Author: Gurcharan Das
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 2001
Language: English
Pages: 301
ISBN/UPC (if available): 014302910X
Description
Crisp, insightful and witty, these essays capture both the disappointments and the joys that resulted from the 90s revolution and serve as an essential guide to the new India.
The Elephant Paradigm: India Wrestles with Change is, quite simply, about an ancient civilization's reawakening to the spirit-and potential -of its youth. Following up on the success of India unbound, which examined the process of India's transformation in the 1990s from a closed to an open economy, The Elephant Paradigm ranges over a vast area-covering subjects as varied as panchayati raj, national competitiveness, and the sacred and philosophical concerns of the average Indian consequent to India's entry into what the author calls the age of liberation. While India may never roar ahead like the Asian tigers, Das argues, it will advance like a wise elephant, moving steadily and surely, pausing occasionally to reflect on its past and to enjoy the journey.
Gurcharan Das employs the essay form to sew together varied facets of this remarkable transition. Divided into three sections, the book first establishes a context for the changes that have occurred, and then assesses how we have changed - or not changed - in our public and private lives. As he sweeps over the major political, social and economic developments, he does not forget to examine the individual beliefs and aspirations that underpin the process.
PRAISE FOR COMPANION VOLUME: INDIA UNBOUND
It is a wonderful book-a great mixture of memoir, economic analysis, social investigation, political scrutiny and managerial outlook being thrown into the understanding of India.
- Amartya Sen
India Unbound is bound to become an essential component of the reading list for anyone interested in the contemporary Indian economy.
- The Hindu
Something tremendous is happening in India, and Das, with his keen eye and often elegant prose, has his finger firmly of the pulse of the transformation.
-The New York Times Book Review
Contents
Introduction
PART ONE: THE TEMPER OF OUR TIMES
Our Liberating Nineties
Understanding Our Times
What is Wrong with Our Temper
PART TWO: PRIVATE SPACE
Laptops and Meditation
A Sentimental Education
Playing to Win
ART THREE: PUBLIC SPACE
Learning to Live, Living to Learn
The Ambiguous Village
To Reform or Not to Reform
What Slows Us Down?
Making the Nation Competitive
Acknowledgements
Index