INDIA UNBOUND, By Gurcharan Das, (Knopf, 406 pages, $27.50)

WHEN MY MOTHER, some 15 years ago in Delhi, started her own factory -- an initially

modest place, now grown impressive, that produces home furnishings for export – hers was the first instance in the history of my family when someone, anyone, went into business.

Reviewed by Jonah Blank
INDIA UNBOUND By Gurcharan Das

INDIA UNBOUND.
By Gurcharan Das.
Knopf; 384 pages; $27.50; 495 Indian rupees.

MISTAKEN MODERNITY: INDIA BETWEEN WORLDS.
By Dipankar Gupta.
Harper Collins; 225 pages; 195 Indian rupees 

A few years ago, as a result of an unbelievable mix-up, I found myself at a party of middle-class youngsters in Delhi, mostly between 13 and 17 years old. Instead of making a quiet exit, I decided to stay, and make the most of it. The first thing I noticed at this teenage party is that the boys and girls were in separate corners. The boys were bragging and talking about adventurous things. The girls were giggling, speaking about clothes, gossiping about boys, and nervously sucking on Pepsi straws.

Today is the first day of the twenty-first century and a good time to take stock.   The ascent of a country from poverty to prosperity, from tradition to modernity is a great and fascinating enterprise. India has recently emerged as a vibrant, free market democracy after the economic reforms and it has begun to flex its muscles in the global information economy. The old centralised, bureaucratic state, which killed our industrial revolution over the past fifty years, has begun a subtle but definite decline.