Planet India, Mira Kamdar
Planet India, Mira Kamdar
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Planet India
How the Fastest Growing Democracy Is Transforming America and the World

Author: Mira Kamdar

Narrator: Shelly Frasier

Unabridged: 11 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/06/2007


Synopsis

A Lively, indispensable, cutting-edge exploration of our stake in India's gambit to transform itself from a developing country into a global powerhouse in record time.

India is everywhere—Indian studios produce animated features and special effects for Hollywood movies; Indian software manages our health records; and Indian customer service centers answer our calls. A country of English speakers and a free-market democracy, with the youngest population on Earth, India is not only the fast-growing market for the next new thing but a source for the technological innovation that will drive the global economy.

Yet India is also in a race against time to bring the benefits of the twenty-first century to the 800 million Indians who live on less than $2 per day, and it must do so in a way that is environmentally sustainable and politically viable on a scale never before achieved. If India succeeds, it will not only save itself, it may save us all. If it fails, we will all suffer. As goes India, so goes the world.

Like China, Inc., Planet India will capture and catalyze the growing interest in this rising power. With in-depth research, interviews, and provocative analysis, Mira Kamdar offers a penetrating view of India and its cultural and economic impact on the United States and the world. From Bollywood to the Indian diaspora to India's effect on global politics, she reports on the people, companies, and places shaping the new India. Kamdar examines the challenges India faces while celebrating India's tremendous vitality and the opportunities this Asian democracy has to shape its own and all of our destinies.


About Mira Kamdar

Mira Kamdar is a senior fellow at the World Policy Institute at New School University in New York and executive director of the institute's Program on Citizenship & Security. She is book review editor for India Review and a member of the editorial boards of World Policy Journal and The Subcontinental. A writer and commentator on India, she is the author of Motiba's Tattoos, a 2000 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection that examines the experiences of the Indian diaspora through the lens of her own family. Her writings have appeared in publications around the world, including the International Herald Tribune, the Times of India, the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, Seminar and World Policy Journal. She has also provided analysis on India for CNN International News, TV Asia, Public Radio International, and KPFK Radio in Los Angeles. She is a regular opinion commentator for the Indian weekly Tehelka.


Reviews

Goodreads review by kenneth on June 28, 2014

This book enumerated on India's current and growing role as an economic powerhouse, and as an important player in international security. However, the book did not do enough to elucidate India's cultural influence. In fact, the author spent more time explaining how America shapes India. It is a good......more

Goodreads review by Merredith on November 03, 2014

This was the August book club book for my office book club. It started out interesting, then just started repeating itself. When I found out I had a scheduling conflict with the book club meeting, I decided not to finish this book. The concept was good, I think it could be more succinct.......more

Goodreads review by Lauren on July 07, 2011

I'm really happy about this book so far. It's a survey of modern India and its indicativeness (not a word, I know) of global change, much of it positive.......more

Goodreads review by Anna on April 14, 2020

I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second- I didn’t realise there would be such an emphasis on the relationship between the US and India. While it is interesting, what is more fascinating is understanding the issues India faces in its own country. Realising the differences between ci......more

Goodreads review by I.G. on January 21, 2018

Dense and very well researched. Although a little dry in places, it's a fascinating study of what many Americans don't realize will soon be the most populous country in the world. Incredibly helpful in my world-building research for The Lady & The Spyder series (as Korin I. Dushayl).......more