India Unbound : A book for every Indian

Book: India Unbound

Author: Gurcharan Das

Publisher: Penguin Books

India Unbound is an amazing book written by Gurcharan Das. Das has an interesting style of interweaving his personal experiences with the Indian economic scene. Though not autobiographical, the book delves in his growing up years and his tryst with Simla high society.

The book is on India's economic struggle and the liberation of our markets from the Nehruvian socialism. Das says that he has grown with India and has seen her rise in the global world. Starting his life with socialism and appreciating Nehru's ideologies, Das changes camp after the economic liberalization of 1991. In his words, India attained true freedom only after 1991. Das also talks about his personal experiences of selling "Vicks" to the common Indian people, where he learnt about marketing strategies and his future growth - seeds of which were sown when he joined the Mumbai (then Bombay) office.

India Unbound is a book full of facts. Not eating up words while criticizing Nehru's ideas and loading up all praise on the new democratic capitalism (nice term), introduced by Dr Manmohan Singh in 1991. Though Das also points out that there was little choice at the time since India's economy was in dire straits.

The book also has a new chapter added in its latest edition which talks about the new India and further rise of the economy. Das seems pretty optimistic about our growth and foresees democratic capitalism as the new way for major economies of the world. As the title of the blog says this is one book which every Indian should read. In a nutshell the book is on the economic history of India, which arouses your interest in economics.