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Why the Poor Don't Kill Us
Why the Poor Don’t Kill Us
In this searing and darkly hilarious diagnosis of contemporary society, acclaimed Indian writer Manu Joseph explores why the poor don’t rise in revolt against the rich despite living in one of the most unequal regions of the world.
The poor know how much we spend in a single day, on a single meal, the price of Atlantic salmon and avocados. “Why,” he asks, “do they tolerate it? Why don’t they crawl out from their catastrophes and finish us off? Why don’t little men emerge from manholes and attack the cars? Why don’t the maids, who squat like frogs beside kitchen sinks, pull out the hair of their conscientious madams who never give them a day off? Why is there peace?”
Why the Poor Don’t Kill Us lays bare, with pitiless precision, the absurd, obvious and counter-intuitive reasons why we are safe. So far. It is a fragile peace, and we need to understand how it has come to be.
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Manu Joseph is a former columnist for the New York Times. He is also a novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of the novels Serious Men, The Illicit Happiness of Other People, and Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous. He is the winner of the Hindu Literary Prize and the PEN Open Book Award, whose jury described him as ‘…that rare bird who can wildly entertain the reader as forcefully as he moves them’. He has been nominated for several other prizes. He is also the creator of the Netflix series, Decoupled. This is his first “non-fiction”.
In this searing and darkly hilarious diagnosis of contemporary society, acclaimed Indian writer Manu Joseph explores why the poor don’t rise in revolt against the rich despite living in one of the most unequal regions of the world.
The poor know how much we spend in a single day, on a single meal, the price of Atlantic salmon and avocados. “Why,” he asks, “do they tolerate it? Why don’t they crawl out from their catastrophes and finish us off? Why don’t little men emerge from manholes and attack the cars? Why don’t the maids, who squat like frogs beside kitchen sinks, pull out the hair of their conscientious madams who never give them a day off? Why is there peace?”
Why the Poor Don’t Kill Us lays bare, with pitiless precision, the absurd, obvious and counter-intuitive reasons why we are safe. So far. It is a fragile peace, and we need to understand how it has come to be.
*
Manu Joseph is a former columnist for the New York Times. He is also a novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of the novels Serious Men, The Illicit Happiness of Other People, and Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous. He is the winner of the Hindu Literary Prize and the PEN Open Book Award, whose jury described him as ‘…that rare bird who can wildly entertain the reader as forcefully as he moves them’. He has been nominated for several other prizes. He is also the creator of the Netflix series, Decoupled. This is his first “non-fiction”.
236 pages, Hardcover
Published August 5, 2025
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September 17, 2025
Bravo! A truly great achievement from my favorite and coolest Indian writer. Just to prove how cool Manu Joseph is, let me tell you about an online exchange he had with a Hindu nationalist on Twitter/X. The Hindu nationalist who was offended by something Manu said on Twitter (I forget what) called him a rice bag (a slur for Indian Christians. The slur is an accusation that Indian Christians converted to Christianity from Hinduism for a bag of rice). Manu, who is into jogging and fitness, responded in an article by saying "I am offended by this high-carb insult; I would rather be accused of renouncing my religion for a bag of avocados, or even asparagus".
HAHAHAHHA! If someone addressed me with a religious slur, I doubt whether I could come up with something so clever. Now Manu is no bleeding heart liberal. In fact, Indian liberals despise him on account of an article he wrote, in which he called them amateur Indians, right after Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist came to power in 2014. That article is a part of this book.
I wonder whether Manu would translate this book into regional Indian languages. That would be truly dangerous because the poor who like to read in their mother tongues would realize how they are being conned. This book is bound to piss off many activist Indians because Manu puts them down with such hilarious and at times subtle lines. This book is so many things. A foreign spy/mercenary aiming to fuck things up in India could use this as a bible. In a way, this book may also be named "How the Rich Can Escape a Violent Revolution". There's something in this for everyone. A manifesto for everyone. Especially the poor. But can also be used by rich upper-middle class charlatans like me to keep the poor oppressed. So it is a dangerous book in many ways.
Manu starts off by trying to separate the Indian poor from the rest of the world. He says India's poor are different from the rest of the world because they are poor in one of the most unequal regions of the world. There is wealth and luxury all around India's poor. The first chapter contains some of Manu's strange experiences while covering an earthquake as a journalist. The book's title is not tongue in cheek in anyway. Manu really wonders why India's poor do not rise up in a violent revolution. He proceeds to examine why they dont.
He says the ugliness of Indian cities and its squalor reassures the poor that the country still belongs to them. This is not just a book about India's poor. It is about the Indian psychology. How the Indian mind works and how we look at the world and each other.
Indian politicians protect the rich from the poor. Manu narrates an incident in which a village in India was ravaged by leopard attacks. Many villagers lost their lives. The villagers demanded the leopard be killed. Journalists, activists and even branches of the Indian government prevented this. It was only the local politicians who spoke for the poor. Manu uses examples of Jayalalita and Karunanidhi, Tamil politicians who gave away freebies like television sets and even ounces of gold to the poor to illustrate this point. Politicians calm down and reassure the poor in India.
The poor have been conned into believing that education will save them. Not good at studying? Then maybe its their own fault is what the poor have been convinced by India's elites. Manu wants the college degree as a qualification for non-technical and non-scientific jobs to end. He considers his own literature degree to be a complete waste of time. In an interview I watched last week in which he promoted this book, he says during college his sister sent him synopsis of Shakespeare's plays which he couldn't bear to read.
There are dark forces that protect the rich from the poor. The poor fears Indian law enforcement agencies - the dreary courtrooms, dreadful jails and encounter killings which is another important reason why they do not revolt. Unlike the Western world, there is no compassion for the rioters and gangsters in India. This is why despite its inequalities, many Indian cities are safer than ones in the Western world. But Manu wonders for how much longer Indian law enforcement can continue to be so brutal.
The dismantling of "amateur Indians", a phrase coined by Manu to describe English speaking and sometimes old rich middle class Indians who feel lost in the new Indian where the street smart villager Indian now calls the shots is one of the books highlights. Manu is merciless with them. He says many of them hide out in colleges and activism to escape adult life. It has become expensive to escape from the other India. The other India is encroaching into the once safe islands where the amateur Indians used to live. There isn't much they can do about it.
The chapter called "Let the Poor Have Fun" in which Manu describes how a bunch of Indian activists convinced the Indian government to stop Facebook's free basics free internet for India's poor really convinced me about how well meaning activists might actually harm the poor. Maybe the poor just want to watch free porn and use the internet for entertainment. They do not care whether Facebook might favor some websites and platforms over the other which was the argument used by these activists to block Facebook's free internet for India's poor.
The profiles of Nandan Nilekani and an unnamed patriarch of a Malayali Christian family who runs a gold pawning institution (I suspect this is the Muthoot family) are excellent. Manu believes entrepreneurs and billionaires are underrated rescuers of the poor and are more effective than incompetent empathetic do-gooders and pompous activists.
There are many more interesting and original observations, anecdotes and advice to the upper middle class. Even though it is easy to read and only 266 pages long, you feel like you have read a sprawling work. There is so much to appreciate. This book is as interesting and important as Naipaul's India trilogy. And more entertaining than those books which predicted India's rise. Once again, bravo Manu Joseph. I will read this book again and again.
HAHAHAHHA! If someone addressed me with a religious slur, I doubt whether I could come up with something so clever. Now Manu is no bleeding heart liberal. In fact, Indian liberals despise him on account of an article he wrote, in which he called them amateur Indians, right after Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist came to power in 2014. That article is a part of this book.
I wonder whether Manu would translate this book into regional Indian languages. That would be truly dangerous because the poor who like to read in their mother tongues would realize how they are being conned. This book is bound to piss off many activist Indians because Manu puts them down with such hilarious and at times subtle lines. This book is so many things. A foreign spy/mercenary aiming to fuck things up in India could use this as a bible. In a way, this book may also be named "How the Rich Can Escape a Violent Revolution". There's something in this for everyone. A manifesto for everyone. Especially the poor. But can also be used by rich upper-middle class charlatans like me to keep the poor oppressed. So it is a dangerous book in many ways.
Manu starts off by trying to separate the Indian poor from the rest of the world. He says India's poor are different from the rest of the world because they are poor in one of the most unequal regions of the world. There is wealth and luxury all around India's poor. The first chapter contains some of Manu's strange experiences while covering an earthquake as a journalist. The book's title is not tongue in cheek in anyway. Manu really wonders why India's poor do not rise up in a violent revolution. He proceeds to examine why they dont.
He says the ugliness of Indian cities and its squalor reassures the poor that the country still belongs to them. This is not just a book about India's poor. It is about the Indian psychology. How the Indian mind works and how we look at the world and each other.
Indian politicians protect the rich from the poor. Manu narrates an incident in which a village in India was ravaged by leopard attacks. Many villagers lost their lives. The villagers demanded the leopard be killed. Journalists, activists and even branches of the Indian government prevented this. It was only the local politicians who spoke for the poor. Manu uses examples of Jayalalita and Karunanidhi, Tamil politicians who gave away freebies like television sets and even ounces of gold to the poor to illustrate this point. Politicians calm down and reassure the poor in India.
The poor have been conned into believing that education will save them. Not good at studying? Then maybe its their own fault is what the poor have been convinced by India's elites. Manu wants the college degree as a qualification for non-technical and non-scientific jobs to end. He considers his own literature degree to be a complete waste of time. In an interview I watched last week in which he promoted this book, he says during college his sister sent him synopsis of Shakespeare's plays which he couldn't bear to read.
There are dark forces that protect the rich from the poor. The poor fears Indian law enforcement agencies - the dreary courtrooms, dreadful jails and encounter killings which is another important reason why they do not revolt. Unlike the Western world, there is no compassion for the rioters and gangsters in India. This is why despite its inequalities, many Indian cities are safer than ones in the Western world. But Manu wonders for how much longer Indian law enforcement can continue to be so brutal.
The dismantling of "amateur Indians", a phrase coined by Manu to describe English speaking and sometimes old rich middle class Indians who feel lost in the new Indian where the street smart villager Indian now calls the shots is one of the books highlights. Manu is merciless with them. He says many of them hide out in colleges and activism to escape adult life. It has become expensive to escape from the other India. The other India is encroaching into the once safe islands where the amateur Indians used to live. There isn't much they can do about it.
The chapter called "Let the Poor Have Fun" in which Manu describes how a bunch of Indian activists convinced the Indian government to stop Facebook's free basics free internet for India's poor really convinced me about how well meaning activists might actually harm the poor. Maybe the poor just want to watch free porn and use the internet for entertainment. They do not care whether Facebook might favor some websites and platforms over the other which was the argument used by these activists to block Facebook's free internet for India's poor.
The profiles of Nandan Nilekani and an unnamed patriarch of a Malayali Christian family who runs a gold pawning institution (I suspect this is the Muthoot family) are excellent. Manu believes entrepreneurs and billionaires are underrated rescuers of the poor and are more effective than incompetent empathetic do-gooders and pompous activists.
There are many more interesting and original observations, anecdotes and advice to the upper middle class. Even though it is easy to read and only 266 pages long, you feel like you have read a sprawling work. There is so much to appreciate. This book is as interesting and important as Naipaul's India trilogy. And more entertaining than those books which predicted India's rise. Once again, bravo Manu Joseph. I will read this book again and again.
August 13, 2025
So I just got done reading Manu Joseph's latest book, "Why the Poor Don't Kill Us", and I have a couple of theories. Firstly, Manu Joseph is in deep with some loan sharks. They are bad people. They break kneecaps, and he needed a quick advance royalty check. Because other than that, there is no reason for this book to exist. The book is just lazy. For example, the back cover is identical to the inside jacket, which is taken for verbatim from a passage. Same passage, printed three times. So if you're not even going to bother to write a fresh blog for the book, why are you even writing a book?
My second theory about this whole thing is that Manu Joseph is a lot smarter and funnier in his head than he is in real life. Because despite having read this 250 odd page book, and I am very gracious calling it a book, I have no idea why the poor don't kill us. The entire book is a series of loosely connected vignettes (I can't even call them essays because none of them go over a couple of thousand words) where Manu Joseph is just making assertions. "I believe", "Probably why". None of them are backed up by any research, reference, or footnotes. It just feels like the rambling of an old Indian WhatsApp uncle. Only this WhatsApp uncle is not a raging Islamophobe or the other way around. He has a lot of problems with wokeism, with intellectuals, with the left, with activism. But he doesn't really give any consistent solutions to any of those things.
And my biggest problem with the book is the tone that the book takes. Across the entire book, rich and affluent Indians are referred to as "They", as if Manu Joseph is not one of them. But with three very successful books, A stint with the New York Times and a show that has been produced on Netflix, I don't think he can distance himself from a system that actively benefits him. Sure, there is some "white guilt" where he talks about how little he pays his maids. But at the end of it, I don't think there's any effort that is taken to remedy that. He makes a prescription of tipping more, but I don't think charity begins at home for him.
So in conclusion, I think the real reason why the poor don't kill us is that they don't know yet that people are paying 600 Rupees to read this. If they did, they probably would. And honestly, I wouldn't even fault them.
My second theory about this whole thing is that Manu Joseph is a lot smarter and funnier in his head than he is in real life. Because despite having read this 250 odd page book, and I am very gracious calling it a book, I have no idea why the poor don't kill us. The entire book is a series of loosely connected vignettes (I can't even call them essays because none of them go over a couple of thousand words) where Manu Joseph is just making assertions. "I believe", "Probably why". None of them are backed up by any research, reference, or footnotes. It just feels like the rambling of an old Indian WhatsApp uncle. Only this WhatsApp uncle is not a raging Islamophobe or the other way around. He has a lot of problems with wokeism, with intellectuals, with the left, with activism. But he doesn't really give any consistent solutions to any of those things.
And my biggest problem with the book is the tone that the book takes. Across the entire book, rich and affluent Indians are referred to as "They", as if Manu Joseph is not one of them. But with three very successful books, A stint with the New York Times and a show that has been produced on Netflix, I don't think he can distance himself from a system that actively benefits him. Sure, there is some "white guilt" where he talks about how little he pays his maids. But at the end of it, I don't think there's any effort that is taken to remedy that. He makes a prescription of tipping more, but I don't think charity begins at home for him.
So in conclusion, I think the real reason why the poor don't kill us is that they don't know yet that people are paying 600 Rupees to read this. If they did, they probably would. And honestly, I wouldn't even fault them.
August 15, 2025
Starting from the guard at your gated community to the peon who serves you tea at the office, even though the poor in India are the backbone of daily life, they don't revolt. Why the Poor Don't Kill Us: The Psychology of Indians by Manu Joseph explores plausible reasons for the absence of a broad-scale revolution among the poor in India. Is it because our legal system is tilted towards the wealthy, or because they are inherently good? The author has discussed many points, and most of them make
A good, light read to understand your neighborhood. Can we really do anything, or are we just doomed to live in inequality? You might find some answers.
The author has strongly criticised what he calls the amateur Indian-the English-speaking, upper-middle-class segment in India. If you have already read Meet the Savarnas by Ravikant Kisana, you would appreciate the book even more.
A good, light read to understand your neighborhood. Can we really do anything, or are we just doomed to live in inequality? You might find some answers.
The author has strongly criticised what he calls the amateur Indian-the English-speaking, upper-middle-class segment in India. If you have already read Meet the Savarnas by Ravikant Kisana, you would appreciate the book even more.
September 7, 2025
Writing about a serious topic like this in a satirical and dark humour manner is not easy. However, the author manages to bring the story of daily struggles and mundane moments in India to life in a profound way.
One paragraph that really stuck me is: “So often activism is the war of millionaires against billionaires.Across the ages, all of activism is just this the second rung of a society fighting against the top rung in the name of a public cause.”
One paragraph that really stuck me is: “So often activism is the war of millionaires against billionaires.Across the ages, all of activism is just this the second rung of a society fighting against the top rung in the name of a public cause.”
October 5, 2025
Provocative and funny. Sharp observations delivered with dollops of dark humour. Analyses of human psychology from a bold and original perspective. I do not agree with everything he has to say, especially about his lampooning of activism. But it is good to have our views challenged and to experience a healthy shake-up that prompts us to re-examine our beliefs. There are some great one liners and punchlines which deserve to be on a tee shirt.
August 10, 2025
Sharp, tight, funny, and hard hitting.
Best reads of this year till now.
Best reads of this year till now.
August 13, 2025
Manu Joseph’s Why Don’t the Poor Kill Us? is easily one of my top reads of the year, and perhaps the sharpest book to come out of India this year. Cutting, snarky, and unapologetically irreverent, Joseph offers a rare piece of writing that is an equal-opportunity offender—calling out leftists, rightists, Marxists, socialists, and everyone in between.
Rather than leaning on academic theory or sociological jargon, the book operates from the vantage point of a highly observant journalist who doesn’t hold back. He takes a question many conscientious Indians might have privately pondered—why the poor of India, despite their suffering, don’t rise up violently—and gives it a treatment that is at once biting, thought-provoking, and thoroughly entertaining.
What emerges is a refreshing work of folk psychology—keenly attuned to the absurdities, contradictions, and hypocrisies of Indian public life. Joseph’s prose sparkles with wit and precision, and his observations often land with the force of uncomfortable truths.
It’s not a manifesto, nor is it a sentimental portrait of the “benign” poor. Instead, it’s an unfiltered, razor-sharp lens on Indian society that manages to be as funny as it is unsettling. A must-read for anyone craving honesty in Indian non-fiction
Rather than leaning on academic theory or sociological jargon, the book operates from the vantage point of a highly observant journalist who doesn’t hold back. He takes a question many conscientious Indians might have privately pondered—why the poor of India, despite their suffering, don’t rise up violently—and gives it a treatment that is at once biting, thought-provoking, and thoroughly entertaining.
What emerges is a refreshing work of folk psychology—keenly attuned to the absurdities, contradictions, and hypocrisies of Indian public life. Joseph’s prose sparkles with wit and precision, and his observations often land with the force of uncomfortable truths.
It’s not a manifesto, nor is it a sentimental portrait of the “benign” poor. Instead, it’s an unfiltered, razor-sharp lens on Indian society that manages to be as funny as it is unsettling. A must-read for anyone craving honesty in Indian non-fiction
September 28, 2025
I am not too fond of reading non-fiction but I just couldn’t put this one down. The topic is extremely heavy and its Manu’s writing style and dark humour that makes it so engaging and easy to read.
He brings out several aspects that we just fail to recognise in our every day life. As taxpayers we tend to feel that we subsidise the poor, but its actually the reverse - the poor subsidise us!
The book makes you uncomfortable at several points but I strongly recommend it
He brings out several aspects that we just fail to recognise in our every day life. As taxpayers we tend to feel that we subsidise the poor, but its actually the reverse - the poor subsidise us!
The book makes you uncomfortable at several points but I strongly recommend it
September 20, 2025
I had read the earlier books of Manu Joseph, ‘Serious Men’ and ‘Illicit Happiness of Other People’. ‘Serious Men’ was funny and lampooned the Brahminical culture of India’s premier scientific institution in Bombay. Of course, he does not mention it by name, but I could see it was the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research because I had worked there in my twenties. The novel was entertaining, and I agreed with some characterizations regarding the Tata Institute. I loved his other book, ‘Illicit Happiness of Other People’, which I thought was brilliant. Joseph has a remarkable sense of humor and the command of English prose to deliver it. His observations are sharp and unnerving. The title of this book intrigued me, and I bought it assuming it was fiction. It is non-fiction; however, the book keeps your attention with its many provocative conclusions, statements and assertions.
The book’s title perhaps comes from Manu Joseph’s conviction that India is one of the most unequal regions in the world, riven by class and caste. Still, there is peace in Indian society, and this book asks why. One could answer the author, saying, the poor don’t kill us because they don’t want to. They don’t want to because killing the middle-class and the rich does not solve their problems. But I think Joseph is not asking in a literal sense. He is asking why the poor, who outnumber the rich and the middle classes by nine to one, do not revolt against the ruling elite and overthrow them. They could then set the stage for a better livelihood for themselves. He answers it with his own take on rebellion and revolution just as Albert Camus did in his book, ‘The Rebel’! Joseph says the second rung of the elite creates and sponsors every revolution against the first rung. They invoke oppression, equality and fairness and enlist the poor majority in their service. Revolts against capitalism, inequality, dictatorship and India’s freedom movement are all the aristocrat’s use of morality to mobilize the masses against the ruling elite. The poor are far below the second rung. Hence, revolutions do not change their lives much.
Manu Joseph makes many sharp, insightful observations about Indians, the Left and elites. While talking about Indians despising Muslims at home and supporting the Palestinian cause faraway, he says that all elites are like parents. At home, they are conservative because of the high stakes; beyond home, they are liberal since it’s abstract, having less significance. It captures well why Indian Americans support Democrats in the US while being worshippers of an authoritarian like Modi at home. ‘The Psychology of Indians’ is the book’s subtitle. Joseph shows many stinging examples of it. I shall quote a couple for the reader to get the flavor. While talking about housing colonies, he says India is a nation where the middle class pays a premium, not for the quality of things. Instead, to ensure the ‘other kind’ of Indians do not enter. Another one is on compensation to the domestic help. Often, we see ‘accommodation and food provided’ in many homes. The household ‘gives’ the domestic staff a room, which often seems deliberately impoverished!
The author does not admire the left or bleeding-heart liberals. He believes they object to every effort by politicians or other entrepreneurs to bring about social change by raising some obscure objections inspired by their Western mentors. He quotes the example of Aadhar, the unique identity system, created at the initiative of the Manmohan Singh government. Activists opposed Aadhar because it aids mass surveillance by the state and invades our privacy. Joseph speculates that the social activists’ protests stem from a different psychological reason. It is their intense dislike of billionaires (Nandan Nilakeni, in this case) straying into their domain - humanitarian activities. Aadhar aims to help over a billion Indians open bank accounts. This would allow the state to transfer funds, bypassing intermediaries. Joseph sees the activists’ campaign against Aadhar as a turf war between them and Nilakeni, whom they saw as a billionaire who has spent ‘no time in the villages’. The author makes some acerbic comments about such activist groups. He cites the case of an activist using a US social security number but perceiving the Aadhar number as a threat to ‘freedom of speech’. He accuses such activism of attracting young people who feel like failures and others who get drawn to negativity. These were the ones cast aside by the modern world, who derived their self-worth from activism. Elsewhere, he claims that humanitarianism has become a magnet for the psychologically unstable, who feel compelled or wish to see unhappiness in everything. This is blistering criticism that sounds much like an RSS-rant. It may alienate admirers of the author who believe in and take part in such activism.
I feel Joseph needed to support this attack with more examples than just Aadhar. With some research, he could cite more projects that prove his contention. If we look back at India’s post-independence history, I can recall three major projects which resonate with this issue. In all cases, despite some problems, their overall impact has been quite positive. When India embarked on the Green Revolution around 1967-68, many liberal and left activists objected to it by predicting dire consequences. It will ruin India’s small farmers by encouraging greater concentration of land in fewer hands and by impoverishing the small land-holders into agricultural labourers. But the government went ahead anyway and changed India’s food scenario for the larger good. In the 1960s and 70s, India embarked on the White Revolution to revolutionize milk production. Again, leading left-wing magazines like the ‘Economic and Political Weekly’ became a tool for activists to oppose it. They even lobbied the Dutch government and the queen of the Benelux countries against helping the project. Again, the social change the White Revolution brought about vindicated the government. In the 1980s, when India started experimenting with the EVM (electronic voting machine), there were doubts and objections about its feasibility in India. Joseph could have researched these projects and documented them in support. It would have softened the extreme portrayal of activists as those who failed elsewhere, seeking self-respect through activism. Perhaps Joseph does not want to soften his message.
Inequality has been a major social issue in recent decades. Joseph blames the upper middle class more for inequality than billionaires. Billionaires and their children do not compete with the rest of society. They have their own charmed universe where they do not mingle with people lacking comparable wealth. We should pay greater attention to the advantage that the upper middle class has over the groups below them. They compete with the rest of society in entrance exams, finance jobs, start-up culture, and the arts with a head start. Their head start is not in their material assets alone but in an unfair advantage in social contacts and the doors of the clubs they control for entry. This is an insightful observation by Joseph. Though his criticism of the upper middle class Indian culture is valid, it loses its potency somewhat because he himself belongs to this stratum. If he has children, won’t he want to give them a head start in life using his assets? He also employs servant maids, whom he must be paying well. But he cannot pay them the hourly rate that is too much at variance with the rest of Gurugram’s upper middle class. So, he cannot dispute that he is complicit.
One disappointing feature of the book for me is the number of sweeping assertions in the book without a deeper discussion. Let us look at some of them. “The poor are the worst enemies of the poor” is an example. When life is hard and resources are finite, equals become rivals. Therefore, the poorest Hindus hate the poorest Muslims, and the not-so-elite Dalits are rivals of elite Dalits like Chamars (Maharashtra) and Malas (Andhra Pradesh). Another assertion is that Indians fight about only useless issues, with intense fervor. Indians do not riot about air pollution or terrible road congestion or spatial ugliness and chaos. Nor do they fight for water, electricity and free schools but do so for abstract and obscure issues like religion, caste and other identities. Joseph says esoteric and sensational issues seduce the poor instead of those that will transform their lives. Hence, it is easy for the rich to recruit them as the face of a useless national emotion. Another assertion states that liberal education concentrates on a dystopian view of the future. Hence, there is a dystopian view of GMO, for example. I think it is elite environmental interest groups, not education, that promote dystopian views on GMOs, climate change, and the future of Earth’s species. Liberal education just puts out the various viewpoints for us to decide. Such unsubstantiated claims are reminiscent of wild statements elders would make in Tamil Brahmin households in the 1960s.
Joseph comes from a lower middle-class Malayali family and grew up in Madras in the 1970s and 80s there. I relate to it, since I, too, grew up within that class, in Madras, a generation before. His concern for the poor is visible throughout the book, as is his contempt for the Indian upper middle-class. His backing of billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Nandan Nilakeni shows his belief in their capacity to create substantial social change, even if they stand to benefit financially. I did not expect his level of hostility towards the ‘do-good-social activism’ of the liberals and elites. Perhaps he has his own experiences with them that made him so. I hope he writes another book on that subject.
So, does Manu Joseph answer the question he asks in the title? I think the book says the poor don’t kill us because they do not carry out any revolution that happens in society. If the upper middle-class has to be overthrown, the next lower rung - the middle class - will do it. So, it is the middle class that would ‘kill us’ and not the poor.
Despite my misgivings and disagreements, I think the book is excellent reading. The urban middle classes will benefit from it by getting a new perspective about their negative role in Indian society. They will feel compelled to look inward rather than blame politicians, the bureaucracy, corruption, Islam and Sonia Gandhi.
The book’s title perhaps comes from Manu Joseph’s conviction that India is one of the most unequal regions in the world, riven by class and caste. Still, there is peace in Indian society, and this book asks why. One could answer the author, saying, the poor don’t kill us because they don’t want to. They don’t want to because killing the middle-class and the rich does not solve their problems. But I think Joseph is not asking in a literal sense. He is asking why the poor, who outnumber the rich and the middle classes by nine to one, do not revolt against the ruling elite and overthrow them. They could then set the stage for a better livelihood for themselves. He answers it with his own take on rebellion and revolution just as Albert Camus did in his book, ‘The Rebel’! Joseph says the second rung of the elite creates and sponsors every revolution against the first rung. They invoke oppression, equality and fairness and enlist the poor majority in their service. Revolts against capitalism, inequality, dictatorship and India’s freedom movement are all the aristocrat’s use of morality to mobilize the masses against the ruling elite. The poor are far below the second rung. Hence, revolutions do not change their lives much.
Manu Joseph makes many sharp, insightful observations about Indians, the Left and elites. While talking about Indians despising Muslims at home and supporting the Palestinian cause faraway, he says that all elites are like parents. At home, they are conservative because of the high stakes; beyond home, they are liberal since it’s abstract, having less significance. It captures well why Indian Americans support Democrats in the US while being worshippers of an authoritarian like Modi at home. ‘The Psychology of Indians’ is the book’s subtitle. Joseph shows many stinging examples of it. I shall quote a couple for the reader to get the flavor. While talking about housing colonies, he says India is a nation where the middle class pays a premium, not for the quality of things. Instead, to ensure the ‘other kind’ of Indians do not enter. Another one is on compensation to the domestic help. Often, we see ‘accommodation and food provided’ in many homes. The household ‘gives’ the domestic staff a room, which often seems deliberately impoverished!
The author does not admire the left or bleeding-heart liberals. He believes they object to every effort by politicians or other entrepreneurs to bring about social change by raising some obscure objections inspired by their Western mentors. He quotes the example of Aadhar, the unique identity system, created at the initiative of the Manmohan Singh government. Activists opposed Aadhar because it aids mass surveillance by the state and invades our privacy. Joseph speculates that the social activists’ protests stem from a different psychological reason. It is their intense dislike of billionaires (Nandan Nilakeni, in this case) straying into their domain - humanitarian activities. Aadhar aims to help over a billion Indians open bank accounts. This would allow the state to transfer funds, bypassing intermediaries. Joseph sees the activists’ campaign against Aadhar as a turf war between them and Nilakeni, whom they saw as a billionaire who has spent ‘no time in the villages’. The author makes some acerbic comments about such activist groups. He cites the case of an activist using a US social security number but perceiving the Aadhar number as a threat to ‘freedom of speech’. He accuses such activism of attracting young people who feel like failures and others who get drawn to negativity. These were the ones cast aside by the modern world, who derived their self-worth from activism. Elsewhere, he claims that humanitarianism has become a magnet for the psychologically unstable, who feel compelled or wish to see unhappiness in everything. This is blistering criticism that sounds much like an RSS-rant. It may alienate admirers of the author who believe in and take part in such activism.
I feel Joseph needed to support this attack with more examples than just Aadhar. With some research, he could cite more projects that prove his contention. If we look back at India’s post-independence history, I can recall three major projects which resonate with this issue. In all cases, despite some problems, their overall impact has been quite positive. When India embarked on the Green Revolution around 1967-68, many liberal and left activists objected to it by predicting dire consequences. It will ruin India’s small farmers by encouraging greater concentration of land in fewer hands and by impoverishing the small land-holders into agricultural labourers. But the government went ahead anyway and changed India’s food scenario for the larger good. In the 1960s and 70s, India embarked on the White Revolution to revolutionize milk production. Again, leading left-wing magazines like the ‘Economic and Political Weekly’ became a tool for activists to oppose it. They even lobbied the Dutch government and the queen of the Benelux countries against helping the project. Again, the social change the White Revolution brought about vindicated the government. In the 1980s, when India started experimenting with the EVM (electronic voting machine), there were doubts and objections about its feasibility in India. Joseph could have researched these projects and documented them in support. It would have softened the extreme portrayal of activists as those who failed elsewhere, seeking self-respect through activism. Perhaps Joseph does not want to soften his message.
Inequality has been a major social issue in recent decades. Joseph blames the upper middle class more for inequality than billionaires. Billionaires and their children do not compete with the rest of society. They have their own charmed universe where they do not mingle with people lacking comparable wealth. We should pay greater attention to the advantage that the upper middle class has over the groups below them. They compete with the rest of society in entrance exams, finance jobs, start-up culture, and the arts with a head start. Their head start is not in their material assets alone but in an unfair advantage in social contacts and the doors of the clubs they control for entry. This is an insightful observation by Joseph. Though his criticism of the upper middle class Indian culture is valid, it loses its potency somewhat because he himself belongs to this stratum. If he has children, won’t he want to give them a head start in life using his assets? He also employs servant maids, whom he must be paying well. But he cannot pay them the hourly rate that is too much at variance with the rest of Gurugram’s upper middle class. So, he cannot dispute that he is complicit.
One disappointing feature of the book for me is the number of sweeping assertions in the book without a deeper discussion. Let us look at some of them. “The poor are the worst enemies of the poor” is an example. When life is hard and resources are finite, equals become rivals. Therefore, the poorest Hindus hate the poorest Muslims, and the not-so-elite Dalits are rivals of elite Dalits like Chamars (Maharashtra) and Malas (Andhra Pradesh). Another assertion is that Indians fight about only useless issues, with intense fervor. Indians do not riot about air pollution or terrible road congestion or spatial ugliness and chaos. Nor do they fight for water, electricity and free schools but do so for abstract and obscure issues like religion, caste and other identities. Joseph says esoteric and sensational issues seduce the poor instead of those that will transform their lives. Hence, it is easy for the rich to recruit them as the face of a useless national emotion. Another assertion states that liberal education concentrates on a dystopian view of the future. Hence, there is a dystopian view of GMO, for example. I think it is elite environmental interest groups, not education, that promote dystopian views on GMOs, climate change, and the future of Earth’s species. Liberal education just puts out the various viewpoints for us to decide. Such unsubstantiated claims are reminiscent of wild statements elders would make in Tamil Brahmin households in the 1960s.
Joseph comes from a lower middle-class Malayali family and grew up in Madras in the 1970s and 80s there. I relate to it, since I, too, grew up within that class, in Madras, a generation before. His concern for the poor is visible throughout the book, as is his contempt for the Indian upper middle-class. His backing of billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Nandan Nilakeni shows his belief in their capacity to create substantial social change, even if they stand to benefit financially. I did not expect his level of hostility towards the ‘do-good-social activism’ of the liberals and elites. Perhaps he has his own experiences with them that made him so. I hope he writes another book on that subject.
So, does Manu Joseph answer the question he asks in the title? I think the book says the poor don’t kill us because they do not carry out any revolution that happens in society. If the upper middle-class has to be overthrown, the next lower rung - the middle class - will do it. So, it is the middle class that would ‘kill us’ and not the poor.
Despite my misgivings and disagreements, I think the book is excellent reading. The urban middle classes will benefit from it by getting a new perspective about their negative role in Indian society. They will feel compelled to look inward rather than blame politicians, the bureaucracy, corruption, Islam and Sonia Gandhi.
October 7, 2025
Well, I've always known the writer is rabid sanghi, thanks to some hateful tweets of yesteryears. (he has since toned down his abject admiration) and yet I had enjoyed reading his fiction. But after reading his books, I always get rid of his books as if they sully my bookshelf. That eternal personal conflict: writer that you don't like as a person manages to write decently. writer or writing? I've watched him at various litfests saying not so nice things in the guise of wit and getting away with the laughs.
so I picked up this book out of curiosity. in several repressed countries, people write issues they can't write about openly as crime or mystery fiction. many examples. Manu Joseph wrote an entire book to express his rage and hate and sweeping generalizations as a way to answer why poor shouldn't kill us. like why sun even comes up in Amrit Kaal. or Why skies are blue. of course, he doesn't answer it. also kind of skimmed over history of Naxalites where poor did kill the rich systematically until it became a fight against the state. read that again. fight against the state. Poor Manu didn't get it.
Tho Manu is honest to accept that villains were catapulted to leaders untimed by collective hate. that grudging admission was there in his Laila book too.
Book starts well; you do smirk at hypocrisy of upper middle class (which is essentially Manu writing about Manu) presented with wit (actually sneer) but soon devolves. Same old JNU, Kanhaiya, Vemula bashing. Apparently Vemula got done in because of his activism (yep speaking up for your own immediate survival is activism). He must be the one most ill-informed journalist who doesn't know how Aadhaar makes it so easy to stop social benefits that were actually enshrined as law. last 5-year data alone proves how easy it made for govt to disable access to social benefits to genuine people. Don't -care-Manu, he wrote a whole chapter about it and extolled more and yet didn't even manage to answer the question in the title of his book.
Another chapter is a rant on Facebook 's Free Basicals. Pretty sure Mark Zuckerberg didn't spend as much rage as he did on that opposition. who will tell him about FB in Myanmar or other places. I often wondered is it just pure ignorance or malice. Then he kept contradicting himself: Hindi is dead language as no rewards ( I totally agree, been saying it all my life) and then next page he wants to convince you that the future of English in India is dead because North India is all captured by Hindi and South with others. like how, what? There was many such points where he contradicts himself on next page.
if you are of average intelligence, this book is an affront. He once writes education or degree because you want to learn makes sense and then went on to piss on Humanities since they don't earn money or salary. Assumption is no one really wants to learn these and that there are no jobs after studying humanities. okay. and of course, Modiji is presented as education visionary. 😄
After about 170 pages, he's got nothing new to say or hate. I'm not even sure why those pointless chapters are there.
The entire book essentially is a ramble. I want to end this review rant of his rant with this gem. he writes, good thing about Gurugram smog is that you don't get to see people. you see, this is Manu plagiarising himself. Long ago he wrote an article in Open Magazine (maybe in 2011) about Delhi that ends with the same line: only Gurugram smog has replaced Delhi fog. what a hypocritical idiot, who still lives there. lol
p.s: did the moneylender actually sponsor the book? apparently moneylenders are very good. we can make an educated guess which one. Snark aside, please read Poor Economics by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo if the subject of book title interests you because this book is not it.
so I picked up this book out of curiosity. in several repressed countries, people write issues they can't write about openly as crime or mystery fiction. many examples. Manu Joseph wrote an entire book to express his rage and hate and sweeping generalizations as a way to answer why poor shouldn't kill us. like why sun even comes up in Amrit Kaal. or Why skies are blue. of course, he doesn't answer it. also kind of skimmed over history of Naxalites where poor did kill the rich systematically until it became a fight against the state. read that again. fight against the state. Poor Manu didn't get it.
Tho Manu is honest to accept that villains were catapulted to leaders untimed by collective hate. that grudging admission was there in his Laila book too.
Book starts well; you do smirk at hypocrisy of upper middle class (which is essentially Manu writing about Manu) presented with wit (actually sneer) but soon devolves. Same old JNU, Kanhaiya, Vemula bashing. Apparently Vemula got done in because of his activism (yep speaking up for your own immediate survival is activism). He must be the one most ill-informed journalist who doesn't know how Aadhaar makes it so easy to stop social benefits that were actually enshrined as law. last 5-year data alone proves how easy it made for govt to disable access to social benefits to genuine people. Don't -care-Manu, he wrote a whole chapter about it and extolled more and yet didn't even manage to answer the question in the title of his book.
Another chapter is a rant on Facebook 's Free Basicals. Pretty sure Mark Zuckerberg didn't spend as much rage as he did on that opposition. who will tell him about FB in Myanmar or other places. I often wondered is it just pure ignorance or malice. Then he kept contradicting himself: Hindi is dead language as no rewards ( I totally agree, been saying it all my life) and then next page he wants to convince you that the future of English in India is dead because North India is all captured by Hindi and South with others. like how, what? There was many such points where he contradicts himself on next page.
if you are of average intelligence, this book is an affront. He once writes education or degree because you want to learn makes sense and then went on to piss on Humanities since they don't earn money or salary. Assumption is no one really wants to learn these and that there are no jobs after studying humanities. okay. and of course, Modiji is presented as education visionary. 😄
After about 170 pages, he's got nothing new to say or hate. I'm not even sure why those pointless chapters are there.
The entire book essentially is a ramble. I want to end this review rant of his rant with this gem. he writes, good thing about Gurugram smog is that you don't get to see people. you see, this is Manu plagiarising himself. Long ago he wrote an article in Open Magazine (maybe in 2011) about Delhi that ends with the same line: only Gurugram smog has replaced Delhi fog. what a hypocritical idiot, who still lives there. lol
p.s: did the moneylender actually sponsor the book? apparently moneylenders are very good. we can make an educated guess which one. Snark aside, please read Poor Economics by Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo if the subject of book title interests you because this book is not it.
September 9, 2025
This book is a powerful and unsettling read that grabs you from the very first page. In fact, it's so immediately impactful that it's easy to find yourself needing to pause and take a break after just a few paragraphs. The author's writing is incredibly poignant and thought-provoking, requiring you to sit with certain phrases and ideas to fully grasp their weight. While not an easy read, the style is deeply appreciated for its ability to convey such complex emotions and ideas.
The central theme, a stark look at inequality in India, is conveyed with an honesty that can be both shocking and deeply sad. The book forces the reader to confront their own obliviousness to the struggles of others for basic necessities, leading to a profound sense of unfairness. This is a book that will make you think and will make you feel, with moments that can make you somber or even bring you to tears.
Interestingly, the book's structure feels less like a traditional narrative and more like a series of connected meditations. The chapters don't necessarily follow a clear progression, but this non-linear approach only enhances its impact. It allows each story and idea to stand on its own, contributing to a larger, more complete picture of the societal issues at hand. And despite the heavy subject matter, the book has moments of unexpected levity that can make you laugh.
Ultimately, this is a book that doesn't just inform—it inspires. It sparks a deep desire to "do more" and to take action, even in a small way, to address the profound injustices it lays bare. While there may be ideas you disagree with, the book's core strength is its ability to challenge your perspective and make you think. If you want a closer and more honest look at the realities of inequality, this book is an essential read.
The central theme, a stark look at inequality in India, is conveyed with an honesty that can be both shocking and deeply sad. The book forces the reader to confront their own obliviousness to the struggles of others for basic necessities, leading to a profound sense of unfairness. This is a book that will make you think and will make you feel, with moments that can make you somber or even bring you to tears.
Interestingly, the book's structure feels less like a traditional narrative and more like a series of connected meditations. The chapters don't necessarily follow a clear progression, but this non-linear approach only enhances its impact. It allows each story and idea to stand on its own, contributing to a larger, more complete picture of the societal issues at hand. And despite the heavy subject matter, the book has moments of unexpected levity that can make you laugh.
Ultimately, this is a book that doesn't just inform—it inspires. It sparks a deep desire to "do more" and to take action, even in a small way, to address the profound injustices it lays bare. While there may be ideas you disagree with, the book's core strength is its ability to challenge your perspective and make you think. If you want a closer and more honest look at the realities of inequality, this book is an essential read.
September 3, 2025
Manu Joseph , the original and provocative novelist, saves these adjectives for reviewers to describe him in his first work of non-fiction as well. He takes up the burning topic of the poor and inequality , asks some disturbing questions and answers them in his typical irreverent and witty manner. No one's hypocrisy (sample : "And the disdain that Arundhati Roy has for Mukesh Ambani's giant home - wouldn't a malnourished tribal feel the same about Roy's affluent home in Delhi's prime Jor Bagh? ") is spared in his inimitable manner. The author's style may infuriate many but that is exactly his aim. He concludes : "As long as there are the rich, there will be the poor". As long as there is hypocrisy in this society, Manu will keep waging such verbal battles.
August 20, 2025
Excellent portrayal of the current India. What and who drive it. Few chapters would feel similar to Manu's articles. Manu has a way of putting things as is no sugar coating.
September 20, 2025
"Can something as pervasive as inequality be solved? Or is inequality the most natural consequence of human nature? Actually, what the hell is equality?"
A book that leaves you with information and lots of questions, and maybe not too many answers. Interesting read, and it left me with doubts rather than assurances, which I feel is always the better outcome of a non-fiction. I'd recommend it.
A book that leaves you with information and lots of questions, and maybe not too many answers. Interesting read, and it left me with doubts rather than assurances, which I feel is always the better outcome of a non-fiction. I'd recommend it.
September 14, 2025
Insightful read. It tells why an uneasy peace exists between the haves and have nots in India.
August 14, 2025
I appreciate how Manu Joseph connects the dots in this book.
October 5, 2025
-Decoding the Elites & Nots of the World-
Review of 'Why the Poor Don't Kill Us'
Quote Alert
"𝐈𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥. 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐞. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐞--𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞."
With his trademark wit, candour and a surprising lack of hesitation, Manu Joseph examines why the poor don't kill us in the book that shares its title with the statement I just made. If I were to describe this book in two words, I would call it an 'acidic chuckle'. Joseph takes a dig at everyone, right from Marc Zuckerberg to Mahatma Gandhi, Mukesh Ambani to Narendra Modi. Everyone has fallen on the blades of his incisive wit.
About poverty, he writes: "I won't deny anyone their poverty. In fact, in this book, I use the word poor' to mean anyone who does not feel economically comfortable in a particular situation, and all the categories in the preceding paragraph will qualify. But I chiefly mean the very
poor, the sort of people whom India considers poor, people who are centuries behind."
About Indian freedom movement, he writes: "Most of the icons of the Indian freedom movement were from the highest caste, relegated to a social rung below the British. We can frame the freedom movement as the aristocrat's use of morality to mobilize the masses and defeat his oppressor."
I have read all his fiction and it was a delight to read his first non fiction. He shares honestly from his childhood and talks about himself with as much candour as he does about everyone else.
Review of 'Why the Poor Don't Kill Us'
Quote Alert
"𝐈𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥. 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐞, 𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐞. 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐞--𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞."
With his trademark wit, candour and a surprising lack of hesitation, Manu Joseph examines why the poor don't kill us in the book that shares its title with the statement I just made. If I were to describe this book in two words, I would call it an 'acidic chuckle'. Joseph takes a dig at everyone, right from Marc Zuckerberg to Mahatma Gandhi, Mukesh Ambani to Narendra Modi. Everyone has fallen on the blades of his incisive wit.
About poverty, he writes: "I won't deny anyone their poverty. In fact, in this book, I use the word poor' to mean anyone who does not feel economically comfortable in a particular situation, and all the categories in the preceding paragraph will qualify. But I chiefly mean the very
poor, the sort of people whom India considers poor, people who are centuries behind."
About Indian freedom movement, he writes: "Most of the icons of the Indian freedom movement were from the highest caste, relegated to a social rung below the British. We can frame the freedom movement as the aristocrat's use of morality to mobilize the masses and defeat his oppressor."
I have read all his fiction and it was a delight to read his first non fiction. He shares honestly from his childhood and talks about himself with as much candour as he does about everyone else.
September 21, 2025
https://anuragrbl.blogspot.com/2025/0...
Manu Joseph is an Indian writer, journalist and editor of Open magazine. Previously, he has written fictions and has long and illustrious literary career. As a reporter, he has covered many stories across the India and world. This book basically sums up his observations on such assignments and othwerwise and its analysis. The book is a fresh read and perhaps a unique topic which carries satire, concern, observations, undeniable facts and pin points issues. His field experience adds a genuiness in his statements and does not sound hollow or preachy. The book not only confirms the predelictons of most of us but also gives insights from other side of the road. Before we wind up this review of a fastinating read, the author has given some scathing remarks in "Despite India". Some quotes are worth mentioning here:
"Most humans hold the same set of virtues dear, but the hierarchy in which they are held at any point in time is what sets us apart."
"Clarity is often inconvenient, while misunderstanding is a pleasurable massage of prejudice."
"The mechanism of greed can increase the general quality of life, but cannot fix any quality because the whole point of greed is inequality. If you use money as a measure, there will never be equality because that is the nature of money. To that end inequality is a false lament."
Manu JosephWhy the Poor Don't Kill Us
Manu Joseph is an Indian writer, journalist and editor of Open magazine. Previously, he has written fictions and has long and illustrious literary career. As a reporter, he has covered many stories across the India and world. This book basically sums up his observations on such assignments and othwerwise and its analysis. The book is a fresh read and perhaps a unique topic which carries satire, concern, observations, undeniable facts and pin points issues. His field experience adds a genuiness in his statements and does not sound hollow or preachy. The book not only confirms the predelictons of most of us but also gives insights from other side of the road. Before we wind up this review of a fastinating read, the author has given some scathing remarks in "Despite India". Some quotes are worth mentioning here:
"Most humans hold the same set of virtues dear, but the hierarchy in which they are held at any point in time is what sets us apart."
"Clarity is often inconvenient, while misunderstanding is a pleasurable massage of prejudice."
"The mechanism of greed can increase the general quality of life, but cannot fix any quality because the whole point of greed is inequality. If you use money as a measure, there will never be equality because that is the nature of money. To that end inequality is a false lament."
Manu JosephWhy the Poor Don't Kill Us
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 22, 2025
Honestly, this book was a great and terrific reality check about my privilege. It made me feel things that no non-fiction has to date, but then again, that's Manu Joseph for you. There are powerful gospels (or 'bars,' as we Gen Z call them) in here, which I am going to start using in my daily life. Thanks, Manu! Sarcastic(very funny in my opinion) jibes are a mainstay in his work, and the book is filled with them
"As in love, so in society, people who do not have power are quite nice."
"Any form of economic behaviour is usually not rational, it is merely a habit."
"The most captivating stories are not necessarily true, nor what will make our lives better. People ‘identify’ with stories not out of wisdom or clarity but impelled by that highly influential force: misunderstanding. Clarity is often inconvenient, while misunderstanding is a pleasurable massage of prejudice. For when we misunderstand something, we attribute to what we get wrong all that we want it to be."
& lastly a harrowing not so convenient fact of the matter, stated out loud, my favourite go to defence of capitalism from now onwards(which I think is a critique of the same in the eyes of author):
"People desperately want many experiences that they can see in the lives of the most visible section of the rich not the billionaires but the upper-middle classes. And everything that people desperately want becomes a ‘basic necessity’ of life. Every time a new way of life makes living better, its denial to the majority becomes one of the new meanings of poverty. That is why, as long as there are the rich, there will be the poor."
"As in love, so in society, people who do not have power are quite nice."
"Any form of economic behaviour is usually not rational, it is merely a habit."
"The most captivating stories are not necessarily true, nor what will make our lives better. People ‘identify’ with stories not out of wisdom or clarity but impelled by that highly influential force: misunderstanding. Clarity is often inconvenient, while misunderstanding is a pleasurable massage of prejudice. For when we misunderstand something, we attribute to what we get wrong all that we want it to be."
& lastly a harrowing not so convenient fact of the matter, stated out loud, my favourite go to defence of capitalism from now onwards(which I think is a critique of the same in the eyes of author):
"People desperately want many experiences that they can see in the lives of the most visible section of the rich not the billionaires but the upper-middle classes. And everything that people desperately want becomes a ‘basic necessity’ of life. Every time a new way of life makes living better, its denial to the majority becomes one of the new meanings of poverty. That is why, as long as there are the rich, there will be the poor."
August 27, 2025
The trademark acerbic wit of Manu Joseph is on full display. Although lot of the source material should be familiar to readers if you already read his columns.
Manu’s observations on Indian society especially regarding poverty are all true. There are quantitative descriptions of it which will throw streams of numbers to highlight the pervading poverty of India and then there are qualitative descriptions which forms the core of this book. I personally prefer the latter as that drives home the point more efficiently.
I also liked the various tidbits and anecdotes from his childhood and his career as a journalist that he very cleverly uses to sell his thesis. There are parts of quite a few chapters that don’t have structure, that don’t neatly fit into the chapter but they are still valuable if only to hear what Manu has to say.
Few things that stood out for me,
The core theory that it’s the second rung of the society that co-opts the poor to fight against the elites.
You must think in the language(say Kannada) to understand at a base level, Kannadigas.
The poor are poor story tellers and are always telling stories that the second rung of the elites want them to say.
Manu might not like it but he is an articulate intellectual, someone who he very much derides throughout the book and asparagus eaters like myself and most likely the reader of this book need to hear more of 😉
This book is highly recommended.
Manu’s observations on Indian society especially regarding poverty are all true. There are quantitative descriptions of it which will throw streams of numbers to highlight the pervading poverty of India and then there are qualitative descriptions which forms the core of this book. I personally prefer the latter as that drives home the point more efficiently.
I also liked the various tidbits and anecdotes from his childhood and his career as a journalist that he very cleverly uses to sell his thesis. There are parts of quite a few chapters that don’t have structure, that don’t neatly fit into the chapter but they are still valuable if only to hear what Manu has to say.
Few things that stood out for me,
The core theory that it’s the second rung of the society that co-opts the poor to fight against the elites.
You must think in the language(say Kannada) to understand at a base level, Kannadigas.
The poor are poor story tellers and are always telling stories that the second rung of the elites want them to say.
Manu might not like it but he is an articulate intellectual, someone who he very much derides throughout the book and asparagus eaters like myself and most likely the reader of this book need to hear more of 😉
This book is highly recommended.
September 28, 2025
In "Why the Poor Don’t Kill Us: The Psychology of Indians," author Manu Joseph delivers a provocative and incisive examination of contemporary Indian🇮🇳 society, tackling the unsettling question of why the impoverished do not revolt against the affluent despite glaring inequalities. The book📙, structured across eighteen chapters, is both a critique and a darkly humorous exploration of social dynamics within India.
Manu Joseph paints a vivid picture of the daily lives⛅ of the poor, contrasting their struggles😢 with the extravagant consumption of the wealthy. The author suggests that the poor are acutely aware of the disparities, yet choose resilience over violence, revealing a complexity in human dignity and social dynamics that is often overlooked.
Two standout chapters, "The defeat of the amateur Indian, and his world framed in English" and "Let the poor have fun," delve deeply into the complexities of class and culture, offering readers a thought-provoking🤔 lens through which to view societal interactions. Manu Joseph's writing is infused with wit, challenging the status quo by questioning the complacency of both the rich and the poor. Overall, "Why the Poor Don’t Kill Us" is a compelling read that resonates deeply, urging reflection on the social dynamics that shape India today💖✨
Manu Joseph paints a vivid picture of the daily lives⛅ of the poor, contrasting their struggles😢 with the extravagant consumption of the wealthy. The author suggests that the poor are acutely aware of the disparities, yet choose resilience over violence, revealing a complexity in human dignity and social dynamics that is often overlooked.
Two standout chapters, "The defeat of the amateur Indian, and his world framed in English" and "Let the poor have fun," delve deeply into the complexities of class and culture, offering readers a thought-provoking🤔 lens through which to view societal interactions. Manu Joseph's writing is infused with wit, challenging the status quo by questioning the complacency of both the rich and the poor. Overall, "Why the Poor Don’t Kill Us" is a compelling read that resonates deeply, urging reflection on the social dynamics that shape India today💖✨
October 10, 2025
Unfortunately the book doesn’t do the title justice
I went BCB into the book thinking it’ll be a heavily researched and densely detailed book. But I was disappointed that it had more of a reflective and conversational text, filled with a bunch of anecdotes.
I actually liked Manu Joseph’s sarcastic and subtly condescending tone, constantly taking digs at the ‘Us’ which makes up 99% of the audience of this book and himself. He very intentionally didn’t shy away from criticising his behaviour and partaking of the upper classes actions/demeanour towards the poor, which is rightfully indicative in the use of ‘Us’ in the title.
He also went ahead to mock a new cohort of Indians- ‘the amateur Indians’ which was funny because they probably make up more than a two thirds of the readers.
Every now and then the book tends to stray away a bit from the subject of ‘Why the poor don’t kill us’ or even the general topic of poverty to other adjacent subjects, that were interesting call-outs none the less.
I enjoyed the book but my disappointment stems from the fact that it was never written to truly dwell deeper on the question that is the title of the book, but rather compile a bunch of compelling and valid arguments (which to the authors credit, I thoroughly enjoyed)
I went BCB into the book thinking it’ll be a heavily researched and densely detailed book. But I was disappointed that it had more of a reflective and conversational text, filled with a bunch of anecdotes.
I actually liked Manu Joseph’s sarcastic and subtly condescending tone, constantly taking digs at the ‘Us’ which makes up 99% of the audience of this book and himself. He very intentionally didn’t shy away from criticising his behaviour and partaking of the upper classes actions/demeanour towards the poor, which is rightfully indicative in the use of ‘Us’ in the title.
He also went ahead to mock a new cohort of Indians- ‘the amateur Indians’ which was funny because they probably make up more than a two thirds of the readers.
Every now and then the book tends to stray away a bit from the subject of ‘Why the poor don’t kill us’ or even the general topic of poverty to other adjacent subjects, that were interesting call-outs none the less.
I enjoyed the book but my disappointment stems from the fact that it was never written to truly dwell deeper on the question that is the title of the book, but rather compile a bunch of compelling and valid arguments (which to the authors credit, I thoroughly enjoyed)
September 4, 2025
Manu Joseph’s Why the Poor Don’t Kill Us is a sharp, unsettling, and darkly witty exploration of one of the most glaring contradictions in contemporary India: why do the poor, despite their daily struggles, not rise in revolt against a system built to exploit them?
Joseph spares no one. He points out the absurdities of privilege with biting humour—how the price of a single salmon meal can equal days of a labourer’s hard work, how maids and workers live invisible lives beside us, and how society’s hypocrisies go unquestioned. His questions are provocative, even uncomfortable: Why don’t they resist? Why is there peace amidst such inequality?
The brilliance of the book lies not just in its fearless critique but also in its ability to hold up a mirror to both the complacency of the privileged and the resilience of the poor. It is as much a social diagnosis as it is a wake-up call, written in Joseph’s trademark style—satirical, incisive, and painfully relevant.
A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the undercurrents of India’s socio-economic divide, and for those willing to confront truths we usually prefer to ignore.
Joseph spares no one. He points out the absurdities of privilege with biting humour—how the price of a single salmon meal can equal days of a labourer’s hard work, how maids and workers live invisible lives beside us, and how society’s hypocrisies go unquestioned. His questions are provocative, even uncomfortable: Why don’t they resist? Why is there peace amidst such inequality?
The brilliance of the book lies not just in its fearless critique but also in its ability to hold up a mirror to both the complacency of the privileged and the resilience of the poor. It is as much a social diagnosis as it is a wake-up call, written in Joseph’s trademark style—satirical, incisive, and painfully relevant.
A must-read for anyone who wants to understand the undercurrents of India’s socio-economic divide, and for those willing to confront truths we usually prefer to ignore.
September 8, 2025
One of the non-fiction books that I enjoyed most this year. I've always loved Manu Joseph's style of writing and speaking. He is super funny, blunt and most importantly, has the talent to express complex ideas in a way that hits you hard. Sometimes, it's not even complex ideas - it's just the things that have been in front of you, maybe they made you uncomfortable, but you didn't know what it was or you couldn't articulate what it was, but that's where Manu Joseph shines. He expresses it in a way that makes you nod and laugh along.
In this book, he has taken a rather difficult topic about economic inequality in India - I don't think he actually attempts to or proposes any solutions to address the problem but it's more of a general commentary on rich vs poor, and a psychoanalysis of how the poor perhaps look at the rest of us. And how they are incentivized and deincentivized to behave in a certain way.
Also, there are numerous quotable quotes sprinkled throughout the book that I'm sure to come back to. Hard truth bombs that show us a mirror! And I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to understand India a little bit better.
In this book, he has taken a rather difficult topic about economic inequality in India - I don't think he actually attempts to or proposes any solutions to address the problem but it's more of a general commentary on rich vs poor, and a psychoanalysis of how the poor perhaps look at the rest of us. And how they are incentivized and deincentivized to behave in a certain way.
Also, there are numerous quotable quotes sprinkled throughout the book that I'm sure to come back to. Hard truth bombs that show us a mirror! And I'd recommend this to anyone who wants to understand India a little bit better.
September 29, 2025
While I am very impressed with the way this author challenged my notions, showed me a mirror and at times made me uncomfortable, I do feel that the book was an extremely long long-form opinion piece. There is no inherent problem with that. However, I feel that it could have been a bit better structured.
Another problem is stating opinions as facts (under the guise of being blunt) and committing the same sin that the author criticised intellectuals of doing which was to appear pretty snobbish with an air of someone who thought they knew the best and knew it all.
I also felt some of the opinions were not fleshed out properly, probably again because the author had the attitude of someone who thought that whatever they said was so obviously the truth that it did not require any explanation, justification or substantiation.
Having said that, the book did remind me bluntly of my privilege, my hypocrisy in being a woke liberal without any stake in anything that matters. I would say it has permanently changed in how I would think about or approach things in future.
Tried to highlight interesting things in notes.
Another problem is stating opinions as facts (under the guise of being blunt) and committing the same sin that the author criticised intellectuals of doing which was to appear pretty snobbish with an air of someone who thought they knew the best and knew it all.
I also felt some of the opinions were not fleshed out properly, probably again because the author had the attitude of someone who thought that whatever they said was so obviously the truth that it did not require any explanation, justification or substantiation.
Having said that, the book did remind me bluntly of my privilege, my hypocrisy in being a woke liberal without any stake in anything that matters. I would say it has permanently changed in how I would think about or approach things in future.
Tried to highlight interesting things in notes.
August 13, 2025
Manu Joseph’s Why Don’t the Poor Kill Us? is easily one of my top reads of the year, and perhaps the sharpest book to come out of India this year. Cutting, snarky, and unapologetically irreverent, Joseph offers a rare piece of writing that is an equal-opportunity offender—calling out leftists, rightists, Marxists, socialists, and everyone in between.
Rather than leaning on academic theory or sociological jargon, the book operates from the vantage point of a highly observant journalist who doesn’t hold back. He takes a question many conscientious Indians might have privately pondered—why the poor of India, despite their suffering, don’t rise up violently—and gives it a treatment that is at once biting, thought-provoking, and thoroughly entertaining.
What emerges is a refreshing work of folk psychology—keenly attuned to the absurdities, contradictions, and hypocrisies of Indian public life. Joseph’s prose sparkles with wit and precision, and his observations often land with the force of uncomfortable truths.
It’s not a manifesto, nor is it a sentimental portrait of the “benign” poor. Instead, it’s an unfiltered, razor-sharp lens on Indian society that manages to be as funny as it is unsettling. A must-read for anyone craving honesty in Indian non-fiction
Rather than leaning on academic theory or sociological jargon, the book operates from the vantage point of a highly observant journalist who doesn’t hold back. He takes a question many conscientious Indians might have privately pondered—why the poor of India, despite their suffering, don’t rise up violently—and gives it a treatment that is at once biting, thought-provoking, and thoroughly entertaining.
What emerges is a refreshing work of folk psychology—keenly attuned to the absurdities, contradictions, and hypocrisies of Indian public life. Joseph’s prose sparkles with wit and precision, and his observations often land with the force of uncomfortable truths.
It’s not a manifesto, nor is it a sentimental portrait of the “benign” poor. Instead, it’s an unfiltered, razor-sharp lens on Indian society that manages to be as funny as it is unsettling. A must-read for anyone craving honesty in Indian non-fiction
September 20, 2025
"People aspire to Money in India, not Class."
"Politicians who exploit the poor are culturally closer to them than the activists who cry for them."
"It's class not education that determines corporate success"
Who knew Manu Joseph's first non-fiction book would feel like a punch to the everyday-hypocrisy of most Indians (hint: do you fine maids for not taking the service lift?)
Pros:
-Lovely title (as good as 'The Illicit Happiness of Other People!)
-Great, great, writing (Crisp sentences, wonderful anecdotes)
-Works for both fiction readers & non-fiction readers
-Relevant, contemporary, fresh take on India
Cons:
-The book is an extended opinion piece so don't get into it expecting researched viewpoints. It's written provocatively - it’s a direct confrontation with the uncomfortable realities of modern India.
Published by the Aleph Book Company and the hardcover's nice!
"Politicians who exploit the poor are culturally closer to them than the activists who cry for them."
"It's class not education that determines corporate success"
Who knew Manu Joseph's first non-fiction book would feel like a punch to the everyday-hypocrisy of most Indians (hint: do you fine maids for not taking the service lift?)
Pros:
-Lovely title (as good as 'The Illicit Happiness of Other People!)
-Great, great, writing (Crisp sentences, wonderful anecdotes)
-Works for both fiction readers & non-fiction readers
-Relevant, contemporary, fresh take on India
Cons:
-The book is an extended opinion piece so don't get into it expecting researched viewpoints. It's written provocatively - it’s a direct confrontation with the uncomfortable realities of modern India.
Published by the Aleph Book Company and the hardcover's nice!
September 28, 2025
Unequal yet still silent: uncovering the psychology of power and pain. 💯
This book doesn’t just shout about inequality, it shows how it's woven into everyday life, aspiration, shame, and silence.
Author's writing mixes wit and honesty in a way that cuts, but also makes you think.
If you want more than just facts about poverty, if you want insight into what keeps society calm despite obvious injustice, this book is brutal, clear, and impossible to ignore.
This is for anyone wanting to understand society beyond headlines students, thinkers, people in the middle class who feel discomfort but aren’t sure why.
This book doesn’t just shout about inequality, it shows how it's woven into everyday life, aspiration, shame, and silence.
Author's writing mixes wit and honesty in a way that cuts, but also makes you think.
If you want more than just facts about poverty, if you want insight into what keeps society calm despite obvious injustice, this book is brutal, clear, and impossible to ignore.
This is for anyone wanting to understand society beyond headlines students, thinkers, people in the middle class who feel discomfort but aren’t sure why.
August 14, 2025
I stumbled across Manu on the Dostcast podcast, ended up reading this book, and found it to be well-written, full of astute observations about contemporary India. His psychoanalysis of Indian civilization is quite accurate, stitched with global & national anecdotes to highlight the point, and offers a reasonable realist perspective of an insider/outsider capable of comparative study.
I'd recommend this book to make sense of why India feels in such despair on the ground, despite all the GDP growth hype among the laptop class, and why there is no way out of this quagmire.
I'd recommend this book to make sense of why India feels in such despair on the ground, despite all the GDP growth hype among the laptop class, and why there is no way out of this quagmire.
September 14, 2025
"People may own many houses, but they usually have one home. A home, by definition, need not be a single unit, but it usually is. It is made up of people, love, and compulsions. And people, love, and compulsions are not as portable as people think, even for the rich. A home is where you are stranded. Only a home can have good reasons to keep you there. It can even keep you in a dismal grey town from where you escape now and then, but only to always return."
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