Imagining India

January 19, 2009
The premise of this suave and unabashedly free market overview of the New India—the rising economic powerhouse—is that ideas lead economic and social policy rather than the other way around. It's not a consistently held position, however, as Nilekani, cochairman of the board of directors of Infosys Technologies (a leader in India's burgeoning IT sector), refers in the same breath to a longstanding (postindependence) antipathy to teaching English reversed by its economic advantage in a global market. Theoretical consistency aside, the author makes a bid for a centrist position in the globalization debate. His focus rests on India's particular domestic and international advantages in such areas as population, English proficiency and information technology. But there's little separating his take on India's recent past (hobbled by Nehru-era socialism) or best present course (embracing “globalization,” seen as a harmonious and harmonizing amalgam of democracy, equal opportunity and resource access) from such neoliberal champions as Thomas Friedman (who supplies the foreword). Readers inclined to a free market perspective will find Nilekani eminently reasonable, if less than startling; those seeing it as antithetical to an equitable and sustainable future will meet a familiar frustration on nearly every page.

February 1, 2009
The co-founder and co-chairman of Infosys, one of India's leading computer companies, passionately expounds his position on the nation's developmental issues and possible policy solutions.

Nilekani is most insightful in his analysis of the IT revolution spurred by companies like Infosys, which took advantage of the economic liberalization and reforms instituted in 1991 by finance minister Manmohan Singh. The author expresses nationalistic pride at the speed with which Internet community centers and IT kiosks have been set up in rural areas across India, providing previously isolated villagers the ability to check crop prices and get treatment via telemedicine. His description of such other successes as a stable democratic process and a colonial legacy of education in English, the world's language, validate India's potential to catapult itself into the league of developed nations. Regrettably, the book loses focus when Nilekani addresses the multitude of policy issues his homeland must tackle, such as the need for better primary schooling or sustained infrastructure development. He carefully explains each issue in the context of India's history and consults with a grab bag of experts, ranging from the Princeton professor Atul Kohli to"a friend of mine who runs a BPO," whose viewpoints he assumes to be true. This may lead some readers to suspect that Nilekani's proffered solutions are shaped mostly by the random impact of those he had access to. Others may wonder if it's absolutely necessary for India to abandon its socialist traditions, as the author advocates, in order to achieve economic growth. Nilekani also calls for limits on governmental regulation, so as to encourage entrepreneurship and private investment, and for strong political leaders able to overcome sectarian politics.

Verbose, ardent study of the steps required to complete the"Indian miracle."

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

February 15, 2009
With a population exceeding one billion and a rapidly expanding economy, India seems poised to fill its long-awaited role as a world power. Yet major impediments remain, as this thought-provoking analysis illustrates. Nilekani is a cofounder of Infosys, a giant information technology corporation. As a self-described outsider who was not part of Indias traditional economic elite, he brings a unique perspective to his nations potential and problems, acknowledging that India has enormous advantages, including a young workforce, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a relatively open, democratic society. Yet he convincingly asserts that India must free itself from some of the shackles of its past. These include the obvious ones, such as religious antagonism, the caste system, and political corruption. Nilekani also insists that some of the comforting ideas that were fostered by Indias founders must be abandoned, including the traditional socialism advocated by Nehru and even the hostility toward the use of the alien tongue of English. This is a timely and informative effort to chart a future path for a vital, dynamic nation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)