Imagining India – Ideas for the New Century: Book Review

Imagining India – Ideas for the New Century By Nandan Nilekani

Rating: ****

Reviewed by:

Yashaswi M.

IInd Year, PGDM

Nandan Nilekani is co-founder of Infosys, one of India’s biggest IT firms, and a corporate icon in India. This book, however, is no primer on business strategy or economic policy. It is primarily about ideas: the ideas that have held India back, the ideas that are allowing it to forge ahead, and the ideas that it still needs to embrace.

Imagining India reflects Mr.Nilekani’s vision of India, presented through a detailed analysis of the unique advantages India possesses. In the next few decades, it could become the lever for transforming the country into a world leader, he writes. He also elaborates on the hurdles we need to overcome to realize this tremendous opportunity. One novel idea central to this book is Nilekani’s take on India’s billion-strong population. The masses are a valuable asset and they represent human capital. With investments coming in, they constitute a dynamic pool of workers and consumers who can catalyze growth.

Nilekani points out that India’s future rests on more than just economic growth; it also depends on reform and innovation in all sectors of public life. Looking closely at India’s history, the author examines the ideas and attitudes that have evolved with time and contributed to the country’s progress; as well as those that have kept India shackled to old, unproductive and fundamentally undemocratic ways. He discusses how India’s early socialist policies, despite good intentions and astonishing idealism, stifled growth and weakened democracy.  He further writes how the country’s large and overwhelmingly young population has now become its greatest strength; how information technology is revolutionising not just business but also governance in the everyday life of a vast majority of Indians; and how rapid urbanisation is transforming both society and politics. This book does provide answers for those curious about India’s chances vis-à-vis the other contender to the superpower title: China.

Nilekani also offers some practical solutions. Technology could empower individuals trapped in the vice of antiquated systems. The government counts its citizens but does not store information about each of them – regarding, say, their health, land holdings, and finances – in an integrated, national database.

Interspersed with interesting ideas are the heart-warming stories about individuals working to make a difference in the flawed framework. Nilekani writes unflinchingly of challenges ahead. ‘Imagining India’ manages to strike that fine balance between hope and caution.

This well-researched book – with its extensive bibliography, footnotes, and timeline – is a must-read for any India-watcher; although modern India’s national obsessions – Bollywood and Cricket – are not discussed here. For these topics, the reader has to look elsewhere.