In Spite of the Gods

Title: In Spite of the Gods – The Strange Rise of Modern India

Author: Edward Luce

Publisher: Little, Brown, 2007 (First published 2006)

ISBN: 978-0-316-72981-9

Pages: 362

Another good attempt from an Indophile westerner to look at post-independent India with a watchful eye of where it had gone astray and ending with a to-do list. Edward Luce is a journalist who was the bureau chief of Financial Times in New Delhi from 2001 to 2005. He is now based in Washington, DC. Luce reiterated his indophilia by marrying an Indian girl and has traveled extensively in the country. The list of persons he interviewed for the book is a veritable who’s who of Indian society. As the author noted with amusement, Indians open up rather too much when they speak to a westerner and this has resulted in candid assessments of the issue in question. The book is a survey of what India is, in the beginning of 21^st century, how it got there irrespective of the crippling paraphernalia attached to its polity, economy and society and what should be the path to be followed in future if the country doesn’t want to be out of the reckoning in the coming decades. Except for his thinly vailed irritation to Hindu nationalist parties, the presentation is balanced and proportionate to the gravity of issues. What is remarkable is the astounding ease with which the discussion transits between one complex issue like religious harmony in the villages to another equally vexing concern on India’s foreign policy which is increasingly pegged to the nuclear arsenal. An insightful comparison to China is made with special emphasis on the inherent advantages of India, though he has restrained himself from predicting an overtaking of the northern neighbour. Even after filtering out exaggerated portions altogether which is naturally expected from a work by a foreigner unaccustomed to the country, it still presents valuable comments and suggestions for the way forward that should be realized and implemented by the citizens of this country.

Luce has presented a surgically precise assessment of India’s industrial sector and the role of the cities in supporting rural masses. India excels in service sector and its manufacturing base is still not competitive enough with other developing countries. The transformation that pulled India out of the bottom half of developing countries was the liberalization measures started in 1991. The author finds the fallacy in politicians and some of the socially upward people’s attitude of praising the role villages play in Indian society. Gandhian it is, but its utility had exhausted after the end of freedom struggle, even for which it was nothing more than a rallying cry. All kinds of superstitions and caste oppression happen in villages which can’t even provide jobs for its people. Productivity of land which lie fractured across generations is very low and unsustainable. Most of the villagers survive on the remittances made by a few of its members working in cities. Even though Luce doesn’t say it in so many words, the villages don’t deserve the pride of place accorded to it in the national psyche. Villagers are exploited by the bureaucracy because even with relaxations instituted after 1991, there are still many laws which are in force and which are to be flouted by paying bribes. It is amusing to observe that those same villagers who are oppressed by government servants want their children’s career to be in government service. With very few exceptions, the author alleges that corruption has entered every avenue of administration and even judiciary.

The author’s appraisal of India’s political system through an examination of the major political parties, the Congress and the BJP can’t be termed impartial. While he gets himself carried away by imagined fascist connections of the RSS, the Hindu nationalist organization that controls BJP, he turns a kind and sympathetic face towards Sonia Gandhi and presents Sheila Dixit, the Chief Minister of Delhi as the person who transformed the national capital as the most desired city in India. To a neutral observer, Narendra Modi of Gujarat may seem to be a more fit choice for representing India’s changing priorities in ushering in economic well being to a provincial state. Dixit, definitely far more efficient than most politicians, inevitably gets assistance from both national and international organisations in getting the funds she wants to bring about infrastructural programs like the Delhi Metro. The ideological basis of BJP is naturally unappealing to most foreigners and Luce is no exception. He envisages a nexus, though in theory alone, to the autocratic regimes which thrived in Germany and Italy in the years leading to World War II. This goes to laughable heights when he claims that the date on which the carnage in Godhra, Gujarat took place (Feb 27, 2002), which sparked widespread communal riots, was coincident in date with the burning of German reichstag by the Nazis in 1933. But here too, he conveniently forgets to mention that the carnage was orchestrated not by the organizations which were blamed for the conflagration that raged as a retort to the incident.

India’s increasing role in South Asia and the rest of the world is presented in an unprejudiced way which emphasizes the part played by Indian Muslims in redefining the country’s seesaw relations with Pakistan. Though under immense stress from hardliners within and without, the loyalties of India’s most numerous minority was never in doubt. This confuses and irritates Pakistan, whose raison d’etre was its claim of representing Muslims as a whole. The troubled state of Kashmir over which Pakistan claims rights is also rapidly changing. Exposed to violence for so long, ordinary people in the valley are showing signs of reaching a compromise with India, especially after the increasingly progressive indicators were seen on the economic front. Even China, which traditionally supported Pakistan as a counterweight to dampen India’s aspirations, is viewing India as a partner in its miraculous economic growth. The nature of specialization of both countries’ economic progress pit them as complementing each other’s strengths. The scramble for energy security by both nations is sure to evoke international realignment in the decades to come. Luce identifies four critical problems the country need to face in the coming years. These are, the challenge of lifting 300 million people out of poverty, overcoming the dangers of rapid environmental degradation, removing the spectre of an HIV – Aids epidemic and strengthening its system of liberal democracy (p.342).

Luce does not subscribe to spiritual calls as is the wont of many foreigners who visit India. He says that India had laboured too long under the burden of spiritual greatness that westerners have for centuries thrust upon it and which Indians had themselves got into the habit of picking up and sending back. The greatest charm of the book is that the author was not dazzled by India’s metaphysical civilization which was only a riposte to the condescending mindset of its colonial masters. Dwarfed and overtaken in every physical or material arena, the people fell back on a spiritual aura which could be sold back to the west. It was westerners who proposed the idea, which was taken up by eager native proponents and used to lure more people from abroad to immerse in the realm of the spirit.

His wit is very amusing and gentle. Reminiscing about his visit to guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, he likens him to Jesus Christ shooting for a shampoo advertisement. Also, being inside the exquisitely designed ashram with white marble and floral motifs reminded him of a wedding cake (p.178).

The book mentions V J Kurian, the IAS officer who has proved that professional management and efficiency are not the monopoly of private sector. His singlehanded contribution to the development of a greenfield airport in Kochi with public-private partnership provided a model for the whole of India. Kurian is identified by Luce as one of the few officials who are simply a cog in the wheel, but forces it in the right direction against heavy odds. Such appreciation is sure to uplift the morale of such officials who are in a very small minority.

The author claims that India’s affirmative action program for the downtrodden lower castes is the most elaborate in the world, with half of the jobs in government reserved for them, but goes on to say, “Few are allocated by competitive examination. In practice, many of the jobs are dispensed by the relevant caste leaders and their networks of hangers-on, or they are put up for sale to the highest bidders” (p.127). This irresponsible and incorrect statement flies in the face of good judgment exhibited by the author elsewhere. Corruption there is, in government appointments, but that is not restricted to lower caste jobs alone. To presume that jobs are divided among themselves by caste leaders is ridiculous and reveals the superfluity of the argument.

The book is highly recommended.

Rating: 3 Star