Author: Robin Thomson
Publisher: B R Publishing
Year: 2002
Language: English
Pages: 174
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8176462926
Description
Throughout the twentieth century, every one of India’s leaders, from Vivekananda to Vajpayee, from Mahatma Gandhi to the Nehru-Gandhis, has been in the business of trying to change India for the better. India is changing, profoundly and inevitably. But in what direction should it go? And who are the agents of change? The politicians, the media, the environmentalists, the technocrats, the religious leaders, the Internet whiz-kids, the missionaries?
Here are stories of people who are contributing to India’s transformation. They work at the margins, pushing across frontiers of need. For example, the young parents who have pioneered medical care for children with special needs, the former rock singer who is now working for the environment, the NRI who catalyzed India’s telecom revolution, the village women who have transformed health care in their communities.
Their stories offer insights and hope for the future. They also throw light on another key question: what role does religious conversion have in bringing change? What factors lie behind it? Can it ever be positive? Does it have a place in the modern world?
The writer’s reflections on these issues, and the stories of his friends, are fresh and appealing. The issues he raises are significant.
“I arrived back in India to work, straight from university. Like everybody else, I wanted to do my bit in the changing India. But I didn’t know how. In the last 35 years I have made a lot of friends and seen their work. I want to share their stories, to learn what kind of contribution can help to transform India.”
COMMENTS
“Unlike most books written by Westerners about India, Robin Thomson’s sympathetic and gentle book nevertheless goes to the heart of the questions facing our country today.”
- Professor Prabhu Guptara
“Though this book is bound to raise Hindu eyebrows it is well worth a read since discusses carefully the all important and hotly pursued issue of the day in religious circles conversion”.
- Bimal Krishna Das, Secretary, National Council of Hindu Temples UK
“Easy, pleasant reading breadth and objectivity to unravel complexities of development, conversion.”
-Dr. Vinod Shah, Emmanuel Hospital Association New Delhi.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Introduction
1.Coming Home: India in the Sixties
2.Kerala: The Beginnings of Christianity in India
3.Coromandel: The Spread of Christianity in India
4.Unravelling Caste: Walking Through Villages in Andhra Pradesh
5.Working with the Community: Rural Change in Maharashtra
6.Taking Sides: Pioneer Work with Marginalised Children
7.‘Your Passion for These People’: Tribal Transformation in Orissa
8.Neglected Sisters: The Riddle of the North-east
9.Urban Poverty: Different Approaches in the Delhi Slums
10.Work, Worship and Witness: Healing the Environment
11.In two Worlds: The Contribution of the Diaspora
12.Change is Inevitable: But What Is It?
13.Conversion: What Kind of Change Does It Bring?
14.Changing India: What is the Goal?
For Further Reading