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236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 27, 2018
Back in 2005, the Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen’s book The Argumentative Indian focused on the traditions of public debate and intellectual pluralism that characterises Indian society. But a decade later, the argumentative Indian is degenerating into an intolerant and illiberal Indian: the worst primitive and medieval instincts of India are on display across the country every single day. From vigilantes killing people who eat or speak or dress differently to taking offence at a movie based on a mythical poem to challenging Darwin’s theory of evolution, India is now a boiling vat of outrage, an outpouring that led me to write an op-ed in The Times of India about what I jocularly called the Republic of Outragestan. The India that Gauri and I knew and grew up in is changing rapidly, and it eventually claimed my dear friend’s life.This book is a memoir of sorts: the author describes his life with Gauri, their marriage and its failure, their professional ups and downs, their friends and relatives... at the same time chronicling India's slow descent into intolerance and illiberalism.