Author: Neelesh Misra
Zara Murao/
Foreword/Introduction: Nandan Nilekani
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 156
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788172238582
Description
In the run-up to the 15th Loksabha elections in 2009, the Hindustan Times decided to take its readers up close to grassroots India, and to share the lives and perspective of ordinary Indians – the people who really matter in an election. India Yatra was probably the biggest national reporting project of its kind.
It spanned more than 23,000 kilometers and 117 constituencies – around one-fifth of all Loksabha constituencies. Fifty-six reporters and the same number of photographers were sent out on selected routes to explore different themes and convey the concerns that occupy the people. The exercise showed just how diverse India really is, and how startling its variety. So that, as Nandan Nilekani points out in his foreword, anyone who claims to ‘know’ India is either lying or foolish.
These reports present a picture of the country with remarkable clarity, without getting lost in the maze of its complexity. As India negotiates this critical period of rising awareness and an intensifying struggle for access to the benefits of growth, India Yatra assumes a significance that goes beyond the immediate reality.
REVIEW
‘Is it possible to journey within a complex, layered country such as India, and not be lost in the confusion and detail of it? The essays in the Hindustan Times Yatra series manage to do this superbly, and tease out fascinating snapshots of country in flux.’
- From the Foreword by NANDAN NILEKANI
Contents
Foreword: The Indian Journey
NANDAN NILEKANI
Preface
THE NEW INDIA
Found on Reality TV: The Real India
NEELESH MISRA
Big Bosses Want to be on the Little Box
NEELESH MISRA
Kashmir Calling: A New Voice at the End of the Line
MONALISA S ARTHUR
IN the Land of Ram, Switching on a New Deity: Technology
RAJESH KUMAR SINGH
Trousers. Knives and Forks. Camera Phones. New Dreams
VARGHESE K GEORGE
Such a Short Journey: Munganda to Manhattan
KUCHI VENKAT LAKSHMANA
The ABC of a Whole New World
KUMKUM DASGUPTA
The New Bhadralok: Bytes of Change in Kolkata
SOUMYA BHATTACHARYA
In a Small Town in Andhra, Lives the World
VARGHESE K GEORGE
An Expressway Runs Through It
SANCHITA SHARMA
Found at a Coddee Shop, Kashmir’s Two Faces
MONALISA S ARTHUR
YES WE CAN
Votes-for-favours Works Wonders in Poll-savvy Dwarka
RITIKA CHOPRA
Goliath Falls, a Jharkhand Village Is Reborn
B Vijay Murty
Watch Your Words, There’s No Hunger in the Hunger Capital
RAJESH MAHAPATRA
Spotted in a Drought-hit Village: Millionaires
KUMKUM DASGUPTA
Life after Bhojshala
PIYUSHA CHATTERJEE
ASmall Victory in a Losing Battle
KUCHI VENKAT LAKSHMANA
DOWNTURN BLUES
Angst in the Land of Rooftop Patton Tanks
PARAMITA GHOSH
Dreams Run Out in Kerala
LALITA PANICKER
The Sparkle Is Missing in Surat
MAYANK AUSTEN SOOFI
PEOPLE POWER
In the Blind Spot of Elections, the Dreamless Are Dreaming
ARCHANA PHULL
Missing Mantris: Sex Workers Step In
B VIJAY MURTY
Small Change, Big Difference
SUNITA ARON
LANDLOCKED
Armed With the Right to NO
KETAKI GHOGE
Fighting a Lose-lose Battle in Singur
SOUMYA BHATTACHARYA
GIRL POWER
In a Dusty Village, Freedom – Courtesy a Two-Wheel Drive
RUCHIRA HOON
Dreaming Big, Living Small
LALITA PANICKER
In a Picture-perfect Village, a Seething Resentment
ARCHANA PHULL
RED INDIA
Democracy Vanishing in Red India
B VIJAY MURTY
Guns by the Blackboard
B VIJAY MURTY
IDENTITY CRISIS
For Orissa’s Poor, an Expensive Peace
RAJESH MAHAPATRA
In Assam, a Minority in Their Own Land
RAHUL KARMAKAR
Trying to Fit in: A Jigsaw Called Home
SWETA RAMANUJAN-DIXIT
Cheek by Jowl, in Different Worlds
RITIKA Chopra
A Tiny Battle and a Big War in Coffeeland
KUCHI VENKAT LAKSHMANA
There Is Nothing Dharavi About Dharavi
SWETA RAMANUJAN-DIXIT
STATE OF DISCONTENT
PANKAJ JAISWAL
Trapped in the Sewers in Infotech City Pune
SUMANA RAMANAN
In Gandhi Kingdom, Mayawati on the Cards
SUNITA ARON
The Great Wall of South India
RENUKA NARAYANAN
Faith Accompli
SAMRAT
DIRTY POLITICS
Karnataka Tale: A Minister Mining His Own Business
CHITRANGADA CHOUDHURY
How He Won the Kingdom of Awe
NAZIYA ALVI
INVISIBLE INDIA
On the Border, a Ticket to Nowhere
PANKAJ JAISWAL
Nameless, Faceless: The Men Building the New India
SANCHITA SHARMA
1,000 Murder Suspects. One Pain
DHARMENDRA JORE
Armed, or Unemployed
NAZIYA ALVI
Dammed: Who Took My Water, Vidarbha Farmer Asks
DHARMENDRA JORE
Guess the Price of Misery: Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 800
PANKAJ JAISWAL
Headed for Derailment
SWETA RAMANUJAN - DIXIT
School’s Out
RITIKA CHOPRA