IN SPITE OF THE GODS: THE STRANGE RISE OF MODERN INDIA AUTHOR- EDWARD LUCE

The book 'In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India' is a fascinating and intriguing take on India and its growth concerning its culture, traditions, diversity, and economy by Edward Luce, who has studied various subjects like Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford. Along with being a noted journalist, he has been the Chief of the Financial Times South Asia bureau, New Delhi, and is currently the Financial Times Washington Commentator. "In Spite of the Gods" examines and analyses the current state of India, its achievements, global relations, along with its shortcomings.

India is not just the seventh-largest country in the world but is also often lauded for being the largest democracy. Having said that, it has a vast population, in fact, it is racing towards being the most populous country. This has given rise to wide strata of people; literate and illiterate, rich and poor, employed and unemployed, and so on. Edward Luce travels across the huge land to understand the nuances meticulously and does emerge to be successful in his endeavour. His meetings and interviews with numerous religious gurus, key politicians, and villagers throughout the rural and urban areas are well put together in the book and give the readers the reason for the fragile balance between traditional and modern India. The world does have a lot of expectations from the country and as it strives to fulfil each one of them, it does depict its drawbacks and flaws, namely, poverty, unemployment, gender bias, lack of proper education in some parts, etc. However, as it is rightly said that 'imperfection is the new perfect', and India has time and again proved it by making every opportunity in its way, a golden one.

The information, facts, anecdotes, interviews, and overall knowledge delivered by this book gives its readers a complete sense of struggle the country has overcome to reach and achieve what it has in the contemporary world. Along with politics, economy, and caste system, the author touches upon crucial aspects responsible for the country's growth such as manufacturing, IT sector, Agriculture, and the entertainment industry commonly called Bollywood. This gives us a hint of the years the author has spent in India along with his observational skills. The author also believes that the evolving society of India has all the capability and potential of shaping the economy of the country which in turn will significantly affect the rest of the world. This, he says, is not just because of the solid relations of the country with the US and China, but also because of the people working hard each day to fulfil their aspirations. The book begins with Edward's interesting experience with some of the residents in Auroville, Pondicherry which itself makes it an engaging read.

The research and reportage done by the author are not just for the sake of publishing a book or criticizing or praising the country. It does give an insight into the first-hand experience and an empathetic perception, thus being balanced and not biased. In fact, at times the readers might get into a state of introspection as to how well does Luce knows about the way India functions despite being a non-resident Indian.

There are always two sides to a coin. In the same way, India is a very diverse country that has its share of challenges. A nation develops and grows with the help of progressive thinking and an adaptive mindset. India is a country rich in spiritual and religious beliefs which in a way tends to make it a superstitious society at times. This is exactly what Luce means by the phrase, "Strange rise of modern India" in the book's title and this is explained in the book in a very poised and matured way.

All chapters are neatly structured. Every chapter has its own independent theme yet they collectively do the work of delivering a common ideology. In the first chapter, the author terms the Indian economy as "schizophrenic" which according to him is its strength. He also compares the Indian economy with that of China. In fact, he also strongly feels that India's relations with the US and China will shape the world in the Twenty-first Century. The issues like caste conflicts, the rise of Hindu nationalism, South Asia's divided Muslim minorities, India-Pakistan relations, etc are explained with a sense of maturity and clarity. India's modernity does have many layers to it. The author believes that India will face its upcoming challenges with grace and will make optimum use of every opportunity. In Spite of the Gods: The Strange Rise of Modern India