Indianomix - Making Sense of Modern India

Authors:       Vivek Dehejia and Rupa Subramanya

Published:   2012

Publisher:    Random House India

Hardcover:  228 Pages

Economics is not one of my favorite subjects. But this book was  pressed into my hands by a book lover who was sure that I will enjoy it. And she was absolutely right. 
I had never expected that such a dry subject like economics could be applied to understand the behavioral patterns of Indians in various situations. 
In the introductory chapter the authors who are well qualified economists, explain how in India the everyday scenarios like - people not turning up on time for an appointment; an auto driver not willing to go where you want him to go; politicians or bureaucrats  making you wait without rhyme or reason - are actually manifestations of several economic theories in action.

In the remaining six chapters of the book they explore issues like :

• Why the public is indifferent to the plight of an accident victim ?
• Why did Nehru ignore the Chinese threat in the lead-up to the 1962 war ?
• Why people take life-threatening risks while crossing a busy road or a railway track ?
• Do seatbelt laws really save lives in India ?
• Will India be better off under an autocratic rule as compared to a democratic setup ?
• What  was the reason for BJP's defeat in 2004 General Elections ?
• What role does myths and superstitions play in influencing the economics and politics of a country like India ?

This book is not a conventional economics book since it borrows liberally from other disciplines like history, political science, psychology, sociology, anthropology, evolutionary biology, religion etc.to explain these issues. This is because the authors firmly believe that the "richness of India - which to some people may appear as mere messiness - deserves, indeed demands, such an interdisciplinary approach. When you dig below the apparent chaos of India, and get to the deeper mechanisms hidden below the confusing patterns on top, India makes sense after all".

A very entertaining  and enlightening read ! I am glad that I read this book.

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•  Excerpts from the following chapters of the book
• What if...?
• Heads or Tails ? 
• Mythical or Modern
   

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