INDIA UNBOUND I want to be Bilgay is what a young boy, serving coffee at a road side stall to pay for his

computer classes, told the author when asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. This answer encapsulated, in many ways, the soul, spirit and outlook of the book India Unbound. Written by Gurcharan Das on India and her complex journey from an economic giant in the pre-colonial era to a crippled and stifled destitute at the end of colonial rule and through much of its five decades after independence and finally as a lumbering, sleepy yet potentially powerful elephant, flexing her muscles, among her brethren of Asian Tigers. The boy, as it turns out, aspires to own and run a computer company just like Bill Gates (Bilgay). Gurcharan Das is an ideal candidate to write on an expansive topic such as the development of a nation through its trials and tribulations over the last 3 to 4 hundred years. He was born before independence, at a time when the first Quit India Movement had been launched by Gandhiji, a time when revolt and restlessness against an unacceptable status quo had become a part of the foundation of our nationhood. He grew up in towns and villages of old and newly Independent India and saw the changes around him. He went abroad to study when his family shifted in mid 1950s and later studied at Harvard. He came back to India and then worked for the P&G division here developing great brands such as Vicks. A former CEO of Procter & Gamble India, he is currently a semi retired venture capitalist and consultant to industry and government leaders as well as an insightful writer. In all this Gurcharan Das had the rare opportunity to develop an insight that few Indians could even imagine. He, using hindsight, has articulated his understanding of how India developed into what it is today and what were the reasons for its shortcomings and successes. He gives us a plethora of real world examples and solutions supported by some mind boggling statistics which will make every Indian sit up and think.

Just as many successful writers, Gurcharan Das uses simple words, easy examples and a storyline. The central recurring theme in his book is that of economics and business. To many it may seem a very peripheral concept to be at the center of Indias evolution. However, a few pages into the book and you are hooked, a couple of chapters later you realize how intertwined and central are the ideas of economics, markets and money is to the development of any country. To be fair Gurcharan Das does try and sieve through aspects of caste, religion, politics, geography, colonialism and policy. However its the ease and the obviousness with which these are connected to the broad subject of economics that astounds and jolts the reader into reality. He shows how even though Indias independence is now celebrated as a political revolution; it was in fact also a result of many economic factors. An example of this could be the finance provided by the Birlas to Gandhijis freedom struggle movement and the economic condition of England at the end of World War 2. He writes about how business men and bankers were instrumental in the fall of many a kingdom to the British forces and later the British Empire. The book is also insightful since he luridly describes the effects of the caste system prevalent in India without just throwing it to black and white judgments. He explains how the caste system came out to be, its advantages of when it was conceived and how it became redundant and an impediment over the years to India and its social, economic and cultural development. He also shows the effects of colonialism on India and how it failed to get India on the path to industrial revolution, a pre-requisite to growth and development. He compares the developments in India with those abroad especially the Asian Tiger economies which are culturally & socially closer to our way of life. He looks at the dynamics of policy initiatives and policy impediments in detail. He puts special emphasis in trying to look at the vision of our political leaders after Independence and opens our

eyes to show us how our fallacy of a state run & managed economy was in fact a hotly debated and relevant idea for those times. He tells us how our leaders were fooled by their own idealism and optimism into introducing a system for our country which proved largely disastrous (as much of it remains even today). He goes on to tell us how Nehrus faith in huge state run facilities, nationalization, tough rules and regulations can be justified and forgiven for he genuinely wanted equitable development and job creation as well as development for a largely impoverished country where the concept of nationhood was nascent. He explains that Nehru, just like many others in his time, were fascinated with the above ideas as many academicians had similar supporting theories for how nations should be run to achieve equitable growth. The author however puts the real onus of our decapitated economy to the Indira Gandhi era where it had been proven, through real world examples and empirical studies that such policies were stagnating the economy at best and suffocating it at worst. He blames the polity of that era as even after it became clear that things were not working rules, regulations and the License Raj was further strengthened. Without mincing words he writes about the arduous tasks in front of us in reforming our stagnant septic areas of backwardness, be it health, poverty, female infanticide, child malnourishment, low GDP, a nascent culture of scientific research and development, lack of basic amenities etc. He also goes a step further in showing us the broad structure to solve these problems comprehensively. Even through all the gloomy statistics and shameful numbers, optimism seems to leap out of sentences. That may well be as the writer sees enough merit to be optimistic and he clearly does write just to make the reader feel good. He genuinely believes that not only do we stand a good chance we also stand on the verge of a tipping point where our fortunes and destiny can be shaped by the multitudes who go to polls almost every few months in India to shape the policies of their region and our nation.

To support his optimism he does share quite a few notable statistics, without giving in to hubris. The reader feels with each passing page not just a sense of loss, for our lost time and opportunities, but also a sense of pride, restlessness and positivity towards the future. One feels like a new shareholder in a company that was making looses till a few years back but has been miraculously posting huge profits ever since. The book also opens our eyes to the fact of Globalisation and one realizes that it isnt a phenomena of the 90s 80s or the 70s but more a global trend evolving through the last few centuries. Since the basic tenet of globalization states the effect of interconnectedness of markets, one realizes how even in the 17th century the British came in as traders and later as conquerors to try and quench their inexhaustible thirst for cotton, raw materials, wood, coal, steel etc. Though orchestrated in a manner of domination over India, the goals were still economic and market driven. The book also states in detail the effects of 3 revolutions that the country has seen and most importantly how they were all characterized by the gigantic and focused efforts of usually a small group of people or of one person. How C. Subramaniam invited foreign private investment in fertilizer and steam rolled opposition politically to kick start Indias green revolution under Lal Bahadur Shastri. How Sam Pitroda was brought in as head of various scientific councils by Rajiv Gandhi. He was, in many ways, the father of the telecom revolution in India. And finally, the one revolution that is testament to what policy initiatives can do for this country. P.V. Narsimha Rao along with Manmohan Singh and others structured policies which freed up pent up market potential to unleash the juggernaut that is India today, a story which is still in construct. What is astonishing is how men and organizations responsible for such great successes are seldom remembered, recognized for their outstanding feats. In fact, as the book states, there were efforts to actively disclaim their successes. Initiatives towards openness in markets during the era of Shastriji were

thwarted by the next Congress government, Sam Pitroda had to go back to the U.S. after spending years spearheading many techno-societal changes and P.V. Narsimha Rao is all but forgotten for the boldness and vision shown during Indias hour of greatest economic crisis. This is not only sad but a shame on our polity and national character. The author also follows the lives and development of many of Indias most successful entrepreneurs and takes special pleasure in writing about the Marwari Caste businessmen. He explains with examples and anecdotes how they have a big and influential role in Indias history, its present and possibly its future as not only businessmen but also as leaders to our millions of entrepreneurs. They serve as an inspiration to all those who wish to pursue business and create or head organizations. Gurcharan Das carefully peels the various layers of preindependence India like an onion which carries far more complex tastes, smells and colors than is evident on the surface. He busts the myth that our impoverishment is a result solely of British Rule. He also negates the oft quoted lie of Indian businessmen not being given avenues to make money and profits. He shows how our Independence was not just a result of Gandhijis movement or the worlds sudden realization of conscience but also of economic realities. He illustrates using examples and numbers how India was on the cusp of greatness after the 1st and 2nd world wars. He also shows how and why we squandered this opportunity for the next few decades till the advantages accrued were no longer relevant. He underlines the importance of agriculture and industry to the development of this nation and also the new knowledge industries of IT and BPOs. He carefully deflates our balloon of wrong nationalistic ideas and introduces us to more subtle advantages and ideas that we already possess. In many chapters he tries to take on topics which though without relevant connection with economics and markets, are still influenced by them and are necessary to cover

our countrys past, present and future. He showed us the difference between the concepts of being western and modern. He showed us how India developed a society which was more biased towards the individual than the collective, in sharp contrast to other Asian countries. He shows how our so called societys steel structure of Civil service officials have in fact become an impediment to not only our economic development but also our social programs. This he says, is the opposite to various other countries such as China, Japan, Korea etc where such Civil servants are highly efficient technocrats who steamroll obstacles for development issues and investment opportunities. At the end of his book the author picks up a few contemporary and important topics. He writes about how millions of people around India, from the snooty upper classes to those below poverty lines have taken it upon themselves to revolutionize a part of their lives. Stories of uneducated villagers in far off places with very little connectivity starting co-operatives after looking at their core competencies, of townsmen not waiting for the government to take steps in reform and using their own ingenuity to find solutions to their economic problems. These may seem small and inconsequential to an English speaking middle or upper class person who is inundated with stories of multi-billion dollar projects and huge JVs. But in the context of a nation which had given in to a sense of fatalism and skepticism till recently, these developments are the proverbial silent revolution. Unfortunately it is silent only to our western-urban sensibility. To most others effected by such changes it is a deafening trumpet of the elephant waking up. The author looks at the loud new middle class, the new money and shows how they wear their attitudes on their sleeve. Many of us may resent them and call them uncouth but the fact is that they are the future of our country. The new money and elevated classes have the qualities of hustle, expeditiousness, opportunism and energy which stand as the basis of development in any economy which wants to grow at a bristling pace through

innovation and industriousness. In contrast to this he shows how the old affluent money has lagged behind because of its inability to change, face serious competition and even innovate. He shows how the top 20 richest Indians today have only a few individuals with lineage boasting of old money. That for me conveys a lot. Through all this he again shows that despite thousands of years of indoctrination of our religious and caste bias, we as a nation are changing fundamentally due to equitable political space and now economic power. Business is no longer a bastion of Marwaris and education no longer reserved for Brahmins. Anyone with the ability, passion, foresight and intellect to make money can do so as the playing field is getting leveled by the day. This also shows our deep concern for our lack of educational infrastructure which keeps many from possessing the tools to such future. To end an analysis of this book may take more pages and ink than the book itself though one is struck by the clarity and power of a simply written book that does not aim at drowning the reader in an endless drawl of information or presenting a dry academic thesis. Gurcharan Das writes a story with him as a brief peripheral protagonist, a story we all seem to get wrong most of the time since it has been told to us in a skewed manner, a story that now affects the world as much as it affects you and me, a tale of gigantic obstacles and untold riches of a land where fortunes and opportunities have been kept at bay for too long, an epic based on people who have woken up from a deep slumber to clean their homes cobwebs and get rid of the termites in their wooden beams. A story that tells us of tragic turns and mystifying forces of destruction that eat at its corners though the story teller, Gurcharan Das, keeps the hope alive at each new twist. However, the most dominating aspect of this epic is that the reader is given the power and the understanding to change its ending. He is given a chance to shape his countrys future and to bring hope and prosperity into the lives of his fellow Indians.

HEY GUYS THIS IS MY ACTUAL BOOK REVIEW... I AM PUTTING THIS UP OUT OF GOOD FAITH THAT NO ONE WILL COPY MY BOOK REVIEW OR JUST DO A CUT COPY PASTE JOB OUT OF IT... THIS IS A REQUEST AS I HAVE SPENT VALUABLE TIME AND EFFORT ON THIS. IN CASE ANY HELP IS REQUIRED FROM OTHERS ABOUT A FRESH BOOK REVIEW OR SOURCES FROM WHERE CUT COPY PASTE CAN BE DONE PLEASE LET ME KNOW.... I WILL TRY MY BEST TO GIVE YOU LINK AND EVEN HELP YOU GUYS OUT A LIL BIT