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Product Description
Product Description
Mark Tully is incomparable. No one has a greater understanding of the passions, the contradictions, the humour, the tragedy and the staggering resilience that constitute India. In his long awaited new book, he delves further than ever before into this country of one billion people. Covering subjects as diverse as Hindu extremism, bonded child labour, Sufi mysticism, the crisis in agriculture, the persistence of political corruption and the problem of Kashmir, he paints a picture of India at once poignant, funny, startling and deeply humane.
About the Author
Sir Mark Tully was born in Calcutta and educated in England. He worked for the BBC in South Asia for 25 years and now works as a journalist in New Delhi. His books include No Full Stops In India, The Heart of India and Lives of Jesus.
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First Sentence
On 6 December 1992 Gilly and I were standing on the roof of a building with a clear view of a somewhat dilapidated Mughal mosque in the north Indian town of Ayodhya, a place of pilgrimage, hallowed by tradition as the home town of the god Rama. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
On 6 December 1992 Gilly and I were standing on the roof of a building with a clear view of a somewhat dilapidated Mughal mosque in the north Indian town of Ayodhya, a place of pilgrimage, hallowed by tradition as the home town of the god Rama. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
36 of 37 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
this is a book written with enormous admiration and love for India, with lucid recognition of its problems and shortcomings, but also, encouragingly, with hope and optimism for the future of the country. tackling diverse subjects such as corruption, religious fundamentalism, child labour, the 'IT revolution', Mark Tully maintains a lucid and honest journalism and seeks to go beyond the easy 'colour'piece to bring us a lively and dynamic glimpse into this ever-changing country. It lacks the urgency and inspiration of Naipaul's Indian trilogy, and it can sometimes feel a bit impersonal to the reader used to flamboyant indian literature, but it certainly is journalism at its best and most inspiring.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ex BBC correspondent Mark Tully writes 10 essays, revealing cultural, political and religious practise within India. Reading this book gave me an idea of the vastness of this region of the world and the subject matter is very well chosen.
The idea of this book seems to be to give a flavour of several aspects of indian life and in this it suceeds. The last chapter on Kashmir has had entire books written on it.
Certain themes emerge throughout the book; political corruption and wretched human selfishness are just two. It doesn't seem to taint Tullys affinity for this country of such rich diversity, but by the end I felt very lucky be governed in England.
In summary, reading this book will give a fascinating insight into a unique way of how a huge country has been ruled, but would be described as important rather than uplifting reading.
The idea of this book seems to be to give a flavour of several aspects of indian life and in this it suceeds. The last chapter on Kashmir has had entire books written on it.
Certain themes emerge throughout the book; political corruption and wretched human selfishness are just two. It doesn't seem to taint Tullys affinity for this country of such rich diversity, but by the end I felt very lucky be governed in England.
In summary, reading this book will give a fascinating insight into a unique way of how a huge country has been ruled, but would be described as important rather than uplifting reading.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
A revelatory and entertaining glimpse into modern India...
3 Dec 2003
Format:Hardcover
As an Indian, I know first-hand that India never ceases to surprise and shock, but when I read this book, I discovered I was surprised and shocked to new levels! This book contains 10 chapters, each a revelatory political or social piece ranging in setting from contemporary to the Indira Gandhi era. In order, the chapters cover 1) the Hindutva movement, 2) child workers in the carpet industry, 3) the Tehelka defence corruption scandal, 4) The Indianization of Christianity in Goa, 5) Cyberabad and Chandrababu Naidu, 6) Sufism in India, 7) Globalization, economic reform and the Indian farmer, 8) VP Singh and his lesser known but equally interesting brother Sant Bux, 9) A Gujarat village that has implemented a successful water harvesting scheme and treats its Dalits well (!), and 10) Kashmir. Tully handles even the potentially depressing issues like militant Hindutva and Globalization extremely well, humanizing them with personal encounters and the relationships that he has built with the protagonists (and antagonists), and avoiding the strident or moralizing tone that could quickly grow onerous, while leaving no doubt where his sympathies lie - with the underdog. Arundhati Roy could learn a thing or two from this man. Those interested in contemporary India have much to glean from this book - the pervasive corruption and governmental malaise that cripples India (believe me, it is worse than you ever imagined), the ordinary and not-so-ordinary citizens who, against overwhelming odds, accomplish amazing things in this environment, and the odd idealist who still thrives, admist pervasive cynicism.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
A good thoughtful read
10 July 2006
Format:Hardcover
Mark Tully has been reporting for BBC in India for more than 20 years. He's been in the thick of everything that has shaped this nation — the Emergency, Indira's and Rajiv's assassinations, the droughts, the floods, the IT wave and the liberalization. He is more Indian than most Indians. Mark Tully and Gillian Wright travelled extensively around India talking to people of all kinds about India's past and present problems for their book "India In Slow Motion".
The book is broken into sections, each dealing with a problem facing our country. Some of the subjects of the book are Kashmir, water, farmer suicides, child labour and religion. The travels to faroff places, the interviews with rustic people are delightful and eye opening. The takeaway for me from the book was the extensive historical origins of each problem that the authors detail. Tully does satirical takes on everything and everyone. For Indians, the book might be a bit depressing if read in one shot. It can easily be read over several nights since it is broken nicely into independent sections. This is a good thoughtful read.
The book is broken into sections, each dealing with a problem facing our country. Some of the subjects of the book are Kashmir, water, farmer suicides, child labour and religion. The travels to faroff places, the interviews with rustic people are delightful and eye opening. The takeaway for me from the book was the extensive historical origins of each problem that the authors detail. Tully does satirical takes on everything and everyone. For Indians, the book might be a bit depressing if read in one shot. It can easily be read over several nights since it is broken nicely into independent sections. This is a good thoughtful read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
A good documentary on India..
16 May 2006
Format:Paperback
Mark Tully has focused on one of the key issues of independent India, "lack of good governance". Anyone who has lived in India or has studied history of independent India would not disagree with Mr. Tully's arguments. Mr. Tully travels in the countryside to discover the problems people face due to almost non-functioning government systems. Good thing about this book is that the author has not expressed his own views and opinions on the subject but he tells us what he sees on the field while travelling in different parts of India. Many of the Indians, living in the cities, would not be aware of the difficulties people face in villages due to the non-functioning government systems. Reading this book is a very good opportunity to understand why we so often see the headlines of farmers committing suicides. Mr.Tully has also touched upon cultural diversity of India when he talks about his experience of Sufism, a way of following Islam. He has also covered the burning issues of modern India, tension between Hindu and Muslim communities and terrorism in Kashmir. Overall, it is a good read if you want to understand what has held India back despite of her enormous potential.
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