Restart: The Last Chance for the Indian Economy

by Mihir S. Sharma

In Restart, Mihir S. Sharma shows what can and must change in India's policies, its administration and even its attitudes. The answers he provides are not obvious. Nor are they all comforting or conventional. Yet they could, in less time than you can imagine, unleash the creativity of a billion hopeful Indians.

Genres: India, Economics, Nonfiction, Business, Politics, Indian Literature, Essays

384 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 15, 2015

Reviews

[Jayesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am sorry, but I love rants. This book is quite a long one about what is wrong with India as a nation. The book is choke-full of hilarious anecdotes of its kafkaesque nature. I was mostly nodding and agreeing with his enjoyable description of all the ailments of Indian society but eventually I realized that there are a lot of contradictory advice. For example on the one hand the author reminds us of the changing demography of our nation with millions of young men joining the economy to find no work while on the other hand he recommends "Get women working". No where does he reconcile how both problems can be solved together. I guess it is too much to ask for a solution from a single journalist for all that afflicts Indian society.


Still I really enjoyed the book. Mihir is a master at crafting acerbic yet stylish prose. My favorite example is from the chapter on Mallya:

India is a big whisky-drinking country. As a sting operation in the early 2000s confirmed, when you want to pay a bribe to get a major defence deal, you take along a bottle of Blue Label just to make the point. It used to be said, in the fine old days of import controls and bell-bottoms and villains who drank Vat 69, that more Scotch was drunk in India than produced in Scotland.

Of course, the most important thing to know about Indian whisky is that it is not, in fact, whisky. It is rum. This tells you more about India than any single fact should.

You see, whisky is made from malt—from fermented, mashed-up grain. Most Indian whisky is made from molasses. So it isn’t whisky; it is rum, bleached, coloured and flavoured to taste like whisky.

At some point in the 1980s, the Scots decided enough was enough and Indian whiskies couldn’t go around claiming to be whiskies. Indian whisky makers, such as Mallya, were shocked—shocked!—that anyone would imagine that their product could in any way be mistaken for Scotch whisky. The fact that Indian whisky-flavoured rums were named things like McDowell’s and Bagpiper was, of course, strictly a coincidence.

The Scotch whisky guys were, however, particularly incensed by the only brand of Indian whisky that is, in fact, whisky: Peter Scot, made by Bangalore’s venerable Khoday distillers. Peter Scot is indeed a malt whisky. And Scot is right there in the name. Back in 1986, the Scotch-wallahs demanded Peter Scot change its name, and took to the legal system to ensure it did.

In 2008—yes, twenty-two years later, amazingly quick work by Indian standards—the Supreme Court said Peter Scot didn’t need to have its name changed. They came to the conclusion that it should be plainly obvious to absolutely anyone who tasted Peter Scot that it wasn’t, in fact, Scottish. Seriously. Here’s the lawyer Soli Sorabjee, writing on the verdict in the Indian Express: ‘The Court concluded that it was concerned with the class of buyers who are supposed to know the value of money, the quality and content of Scotch whisky and the difference in the process of manufacture, the place of manufacture and their origin . . . One wonders whether ordinary consumers of Scotch whisky, including judges who are not teetotallers, are really aware of these factors.’

Although I would have liked if the author had included more references to his sources while making so many claims, I would certainly recommend reading this book. The book can act as a catalyst to a lot of discussion.

[Sambasivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptionally blunt and 'in your face' narrative. Completely scathing in its attack of all the ills that mar our country. Conversational style hits you with impeccable logic. Must read for every bureaucrat.

[Arathi Mohan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author points out what has gone wrong in the India growth story. In his opinion, India's growth is the unintended result of a set of half-baked reforms working independently of each other, and not of a well-thought strategy. Somehow, these half-baked reforms have kept us going for these many years. However, they are just quick-fix solutions and may not be able to hold us together for too long. The author uses sharp and witty language to highlight the problem areas in Indian economy- the struggling manufacturing sector, the archaic labour laws, misdirected tax benefits, subsidies with good intentions that have outlived their necessity, the flaws in the public-private partnership model, the lack of a price mechanism for precious natural resources, and so on. The language used is simple and the reader will not feel bogged down by economic terms. The author has given a critique of the 1991 economic reforms that gives food for thought.

[Vishal Kale · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book on Economics is prone to be one that can be classified as a serious bit of study, and a truckload of hard complex reading, full for jargon and indecipherable terms {even to economists, ,no joke there}; a subject to be broached only in a particular mood and mindset. One does not normally look to find anything but the above, especially if the book has been penned by one of India’s better known economics writers on Business Media. Well, the above is just about exactly what this book – ReStart, Last Chance For The Indian Economy – written by Mihir S Sharma, is not.

HE BOOK
This is a book that approaches it the core question – how do we genuinely grow – in a refreshing new look, basis hardcore fundamentals, devoid of jargon and needless complexities. It is divided into 5 parts : Why We Fail, When and Where We Failed, The Real Reasons Behind What Went Wrong since 2011-2012, How and Why Private Companies Have Failed To Be Innovative & Failed to Drive Growth, The 5 Bad Choices We Made That Must Be Corrected and the 5 Steps that Need to be Taken.

Within each part, the book lays bare some of the fundamental issues that caused the situation where are now, asking some tough questions in hard language. It looks at the key causes, issues like infrastructure and our inability to build it; honesty and its lack in India; Unfinished reforms and their cascading impact; Corruption; The scepter of top-level growth on the base of a comparatively weaker foundation; it looks hard at the curse of Jugaad, and how Private Enterprise in India has failed to truly innovate; and sums it up by looking at 5 bad choices we made :
1. PPP
2. Special Exceptions to Rules
3. Energy
4. Distrust Market Prices
5. Environment,

and the 5 steps we need to take :
1. Flexibility in Land, labour, Capital & Entrepreneurship markets
2. Black Money
3. Government Expenditure
4. Agriculture
5. Cities

THE ANALYSIS
There is a little that is wrong in the book; but I would rather look at the pluses which far outnumber the minuses by a large margin. Given the fact that we are a developing nation, let me keep a positive approach. For starters, it was refreshing to read an author who made the connect between honesty, corruption, black money and true inclusive growth. This is, beyond any doubt, one of the key issues facing our nation in this modern day. While others like Bibek Debroy have given a numbers based analysis of the impact on the economy, this is a more base-level blunt and hard-hitting attack on this most key and fundamental of issues that confront us.

Read More : https://reflectionsvvk.blogspot.com/2...

[Divakar · Rating 3 out of 5]

RESTART: The Last Chance for the Indian Economy - Mihir S. Sharma

Mihir Sharma is part economist, part social commentator and bits and pieces journalist who makes his living writing for Business Standard. In this book, he comes out more as a journalist writing on economic issues than as an economist – which he wanted to be.

The book is cheeky, irreverent at times as it analyses all that is wrong with India.. Its economic policies which could never decide whether the road to p...rosperity is thru the villages or thru industrialization and urbanization. Its political leadership…very strong on graft and craft(y) but low on a strong vision for a stronger India, its capitalist class….which was focused more on cornering natural assets and exploiting them rather than building assets which churned out good quality products and provided employment to its teeming masses. One gets overwhelmed when one reads this book…and comes to grips with the enormity of problems that our wonderful nation suffers from.

It is an interesting book…as it touches a lot of issues that we normally do not read about…like our inability to build infrastructure capacity, how the feuding Ambani brothers are linked to the civic problems of Mumbai city…. …and many more.

His acerbic pen takes on every one, the politicians, the industrialists, the bureaucracy…..and everyone else who had a role in getting us into this not so enviable situation that we are in today. And like all good journalists who have answers for all of India’s problems…he offers his own version of solutions…some of them pretty attention grabbing and radical.
Nevertheless, an interesting book….covering issues normally not discussed and written about…and a breezy read. Not great economics…but a quick recap of why we are today the way we are.

My rating: 3.5/5

[Kushal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book points out a lot of painful truths about the mess that is India. From laws that haven't changed for hundreds of years, to out of sync - delusional "pro-poor" policy makers and politicians, and our unique tribe of crony capitalists who still run public companies like their ancestral inheritance.
It goes on to prescribe some bitter medicines that the new government must gulp down or else 13 Million people joining the workforce every year (which btw is the size of Greece) are going to be very, very angry.
Personally, I loved the writers style - very anecdotal and matter-of-factly way of breaking down complex economic concepts. Makes the book a thoroughly enjoyable read. 5 Stars for this one.

[E.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author Mihir Sharma of Business Standard (AKA Bullshit :) on twitter sometimes) has written a gem of a book detailing problems with the govt wrt the economy. And surprise,surprise he has not spared the private sector too. And he has taken on some big names very boldly. Also, as an SME entrepreneur could identify with a lot of those issues.
As for style, this book book can be easily understood by laymen and reminded me a lot of Gurcharan Das, but with a difference. There is the cynical satire of Manu Joseph too.

[Umesh Kesavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very strong,take-no-prisoners indictment of how the Indian economy is managed today and what needs to be done to restart the Indian growth engine.

The author is a rare economist who defends the "predatory" Genetically Modified foods as well as the "extravagant" MGNREGA. A book which makes us smile and think at the same time. Must be made mandatory reading for policymakers.

[Deyth Banger · Rating 4 out of 5]

"June 26, 2017 –
90.0%
June 26, 2017 –
75.0% "Note: FUCKING Damn, right!

"The prices of natural resources also need to reflect both the cost of extraction and any environmental costs. It’s extremely detrimental, for example, to extract coal from forests, and the company who purchases the coal should pay for all damages...""
June 26, 2017 –
55.0% ""It’s dangerous when private companies control important resources, because such companies are only interested in their own gain. The government learned this lesson when two large power plant companies, Tata and Adani, both close to the city of Mundra, in the western state of Gujarat, won bids to supply electricity to India's western states...""
June 26, 2017 –
55.0% "Note: Economy and it's little dirty secrets.

"Private companies also saw the opportunity to exploit government resources. They’d raise their demands after starting the project and threaten to leave if those demands weren’t met. Even though it worked for a while, this system was doomed from the beginning...""
June 26, 2017 –
35.0% "Mihir, likes to suprise his readers...

"Why? Well, the private sector, fearing economic loss, stopped investing in national projects. In 2005, investment in national projects accounted for between ten and 14 percent of the country’s GDP; by 2013, that figure had dropped to one percent.""
June 26, 2017 –
35.0% ""Amid the chaos of the reforms, finance, telecommunication and information technology were the only industries that were able to grow.

Why? Well, the IT industry didn’t need land to produce their goods, and so was unhindered by the laws and regulations that stifled manufacturing. This new industry was able to grow while traditional industries floundered...""
June 26, 2017 –
35.0% ""The government also removed restrictions on the movement of goods across international boundaries, which allowed foreign companies to exploit India even more. Because of the traffic jams and poor infrastructure, it became cheaper to transport things out of the country and then back in, as mentioned earlier...""
June 26, 2017 –
35.0% "This people, just don't know when to give up!"
June 26, 2017 –
25.0% ""When the rupee’s value decreased, many manufacturers could no longer afford the raw materials that had previously been imported. At the same time, cheap foreign goods were already ubiquitous in India, and local manufacturers couldn’t compete...""
June 26, 2017 –
25.0% "P.S. - And now I am waiting the bus - 30 minutes, ... it's exhausting."
June 26, 2017 –
15.0% "The book is about the Idian Economy and How from the best economy has went in the boards of the worst economy... More likely from success into fail."
June 26, 2017 –
15.0% "I fucking love It! Blinklist has taken care to take out the best from this novel."
June 26, 2017 – Started Reading"

[Sudarshan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about the policy fixes or what policy makers called “structural reforms”. It is entirely polemical and it is unlike any other policy book. It is devoid of figures, charts or references. But those are instead replaced by anecdotes that although don’t have the same intellectual rigour but are just as convincing.

Its these anecdotes, from India’s ineffectual state capacity where India’s Central Bank the RBI chooses to go after a taxi cab hailing company (Uber) to protect consumers from financial harm, where Indian rum is laughably branded as Whiskey with Scottish sounding names (McDowell) which undoubtedly irks the Scots and which the Supreme Court permits, patent protection be damned. These chock full of anecdotes are the highlight of this book.

On a more sombre note, the author makes a convincing case for bringing down state interference, enhancing state capacity and might I add, to add a tinge of libertarianism to our policy making so that India can realise her true potential. Writing this in 2021, we still haven’t gone all the way the author has prescribed and growth is still not written in our stars.

Would recommend this if you want a layman’s understanding of the deep structural reforms required for the Indian economy.

[Mohit Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, the goods about this book. The book is scathing in its indictment of Indian government and its policies. Most of the points are well known and have been discussed separately in a lot of contexts. The author did a good job in putting all of the pieces together in a coherent manner.

However, I did have some gripes with the book. First, the book lacks in data and sources. Most of the times the author is putting forward an opinion and you as a reader are not sure of the underlying assumptions in it. To the authors credit a lot of his opinions have been written and expounded for a long time, so most of them do make sense. But still as a reader I would appreciate pointers to data/study etc. which the author would have perused.

Also, I found the writing style to be weird. It's definitely not a formal book. The informal approach that the author takes seems very childish at some points. Also, the author jumps from one idea to another without much discussion. I would have appreciated more discussion on each of the ills that the author writes about. But instead he spends more time on the auxiliary aspects of the problem without delving into its main aspect.

[Rohan Monteiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently read another book about India (Superfast, Primetime Ultimate antion) and I cannot help but compare the two.

That one was written by a British journalist - this one by an Indian - you can see a certain difference in the styles. Mihir offers a lot more advice on how things can be fixed .He focuses on a lot more problems prevalent in the Indian system.

It should be a better book.

But it isnt.

In some parts, its the style of writing..too cynical, too disgusted with the mess that india currently is. In others , it's how there are so many small pieces, like each was a separate blog post collected together here.Mihir writes exclusively for an indian audience, not for the world at large.

It's very informative and I learnt a lot. The book mertis 3 stars becuase of the research and the breadth of the authors knowledge on the subject of India.

It does not get a higher rating becuase it feels like a collection of articles and not like a book.

[kaushal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is good for a quick read and overview of the development of the Indian Economy in the last few decades. The author does not give enough weightage in this book for possible solutions and does not analyze issues in depth. At time, author diverts the topic from the economy and delve far too much into domain of politics.

Chapter on 91 liberalization was good, easy read and contributed alot to my understanding of subsequent development of economy in late 90s. But chapters on mumbai infrastructure were total waste of time.

Author only emphasize on Industril infrastructure and fail to give importance to agri-industry. Author dismiss the grievances of farmers to be authentic.

Enjoyed the book at some points but author tried too hard to be sarcastic at points.

[Amol Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book provides an open-minded overview of problems in the Indian economy. The second quarter of the book is just a rant about how Congress policies are solely responsible for everything that is wrong in the country. The book is full of classist jokes and distasteful puns which would make the reader question the credibility of the author. It could really use some data and stats to back up the facts. This book had the potential to give the reader his `Swades` moment but falls short due to the writing style. I would recommend this book to anyone willing to pursue entrepreneurship in India or scale their businesses.

[NEEL Singathia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would not say that it was thought-provoking. Bcoz It was not. But BOOK IS GOOD.

And don't know how come any person can rate it 5 star because there/it isn't a masterpiece or mind-boggling ideas. But that doesn't mean that this book is not good. People should read the book.

At one time , Sharma ji attacks socialist policies and at another he attacks how corporate are fooling the nation. I really liked writer's this approach.

And writer tells some interesting things what we need to adopt to solve our country's problem. Sometime writer just rant and don't give solutions to the problem which is annoying to me.

Furthermore he can complete this book in 200 pages rather than 350+ pages.

[Rohit Kumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book came out in 2015. Just when the government at the centre had changed.
Reading it in 2024, you can clearly see almost all the suggestions presented in this book were implemented. Some worked, some had to be taken back because the government was bullied into taking them back.

Farm laws were taken back.
Judicial reforms were taken back.

Basically the ones that worked, are the ones where the IT sector was doing the heavy lifting like aadhar, cashless transactions etc etc because as the book says they were never brought under the control regime.

At the end, you don't really have to be an economist to know it's the Indian state that's pulling India down. Everyone knows it already.

[Anmol Sarma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A blunt, irreverent and acerbic account of the long list of policy blunders which ail India’s economy. Probably the most well stated and researched rant you’ll ever read. The book is filled with anecdotes that are both insightful and funny. While Mihir Sharma jumps the gun with his suggestion in a few places, the work makes it absolutely clear that he knows what he’s talking about. He also breaks from the tradition of lionising India’s IT and pharma industries and calls them out for what they are. Would recommend.

[Samuel Premkumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent review of what ails India. The book nicely captures the success and failures of the governmental policies and the possible reasons for it. The section "the curse of jugaad" is a must read. Reasonably well written and flowing. A must read for people who are interested to gauge whether the current government is on the right track or not.

[Karan Varma · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a great broad lens to look at the Indian economy and the issues that have been plaguing it, along with some credible solutions. Some of the frustrating rants really drive the point home. It's a nice light read if you're interested in understanding the underlying economic problems of India.

[Viranch Damani · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is more of a personal opinion of author rather than something which is backed by facts and data. I am generally sceptical of books written by columnists and my scepticism was proven correct.

[Bhanu Pratap Singh Tanwar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rant. Bundle of contradictions. Good starting point. Very interesting to read.

[Anandhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the stars are for the rants and insights. Not so much for the solutions.

[Vishal Khatri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disparate bunch of ideas from a variety of sources, put together haphazardly! Some of the arguments are massive leaps without any rhyme or reason.

[Vatsal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fanatastic and brutal.
One of the best books on the Indian economy ever.
A must-read.

[Respectable · Rating 4 out of 5]

An acerbic and scathing look at the Indian economy since Independence. Mihir Sharma goes over the bad economic policies, deplorable infrastructure development, almost non-existent manufacturing sector capable of producing export quality goods, failed government interventions, disastrous PPPs, draconian and archaic labor laws, painful regulatory framework in general, etc., etc., over a period of nearly 70 years showing how collective ineptitude and maliciousness has managed to stifle progress and deny the path to prosperity for Indians at large.

That smaller nations like Bangladesh have been able to outpace and outclass our exports especially in textiles should give us perspective on India's place in the modern world. Where do we go from here?

The issues and examples discussed in the book are quite large, but the conclusion is the same. India needs to change course and the time is really now. We are at a point where the bulk of the demographic is aged 25 and millions upon millions are entering the workforce with no new jobs being made for the majority. Foreign capital and investment to create jobs in the manufacturing sector is not happening given the long history of investors finding how capricious and arbitrary the Indian regulatory framework can be for well intentioned investors, suffering great losses in the process.

At the same time our governments have largely focused their efforts on propping up the agricultural sector ever since Independence in a combination of misplaced ideological sympathies from the Gandhian era and vote bank politics. Despite the vast income redistribution project that this has turned into, the policies that have effected this have made no difference to the future and security of these farmers. Lose - lose. The basic fact is, and always has been, that the vast, nearly 80%, of Indian farmers operate on farms too small to realize the cost benefits arising from economies of scale. There is simply no way for these farmers to make profits sufficient to buy a TV or a car despite subsides on nearly everything you need to farm in India: water, power, fertilizers, etc. No wonder we see net migration of their sons and daughters to Indian cities looking for a brighter future--a different job. Indian cities of course are ill equipped to handle their present populations already. And so our problems continue to grow.

To the extent that we have seen growth in the last decade, it can be attributed to few successes like the IT sector which has managed to utilize cheap labor to effectively compete in the international arena. Of course the most important reason that this sector has succeeded is the lack of regulations governing its operations, little need for land--and therefore not having to deal with the layers of middlemen and bureaucracy to setup a firm. That one of our big successes rests on the fact that the colonialists, and therefore our system of law, did not have the foresight to kill it by means of regulations should pause to make you think.

The book is well researched and we'll written although with a particular focus on the faults. On the flip side, the discussion is not merely restricted to policy but also delves into deeper social issues which are holding us back as a nation. It makes for a sobering and depressing read but thankfully there's the final part where the author discusses reforms that will put us back on track. But this is no small feat and given our history it seems almost to remote a possibility that we will navigate the next decades on the best way possible but the Modi government gives at least some hope.

This book deserves to be widely read. Even if you disagree with its conclusions, the issues it raises need to be more widely discussed.

[Caliph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally gave this book a 3 star rating, but have since revised it to 4. I realised that I had rated it low owing primarily to the writing aesthetic (which I complain about below) and not the content (which was quite revealing) and which I generally agreed with anyway -- I read most of his small pieces online and so it felt like I was giving in to confirmation bias. But in the days after, I realized that this book does make a good summary for all the stupid things we think about and carry in our heads about our country and we'd do well to listen to Sharma's grumpy complaining -- he is right about a lot of things.

I much enjoy Mihir Sharma's writing. He is often acerbic and his conversational style -- that is the friends debating policy over drinks, feels quite at home in the shorter pieces that he writes for magazines and newspapers, when he convincingly argues a point. In a larger book, however, there is a risk that the frothing at the mouth stands out more and I wish he'd chosen a different schtick. Note that he doesn't do this all the time, but he does this often enough that it is stark, and ought to have been flagged by the editor.

This book is not a long one, but it could have been about a third shorter. The essays at the beginning of the book are better written than the ones in the last third, which feel rushed. He also repeats himself over, and across essays, leading me to think that the essays were written at different times and then tied together.

Now that I'm done with the nitpicking, I enjoyed his commentary on the social and the political and the things economic. I found large parts of the book to be revelatory. I am not very well informed about the policies of the Indian state, ashamed as I am to say it, economic ones even less. This book was good at highlighting a summary of what we did post 1991, the socio-political context that we did it in, and where we seem to be going. Sharma titles this book 'Restart', but that is a more a commentary on what we did wrong and a need to do things over, and less a detailed how to do things right. Which is fair I suppose, as a pop book is hardly the place for detailed policy analysis and so he lists the hows as a broad overview of the direction we ought to take.

[Muthu Raj · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pretty impressive rant. If you're new to Indian economy and want a witty, yet fairly accurate picture of the Indian economy, look no further. However, don't expect too many solutions other than, "we are going to have to change that. Yes sirree, we do.". But it's not so bad that you should give it a skip. In fact, this might be the one book that you should read to know what's wrong with our economy and policies.

[Arvind Venugopal · Rating 4 out of 5]

For all those of us who work and live in India, we face the grim reality of its myriad problems and the quality of life and basic services the state has been able to provide to its citizens even after many years of Independence. Sometimes in between the never ending traffic jams and queues at a single window electricity bill payment office we stop and ponder is this has to be this way and is there a way we can get out of this?

This book from Mihir S Sharma does exactly that. It essentially peels open the different layers of these issues from government policies, the never ending government subsidies, archaically outdated laws (including death by lime resister bit), the unfinished reforms of 1991, allocation of natural resources, the inability of the government to build a solid manufacturing sector, ambiguous application of Environmental laws, our fascination with Jugaad and a non existent entrepreneurial eco system. The author provides case studies on total non accountability and mismanagement of Indian companies, poor delivery of public infrastructure projects by private players and how personalities and companies have profited and milked the political patronage for their personal profits. The infrastructure bits on Mumbai, Floor scale Index, how the politics killed the business district and how the story of how the city is being slowly choked to death was interesting read.

The readings on improving cities not as centers of living but as centers as productivity and work where people from villages can come for work is quite contrarian but makes sense.

The latter part of the books mentions some of these solutions to these issues and the reason why this could be the last chance to restart the Indian economy but is sometimes vague on the nature of implementation.

This is a brave book but equally thought provoking and an interesting read.

[Gokul Eswaran · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the answer to the very basic question "Whats is wrong with India". The author has divided the book into 4 parts and each part discuss specific aspects, the symptoms, the root cause, the reasons for erstwhile growth models failure and the hardship that the nation has to subject itself in order to grow. Along with this, the book critically evaluates the dimensions on which India is transforming namely demography, infrastructure and social. Structurally, the book is well organized and the author often cites instance from the previous sections. It would be a good idea to read at-least 75-100 pages at one go. The thought provoking content will compel you to read large portions at one shot.
No part in the book seem like a figment of the authors imagination instead, the book is well thought through and profound. The style of writing is Satire. The author frequently expresses his angst against things that are a bunch of paradox, but, thriving in India. The author, backed with examples, goes on to prove against the old adage that "India is unique".
Overall, this book gives you very good perspective about India, its problems and the way forward.

[Mukesh Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant, simply brilliant analysis of recent economic history and troubles. Irreverent and immensely readable. The scale of challenges we face are gargantuan! 13 million Indians will need jobs every year, while the whole PPP model stands broken, the ineptness of the state and the private sector stares us in the face, the multitudes of social issues and inequalities too. The author has also gone into some details of decay of Bombay and Calcutta and the complete failure of our manufacturing sector, our almost criminal lack of capacity and infrastructure. Like any good doctor he diagnoses all the diseases that plague the economy and links them with the ailments in our soceity as well as the administrative and justice system. And then proceeds with recommendations and advices. The only part which seemed exaggerated was his misdiagnosis of the villages as 'pools of depravity and divisions'. Otherwise a must read, really.