India in Slow Motion (ISBN 0143030477)

A revelatory and entertaining glimpse into modern India...:
As an Indian, I know first-hand that India never ceases to surprise and shock, but when I read this book, I discovered I was surprised and shocked to new levels! This book contains 10 chapters, each a revelatory political or social piece ranging in setting from contemporary to the Indira Gandhi era. In order, the chapters cover 1) the Hindutva movement, 2) child workers in the carpet industry, 3) the Tehelka defence corruption scandal, 4) The Indianization of Christianity in Goa, 5) Cyberabad and Chandrababu Naidu, 6) Sufism in India, 7) Globalization, economic reform and the Indian farmer, 8) VP Singh and his lesser known but equally interesting brother Sant Bux, 9) A Gujarat village that has implemented a successful water harvesting scheme and treats its Dalits well (!), and 10) Kashmir. Tully handles even the potentially depressing issues like militant Hindutva and Globalization extremely well, humanizing them with personal encounters and the relationships that he has built with the protagonists (and antagonists), and avoiding the strident or moralizing tone that could quickly grow onerous, while leaving no doubt where his sympathies lie - with the underdog. Arundhati Roy could learn a thing or two from this man. Those interested in contemporary India have much to glean from this book - the pervasive corruption and governmental malaise that cripples India (believe me, it is worse than you ever imagined), the ordinary and not-so-ordinary citizens who, against overwhelming odds, accomplish amazing things in this environment, and the odd idealist who still thrives, admist pervasive cynicism.

Tedious, cliched and unfocussed:
Tully's book's cover is graced with suitably glowing reviews from his peers in the English press. People are surely doing him favours, since INDIA IN SLOW MOTION is a mess. The book-- a sort of compendium of travelogue, essay, memoir and social speculation-- lacks focus and originality. Tully's conversations turn into tedious expository dialogue. The book lacks overall focus. Tully's tired thesis seems to be "India has some problems." How rivetingly original, and how unfortunate that Tully, who is an old India hand and who speaks Hindi, can't see beyond his journalistic cliches. We learn about Religious Intolerance. Then, we learn about Corruption. But the context-- the history and the social details-- are missing, and so the pieces come off as little more than "I went here and did that, and saw X, and spent hours and hours TALKING" And, worst of all, it's BORING. Those who want a thorough-- and well written-- view of India would do well to look at some of the following titles. John Keay's A HISTORY OF INDIA begins with the beginning, and offers the crucial context that Tully can't provide. It is ironic that Keay-- an academic historian with a massive subject to cover-- manages the wit that eludes Tully the journalist, who has carte blanche and fewer genre obligations than Keay. Gursharan Das's INDIA UNBOUND is a mix of memoir and economic and social analysis of India during the past fifty years. Das-- a playwright and former CEO in India, now a business consultant-- tells his story, and the story of India's post-Independence economics and politics. Das is a riveting writer (he can make economic history fascinating) and a pretty solid social obvserver, moving from personal anecdote to statistic in a breath, gracefully, to make points. Although his book ignores a few issues (such as India's looming energy crisis, and its massive environmental problems) its writing is so entertaining that these faults come off as minor. Sara McDonald's HOLY COW is what Tully ought to have written. It is most entertaining journalistic trash. McDonald lived in India with her journalist fiance-cum-husband for two years. She does a whole lot of spiritual tourism (Vipassana retreats, yoga studies, visiting missionaries and sadhus, etc). To this she adds some sharp social observation-- there is the Punjabi social climber, the socially awkward Hindi teacher, an endless (and hilarious) procession of beggars, freaks, con artists, retired generals, whacked-out tourists and ordinary folks. Her book is ultimately soemwhat shallow-- "I had a wild time, tried some stuff, then I got married" seems to be its message-- but it is so much more entertaining than Tully's that it's definitely worth a read.

A good thoughtful read:
Mark Tully has been reporting for BBC in India for more than 20 years. He's been in the thick of everything that has shaped this nation - the Emergency, Indira's and Rajiv's assassinations, the droughts, the floods, the IT wave and the liberalization. He is more Indian than most Indians. Mark Tully and Gillian Wright travelled extensively around India talking to people of all kinds about India's past and present problems for their book "India In Slow Motion". The book is broken into sections, each dealing with a problem facing our country. Some of the subjects of the book are Kashmir, water, farmer suicides, child labour and religion. The travels to faroff places, the interviews with rustic people are delightful and eye opening. The takeaway for me from the book was the extensive historical origins of each problem that the authors detail. Tully does satirical takes on everything and everyone. For Indians, the book might be a bit depressing if read in one shot. It can easily be read over several nights since it is broken nicely into independent sections. This is a good thoughtful read.

A good documentary on India..:
Mark Tully has focused on one of the key issues of independent India, "lack of good governance". Anyone who has lived in India or has studied history of independent India would not disagree with Mr. Tully's arguments. Mr. Tully travels in the countryside to discover the problems people face due to almost non-functioning government systems. Good thing about this book is that the author has not expressed his own views and opinions on the subject but he tells us what he sees on the field while travelling in different parts of India. Many of the Indians, living in the cities, would not be aware of the difficulties people face in villages due to the non-functioning government systems. Reading this book is a very good opportunity to understand why we so often see the headlines of farmers committing suicides. Mr.Tully has also touched upon cultural diversity of India when he talks about his experience of Sufism, a way of following Islam. He has also covered the burning issues of modern India, tension between Hindu and Muslim communities and terrorism in Kashmir. Overall, it is a good read if you want to understand what has held India back despite of her enormous potential.