Review: India Grows at Night by Gurcharan Das

India Grows at Night

I missed Gurcharan Das’ talk session at Tata Literature Live but made up for it by buying an autographed copy of his latest book – India Grows at Night. He has been a famous political commentator and his India Unbound was immensely well received (though I haven’t read it yet). This book is more like an essay about Indian society, state, politics and the ensuing melting pot. The ideas discussed range from the ancient Indian texts dealing with dharma, the tussle between Rule of Law and Rule of Life, the character of Indian state and society, the results of a weak state: crony capitalism, corruption, delayed and long pending cases in courts, abuse of power by officials and finally suggestions by the author. This has not been an easy book to read and understand, not because of flowery words or unending sentences but only for the weight of the topics he has covered and my rudimentary knowledge of political systems and philosophy despite of my consistent but blurred efforts towards improving it.

In the Introduction, he explains the meaning of the phrase ‘grows by night’: how lots of people have begun to believe that India grows at night when the government is asleep – meaning that growth is seen only when the government’s involvement is minimal or absent. In the first chapter, he starts with the example of rise of Gurgaon and its comparison with Faridabad and how absence of government action, the pulling down force, resulted in private players taking charge of everything – electricity, sewage, infrastructure and security. Economic growth of India over the last 100 years is discussed, but here the comparison of the period of 1900-1950 with later decades, in my opinion, is not correct for during almost the first half of the century we were the ruled and the British had no incentive to put money back into the system. He briefly discusses the Indian growth model straight from agriculture to services. He in the next chapter and later as well writes about Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption Lokpal Bill movement and how a weak government was on back foot. He explains that the government is not weak because of lack of majority or because of coalition partners but because Indian state always has been weak right from the beginning when multiple kingdoms used to exist together and the kings were not above the law, the dharma, and were expected to uphold it at all times and protect his subjects and provide efficient administration. He then intelligently and convincingly states that this ancient structure is also responsible why our society is strong: for the rule of law was always interpreted by Brahamans, and hence the king’s powers did not overlap with them. The kings who provided better for their kingdoms flourished. He compares the Indian structure with the Chinese one, where the state always has been much more powerful for the desire to hold people (especially of one race) together and hence people were subjected to ‘rules’ from above while in India the ‘rules’ blossomed from below.

Then the applicability of a common law by the British led to unforeseen problems as suddenly the different pockets and regions in India with varying sub-cultures, languages and customs were seen through a single lens is discussed. He also outlines the trouble with what’s written in the Constitution and its applicability to ground realities and how the lack of a figure like Gandhi is hurting us. He cites various cases resulting out of a weak state: Jessica Lal, Ruchika Girhotra, the case of Vachathi in Tamil Nadu in 1992, the recent Telecom allocation case, Posco etc. He often cites from Mahabharata and how the use of dandi (stick) is recommended as a punishment for those who disobey the state and create trouble. A state is a state only when it is capable of enforcing its will, in the rightful sense, on its people. He even gives the example of a specific case where Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer gave more weight to rule of life over rule of law and also similar dilemma faced by the authors of our constitution.

The author signed copy

The only annoying part of this book, and it is very annoying believe me, is when discussing any concept or issue it is repeatedly mentioned that it will be dealt with in more detail later in a forthcoming chapter. This takes away the attention of the reader from the current chapter and makes him wonder in his mind ‘what more would be discussed about this in the mentioned chapter?’. I am not sure if this has been done by the author or by the publishers.

Throughout the book he targets corruption and the resulting ‘flailing state’ which India has become- from Octoroi Check Nakas to permissions required to do business, India’s poor record in child immunization, malnutrition and even on transparency scorecard. In a meeting with Arvind Kejriwal, who called upon the author for guidance, he asks him to focus not just on punishing the guilty through Lokpal but also reforming the systemic malaise in our institutions for that would result in uprooting the very harbours. Even the esteemed IAS is not spared and he cites the example where Dr. Manmohan Singh, the current Prime Minister, tried to better our administrative systems but was stymied by the collusion between the officials and the political class. He outlines how centralized yet de-centralized state is a much better one; the centre must not do what can be done at the local level. He touches how the new Indian middle class is growing and in a decade or so will be half of India’s population – resulting in enlarged expectations of governance from the Government.

The author comes up with practical suggestions for the wanting citizens: to take things in their own hands by joining politics, for politics is not bad and it is the corrupt or selfish politicians who use it for personal gains. Hence, the time for well intentioned citizens joining parties or creating one is explored. And reforming the system doesn’t start straight at the national scene, but at the local level. He urges the citizens to join various local projects being undertaken by the government, either at central or local level, and to experience firsthand the creation of a well meaning active political class. He also suggests opening up a new party for the sake of good and praises Lok Satta Party of Hyderabad and Swatantra Party as good examples. On the question of hereditary politics, he quotes from Patrick French’s India: A Portrait – “Every MP under the age of thirty had inherited a seat; more than two-thirds of the sixty-six MPs under the age of forty were hereditary politicians; every Congress MP under the age of thirty-five was hereditary” (the same facts were covered by Ruchir Sharma in Breakout Nations as well). He criticizes how BJP lost the golden opportunity in 2008 during the Indo-US nuclear deal because it was something Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself had worked on. He praises the opening up of the Insurance Sector in India (though there has been vehement criticism of the government by Frontline magazine).

The last section is for suggestions from him on what should be done and he rests his case by making a praiseworthy attempt for a strong state. And he does mention that a state is required to grow – no matter how many inefficiencies it may have; “a weak state is better than no state at all“. A brilliant book this has been and will make me read his earlier works as well. I recommend this one positively to those who want to understand the Indian political system and the problems plaguing it. It will not be easy to comprehend but surely you will become much more aware of the issues at hand.

Review: Breakout Nations by Ruchir Sharma

Ruchir Sharma has been a regular contributor of long and detailed articles in the Economic Times. I do read those, but a lot of times skip them for my lack of interest in macro economics and for the lack of time. Nevertheless, his articles are good and always have something new for me to learn. Given that this book got published only some months ago, I issued it immediately upon spotting it in the library. After reading Taleb’s Black Swan, my view has become more critical of predictions and the sub-title ‘In the Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles’ stood out as an eyesore. I picked up this book, after a quick read up of the contents and few pages, not for any predictions but only for gaining a precursory understanding of the economic situation prevailing in various countries. I read this one as a reference to the past than as a crystal ball.

He begins with an experience of attending a swanky ‘farmhouse’ party in Delhi, where the “valets were juggling black Bentleys and red Porsches” and Kobe beef had been flown in from Japan and white truffles from Italy. Ruchir rattles off lots of facts – “over the course of any decade since 1950, on average only one-third of emerging markets have been able to grow at an annual average of 5 percent of more“, “only four companies – P&G, GE, AT&T and DuPont – have survived on the Dow Jones index of the top-thirty U.S. industrial stocks since 1960s“, “a Bellini costs a fortune in Rio” and many more (all of these, to remind you, are all facts based on what has happened and that is what I was more interested in when I picked up this book). By the term ‘Breakout Nations’ he means “the nations that can sustain rapid growth, beating or at least matching high expectations and the average growth rates of their income class“. He predicts a slowdown in China’s growth in the next 2-3 years, because China has become so large now that to maintain the same momentum of growth it needs greater absolute increase. He also gives a peek into problems in China: of exorbitant real estate prices, of crumbling rail networks (especially during holiday season), aging demography and rising wages.

The author also uncovers some interesting points about a forever favourite debate amongst the superpowers – about economic growth and political system. Ruchir states: “in 1980s, 32 nations were growing at a rate faster than 5 percent, and 59 percent of them were democracies; in the 1990s, 59 percent of the thirty nine high-growth nations were democracies; and in the 2000s, 43 percent of the fifty three were democracies. The total for the three decades: 52 percent of the 124 high growth countries were democracies“. And with this sword he cuts the imaginary umbilical cord between political systems and economic success – though not completely, because the rest, the 48 percent, were democracies. He calls this the 50/50 rule.

On India, he writes: “lot of young people and favourable demographics – but they are in the rural countryside which doesn’t mean anything for growth; corruption is high; points to the growth in South India owing due to technology and in North because of corrective actions; compares India and Brazil culturally and cites the example of why Orkut did better in both these countries (that’s the most ridiculous reason you would ever hear!); MGNREGA is pushing rural wage inflation upwards; points to hereditary politics (I loved the facts here); compares performance of Congress and others (this also I loved); how aspirational goods are being bought even in small towns but has only 6 cities in the explosive growth category compared to 23 in China“.

In the subsequent chapters he covers various nations – Brazil, Mexico, Russia, Hungary, Poland Czech Republic, Turkey, Thailand, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, South Africa, Nigeria, Qatar, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman and a couple more (some of the nations are covered only briefly). For Brazil, he says: its economy is one of the most costly and over hyped, restaurants in Sao Paulo are pricier than in Paris; it is world’s leading exporter of many raw materials; is a trade partner of China (the leading importer); spends too little on roads, seeks a secure ‘stability at any cost’ philosophy; productivity is very low; invests too little (again) in schools resulting in poor labour quality, shortage of engineers and technical workers and even high end hotels struggle to get hotel rooms cleaned. In Russia, he writes, there is no organized taxi service; millions of tons of meat and poultry is imported for consumption; the government spends very little – around 20 percent; roads are falling apart; more than half of Russians now depend on the state for a living; small and middle sized enterprises form a much lower percentage than in other emerging nations; has no global brand despite so many Nobel Prize winners; is home to 100 billionaires, the third in the world and does not make it even to the top 15 of BCG’s list of maximum millionaires’ countries – that’s a huge gap – no middle ground!; most of the billionaires are a result of crony capitalism. On Turkey, he writes:  it has broken away from radical Islamists and offered a much moderate vision of Islam; debt and inflation have fallen and that Turkish exports are increasing in the Middle East. I feel for Turkey the author has been unnecessarily exuberant just based on cultural openness. And on South Korea he writes: the economy is very well balanced with a diverse set of industries (but so does India); services sector is missing there; research and development is very high on priority (which shows from Samsung, LG, Hyundai and Kia); exports in large numbers to China; has high school enrollment; banking sector is not innovative. The gold medal, finally, does go to South Korea though.

The Breakout Nations identified by Ruchir Sharma are: South Korea, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Poland and Turkey. My suggestion is that for people who are interested in economics, working in financial markets and those wanting to get the basics of economic scenario in various countries should read this. Treat this as a record of past performances and it will surely impress you. For the general reader, this book will not do because lot of technicalities of economics is discussed and I myself wasn’t able to comprehend some of them. Combining Pax Indica with this will be a good thing to do as it will result in a holistic view of diplomacy (as a tool for betterment of one’s own country). This has been less of a review and more of a brief of what is covered in the book – owing to the facts mentioned earlier.

Review: Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Daniel Amen

During the Tata Literature Festival, 2012 in Mumbai I had attended Dr. James Fallon session on how the brain, not the mind, greatly affects human behaviour – from serial killers to rapists. And this was followed by another session jointly by Dr. Fallon and Faramerz Dabhoiwala. Dr. Fallon’s personality and knowledge had immediately impressed upon the audience (and also because he himself was a borderline psychopath!). So when I stumbled upon this book, I was, at first, in splits in my head because, I thought to myself, this author still doesn’t know about the new found medical discoveries concerning the brain. But the title itself was intriguing enough for me to pick it up. All of us have had enough of self-help books which bombard you on how to ‘do things which are good for you, your family, your friends, your colleagues and the whole universe’ and how to always ‘think positive, be positive, be happy and take charge of your life’. These kinds always focused on the mind, not the brain. The title challenged my own older beliefs of ‘changing one’s mind’. I, for a moment, thought it would have been a colossal mistake on part of the publishers to use the word ‘brain’ instead of ‘mind’. How on earth could one change one’s own brain? A quick flip of the book exposed my naivety. 

Through years of research and practice Dr. Amen has found lot of correlations between the brain, yes the physical part, and human behaviour. He gives at least fifty case examples from his own clinic, if not more, to show how he has helped people cope with their own selves. He doesn’t proclaim that all human nature is pure brain, but a combination of brain (the over and under activity in some parts, the injuries, the deformities) plus experiences (childhood, growing up, adolescence, marriage, parenting etc.) plus substances (whether food, drugs or alcohol). He introduces us to the “five of the brain systems that are most intimately involved with our behaviour“. They are: the deep limbic system, basal ganglia, prefrontal cortex, cingulateand temporal lobes. 

In the first chapter he outlines the history of brain imaging techniques and how they evolved over time. He brings out how SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) studies almost ended after they were replaced with CAT and later MRI studies. In fact the whole book has hundreds of SPECT images for various cases he covers. In the second chapter he covers few of his cases and how SPECT scans helped him identify the problem area (one of the five systems of the brain) and how appropriate treatment (whether medication or otherwise) was used effectively. The next chapters cover in stirring details each of the five systems and their functions and problems associated with each when not functioning normally. Each problem is followed by one or multiple medical cases from the author’s own clinic. All the chapters, which cover the systems, are followed by a checklist which will help you identify the likelihood of problems with one or multiple systems of yours. I, personally, completed all of them and probably have a problem in one of them (but it is not unnerving me!). The suggestions are good and can be easily practiced. This book covers disorders of all sorts concerned with sleep, intimacy, anger, impulse, decisiveness, fear, behaviour, time management, social skills and more.

The last bunch of chapters cover common but serious problems of violence, drugs and alcohol, marital problems and what can be done about them. He even lists down the medication he has treated his patients with. Some of the suggestions, though, are beyond me. Like when he stirs up god, very rarely though, as a judge or right and wrong and as a source of power. Apart from this, the book is full of practical advice and has helped me remove my colored lens when judging self-help books. I will highly recommend this book to everyone, for relationships of all kinds form such an important part of our lives and when there are hiccups in any of them we or the others bear the brunt. This will make you realize that lot of things are beyond the control of an individual and it is not just a matter of anyone wanting, willing or behaving in a certain desirable way but also how an individual’s brain is wired. He also describes how nice and not nice experiences actually change the way brain works.

Grab a copy for a healthy life,today!

var addthis_config = {“data_track_addressbar”:true};//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=ra-521f6ac76f8e03ef

//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=ra-521f6ac76f8e03ef