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Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World
More than half of India is under the age of twenty-five and the country is set to have the youngest population in the world by 2021. But India's millennials are nothing like their counterparts in the West.
In a world that's marked by unprecedented connectivity and technological advancement, in a country that's increasingly characterized by ambition, political power and access, in an economy that appears to be breaking down the barriers to wealth that existed for every previous era, this is a generation that cannot - will not - be defined on anything but their own terms. They are wealth-chasers, attention-seekers, power-trappers, fame-hunters. They are the dreamers.
Snigdha Poonam's remarkable cultural study of the unlikeliest of fortune-hawkers travels through the small towns of northern India to investigate the phenomenon that is India's Generation Y. From dubious entrepreneurs to political aspirants, from starstruck strivers to masterly swindlers, she travels - on carts and buses, in cars and trucks - through the India's badlands to uncover a theatre of toxic masculinity, spirited ambition and a kind of hunger for change that is bound to drive the future of our country. These young Indians aren't just changing their world - they're changing yours.
In a world that's marked by unprecedented connectivity and technological advancement, in a country that's increasingly characterized by ambition, political power and access, in an economy that appears to be breaking down the barriers to wealth that existed for every previous era, this is a generation that cannot - will not - be defined on anything but their own terms. They are wealth-chasers, attention-seekers, power-trappers, fame-hunters. They are the dreamers.
Snigdha Poonam's remarkable cultural study of the unlikeliest of fortune-hawkers travels through the small towns of northern India to investigate the phenomenon that is India's Generation Y. From dubious entrepreneurs to political aspirants, from starstruck strivers to masterly swindlers, she travels - on carts and buses, in cars and trucks - through the India's badlands to uncover a theatre of toxic masculinity, spirited ambition and a kind of hunger for change that is bound to drive the future of our country. These young Indians aren't just changing their world - they're changing yours.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 25, 2018
71 people are currently reading
1447 people want to read
About the author
Snigdha Poonam
4 books29 followersSnigdha Poonam is a national affairs writer with The Hindustan Times in Delhi. Her work has appeared in Scroll, The Caravan, The Times of India, The New York Times, The Guardian, Granta, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, and The Financial Times. Her article 'Lady Singham’s Mission Against Love' was runner-up in the Bodley Head / Financial Times Essay Prize, 2015. She won the 2017 Journalist of Change award of Bournemouth University for an investigation of student suicides that appeared on Huffington Post. Dreamers is her first book. It won 2018’s Crossword Book Award (Jury) for nonfiction and was longlisted for PEN America Literary Awards. Dreamers also featured in many best-books lists including The Financial Times’ and The Hindu’s.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 113 reviews
March 25, 2018
“Dreamers” is a riveting and disturbing read. Author and journalist Snigdha Poonam has spent considerable time with young Indians in the country’s small towns and documented their hopes, fears and frustrations through a series of intimate personality profiles. The book is a bit thin on analysis and also errs by relying too much on the subjects’ own versions of their lives, but its flaws are more than compensated for by Poonam’s compelling narration which lends a tense, documentary like touch to the whole endeavour. For instance there’s the moment when a Bajrang Dal activist in Meerut scans nearby couples in a cafe on Valentine’s Day like a tiger eyeing his prey, or the day Richa Singh rides into Allahabad University with an entourage and becomes the first woman ever to run for President of its student union (a position with more power and prestige than you might imagine). Where she isn’t intending to be dramatic, her matter-of-fact observations hit hard too. Like how Aadhar’s biometrics fail an old woman at a center whose owner she’s profiling. Or how the winner of a Mr. Jharkhand contest in Ranchi has no way to get home because the prize came with no money attached. Such images from this book might haunt you long after you’ve put it down, even if, like me, you end up finishing the whole thing in one sitting.
The book’s point of departure is the dire life prospects of India’s youth. A 100 million of them are competing over the next 10 years for the country’s meagre educational and employment resources. Statistics such as 1.7 million people applying for 1500 job openings in a bank have been reported. Desperation and resentment are already visible. Poonam felt that the higher virulence of government-job related violence was just one indication and decided this is a story worth digging deeper. After all, with both strength of numbers and time on their side, it’s a certainty that India’s institutions will be shaped by the collective sensibilities of today’s youth. What struck her immediately was their intensity of desire compared to generations prior. Thanks to global connectivity, it’s no longer possible to be ignorant of how life is lived in more developed parts of the world. And when lived experience shows no signs of matching the imagined, frustration follows.
She believes she can find shades of it in the unusual ways some youth are trying to carve an identity for themselves as they recoil from the hopelessness of the mainstream. Like the Gau Rakshak in Karnal whose ID card bearing that title accords him instant respect in his part of town, or others who spend hours every day spreading political memes on Whatsapp or swarming on social media to attack opposing viewpoints. But there are quite a few who are able to channel their desperation constructively. Like Moin Khan in Ranchi who had to milk cows overtime for many months in order to muster up fees for the Spoken English course that he now teaches himself. At the end of the book, irony comes full circle as scammed job seekers turn scammers themselves, as Poonam personally finds out via enrolling as a call center employee in Delhi.
Most of these profiles are easily months of work, and some even span years of contact. While Poonam takes great pains to make her subjects come across as thinking-and-feeling rational human beings, she could have used some of that time to probe their immediate family and friends to get around the veil of self-deception that is humanly unavoidable. One of the best pieces in the book is the one about the earlier mentioned Richa Singh who took on the muscle power and masculinity within Allahabad University and emerged victorious. Her story could have benefited with more insights from her close campaign co-ordinators. The book may well chafe at times for readers who are advocates of Hindutva or supporters of BJP-allied organisations like the Bajrang Dal or VHP. Lastly, she could have spread her wings around some more. Ranchi features prominently because it is Poonam’s hometown. And while she ventures into Meerut, Delhi, Allahabad and Karnal, I am not sure I saw profiles from much of the rest of the country. Nevertheless, it would be foolish to ignore this earnest and stupendous effort by a talented, young journalist based on partisan considerations. Highly recommended.
The book’s point of departure is the dire life prospects of India’s youth. A 100 million of them are competing over the next 10 years for the country’s meagre educational and employment resources. Statistics such as 1.7 million people applying for 1500 job openings in a bank have been reported. Desperation and resentment are already visible. Poonam felt that the higher virulence of government-job related violence was just one indication and decided this is a story worth digging deeper. After all, with both strength of numbers and time on their side, it’s a certainty that India’s institutions will be shaped by the collective sensibilities of today’s youth. What struck her immediately was their intensity of desire compared to generations prior. Thanks to global connectivity, it’s no longer possible to be ignorant of how life is lived in more developed parts of the world. And when lived experience shows no signs of matching the imagined, frustration follows.
She believes she can find shades of it in the unusual ways some youth are trying to carve an identity for themselves as they recoil from the hopelessness of the mainstream. Like the Gau Rakshak in Karnal whose ID card bearing that title accords him instant respect in his part of town, or others who spend hours every day spreading political memes on Whatsapp or swarming on social media to attack opposing viewpoints. But there are quite a few who are able to channel their desperation constructively. Like Moin Khan in Ranchi who had to milk cows overtime for many months in order to muster up fees for the Spoken English course that he now teaches himself. At the end of the book, irony comes full circle as scammed job seekers turn scammers themselves, as Poonam personally finds out via enrolling as a call center employee in Delhi.
Most of these profiles are easily months of work, and some even span years of contact. While Poonam takes great pains to make her subjects come across as thinking-and-feeling rational human beings, she could have used some of that time to probe their immediate family and friends to get around the veil of self-deception that is humanly unavoidable. One of the best pieces in the book is the one about the earlier mentioned Richa Singh who took on the muscle power and masculinity within Allahabad University and emerged victorious. Her story could have benefited with more insights from her close campaign co-ordinators. The book may well chafe at times for readers who are advocates of Hindutva or supporters of BJP-allied organisations like the Bajrang Dal or VHP. Lastly, she could have spread her wings around some more. Ranchi features prominently because it is Poonam’s hometown. And while she ventures into Meerut, Delhi, Allahabad and Karnal, I am not sure I saw profiles from much of the rest of the country. Nevertheless, it would be foolish to ignore this earnest and stupendous effort by a talented, young journalist based on partisan considerations. Highly recommended.
January 13, 2019
This book is a must-read for anyone curious about India's demographic 'dividend' and the manifestation of the full-blown jobs crisis we are in. Excellent reportage and faithful character portraits interspersed with context on the times we're living in. The choice of following individuals and understanding their stories is the perfect format to understand the desperation and anxiety of the youth in the hinterland.
India's jobs crisis may be viewed as an economic event for analysis, but the manifestation of it - riots, perverse machismo and jingoistic ethno-nationalism - all of that is best understood through a Gender lens. Gendered notions of masculinity in a deeply unequal, caste-driven patriarchal society like India are faultlines our society rests on, precariously. And in times like now, where economic and status anxiety are quite high, the assertion of this masculinity and power will be channeled to 'reclaim' what they believe is rightfully theirs. In the backdrop of the very overt creation of 'others' by the ruling dispensation, it is inevitable that this assertion of masculinity has led to violence against marginalized entities. The sections on the gau rakshaks and the Bajrang Dal kid who loved beating up couples on Valentine's Day capture this perfectly.
The gendered and political manifestations aside, the book captures so many things wrong with life here - a broken education system, endemic rent-seeking, political corruption, caste calculations, religious chauvinism, and so much more. For someone in my social location, the book makes you appreciate your privilege and reminds you of the bubble you live in.
Highly, highly recommended.
(Arlie Hochschild's 'Strangers in their Own Land' is a good parallel/accompaniment to this book. That book has more insightful analysis - even if it is set in the US - while this one is brave enough to touch on truly challenging topics.)
India's jobs crisis may be viewed as an economic event for analysis, but the manifestation of it - riots, perverse machismo and jingoistic ethno-nationalism - all of that is best understood through a Gender lens. Gendered notions of masculinity in a deeply unequal, caste-driven patriarchal society like India are faultlines our society rests on, precariously. And in times like now, where economic and status anxiety are quite high, the assertion of this masculinity and power will be channeled to 'reclaim' what they believe is rightfully theirs. In the backdrop of the very overt creation of 'others' by the ruling dispensation, it is inevitable that this assertion of masculinity has led to violence against marginalized entities. The sections on the gau rakshaks and the Bajrang Dal kid who loved beating up couples on Valentine's Day capture this perfectly.
The gendered and political manifestations aside, the book captures so many things wrong with life here - a broken education system, endemic rent-seeking, political corruption, caste calculations, religious chauvinism, and so much more. For someone in my social location, the book makes you appreciate your privilege and reminds you of the bubble you live in.
Highly, highly recommended.
(Arlie Hochschild's 'Strangers in their Own Land' is a good parallel/accompaniment to this book. That book has more insightful analysis - even if it is set in the US - while this one is brave enough to touch on truly challenging topics.)
July 1, 2019
Snigdha Poonam set out on an ambitious project - she wanted to find out what young Indians dream of, do, aspire to and simply what they are like. In India youth is categorised as anyone at the age 15-34, which comprises over one third of the population. Writing a book about half a billion people is a challenge and it’s clear the task overwhelmed Poonam. “Dreamers. How Young Indians Are Changing Their World” is truly about only a handful of Indians, mainly men, in a very small area of the country, and this disappointed me. The author herself comes from Ranchi, the capital of Jharkand, and the majority of people she interviewed and followed come from this region. Her portrayals of young entrepreneurs, an aspiring actor and a fashion model, conmen working for a scam call centre, a visionary English teacher cum motivational speaker, inventive fixers, a wanna-be politician and the first female president of the students’ union in India (of Allahabad University) are fantastically colourful, detailed and captivating. She tries to be objective but from time to time mentions how difficult it was interacting with some of them and endure their arrogance, patronising attitude, sexism, aggressive behaviour and double standards. I found her being opinionated and being embarrassed about it a very human trait.
As a middle class Indian journalist she is well aware of the fact that India and the ruling party BJP under Narendra Modi constantly fails young Indians, while at the same giving them the impression it cares about them. The majority of India’s youth are uneducated, unemployed and unemployable and it is relatively easy to brainwash them and make them fall into a populist trap. There is a lot of potential in Indian young people to thrive, yet corruption, oppressive social norms and standards and very poor level of available education nip their potential in the bud: “At the moment, fewer than 17 per cent of India’s graduates are immediately employable. Only 2.3 per cent of the Indian workforce has undergone formal skill training (compared to 80 per cent in Japan and 96 per cent in South Korea).” Indian youth are already called a ‘scarred generation’ by the International Labour Organisation and politicians are often criticised of wasting lives of hundreds of millions of people. Young Indians, full of ideas, dreams and plans, grow up to be also angry and frustrated - either with old or current politics, lack of prospects for the future, or the feeling of always being inferior to others. What made me very sad and worried is the conclusion one draws from “Dreamers”: “Like it or not, young India is what it is - unsatisfied, unscrupulous, unstoppable. Few young Indians I met had a clear sense of right and wrong; fewer gave a damn about it”. During my trips to India I was always astonished and deeply shaken by the enormous scale of the lack of ethical spine, lack of empathy and sympathy towards others, omnipresent hypocrisy. I have met generous and kind people but the high tolerance of abuse, violence and cruelty towards other people and animals is for me one of the negative characteristics of Indian culture. You don’t really need to look for it, you just need to read any newspaper, though it is in fact impossible to spend more than one day in India and do not see atrocious inequality and the aforementioned lack of empathy.
During my own travels in India I was also able to easily notice big differences between the regions, cultures and young people in this large country. The acknowledgement of the vast array of perspectives and cultures is what is sorely missing in the book. Poonam focused of the male, Hindu point of view from small and medium-sized towns of north-central India, having written about only one woman and only one Muslim man. I was hoping to learn more about young Indians from Nagaland, Kerala, Kashmir, Rajasthan, Sikkim or Tamil Nadu and to explore the perspectives influenced by various landscapes, upbringing, languages, education, religions and family background. I realise I learned more about those young Indians, whose profiles are most often showcased in the media, but am still ignorant about the realities and voices of the marginalised and ignored. I wish Poonam had made more effort and travelled the country more widely and as a result produced a book much broader in scope and more comprehensive, while still being deeply engaging.
As a middle class Indian journalist she is well aware of the fact that India and the ruling party BJP under Narendra Modi constantly fails young Indians, while at the same giving them the impression it cares about them. The majority of India’s youth are uneducated, unemployed and unemployable and it is relatively easy to brainwash them and make them fall into a populist trap. There is a lot of potential in Indian young people to thrive, yet corruption, oppressive social norms and standards and very poor level of available education nip their potential in the bud: “At the moment, fewer than 17 per cent of India’s graduates are immediately employable. Only 2.3 per cent of the Indian workforce has undergone formal skill training (compared to 80 per cent in Japan and 96 per cent in South Korea).” Indian youth are already called a ‘scarred generation’ by the International Labour Organisation and politicians are often criticised of wasting lives of hundreds of millions of people. Young Indians, full of ideas, dreams and plans, grow up to be also angry and frustrated - either with old or current politics, lack of prospects for the future, or the feeling of always being inferior to others. What made me very sad and worried is the conclusion one draws from “Dreamers”: “Like it or not, young India is what it is - unsatisfied, unscrupulous, unstoppable. Few young Indians I met had a clear sense of right and wrong; fewer gave a damn about it”. During my trips to India I was always astonished and deeply shaken by the enormous scale of the lack of ethical spine, lack of empathy and sympathy towards others, omnipresent hypocrisy. I have met generous and kind people but the high tolerance of abuse, violence and cruelty towards other people and animals is for me one of the negative characteristics of Indian culture. You don’t really need to look for it, you just need to read any newspaper, though it is in fact impossible to spend more than one day in India and do not see atrocious inequality and the aforementioned lack of empathy.
During my own travels in India I was also able to easily notice big differences between the regions, cultures and young people in this large country. The acknowledgement of the vast array of perspectives and cultures is what is sorely missing in the book. Poonam focused of the male, Hindu point of view from small and medium-sized towns of north-central India, having written about only one woman and only one Muslim man. I was hoping to learn more about young Indians from Nagaland, Kerala, Kashmir, Rajasthan, Sikkim or Tamil Nadu and to explore the perspectives influenced by various landscapes, upbringing, languages, education, religions and family background. I realise I learned more about those young Indians, whose profiles are most often showcased in the media, but am still ignorant about the realities and voices of the marginalised and ignored. I wish Poonam had made more effort and travelled the country more widely and as a result produced a book much broader in scope and more comprehensive, while still being deeply engaging.
February 25, 2021
Illuminating read and a good peer outside my hyper privileged bubble. The people at the center of each chapter were super interesting, and major props to the author for probing enough to understand their motivation.
Albeit the only fault I would pick is that the first person narration comes across as a little condescending sometimes and a lazy substitute for deeper research. Regardless of that, a very high recommend!
Albeit the only fault I would pick is that the first person narration comes across as a little condescending sometimes and a lazy substitute for deeper research. Regardless of that, a very high recommend!
October 23, 2018
A great narrative with lots of work and heart gone into it, this book is in turns illuminating, heartbreaking, funny, often deeply unsettling. Very glad that I read this and that this was written. India is a big country; to get to hear the voices, stories, and perspectives of people who may appear out of touch with my everyday, just like I am out of touch with theirs, but who reflect and mirror back societal messages and even internal struggles I have had to face growing up in small-town India... my fellow Indians who are key in shaping our collective future, to be able to see up close how we are so different but also so similar - for this work that the book does and the journey Poonam takes us on in an engaging, compassionate way I am grateful.
May 9, 2019
Sometimes I think that that the countries which are used to be called BRICs are not trying to catch up with the West. They are ahead of it in social and political terms, albeit on the trajectory which i would not call highly desirable. Russia is driven by simulacrum. For better reference see Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: The Surreal Heart of the New Russia. Ukraine has just elected the president, a comedian, whose only previous political exposure was playing a role of the teacher in a sitcom who is becoming the President. Just like that. And India - the biggest democracy, at least so far, which is in the process of electing a Hindu nationalist for a second time who is promising to make it “great again”.
This book is about Indian millennials. Can I even use this word for this generation of Indians? Though faced with the similar problem of the lack of jobs, they are totally opposite to the stereotype of a Western millennial who tends to feel a bit of a victim of the circumstances. The Indians guys do not have time for sentimentality. The story how they are dealing with their fate encouraging - they really dream big, but also it is very frightening. They are not stopping at making their country “great again”. They literally want to rule the Universe. Here comes Sinhal, the owner of the WittyFeed, a click-baiting operation. What does he thinks? “He thinks if he can build $30 mln companies telling americans things they do not need to know there is nothing he can’t do. “India is too small. I want to lead humanity. Humanity is bigger than country. I want to go outside the earth. I want to lead Mars.” One planet is not enough. Of course his hero is Eton Mask. But this chap is not alone, it seems. Far from it. And is confident of his dream. Is this coming to the West as well or is it already here?
It is such a powerful book. It is dense with the profound observations. During a few years, the author was following a number of young people. The majority of them are men, but there is one woman between them. There is a young owner of a internets start-up, mentioned above who considers himself a founder of the family. There is a teacher of English who in the process of becoming a motivational guru. There is an aspiring male beauty model, a poor muslim man, who wins some beauty pageant but cannot find any legal way to earn money: “He had tried his luck at honest work, form running a memo shop to selling door handles, but only to fail harder every time. I couldn’t blame him for thinking that cheating is essential for success; he didn’t know a single person who became rich without cheating their way up . Muslim men.”; Next is a female student, the first to become a student president. There is a political fixer and yes, the last but not least - a bunch of scammers whose idea of employment are working for the company successfully chasing pensioners in America and Europe over the phone and internet.
It is really worthwhile and revealing reading experience. Without farther retelling, I just leave below the author’s shocking and concise portrait of the Millennials in her country:
“100 million to absorb. A wave of aspiration sweeping the countryside. But no jobs. ‘Farther you live from a big city the bigger your dreams”. “The physical life around them did not change but 20 year old in Indore has got the same access to information that Ipswich - and could very well have the same desires. They see no connection between where they live and what they want from their lives.”
“What happens when a hundred million people suddenly start dreaming big in a place where no-one is prepared for it - families, teachers, employers, governments? They realise they are on their own. They reconcile themselves to the idea that they must build a world in which they can be what they want to be, where how well you do depends on how badly you want to do well. Once they have created this bubble of aspiration, they chase their dreams like their life depends on it - do or die.”
“This is the generation of Indians hanging between extremes. They are hitting adulthood with the cultural values of their grandparents - socially conservative, sexually timid, god-fearing - but the life goals of American teenagers: money and fame. .. They are the most global young indians ever with the narrowest idea of what it means to be indian based on language, region, religion and an exaggerated notion of the country’s pre-colonial glories.”
“They want money influence power. Become guru. They were obsessed with their dreams and attempts to make them real.”
“Irrespective of whether they are rich or poor, young Hindu men I meet want the same things: economic growth over social justice, majoritarian democracy over liberal democracy, cultural nationalism over secularism, boundary wars rather than friendly relations. “
And I cannot empathise more with this:
"Unlike young Indians today i could not be angry with the world because I did not have enough reason. I was too busy fascinated with that. Unlike the young people I now encounter a twenty-year-old me didn’t want india to rule the world. I was happy just to see my country become one within it. I similarly inherited my parents’ prejudices, rarely voiced, of class, caste, religion. Unlike the twenty-year-olds of 2017, though, I was fortunate enough to become a thinking adult before post-truth - so I didn’t read books to validate my ideas but to question them. And mostly ended embarrassed."
This book is about Indian millennials. Can I even use this word for this generation of Indians? Though faced with the similar problem of the lack of jobs, they are totally opposite to the stereotype of a Western millennial who tends to feel a bit of a victim of the circumstances. The Indians guys do not have time for sentimentality. The story how they are dealing with their fate encouraging - they really dream big, but also it is very frightening. They are not stopping at making their country “great again”. They literally want to rule the Universe. Here comes Sinhal, the owner of the WittyFeed, a click-baiting operation. What does he thinks? “He thinks if he can build $30 mln companies telling americans things they do not need to know there is nothing he can’t do. “India is too small. I want to lead humanity. Humanity is bigger than country. I want to go outside the earth. I want to lead Mars.” One planet is not enough. Of course his hero is Eton Mask. But this chap is not alone, it seems. Far from it. And is confident of his dream. Is this coming to the West as well or is it already here?
It is such a powerful book. It is dense with the profound observations. During a few years, the author was following a number of young people. The majority of them are men, but there is one woman between them. There is a young owner of a internets start-up, mentioned above who considers himself a founder of the family. There is a teacher of English who in the process of becoming a motivational guru. There is an aspiring male beauty model, a poor muslim man, who wins some beauty pageant but cannot find any legal way to earn money: “He had tried his luck at honest work, form running a memo shop to selling door handles, but only to fail harder every time. I couldn’t blame him for thinking that cheating is essential for success; he didn’t know a single person who became rich without cheating their way up . Muslim men.”; Next is a female student, the first to become a student president. There is a political fixer and yes, the last but not least - a bunch of scammers whose idea of employment are working for the company successfully chasing pensioners in America and Europe over the phone and internet.
It is really worthwhile and revealing reading experience. Without farther retelling, I just leave below the author’s shocking and concise portrait of the Millennials in her country:
“100 million to absorb. A wave of aspiration sweeping the countryside. But no jobs. ‘Farther you live from a big city the bigger your dreams”. “The physical life around them did not change but 20 year old in Indore has got the same access to information that Ipswich - and could very well have the same desires. They see no connection between where they live and what they want from their lives.”
“What happens when a hundred million people suddenly start dreaming big in a place where no-one is prepared for it - families, teachers, employers, governments? They realise they are on their own. They reconcile themselves to the idea that they must build a world in which they can be what they want to be, where how well you do depends on how badly you want to do well. Once they have created this bubble of aspiration, they chase their dreams like their life depends on it - do or die.”
“This is the generation of Indians hanging between extremes. They are hitting adulthood with the cultural values of their grandparents - socially conservative, sexually timid, god-fearing - but the life goals of American teenagers: money and fame. .. They are the most global young indians ever with the narrowest idea of what it means to be indian based on language, region, religion and an exaggerated notion of the country’s pre-colonial glories.”
“They want money influence power. Become guru. They were obsessed with their dreams and attempts to make them real.”
“Irrespective of whether they are rich or poor, young Hindu men I meet want the same things: economic growth over social justice, majoritarian democracy over liberal democracy, cultural nationalism over secularism, boundary wars rather than friendly relations. “
And I cannot empathise more with this:
"Unlike young Indians today i could not be angry with the world because I did not have enough reason. I was too busy fascinated with that. Unlike the young people I now encounter a twenty-year-old me didn’t want india to rule the world. I was happy just to see my country become one within it. I similarly inherited my parents’ prejudices, rarely voiced, of class, caste, religion. Unlike the twenty-year-olds of 2017, though, I was fortunate enough to become a thinking adult before post-truth - so I didn’t read books to validate my ideas but to question them. And mostly ended embarrassed."
October 23, 2021
This may not be the utmostly profound research of the Indian youth but in her brilliant storytelling style, the author has shown the multiple hues of India's emerging young demography. Through her carefully chosen 7 characters, she highlights the limitations of the Indian dream of harnessing its demographic dividend and the challenges that lie in the path of youth from the tier 2 and tier 3 towns of India trying to make it big. A good insight into their values, politics, aspirations, skills, opportunity- this is a good book to listen on audio.
May 25, 2018
I enjoyed this book much more than Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers.
I read this while in India for work earlier this year. I first traveled to India in 1999 and then again in 2001, '06, '09, and '14. With the exception of the United States, Mexico and perhaps Kenya, it is the country whose (extremely rapid) development I’ve followed most closely and first-hand. Unlike the other three countries, I have spent weeks at at a time in India’s rural, remote villages, where daily routines and rituals have changed little in the past thousands of years — that is, until the recent arrival of cell phones and cheap solar panel chargers from China. From Delhi’s flourishing hipster enclaves to Rajasthan’s tribal communities, today’s India is unrecognizable from the India I first experienced nearly twenty years ago.
While I was in India, my friends at Pratham released their Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). For the first time, Pratham focused their annual household survey on youth between 14 and 18 to answer a question of urgent importance to parents and policy-makers: how prepared are today’s youth to join tomorrow’s workforce? They produced a wonderful five-minute ‘trailer’ on YouTube to show the importance of skills and basic knowledge for young people to pursue their dreams. They also released a slightly less slick 11-minute video to summarize the findings. There is also four-page analysis of major findings and a brochure that includes actual questions from the test that was given to over 30,000 teenagers by 2,000 volunteers in 26 districts around the country. Given the skills needed for 21st century jobs, the findings aren’t encouraging. Less than 35% of youth aged 14-18 were able to correctly answer this question: If a girl went to sleep at 9:30 pm and woke up at 6:30 am, how many hours did she sleep?
Like George Packer’s The Unwinding, Poonam’s “Dreamers: How young Indians are changing their world” alternates between profiles of Indian youth hustling their way to some sort of career and analysis of the structural challenges and opportunities they face. A few highlights that have stuck with me:
* To compete globally and cash in on its “demographic dividend," India will need to educate about 100 million young people over the next ten years, a task never before undertaken in history. At least 1000 universities will need to be built and nearly 50,000 colleges.
* In 2016, 19,000 people applied for 114 jobs at a municipality. 1.7M applied for 1,500 jobs at a state-owned bank. 9.2M applied for 100k jobs with the railways and 7M applied for 8,300 entry level jobs in the public sector.
* Use of social media by young Indians is redefining their aspirations: “A 20-year-old in central India has the same access to information as someone his age in Iowa — and could very well have the same desires. They see no connection between where they live and what they want from their lives.” The gulf between opportunity and aspiration is growing.
* Globalization has helped create a lot of new winners in India. They live in cities, speak in English, spend their holidays in Europe and visit family in the U.S. There have also been many losers, especially among young, rural, Hindu men who see their historically elevated status threatened by decades of government support for minorities, the feminist movement, and globalization. Sound familiar? For them, Modi’s brand of Hindu Nationalism doesn’t go far enough and some say that India’s liberal democracy depends on finding jobs for these angry young men to keep them busy.
Poonam's account of Richa Singh’s campaign for the post of president of the students’ union of Allahabad University in 2015 literally brought tears to my eyes. (Excerpt here, but the full chapter is so much better.)
I highly recommend Dreamers.
I read this while in India for work earlier this year. I first traveled to India in 1999 and then again in 2001, '06, '09, and '14. With the exception of the United States, Mexico and perhaps Kenya, it is the country whose (extremely rapid) development I’ve followed most closely and first-hand. Unlike the other three countries, I have spent weeks at at a time in India’s rural, remote villages, where daily routines and rituals have changed little in the past thousands of years — that is, until the recent arrival of cell phones and cheap solar panel chargers from China. From Delhi’s flourishing hipster enclaves to Rajasthan’s tribal communities, today’s India is unrecognizable from the India I first experienced nearly twenty years ago.
While I was in India, my friends at Pratham released their Annual Status of Education Report (ASER). For the first time, Pratham focused their annual household survey on youth between 14 and 18 to answer a question of urgent importance to parents and policy-makers: how prepared are today’s youth to join tomorrow’s workforce? They produced a wonderful five-minute ‘trailer’ on YouTube to show the importance of skills and basic knowledge for young people to pursue their dreams. They also released a slightly less slick 11-minute video to summarize the findings. There is also four-page analysis of major findings and a brochure that includes actual questions from the test that was given to over 30,000 teenagers by 2,000 volunteers in 26 districts around the country. Given the skills needed for 21st century jobs, the findings aren’t encouraging. Less than 35% of youth aged 14-18 were able to correctly answer this question: If a girl went to sleep at 9:30 pm and woke up at 6:30 am, how many hours did she sleep?
Like George Packer’s The Unwinding, Poonam’s “Dreamers: How young Indians are changing their world” alternates between profiles of Indian youth hustling their way to some sort of career and analysis of the structural challenges and opportunities they face. A few highlights that have stuck with me:
* To compete globally and cash in on its “demographic dividend," India will need to educate about 100 million young people over the next ten years, a task never before undertaken in history. At least 1000 universities will need to be built and nearly 50,000 colleges.
* In 2016, 19,000 people applied for 114 jobs at a municipality. 1.7M applied for 1,500 jobs at a state-owned bank. 9.2M applied for 100k jobs with the railways and 7M applied for 8,300 entry level jobs in the public sector.
* Use of social media by young Indians is redefining their aspirations: “A 20-year-old in central India has the same access to information as someone his age in Iowa — and could very well have the same desires. They see no connection between where they live and what they want from their lives.” The gulf between opportunity and aspiration is growing.
* Globalization has helped create a lot of new winners in India. They live in cities, speak in English, spend their holidays in Europe and visit family in the U.S. There have also been many losers, especially among young, rural, Hindu men who see their historically elevated status threatened by decades of government support for minorities, the feminist movement, and globalization. Sound familiar? For them, Modi’s brand of Hindu Nationalism doesn’t go far enough and some say that India’s liberal democracy depends on finding jobs for these angry young men to keep them busy.
Poonam's account of Richa Singh’s campaign for the post of president of the students’ union of Allahabad University in 2015 literally brought tears to my eyes. (Excerpt here, but the full chapter is so much better.)
I highly recommend Dreamers.
May 11, 2024
This is well researched contemporary journalism from Snigdha Poonam who spent over 3 years talking to tens of next gen youngsters from Tier 2, Tier 3 cities in North India to learn about what drives this 600 million.
Her findings are narrated with a relatable blend of empathy, sarcasm, awe, shock, and very little judgment.. which is what makes this book amazing!
We learn about ambitious young Indians, some from privileged backgrounds, but most of them from backgrounds that did not give them access to the much-prized English or high-class education, and how they are making their dreams come true. I learned about a full shadow economy of dubious entrepreneurs, call center scammers, click baiters, and my most favorite of all, a plucky young female who became the first female President of the student union at Allahabad University. She beautifully juxtaposes two sets of Indian youth - all of whom are angry about the lack of opportunity and none of whom will sit back and take it like earlier generations, half of them are on a nationalistic trip that promises to erase the democratic secular India that earlier generations knew, with the other half wanting to build an India that stands for equality but not receiving the support they need from the established politicians who excel in exploiting the anxieties of this young generation.
I’ll borrow her phrasing for the one-sentence summary - “Like it or not, young India is what it is - unsatisfied, unscrupulous, unstoppable.”
Her findings are narrated with a relatable blend of empathy, sarcasm, awe, shock, and very little judgment.. which is what makes this book amazing!
We learn about ambitious young Indians, some from privileged backgrounds, but most of them from backgrounds that did not give them access to the much-prized English or high-class education, and how they are making their dreams come true. I learned about a full shadow economy of dubious entrepreneurs, call center scammers, click baiters, and my most favorite of all, a plucky young female who became the first female President of the student union at Allahabad University. She beautifully juxtaposes two sets of Indian youth - all of whom are angry about the lack of opportunity and none of whom will sit back and take it like earlier generations, half of them are on a nationalistic trip that promises to erase the democratic secular India that earlier generations knew, with the other half wanting to build an India that stands for equality but not receiving the support they need from the established politicians who excel in exploiting the anxieties of this young generation.
I’ll borrow her phrasing for the one-sentence summary - “Like it or not, young India is what it is - unsatisfied, unscrupulous, unstoppable.”
October 7, 2018
This book shows a part of India that I could have never imagined. In the underbelly of the MNC and IT parks lives an India who gets their identity from scamming people in America, lives an India whose sense of identity is protecting cows and unleashing violence on valentines day. It is interesting to how young India is crafting an identity when they are hanging between the RSS adages and Netflix's media.
Singidha tells the story of few characters who have tapped into this young india and using it to make money, from english speaking classes to the government fixers these people have carved a unique niche for themselves that can only exist in a place like India.
One quote that haunts me is " Majority of the young Indians do not have the sense of right or wrong, fewer care about it"
Young India is hungry, unscrupulous and delusional. We live in terrifying yet exciting times.
Kudos to Singidha for painting a pen potrait for the angry young man, however, would have appreciated if she would have written more chapters highlighting the issue young women face.
She could have accentuated the book further by adding extra nuggets of information from news and other sources.
None the less a great book, combining storytelling and journalism.
Singidha tells the story of few characters who have tapped into this young india and using it to make money, from english speaking classes to the government fixers these people have carved a unique niche for themselves that can only exist in a place like India.
One quote that haunts me is " Majority of the young Indians do not have the sense of right or wrong, fewer care about it"
Young India is hungry, unscrupulous and delusional. We live in terrifying yet exciting times.
Kudos to Singidha for painting a pen potrait for the angry young man, however, would have appreciated if she would have written more chapters highlighting the issue young women face.
She could have accentuated the book further by adding extra nuggets of information from news and other sources.
None the less a great book, combining storytelling and journalism.
August 24, 2018
I started the book with not much expectations but into the fourth page and I was hooked to the narrative till the end. This is a book about the youth of the country, their ambition, anger and the never say die spirit of making big in this world. The author takes us into the lives of six individuals with age range between 18 to 29 years, how they are trying to achieve their goals in life. Each individual chart their own path to success but all of them share similar angst, frustration and burning desire to stay relevant. All stories are quite engrossing and very tightly written.
In the end one feels sympathetic to each personality and the current state of sociology political state in the country. How the political parties are catering to the indomitable spirit of the youth for their own benefits. A must read for anyone who is interested in politics of the country and how the current generation sees the future.
In the end one feels sympathetic to each personality and the current state of sociology political state in the country. How the political parties are catering to the indomitable spirit of the youth for their own benefits. A must read for anyone who is interested in politics of the country and how the current generation sees the future.
May 15, 2025
The book is a pointer to where India is heading and the possible outcome of all this is not very difficult to imagine.
The situation is so plain in view but unfortunately we are happily accepting it and ignoring the repercussions.
A book worth reading.
The situation is so plain in view but unfortunately we are happily accepting it and ignoring the repercussions.
A book worth reading.
February 1, 2022
If you want to understand how PM Modi could say something as asinine as 'hard work beats Harvard' post-demonetisation in 2016 and get away with it, you have to read this book. The class of people described in this book form a crucial section of the new social base that the BJP has acquired since the arrival of Modi in 2014. They are what Arjun Appadurai once labelled the 'losers' of globalisation and who Lauren Berlant categorises as the victims of 'cruel optimism' (btw check out her book too). In other words, these are the abandoned children of the market God who promised too much and delivered too little. This is evident from the upsurge of right-wing populism and the resurgence of strongmen leaders across the world, beginning with Trump to Bolsanaro to Erdogan to Modi and many more.
Even from the time of the Jana Sangh, the precursor to the BJP, Brahmins and Banias were considered the core social base supporting the party. The rise of the BJP through the 80s and 90s, aided by the VHP's mandir politics, maxed with post-mandal consolidation of Caste Hindus. Their inability to form a government on their own in the 90s forced them to embrace Vajpayee's coalition strategy (NDA) instead of Advani's earlier polarisation strategy (Rath Yatra). Yet the BJP remained, more or less, a Brahmin-Bania party. To this conservative social base, Modi added another - these dreamers, who came from across sections. Sonia Gandhi called Modi 'maut-ka-saudagar' (merchant of death), given his infamous janus-faced response during the orchestrated post-Godhra riots. But these 'dreamers' saw Modi as an 'ummeed-ka-saudagar' (merchant of hope).
These dreamers are the product of a socio-economic system which believes that the most efficient way to grow is give as much capital as possible to the already rich, who alone have the productive capacity to wield it, as opposed to improving the basic necessities of the poorer lot (too bad Amartya!). Or in other words, the rising tide lifts all boats. But a quick look at wealth and inequality reports belies this myth (https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository....). Indeed the rising tide has left behind many boats and trickle-down is now widely acknowledged as a scam. India was no exception. Who is to be blamed for all this?
Caste sharply cuts through this class of angry young dreamers. While the poor Caste Hindu dreamers want to regain their lost privilege unduly snatched away by Nehru's pandering/appeasement through positive discrimination legislations (Vikas Thakur) or what is called these days 'too much democracy'. The rest desperately want an out from this 'precarious' social situation they find themselves in. This is where the BJP ideology comes into play.
All those people who stand to benefit most from the status-quo (a majority of them Caste Hindu men) hide behind economic rhetoric of 'efficiency' and 'merit/capability' without conceding an inch to women, Dalits, backward castes, and other minorities demanding their fair share of political representation and rights. They display selective historical amnesia by conveniently blaming the British for accentuating social evils like caste system and communalism, thereby rendering themselves guilt-free. In its stead they 'construct' a glorified past full of flying Vedic aeroplanes and feudal social harmony of everyone knowing their place in society (dharma) and not attempting to transgress this dharma just as the good lord ordained in the Bhagavad-gita. They stress on reclaiming this glorious past; this is evident in the popular culture being mass produced by the likes of Devdutt Patnaiks and Amish Tripatis and Bahubalis; this is explored in Meera Nanda's seminal work The God Market (check her book out too!).
Back in the day the idea of karma served well to explain away one's situation in life; one was not part of the chosen lot simply because of one's karma; one was not bestowed by the divine lord’s blessings because of bad karma. Now, in a self-enterprising world, the individual is blamed for the failure of the market God. In other words, like the Harijans who could only blame themselves and their karma instead of their heartless Hari for their depressed situation, these losers have only themselves (a constant inebriated laziness) to blame for their poor situation in life. This is more than evident in the huge market for self-help, both across the world and specifically in India, as Sadhguru puts it: 'focusing on inner engineering'. Any help from the state (social welfare) is seen as dole-outs helping only deadweight. This is why despite all of Modi’s populism it is fundamentally conservative at the core, leaving no room for any radical social change disturbing the much lionised traditional culture and social harmony; this, in fact, is a typical postmodern response to the problem of modernity. The rest is merely clever political branding and management.
This so-called deadweight whose shattered boats (dreams) the tide failed to raise are being led by those status-quo conservatives paranoid of losing their erstwhile privilege (using a potent ideology of right wing populism+ Hindu Nationalism = Modtiva) followed the pied piper of Godhra, who laid the blame squarely on the 'family' and their dead-ancestor (Nehru); just like his best friend Trump did with Obama and the poor desperate immigrants. This book is a tragic tale of the sale and eager consumption of this 'cruel optimism', by a conservative lot hell bent on safe-guarding and reclaiming their real or perceived loss of privilege and in the process needlessly slaughtering innocent minorities.
Even from the time of the Jana Sangh, the precursor to the BJP, Brahmins and Banias were considered the core social base supporting the party. The rise of the BJP through the 80s and 90s, aided by the VHP's mandir politics, maxed with post-mandal consolidation of Caste Hindus. Their inability to form a government on their own in the 90s forced them to embrace Vajpayee's coalition strategy (NDA) instead of Advani's earlier polarisation strategy (Rath Yatra). Yet the BJP remained, more or less, a Brahmin-Bania party. To this conservative social base, Modi added another - these dreamers, who came from across sections. Sonia Gandhi called Modi 'maut-ka-saudagar' (merchant of death), given his infamous janus-faced response during the orchestrated post-Godhra riots. But these 'dreamers' saw Modi as an 'ummeed-ka-saudagar' (merchant of hope).
These dreamers are the product of a socio-economic system which believes that the most efficient way to grow is give as much capital as possible to the already rich, who alone have the productive capacity to wield it, as opposed to improving the basic necessities of the poorer lot (too bad Amartya!). Or in other words, the rising tide lifts all boats. But a quick look at wealth and inequality reports belies this myth (https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository....). Indeed the rising tide has left behind many boats and trickle-down is now widely acknowledged as a scam. India was no exception. Who is to be blamed for all this?
Caste sharply cuts through this class of angry young dreamers. While the poor Caste Hindu dreamers want to regain their lost privilege unduly snatched away by Nehru's pandering/appeasement through positive discrimination legislations (Vikas Thakur) or what is called these days 'too much democracy'. The rest desperately want an out from this 'precarious' social situation they find themselves in. This is where the BJP ideology comes into play.
All those people who stand to benefit most from the status-quo (a majority of them Caste Hindu men) hide behind economic rhetoric of 'efficiency' and 'merit/capability' without conceding an inch to women, Dalits, backward castes, and other minorities demanding their fair share of political representation and rights. They display selective historical amnesia by conveniently blaming the British for accentuating social evils like caste system and communalism, thereby rendering themselves guilt-free. In its stead they 'construct' a glorified past full of flying Vedic aeroplanes and feudal social harmony of everyone knowing their place in society (dharma) and not attempting to transgress this dharma just as the good lord ordained in the Bhagavad-gita. They stress on reclaiming this glorious past; this is evident in the popular culture being mass produced by the likes of Devdutt Patnaiks and Amish Tripatis and Bahubalis; this is explored in Meera Nanda's seminal work The God Market (check her book out too!).
Back in the day the idea of karma served well to explain away one's situation in life; one was not part of the chosen lot simply because of one's karma; one was not bestowed by the divine lord’s blessings because of bad karma. Now, in a self-enterprising world, the individual is blamed for the failure of the market God. In other words, like the Harijans who could only blame themselves and their karma instead of their heartless Hari for their depressed situation, these losers have only themselves (a constant inebriated laziness) to blame for their poor situation in life. This is more than evident in the huge market for self-help, both across the world and specifically in India, as Sadhguru puts it: 'focusing on inner engineering'. Any help from the state (social welfare) is seen as dole-outs helping only deadweight. This is why despite all of Modi’s populism it is fundamentally conservative at the core, leaving no room for any radical social change disturbing the much lionised traditional culture and social harmony; this, in fact, is a typical postmodern response to the problem of modernity. The rest is merely clever political branding and management.
This so-called deadweight whose shattered boats (dreams) the tide failed to raise are being led by those status-quo conservatives paranoid of losing their erstwhile privilege (using a potent ideology of right wing populism+ Hindu Nationalism = Modtiva) followed the pied piper of Godhra, who laid the blame squarely on the 'family' and their dead-ancestor (Nehru); just like his best friend Trump did with Obama and the poor desperate immigrants. This book is a tragic tale of the sale and eager consumption of this 'cruel optimism', by a conservative lot hell bent on safe-guarding and reclaiming their real or perceived loss of privilege and in the process needlessly slaughtering innocent minorities.
July 4, 2025
An excellent read about young entrepreneurs in tier 2 and 3 cities and towns across India and what's driving them (survival, rage, hope, hindutva, etc)
I enjoyed this a lot. Even if only for the shock of remembering how Richa Singh, now a BJP darling, started her political career as a young principled student union leader of the Muslim, Dalit, and women students protesting Yogi Adityanath being platformed on campus 🙃
I enjoyed this a lot. Even if only for the shock of remembering how Richa Singh, now a BJP darling, started her political career as a young principled student union leader of the Muslim, Dalit, and women students protesting Yogi Adityanath being platformed on campus 🙃
September 10, 2018
As an Indian in my forties, today’s India baffles me – it is not the politics (that’s always confusing) but what drives it? When I was growing up, things were simple, I was excited by Rakesh Sharma going in space – I and my schoolmates dreamed of an India that will be a superpower in space missions. Our school textbooks were still resonating with Nehru’s Panchsheel, Patriotism & Victory over Pakistan in the wars we had fought with them, the ill effects of illiteracy and population. The to-do list was already written for us by wise men, it was simple and a future that was assured. Education was the “only” ticket to everything good that’s going to happen in our lives. Our parents' advice to us was straightforward, you study well, you will be happy forever – the more you study the more success you will get. But today’s India doesn’t resemble anything like that.
To understand what motivates India in the present, you need to start looking at the people who matter the most – the youth of this country. And a good starting point for that will be this book – Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World by Snigdha Poonam. Exploring these young Indians will also help you to understand the forces that brought victory to the BJP and Narendra Modi in many of the recent elections across the country.
Get introduced to the characters you will see in the book in my detailed review at:https://venkatarangan.com/blog/2018/0...
To understand what motivates India in the present, you need to start looking at the people who matter the most – the youth of this country. And a good starting point for that will be this book – Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World by Snigdha Poonam. Exploring these young Indians will also help you to understand the forces that brought victory to the BJP and Narendra Modi in many of the recent elections across the country.
Get introduced to the characters you will see in the book in my detailed review at:https://venkatarangan.com/blog/2018/0...
February 22, 2018
Snigdha Poonam’s Dreamers brings to light the struggles and aspirations of the Indian youth. In a society that is brimming with job seekers, the paucity of employment propels these young Indians into doing whatever it takes to make ends meet. Filled with political stances and the desire to break through the gateway of modernism, this book brings to us the stories of individuals who refuse to back down.
When I heard about this book, I had a slightly different picture in mind; one of a dramatized version of what the youth in India are upto, in order to achieve their dreams. As I began reading this book, I was convinced that I wouldn’t be able to finish it because of the overwhelmingly detailed content. But the more I read, the more I wanted to know about where India was headed, in terms of the mentality of its youth, their actions. The author’s writing style is commendable. She writes very eloquently, in a non-judgmental manner. Themes of religion, bigotry, woman empowerment, violence, technology and modernism are highlighted throughout this tome.
Something that irked me about this book was that I felt it was not really inclusive. In the sense that it doesn’t draw a fair picture of the youth of India. A majority of the stories were about men (I don’t have a problem with men and neither is this about feminism. So don’t misconstrue my words.) and then, none of the stories covered the southern states of India, or even the East. I agree that it must have been extremely difficult to seek out youngsters from different parts of India. But for equal representation, it would have been nice to know about individuals from different backgrounds. Some of the stories and morals that come to our attention when reading this book concerned me a great deal, because it unearthed the face of a highly intolerable and prejudiced future. While it’s important to be aware of that, it doesn’t color my opinion of everyone below the age of 25 years. This book has just equipped me with the affirmation that we are a fierce bunch, ready to do whatever it takes to fulfill our goals. All in all, I would recommend Dreamers to those who enjoy nonfiction and are interested in the subject matter.
Ratings – 3.5 out of 5 stars
What do you get out of it? An indepth glance at some of the mindsets that are the future of our country.
Thank you Penguin India for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
When I heard about this book, I had a slightly different picture in mind; one of a dramatized version of what the youth in India are upto, in order to achieve their dreams. As I began reading this book, I was convinced that I wouldn’t be able to finish it because of the overwhelmingly detailed content. But the more I read, the more I wanted to know about where India was headed, in terms of the mentality of its youth, their actions. The author’s writing style is commendable. She writes very eloquently, in a non-judgmental manner. Themes of religion, bigotry, woman empowerment, violence, technology and modernism are highlighted throughout this tome.
Something that irked me about this book was that I felt it was not really inclusive. In the sense that it doesn’t draw a fair picture of the youth of India. A majority of the stories were about men (I don’t have a problem with men and neither is this about feminism. So don’t misconstrue my words.) and then, none of the stories covered the southern states of India, or even the East. I agree that it must have been extremely difficult to seek out youngsters from different parts of India. But for equal representation, it would have been nice to know about individuals from different backgrounds. Some of the stories and morals that come to our attention when reading this book concerned me a great deal, because it unearthed the face of a highly intolerable and prejudiced future. While it’s important to be aware of that, it doesn’t color my opinion of everyone below the age of 25 years. This book has just equipped me with the affirmation that we are a fierce bunch, ready to do whatever it takes to fulfill our goals. All in all, I would recommend Dreamers to those who enjoy nonfiction and are interested in the subject matter.
Ratings – 3.5 out of 5 stars
What do you get out of it? An indepth glance at some of the mindsets that are the future of our country.
Thank you Penguin India for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 16, 2018
This has been one of the best books I've read in 2018. It features a cast of North Indian grifters, enthusiasts, con victims, con artists, and plain thugs. It makes you despair at times, but politically it filled me with hope.
Why you ask? Because currently the political situation in the country is such that it feels like we are under daily assault from violent evil. And while Snigdha Poonam agrees that we are under assault, her reporting shows that the people doing the assault are not Darth Sidious type supervillains, but stormtrooper like inept losers who can't even find girlfriends. To knock them over is not as hard as one despairs.
Why you ask? Because currently the political situation in the country is such that it feels like we are under daily assault from violent evil. And while Snigdha Poonam agrees that we are under assault, her reporting shows that the people doing the assault are not Darth Sidious type supervillains, but stormtrooper like inept losers who can't even find girlfriends. To knock them over is not as hard as one despairs.
July 14, 2018
The sheer number of young Indians looking for economic & social assimilation is of historic proportions - unfortunately existing opportunities & the immediate future look quite bleak - this book touches upon this topic by following a few such young 20 somethings, mostly from a couple of states in India (so definitely doesn't justify the title Young "Indians"). I felt the book was very narrow in the way it addressed the topic with such a wide scope & the connection with the key characters, for me, was lacking in depth.
July 16, 2021
Dreamers is gripping and almost reads like a novel. It provides an insight into young India that is trying hard to create its own rules of living.
Outside of the stories of its carefully chosen subjects, one wonders about the journalistic ethics behind being biased for/against them while writing. The people in this book have dialogues but the speaking is done by the author herself - about an understandable yet stereotyped notion of young Indians from outside of its metropolises, and how Modi's aura remains intact in these pockets despite everything that goes on in the country.
In fitting these conversations into a larger biased narrative, this book mocks the people it covers and commodifies their stories.
Outside of the stories of its carefully chosen subjects, one wonders about the journalistic ethics behind being biased for/against them while writing. The people in this book have dialogues but the speaking is done by the author herself - about an understandable yet stereotyped notion of young Indians from outside of its metropolises, and how Modi's aura remains intact in these pockets despite everything that goes on in the country.
In fitting these conversations into a larger biased narrative, this book mocks the people it covers and commodifies their stories.
August 5, 2019
This is a story of the dreams and aspirations of the semi-urban and rural youth in North India, narrated through the prism of stories of 7-8 individuals, who the author has diligently followed for a few years. It covers their journey, their plans, and the harsh ground realities that lie in front of them, to which they are seemingly oblivious.
The author does a good job in bringing out the challenges faced by the youth in today's age and the various factors that push and pull them. At no point did the writing seem laboured or repititive.
Also, there is a political bias prevalent in the narration, which the author does not try to hide, and which I am okay with. However, some readers may find it less 'neutral' than they might want. My only grouse was that there could have been more diversity amongst the individuals covered - all the stories were from Haryana, UP, Jharkhand and most were about men (except 1). Hopefully, this is just Part 1, and we will see sequels!
The author does a good job in bringing out the challenges faced by the youth in today's age and the various factors that push and pull them. At no point did the writing seem laboured or repititive.
Also, there is a political bias prevalent in the narration, which the author does not try to hide, and which I am okay with. However, some readers may find it less 'neutral' than they might want. My only grouse was that there could have been more diversity amongst the individuals covered - all the stories were from Haryana, UP, Jharkhand and most were about men (except 1). Hopefully, this is just Part 1, and we will see sequels!
September 20, 2021
《印度青年狂想曲》（印）司妮达·普拉姆。
“他们非常坚定地相信自己生来就是要成就大事的——事实上，这常常是他们认知自己的第一步。”
“他们非常坚定地相信自己生来就是要成就大事的——事实上，这常常是他们认知自己的第一步。”
December 4, 2020
A sneak-peek into small-town Central India told as a series of biographies of young men and women. I most enjoyed the life of Richa Singh (now in UP's SP party) and her exploits in the Allahabad University. I wish there were more stories about women and other minority groups. Still a very informative look into the mostly upper-caste small-town young men who have driven the political agenda of central India in the last decade.
April 30, 2023
The editing could have been a bit tighter, but what an interesting book from start to finish!
December 8, 2018
i don't think i have words enough to explain what an important read this is.
the author has managed to track down several "young indians" (men mostly) and she uses each person's story to shed light on the state of contemporary india, the greyness of it, how 'success' is defined in a country so diverse and afflicted.
from scam call centres to the grave reality of showbiz in india to women trying to create a space for themselves in a male-dominated economy - the experiences are diverse, but not all-encompassing oBVIOUSLY.
it's an immersive, satisfying read. kinda leaves you dumbfounded and hopeful both at the same time.
the author has managed to track down several "young indians" (men mostly) and she uses each person's story to shed light on the state of contemporary india, the greyness of it, how 'success' is defined in a country so diverse and afflicted.
from scam call centres to the grave reality of showbiz in india to women trying to create a space for themselves in a male-dominated economy - the experiences are diverse, but not all-encompassing oBVIOUSLY.
it's an immersive, satisfying read. kinda leaves you dumbfounded and hopeful both at the same time.
October 4, 2018
Excellent. [Tbc]
August 19, 2021
What this book does is help understand young angry guys trying to make it big, caricatures that we see reflected in the politics, scams, glamour and other ways of working in India. Mostly North Indians. Very interesting, though I would have liked to see more types of people being talked about in the same way.(Richa Singh was a slight ray of hope.) Maybe that's another book.
December 31, 2018
India's got a burgeoning young population, and there's not enough to do for them. This is an "it is known" fact. Snigdha Poonam tells us the stories of some of these young Indians who are navigating a space that clearly doesn't fit them. They do so often not only out of a compulsion, but a vision for what they want for themselves. They aren't exceptional in who they are, but try their best in being so in what they do.
Dreamers was a good, lucid peace of journalism. Poonam clearly maintained years of contact with the people in her writing, sometimes in uncomfortable situations, even though most of her interviews seemed to have taken place in local CCDs.
A few highlights for me from the book were the outrageous conditions of elections in Allahabad University. Being from Mumbai, I have had little to no experience of student elections in Indian universities, and even though I keep myself updated through the news, a description of the local fanfare and perception of student union elections was an eye opener. Who knew things were so crazy. The second highlight to me were the fake call centres that were only out to scam foreigners. I read about the likes of them being raided in Noida just a few days back, but again, just knowing was not being aware of the extent and scale of it. Poonam observes that such call centres are thriving because of the joblessness of the desperate youth, while attempting to show us both sides of the story.
A recurring critique of the book is that it gives a perspective of the outsider, without delving in enough into the world of the subjects, or rather the protagonists of interest. This results in a perhaps condescending fascination that is visible in the author's words, in the way in which she describes the people, the surroundings and the happenings that she observes. I would concur with this critique to a certain extent. The first half of the book was apparent in its attempt to cater to the American reader. Certain descriptions and terminologies used gave me that impression. But the second half I noticed that the author had done away with it and probably allowed the reader to do a little background work on their own, should it be needed.
Dreamers was a good, lucid peace of journalism. Poonam clearly maintained years of contact with the people in her writing, sometimes in uncomfortable situations, even though most of her interviews seemed to have taken place in local CCDs.
A few highlights for me from the book were the outrageous conditions of elections in Allahabad University. Being from Mumbai, I have had little to no experience of student elections in Indian universities, and even though I keep myself updated through the news, a description of the local fanfare and perception of student union elections was an eye opener. Who knew things were so crazy. The second highlight to me were the fake call centres that were only out to scam foreigners. I read about the likes of them being raided in Noida just a few days back, but again, just knowing was not being aware of the extent and scale of it. Poonam observes that such call centres are thriving because of the joblessness of the desperate youth, while attempting to show us both sides of the story.
A recurring critique of the book is that it gives a perspective of the outsider, without delving in enough into the world of the subjects, or rather the protagonists of interest. This results in a perhaps condescending fascination that is visible in the author's words, in the way in which she describes the people, the surroundings and the happenings that she observes. I would concur with this critique to a certain extent. The first half of the book was apparent in its attempt to cater to the American reader. Certain descriptions and terminologies used gave me that impression. But the second half I noticed that the author had done away with it and probably allowed the reader to do a little background work on their own, should it be needed.
March 19, 2018
I've never had so many different emotions reading a book. It made me appreciate just how lucky I am and the people I know are and how privileged. It also made me fear for the future at which these young people are looking. I wish though that she had also covered the south. Only because I would have liked to have known if the conditions are vastly different or incredibly similar.
October 10, 2019
Dreamers is a story of, as the writer said, "The first person you'll meet in any North-Indian city, male, ambitious, upper caste, and from a middle- or higher-income group." India has a demographic advantage, everyone says, but Snigdha identifies how that's not an accurate interpretation. Here, it's all about "power," "money," and "izzat." Each one of us is craving for that, and that too, to achieve it in a jiffy.
In this book, you'll find the story of ambitious entrepreneurs who desire to become next Buzzfeed, scammers, aspiring politicians, gau-rakshaks, and through all these tales you'll know how the nation that claims to be the next Superpower functions. Can it become one, that's a legitimate question? But that can't be answered if we don't have the aspiration of our youth met. Sadly, it's not happening. And all of them are trying, on their own, by hook or by crook, with money or muscle power to be who they want to be: Rich and powerful.
However, the only among many criticism that I can think of this book is that it's not a true reading of the mood. If, to know what will become of India, is to be measured by the aspirations of its hyper-masculine people (males) of North India then I don't think that we will get much out of that study. No women, Richa Singh's story is the only exception. Where's the gender and sexual identity that drive, or help to, our ambitions and goals? It can be titled "Dreamers and Scammers of North India" and not how young Indians are changing their world. A mere reflection of small towns or cities that have adequate facility and administration to exercise power and control is not a picture of India. In that, this book fails.
But, anyway, it's an interesting read.
In this book, you'll find the story of ambitious entrepreneurs who desire to become next Buzzfeed, scammers, aspiring politicians, gau-rakshaks, and through all these tales you'll know how the nation that claims to be the next Superpower functions. Can it become one, that's a legitimate question? But that can't be answered if we don't have the aspiration of our youth met. Sadly, it's not happening. And all of them are trying, on their own, by hook or by crook, with money or muscle power to be who they want to be: Rich and powerful.
However, the only among many criticism that I can think of this book is that it's not a true reading of the mood. If, to know what will become of India, is to be measured by the aspirations of its hyper-masculine people (males) of North India then I don't think that we will get much out of that study. No women, Richa Singh's story is the only exception. Where's the gender and sexual identity that drive, or help to, our ambitions and goals? It can be titled "Dreamers and Scammers of North India" and not how young Indians are changing their world. A mere reflection of small towns or cities that have adequate facility and administration to exercise power and control is not a picture of India. In that, this book fails.
But, anyway, it's an interesting read.
July 20, 2018
The largest democracy's economy has been increasing quite well in the last few years. Creating jobs, but the job creation has been unable to cope up with the growing population. Almost half of the population is considered to be young and the young Indians, in turn, have become dreamers.
Every individual has a different dream just like their fingerprints and the urge to make money, name or both is slowly changing the way we live in the society. Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing the World deals with the way this is happening.
Starting the journey from a tier-2 city and ending it in the National Capital whilst taking the reader to places such as Ranchi, Allahabad, etc. Dreamers- puts up the struggles faced by the young Indians in various cities showing the world that there exists a different galaxy apart from the riches of India.
The book mainly deals with the people who belong to the lower middle class and aspire to be famous, rich or both. I kinda loved the book as it covered people from different backgroud but I think it would've been much much better if the author covered different sections of the society like typical middle class. Still, I enjoyed the book thoroughly, taking nothing away from the work. A sure 5- star for me.
Every individual has a different dream just like their fingerprints and the urge to make money, name or both is slowly changing the way we live in the society. Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing the World deals with the way this is happening.
Starting the journey from a tier-2 city and ending it in the National Capital whilst taking the reader to places such as Ranchi, Allahabad, etc. Dreamers- puts up the struggles faced by the young Indians in various cities showing the world that there exists a different galaxy apart from the riches of India.
The book mainly deals with the people who belong to the lower middle class and aspire to be famous, rich or both. I kinda loved the book as it covered people from different backgroud but I think it would've been much much better if the author covered different sections of the society like typical middle class. Still, I enjoyed the book thoroughly, taking nothing away from the work. A sure 5- star for me.
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