Overview

This title weaves together substantive knowledge of Indian politics, economics, and culture with fascinating stories of everyday people. As a BBC correspondent, Lak is known and connected. He also writes for a number of other internationally known periodicals, giving him a wide reach and access to potential reviewers. He has also written for ""The Economist"", ""Time"", ""The Independent"", ""The South China Morning Post"", and ""The Globe and Mail"". Unlike other India books, Lak argues that India has already arrived as a global superpower and that its religion, politics and history have propelled it forward, not hindered it. He writes beautifully and as an expert in this region he has covered for the last twelve years. With its increasing economic importance in the world, continued friction with Pakistan, and a large immigrant population in the US, UK, and Commonwealth countries, India is the next new thing.In beautiful prose and street-level reporting, Daniel Lak argues that India has become a global superpower because of its religion, caste, politics, and poverty and not in spite of it.

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9780230607835

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Reviews

Daniel Lak's journalism from India and around South Asia has been consistently powerful and enlightening. He understands the nuanced realities of the region and never fails to find the human side of a complex and troubling situation. His optimism rare enough in an internaitonal journalist is refreshing, never cloying. - Kathy Gannon, Associated Press special correspondent and author of I Is for Infidel: From Holy War to Holy Terror In his travels through South Asia, Lak always stayed off the path beaten by other foreign correspondents. No matter where he wandered in India, Pakistan and Nepal, Lak always delved deeper into the culture than the rest of us, coming back with unique insights and wonderful stories. He is rarity among journalists one who portrays his subjects with elegance, compassion and humor. - Tim McGirk, Time Magazine

Daniel Lak's journalism from India and around South Asia has been consistently powerful and enlightening. He understands the nuanced realities of the region and never fails to find the human side of a complex and troubling situation. His optimism rare enough in an internaitonal journalist is refreshing, never cloying. - Kathy Gannon, Associated Press special correspondent and author of I Is for Infidel: From Holy War to Holy Terror In his travels through South Asia, Lak always stayed off the path beaten by other foreign correspondents. No matter where he wandered in India, Pakistan and Nepal, Lak always delved deeper into the culture than the rest of us, coming back with unique insights and wonderful stories. He is rarity among journalists one who portrays his subjects with elegance, compassion and humor. - Tim McGirk, Time Magazine 'As a by-product of the author's long record of informed and authoritative reporting from South Asia, this book brings a lively outside perspective to understanding the directions in which the country is moving.' - William Crawley, Asian Affairs

"""Daniel Lak's journalism from India and around South Asia has been consistently powerful and enlightening. He understands the nuanced realities of the region and never fails to find the human side of a complex and troubling situation. His optimism rare enough in an internaitonal journalist is refreshing, never cloying."" - Kathy Gannon, Associated Press special correspondent and author of I Is for Infidel: From Holy War to Holy Terror ""In his travels through South Asia, Lak always stayed off the path beaten by other foreign correspondents. No matter where he wandered in India, Pakistan and Nepal, Lak always delved deeper into the culture than the rest of us, coming back with unique insights and wonderful stories. He is rarity among journalists one who portrays his subjects with elegance, compassion and humor."" - Tim McGirk, Time Magazine 'As a by-product of the author's long record of informed and authoritative reporting from South Asia, this book brings a lively outside perspective to understanding the directions in which the country is moving.' - William Crawley, Asian Affairs"

BBC journalist Lak (Mantras of Change, 2005, etc.) examines the subcontinent's culture to discern the reasons for its economic success story.He identifies the reforms of 1991, which helped ease regulations on big businesses in India, as key to the country's vast upswing in fortunes. The reforms sparked a huge lift in India's economy, creating jobs and alleviating some of the country's terrible poverty. Lak analyzes some of the principal areas that have contributed to India's prosperity, including technology, activism, religion and education. The passages on technology provide the most food for thought, and the author writes eloquently on both the call-center boom and India's contributions to resolving the Y2K scare, which created a solid foundation for the country's future IT developments. Lak even discusses how the study of Hinduism, and its inherent complexities, makes India's workforce perfectly suited for the IT industry. He also evaluates the huge gap between rich and poor, demonstrating that the middle classes are often teetering on the brink of poverty and therefore put immense pressure on their children to succeed in school. The author doesn't shy away from highlighting the downside to India's cultural revolution; for every personal and political triumph, he notes, there is a case of call-center burnout or student drug abuse. The account ends with analyses of the 2006 Mumbai train bombings, the effects 9/11 had on Indian society and India's slowly expanding nuclear capabilities. Remaining ever cautious, Lak comments that the IT industries may fall victim to their success and makes recommendations for further changes in the subcontinent's infrastructure in order to maintain its phenomenal growth rate.Makes a convincing and thoroughly readable case for India's claims to be the next liberal superpower. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

DANIEL LAK is a reporter with the BBC who has reported on the Indian sub-continent for the last twelve years, working from Pakistan and New Delhi. He reported on the founding of the Taliban in 1995, Kurdish refugee crises in Iran, India's war with Kashmir, and the hijacking of an Indian aircraft by Islamic militants in what later became known as a dry-run for 9/11. Lak now lives in Toronto reporting for the BBC from the Americas and making short documentaries.

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