for Training the Mind’ contains instructions not only for developing the awakening mind of bodhichitta, the cultivation of warm-hearted compassion, but also for developing a view of reality. I first received an explanation of it from the then Regent, Tagdrag Rinpoché, when I was a small boy; later I heard it from my junior tutor, Kyabjé Trijang Rinpoché. I’ve been reciting it and thinking about it daily since then.

The text reminds us that when we give to the poor we should do so respectfully; we should treasure ill-natured trouble-makers and give the victory to others, regarding enemies as precious teachers. We should cultivate the practice of ‘giving and taking’ and regard all things as like illusions, asking ourselves whether things really exist the way they appear.

In my daily practice, to review the entire path to enlightenment I use the ‘Foundation of All Excellence’, but to renew my practice of compassion, I recite the ‘Eight Verses for Training the Mind’. There are other times too, when a flight is delayed and I might feel impatient—this is the text I repeat to myself.

 

If there was a message that you would want to give to the world leaders of today, what would it be?

We need to remember the oneness of humanity, that in being human we are all the same. When I see two eyes, one mouth, one nose, I know I’m dealing with another human being like me. I’m like those young children who don’t care about their companions’ background so long as they smile and are willing to play. To emphasise nationality, religion, and colour just creates division. We have to look at things on a deeper level and remember that we are all the same as human beings.

As social animals, human beings depend on the community in which they live, and these days that community is the whole of humanity. To meet the challenges that affect us all, such as the climate crisis, we must work together. Scientists have been warning us for some time of the dangers we face. We cannot simply exploit this planet and its natural environment; we have to take care of it.

 

 

Decoding the Spaces in Lisa Brennan- Jobs’ Life in Her Memoir ‘Small Fry’

Posted on by Penguin India

Born on a farm and named in a field by her parents- artist Chrisann Brennan and co-founder of Apple Inc. Steve Jobs- Lisa Brennan-Jobs’ childhood unfolded in a rapidly changing Silicon Valley.

‘That is my father and no one knows it but it’s true’, mused a young Lisa as she stared at the face splashed across newspapers and magazines. Struggling to find her place at the periphery of her father’s ever expanding life, Lisa gradually manoeuvred a winding path into the relationship that seemed to define her.

Read excerpts from Small Fry that give insight into her relationship with her father, Steve Jobs:

 

  1. Meeting the man who had fathered her made him real while not having him around left a gaping void. Oscillating between his presence and absence made young Lisa question the veracity of the reunion-

‘I hadn’t seen him for years, and I wouldn’t see him for years after that. The memory of this day, the outlandish house and my strange father, seemed surreal when I thought of it later, as if it hadn’t really happened.’

 

  1. Meandering around his mansion on a bright afternoon, Lisa revelled in an elusive moment of Steve’s awareness of her presence as she drank in the quirks and features of her father’s physicality-

‘His face looked fresh against the dark, shiny hair. Being near him in the bright light with the smells of dirt and trees, the spaciousness of the land, was electric and magical. Once I caught him looking at me sidelong….’

  1. For Lisa, Steve was a puzzle and her endless curiosity to find all the pieces to their relationship made her wonder at all that was within him-

‘Steve . I knew so little about him. He was like those Michelangelo sculptures of men trapped in rough stone, half smooth, half rough, that made you imagine the part inside that had not yet come out.’

  1. Playing on a trampoline with her father, Lisa couldn’t bring herself to surrender to the joy of the moment. Unable to bridge the distance between them she was pitifully aware of the gaze of those around-

‘Twice we found ourselves coming down to land at the same moment. I prayed we wouldn’t touch; it would be too intimate. I was conscious of scrabbling away from accidental closeness in front of strangers.’

  1. Despite the indifference that rattled her, for Lisa, her father was a man of the world and her connection to a larger universe that she would eventually step into-

‘For me, it was the opposite: the closer I was to him, the less I would feel ashamed; he was part of the world, and he would accelerate me into the light.’

  1. For her first ever vacation, Steve took Lisa to Hawaii and in a moment where he realised they were anchored to predestined bonds of blood, he gave Lisa a glimpse of his awe at being her father-

‘Look how we both have eyebrows that come together in the middle,” he said. “And how we have the same nose.”

  1. Having lost out on her father’s presence repeatedly throughout her life, Lisa seemed determined to hold on to some tangible evidence of his being even as the final darkness crept forward to claim him-

‘Three months before he died, I began to steal things from my father’s house. I wandered around barefoot and slipped objects into my pockets. I took blush, toothpaste, two chipped finger bowls……’

When she was young, Lisa’s father was a mythical figure who was rarely present in her life. As she grew older, he took an interest in her, ushering her into a new world of mansions, vacations, and private schools.

Small Fry is a poignant coming-of-age story of a child growing up in disparate worlds as she grapples with feelings of illegitimacy and shame but also admiration for the father she yearns for.

Is Money the Ultimate Measure of Happiness?

Posted on by Penguin India

In a world driven by quantitative economic progress, the idea of measuring Gross National Happiness (GNH) was introduced by the King of Bhutan in the 1970’s. GNH takes into account a mix of quality-of-life factors to determine the happiness and well- being of a nation. A powerful countervailing force to the concept of GNH is the fiercely competitive world of corporate success where the irrepressible urge to be everywhere, to own everything and to do all that before everyone else takes precedence over the fundamental human goal of being happy.

Read on to learn 5 Ways to increase one’s Happiness Quotient!

 

Align Physical and Mental Wellness

‘Listen to your body. If you are tired, rest. If you are hungry, eat. If you are lonely, communicate, ask for a hug. If you are angry, deal with your anger constructively, resolve it.’

Build Nurturing Relationships

‘Belonging to a supportive nurturing group is the best protection you can have against disease and unhappiness. Being loved can prevent you from the flood of negative emotions that have the capacity to destroy you. Today many people have no friends and are not in touch with their families either. They are more comfortable with an undemanding computer than with a person.’

Combat Stress

‘There is, of course, no way to make the situations less tough. Meditation and pranayama provide a way of reducing the automatic and violent reactions to stress. You can actually control autonomous systems like heartbeat and pulse rate, which were thought to be outside the individual’s control.’

Deal with Loss

‘Positive self-talk helps in such situations. Be prepared to sacrifice, to wait and do not rush to gratify every desire. Continue with your life’s work and you will be healed. A high-tolerance level when faced with frustration is due to the capacity to motivate oneself. Motivate yourself to heal.’

Engage the Power of Emotional Fields

‘Just as you can clean your physical space, your house, your office, so too do you have the ability to clean the clutter within your mental space. Sweep out all ill will, anger, fear, anxiety and the sad baggage of the past. Replace it with the smiles of loved ones, laughter and joy, peace and harmony.’

Dr. Rekha Shetty, founder of the Minds Power brand and Managing Director of Firstar Distribution Network Ltd, works exclusively on innovation initiatives and work-life balance. In The Happiness Quotient, she gives you the mantra to achieve excellence in the corporate world and still be happy in life.

 

 

 

 

What Can We Learn from the Chinese Companies?

Posted on by Penguin India

The Chinese invest hugely in understanding foreign cultures and markets while being confident in the knowledge that their competitors and would-be allies are unlikely to make sufficient effort to understand them.

‘Running with the Dragon’ by Saibal Dasgupta has nine case studies, which are inspiring stories of Indian and Chinese businesspersons engaged in remarkable work. The book also looks into the strengths and weaknesses of Indian companies operating in China, and the Chinese firms that have begun to unsettle sections of the Indian market.

Chinese private companies are very straightforward. Wherever there is a market, they will go and explore it. Chinese companies are risk-takers who expect to face bottlenecks and the possibility of returning after withdrawing investments.

There is a lesson for Indian companies about the successes that can be achieved by putting together IT and engineering talent. Recent forays of Chinese companies climbing the top rungs of the ladder in sunrise industries is an example of that.

There are signs Chinese investors are keener on the less-served tier II and tier III cities instead of sweating it out in the congested markets of tier 1 cities.

With a one-party rule driven by capitalistic passion, China’s diplomatic missions have been able to work hand in hand with their companies, often negotiating on their behalf across different countries.

Chinese phone makers have cut through their negative image of an invasive and dangerous neighbor and become successful in the retail segment, because they have successfully converted the classy brand game in smartphones into a more rowdy and democratic commodity play.

China has been investing heavily in research. The European Chamber says China spent around USD 300 billion on research and development, nearly 2.2 per cent of GDP. Sheer scale in absolute figures might, at some point, give China an advantage over smaller industrialized countries that spend much less.

India is China’s seventh biggest trading partner, far ahead of advanced countries like the United Kingdom. Beijing knows India, with its demographic dividend, holds a huge untapped potential that goes beyond the future growth opportunities in several countries, including Japan and South Korea. It is time for Indian companies to start collaborating with Chinese players on a global scale. The process has already begun. It is time for more players to join the party.

Running with the Dragon is a crucial lesson in navigating the market today.

An Indian woman in Afghanistan

Posted on by Penguin India

Afghanistan has been under siege for decades and while ‘it is easy to forget that Kabul existed 3000 years ago’, Taran N. Khan renders a vivid account of her travel tales through Kabul in her latest book – Shadow City.

Travel with her through Kabul:

Taran’s first encounter in the land of Pashtuns reminds her that she isn’t far from home

She recollects the time when an immigration officer exclaimed,

‘”Khan?” … “Yes,” I replied, eager to tell my story. “My ancestors were from here.” “Then what are you doing there?” he demanded in good Urdu, amused by my excitement. He stamped the page with a flourish. “Welcome back.”‘

 

While walking through the city, she uncovers the wonders of Kabul

‘from the Shahr-e-Kohna, or the old city, to the Shahr-e-Nau, or new suburbs’. Step by step she drifts through narrow lanes, relaying historical records, spotting European influences on architecture, capturing the cryptic similarities between the city she was born in – Aligarh, and the city believed to be connected by ‘a bridge (pul) made of straw (kah)’ – Kabul.

 

Taran comes out of her comfort zone

Shadow City highlights the conservative Muslim culture Taran witnessed while growing up in Aligarh. Being constantly confined to her room, she developed an interest in reading books. She remarks that,

‘… the world outside my door was as distant as a faraway continent. I ventured into it like a tourist. … Books were thus my private continent, providing both excitement and safety.’ But on one of her visits when she forgets to pack her books, she soon manages to find a way to read the city of Kabul, venturing through the lanes to find hidden charms like the ‘bookshop (that) has remained open through each of Kabul’s shifting eras: Communist, Mujahideen, Taliban, ISAF.’ 

 

Taran feels nostalgic whenever she visits Kabul

Each of her visits reminded her of the stories illustrated by Baba, who was well versed in Persian, uncovering myths like –

‘… He knew that the celebrated Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi had been born in Balkh, in northern Afghanistan, rather than Turkey, as I had assumed (which was why in Kabul I often heard him referred to as Maulana Jalauddin Balkhi).’ 

 

She finds similarities between the culture in Kabul and Aligarh

She delves deeper into the interiors of the city and finds herself getting nostalgic at the sight of finding ‘a functioning cinema in Kabul.’ Watching a film meant evading the confines of a house that women were mostly restricted to in Aligarh. It symbolized freedom and modernity for Taran, even if it meant scurrying out at night with other girls and aunts. She recalls that in Kabul, as in Aligarh,

‘The cinema was so exclusive, … that people were not allowed to enter in traditional Afghan clothes. … From these stories, I learned that in Kabul, like in Aligarh, cinema was an escape. It was also a place of aspiration, a window to a world that was still far away, still full of wonders.’

Taran realizes the nuances of love 

We have seen many a movies relaying emotion of ‘arranged love’. The ties of matrimony are arranged in a distinctly similar manner in most of the South Asian region. As Taran listened to Saleem’s love tales, she wondered that,

‘The fact that the couple had never spoken to each other, the intense scrutiny to nuanced signs— we were accustomed to this. That was how love played out, in Kabul as in Aligarh.’

Taran’s fascinating exploration will inspire you to visit Kabul

As Taran embarks on the journey to explore the fascinating city, nervously repeating

‘”Red stones mean danger,” … “White stones mean safety”’, she paints a beguiling picture of the city that demands a visit.

Discover Kabul through author’s layered lens in her latest book Shadow City.

Phunchok Stobdan Answers Our Burning Questions

Posted on by Penguin India

The Great Game in the Buddhist Himalayas by Phunchok Stobdan is an attempt to provide several unknown insights into the India-China, India-Tibet and China-Tibet relationships. The book tries to take into consideration the overriding power of the conflicting cultural interests that are linked to the geopolitical interests of both China and India. At the same time, the book suggests how Buddhism could become a potential source for recultivating awareness towards an India–China congruity in the current context.

In the interview below, Phunchok Stobdan talks about his book and more!

  1. What inspired you to write the book? 

 

Over the years, I have been receiving many compliments for my writings – essentially short commentaries, opinion pieces that I have been contributing to several media outlets and academic journals. The positive comments received from the readers motivated me further to elaborate my views on the subject, for the average reader knows little about the geopolitical complexity of the Himalayas.

There was certainly some fear that initially held me back from touching on the subject, but it my editor, Ms. Swati Chopra, Senior Commissioning Editor of Penguin India, who motivated me to undertake this project. I agreed with her because I had nothing to lose. I am very grateful to her.

 

  1. Were there any challenges? 

 

As always, writing on a sensitive subject like the Himalayas and Tibet is challenging not because the issues are at times shrouded in mystery as they are also mostly metaphysical in nature but because of the inbuilt political narrative that had been set for decades and embedded into the national discourse. Putting forward a contrary viewpoint and disturbing the status quo was challenging.

 

  1. Anything you would like our readers to know that would complement their experience while reading the book?

 

While I do not discount the importance of moral values and principle in the conduct of international politics, but the nature of world affairs have become more transactional especially after the end of the Cold War. India, for a very long time, has been playing a very opaque and open-ended game which has not endured well as it should have.  India’s strategic outlook towards the Himalayan region had been defined a long time go and continued to remain in practice despite the cost. On the other hand, the game pursued by India’s adversaries has been constantly changing. It is time to review our policies towards the Himalayas such as the one the country has with regards to Jammu & Kashmir. A robust policy like the one adopted for Ladakh by granting it a Union Territory status would alter the game in India’s favour.

  1. What are five reasons to read your book?

The Himalayas are no longer mystic and can’t be romanticized. Today, the Himalayas is a contested area – a theatre of competition by proxy among major powers.

This book important to understand:

a) The geo-cultural landscape of Buddhist Himalayas, its profile and the competing narratives that are being built over the years;

b) The dynamic interplay between the Tibetans vis-à-vis Himalayan Buddhist world, similarities and differences;

c) How the ‘Tibet issue’ and the discourse surrounding it has gradually overshadowed the Himalayan dynamics that has vilely blurt the Indian frontier outlook;

d) How the Chinese would eventually succeed in leveraging the critical issues of Himalayan Buddhism to meet its own geopolitical goals;

e) How India’s interests in the Buddhist Himalayas are rapidly getting compromised as compared to the Himalayan game played more perceptively by British India;

f) The Buddhist Himalayas are not a monolith region as generally perceived by people as there are inbuilt complexities and fault lines;

Finally to highlight how India has seemingly failed to grasp the dynamic interplay between sectarian affiliation and power politics — between the Tibetan plateau and the political landscape in the Indian Himalayas.

It is a case of missing the woods for the trees; clearly, understanding Himalayan complexity in India requires much more than bureaucratic bean-counting.

 

  1. Any particular sources you used to research into the India-China relationship?

 

The book is based on the official sources and vernacular media reporting. Some of the points identified are based on my experiences in the field; as a result of personal interaction with informed circles, participation in numerous conferences, seminars and discussions. Impressions gathered during my prolonged stay in Inner and Central Asia including personal visits to the Himalayan region (Sikkim, Bhutan, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Jammu & Kashmir and West Bengal) were used while writing this book. Being a native of the Himalayan region has definitely helped in writing this book.

 

  1. Do you think there will be any winners in this ‘great game’? Why? Why not?

 

Unless India evolves clarity of thoughts and objectivity, the Himalayan game is likely to remain in obscurity – largely driven by invisible actors without any tangible benefits for India. The real winner in the game should be safeguarding the interests of 1.3 billion people of India.

To know more about this Great Game, grab your copy of The Great Game in the Buddhist Himalayas today!

The Maoists and Nepal: Excerpt from ‘The Nepal Nexus’

Posted on by Penguin India

The Maoist revolt, despite its ultimate failure, played a decisive role in the socio-political transformation of Nepal. In The Nepal Nexus, author Sudheer Sharma attempts to present a nuanced understanding of the poverty, oppression and unemployment that drove the revolt.

He further assesses the relationship between the Maoists, the monarchy (Durbar), and the Indian establishment (Delhi) to understand the trajectory of the revolt.

Here is an excerpt that introduces the strand of the book:

The previous decade (1996–2006) had witnessed major upheavals in the Nepali body politic. The subsequent decade was usurped by the uncertainties of protracted political transition. This book covers both periods. It is focused on the origin and expansion of Maoist revolt, but is not a history that covers all the aspects of the Maoist movement. It merely places them at the centre and analyses their chaotic relations with the monarchy (termed ‘Durbar’ in this book) and the Indian establishment (called ‘Delhi’). In other words, this book is an account of a three-way interplay between Delhi, the Durbar and the Maoists which has had a profound impact on the present.

In the two and a half centuries since the establishment of the modern Nepali state, the ten-year people’s war posed its greatest internal challenge. Thousands of people took part in that armed movement risking their lives in pursuit of the dream of communist revolution. It was during this people’s war that the country could take great strides towards a progressive social agenda, such as the republic, a Constituent Assembly, social awareness of inequality, and inclusion. The Maoist revolt played a decisive role in the socio-political transformation of this feudal unitary Hindu state.

Certainly, that revolt was born in the hills of Nepal, and not in Delhi or the Durbar. But to fulfil their own interests the latter two played indirect roles in its expansion. Initially, the Durbar took a soft approach towards Maoists in the belief that it would lead to the failure of the parliamentary system restored in the early 1990s and pave the way for the return of an assertive monarchy. Therefore, the Durbar did not allow the army, which had remained under its control, to venture out of their barracks for the first six years of the insurgency. The lack of support from the army meant that the police was forced to confront the guerrillas alone and, in the end, was decisively defeated by the latter.

How did the conflict between the government and the Durbar flare up when the latter did not allow the army to be deployed against the Maoists? How did the rebels take advantage of such fissures within the state? How did they establish relations with the Durbar? How and why did the king’s brother have a secret dialogue with the Maoists? How did the palace massacre push Nepal’s politics towards a new phase? This book attempts to examine these questions.

Get an inside look into a highly turbulent time in the geopolitics of Nepal.

Know the Authors: Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah

Posted on by Penguin India

Professional economists and former civil servants, Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah have spent twenty years of their lives thinking about and attempting to work on these questions:

Why did the reforms introduced from 1977 onwards deliver success during 1991–2011, but falter thereafter?

Where did Indians falter?

How can this course be changed?

How can Indians get rich before they grow old?

And one question above all else: What do Indians need to do to make their tryst with destiny?

The result of their attempt is In Service of the Republic, a meticulously researched work that stands at the intersection of economics, political philosophy and public administration.

Read on to get to know these economists and authors better!

Vijay Kelkar

Dr. Vijay Kelkar is one of India’s most eminent economists and technocrats, and a renowned public policy thought-leader.

He served the Government of India in senior positions: as petroleum secretary, finance secretary and chairman of the Thirteenth Finance Commission of India. He also served as director of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and as executive director of the International Monetary Fund.

In 2011, the President of India conferred the Padma Vibhushan upon him, the second-highest civilian award for distinguished and exceptional service to the Nation.

Dr. Kelkar is also Chairperson for a committee constituted by the Government of India on Revisiting and Revitalizing the PPP model of Infrastructure Development; and Chairman for a committee constituted by the Government of India to prepare a roadmap for enhancing the domestic production of oil and gas, with sustainable reduction in import dependency by 2030. (Source: NIPFP)

He holds a BS from the University of Pune, MS from the University of Minnesota and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. He has taught at the Administrative Staff College of India, Hyderabad; Center for Economic Development and Administration, Kathmandu; South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University; and University of California, Berkeley. (Source: IIHS)

Ajay Shah

Ajay Shah has worked at the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, the Indira Gandhi Institute for Development Research and the Ministry of Finance. He is currently, a professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP).

His research interests include policy issues on Indian economic growth, open economy macroeconomics, public finance, financial economics and pensions. In the past decade, he was extensively involved in the policy process in the reforms of the equity market and the New Pension System. (Source: NIPFP)

He has a BTech in Aeronautical Engineering from IIT, Bombay, and a PhD in economics from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Ajay thinks that his brain has two parts that he nurtures. The part that lives in Mathematics and Computer Science makes him a child of the world of science and reason. The other wing lives in the world of politics and thinks of the state, public policy, and ways to fix the world. (Source: YourStory)

Put together, these two have spent sixty years in the field and hope that this book will trigger many crucial and relevant conversations.

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