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Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us About Modern India
How do you see India?
Fuelled by a surge of migration to cities, the country's growth appears to be defined by urbanisation and by its growing, prosperous middle class. It is also defined by progressive and liberal young Indians, who vote beyond the constraints of identity, and paradoxically, by an unchecked population explosion and rising crimes against women. Is it, though?
In 2020, the annual population growth was down to under 1 per cent. Only thirty-one of hundred Indians live in a city today and just 5 per cent live outside the city of their birth.
As recently as 2016, only 4 per cent of young, married respondents in a survey said their spouse belonged to a different caste group. Over 45 per cent of voters said in a pre-2014 election survey that it was important to them that a candidate of their own caste wins elections in their constituency. A large share of reported sexual assaults across India are actually consensual relationships criminalised by parents. And staggeringly, spending more than Rs 8,500 a month puts you in the top 5 per cent of urban India.
In Whole Numbers and Half Truths, data-journalism pioneer Rukmini S. draws on nearly two decades of on-ground reporting experience to piece together a picture that looks nothing like the one you might expect. There is a mountain of data available on India, but it remains opaque, hard to access and harder yet to read, and it does not inform public conversation. Rukmini marshals this information—some of it never before reported—alongside probing interviews with experts and ordinary citizens, to see what the numbers can tell us about India. As she interrogates how data works, and how the push and pull of social and political forces affect it, she creates a blueprint to understand the changes of the last few years and the ones to come—a toolkit for India.
This is a timely and wholly original intervention in the conversation on data, and with it, India.
Fuelled by a surge of migration to cities, the country's growth appears to be defined by urbanisation and by its growing, prosperous middle class. It is also defined by progressive and liberal young Indians, who vote beyond the constraints of identity, and paradoxically, by an unchecked population explosion and rising crimes against women. Is it, though?
In 2020, the annual population growth was down to under 1 per cent. Only thirty-one of hundred Indians live in a city today and just 5 per cent live outside the city of their birth.
As recently as 2016, only 4 per cent of young, married respondents in a survey said their spouse belonged to a different caste group. Over 45 per cent of voters said in a pre-2014 election survey that it was important to them that a candidate of their own caste wins elections in their constituency. A large share of reported sexual assaults across India are actually consensual relationships criminalised by parents. And staggeringly, spending more than Rs 8,500 a month puts you in the top 5 per cent of urban India.
In Whole Numbers and Half Truths, data-journalism pioneer Rukmini S. draws on nearly two decades of on-ground reporting experience to piece together a picture that looks nothing like the one you might expect. There is a mountain of data available on India, but it remains opaque, hard to access and harder yet to read, and it does not inform public conversation. Rukmini marshals this information—some of it never before reported—alongside probing interviews with experts and ordinary citizens, to see what the numbers can tell us about India. As she interrogates how data works, and how the push and pull of social and political forces affect it, she creates a blueprint to understand the changes of the last few years and the ones to come—a toolkit for India.
This is a timely and wholly original intervention in the conversation on data, and with it, India.
339 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 6, 2021
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January 14, 2022Before I read the book, my notions about how India thinks, feels, believes, how India lives life, how much money Indians make, who is middle-class were shaped, conditioned, and influenced by my own experiences and by dangerously polarised opinions on social media and literature to a large degree.
The echo chambers in Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram made me believe that India is a liberal nation, and that young people don’t practise endogamy and care about social justice, and many other views which gave me hope. But waves and waves of data presented in ‘Whole Numbers and Half Truth’ come together like jigsaw puzzle pieces and form many pictures of India. The stories data tell us in the book seem to possess the potential to shake some of our fundamental, but unfounded, beliefs about the nation and ourselves. That’s saying something. Yet, as Rukmini S. recommends in the introduction no data should be taken as it is. Turn the tin upside down and see who manufactured it. Dig deep and keep questioning.
Reading this book is akin to exploring maps. You zoom in to find your location, and you zoom out to see how you become a part of the landscape. You navigate well-illustrated charts and numbers collected over several decades, and you smile at the thought that you are a part of the book as one of those reported ‘numbers’ and feel thankful for how the book intelligently, thoughtfully argues for your rights, safety, well-being and refuses to ‘reduce’ you to a mere number. The book is also the mediator that the Left and the Right has always needed, to build a bridge for both sides to meet each other halfway, to hold data to light, to protect democracy, and to challenge each other to make this nation home for every one regardless of who they are.
Our confirmation bias would try hard to keep us away from information that would make us approach our ideology with disbelief. It may even seem romantic, but there is liberty in walking out of the insulation to look around, to ask what matters, and to test the strength of our beliefs.
The echo chambers in Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram made me believe that India is a liberal nation, and that young people don’t practise endogamy and care about social justice, and many other views which gave me hope. But waves and waves of data presented in ‘Whole Numbers and Half Truth’ come together like jigsaw puzzle pieces and form many pictures of India. The stories data tell us in the book seem to possess the potential to shake some of our fundamental, but unfounded, beliefs about the nation and ourselves. That’s saying something. Yet, as Rukmini S. recommends in the introduction no data should be taken as it is. Turn the tin upside down and see who manufactured it. Dig deep and keep questioning.
Reading this book is akin to exploring maps. You zoom in to find your location, and you zoom out to see how you become a part of the landscape. You navigate well-illustrated charts and numbers collected over several decades, and you smile at the thought that you are a part of the book as one of those reported ‘numbers’ and feel thankful for how the book intelligently, thoughtfully argues for your rights, safety, well-being and refuses to ‘reduce’ you to a mere number. The book is also the mediator that the Left and the Right has always needed, to build a bridge for both sides to meet each other halfway, to hold data to light, to protect democracy, and to challenge each other to make this nation home for every one regardless of who they are.
Our confirmation bias would try hard to keep us away from information that would make us approach our ideology with disbelief. It may even seem romantic, but there is liberty in walking out of the insulation to look around, to ask what matters, and to test the strength of our beliefs.
January 6, 2022
This is an excellent book. One has often heard the "anything you say about Indians, the opposite is equally true" - for a country as big and diverse as ours, data around how Indians live certainly has many untold stories behind it.
This book provides the much-needed nuance to numbers we know about India, the stories behind official stats, and why good data is so critical for policy. Eye-opening insights on consumption (what's wrong w our consumption data?), income (why is it sooo hard to get a realistic picture of income?), crime (to what extent is Delhi really an unsafe rape capital?), urbanisation (is India really urbanising as fast as media makes it seem?)...
I took copious notes. Highly recommend.
This book provides the much-needed nuance to numbers we know about India, the stories behind official stats, and why good data is so critical for policy. Eye-opening insights on consumption (what's wrong w our consumption data?), income (why is it sooo hard to get a realistic picture of income?), crime (to what extent is Delhi really an unsafe rape capital?), urbanisation (is India really urbanising as fast as media makes it seem?)...
I took copious notes. Highly recommend.
April 3, 2022
Very informative, concise and a quick read. Didn’t know India was becoming more illiberal though.
A few tidbits:
1. Indian respondents expressed greater support for a ‘strong leader’ and for army rule than most other countries. The share of Indians who thought that a strong leader was ‘very good’ for the country was higher than in any other country—even Russia!
2. With 84 per cent of Indians saying that religion is very important in their lives, India is far more religious than Europe, Israel, Latin America and the United States.
3. Just nine countries around the world, including Syria and Iraq, have a smaller proportion of working women than India, and if Bihar were a separate country, it would have the lowest share of working women in the world.
4. India is actually no more than one-quarter to one-third vegetarian.
5. Kerala eats the most fish, Jammu and Kashmir the most mutton, and Andhra Pradesh the most chicken.
6. Marriage is nearly universal in India. By the age of forty-five–forty-nine, only 1 per cent of women and 2 per cent of men have never been married.
7. Just 4 per cent of Indians currently pay income tax. Just forty lakh people in the entire country report a taxable salary of more than Rs 10 lakh a year.
8. The average woman in 1950 had more than six children, as against the average Indian woman in 2020, who will have just 2.2 children on average.
9. The fertility rate in urban India fell to 1.7 as of 2017, comparable to that of Belgium, Iceland and Norway, and lower than that of the United States or the United Kingdom (1.8).
10. The average Tamil man will be over twelve years older than the average Bihari man by 2036. Uttar Pradesh will have more people than all Southern states in a few years.
11. India is urbanising at a far lower rate than many countries had at a similar development stage, only up from 20% in 1971 to 31% in 2011.
12. Migration as it is usually understood in India is the movement of people (usually men) in search of jobs. But the truth is that migration in India is an overwhelmingly female phenomenon because of the sociological nature of marriage in the country, which tends to follow the norm of caste endogamy (marrying within one’s caste) but village exogamy (marrying outside one’s village).
A few tidbits:
1. Indian respondents expressed greater support for a ‘strong leader’ and for army rule than most other countries. The share of Indians who thought that a strong leader was ‘very good’ for the country was higher than in any other country—even Russia!
2. With 84 per cent of Indians saying that religion is very important in their lives, India is far more religious than Europe, Israel, Latin America and the United States.
3. Just nine countries around the world, including Syria and Iraq, have a smaller proportion of working women than India, and if Bihar were a separate country, it would have the lowest share of working women in the world.
4. India is actually no more than one-quarter to one-third vegetarian.
5. Kerala eats the most fish, Jammu and Kashmir the most mutton, and Andhra Pradesh the most chicken.
6. Marriage is nearly universal in India. By the age of forty-five–forty-nine, only 1 per cent of women and 2 per cent of men have never been married.
7. Just 4 per cent of Indians currently pay income tax. Just forty lakh people in the entire country report a taxable salary of more than Rs 10 lakh a year.
8. The average woman in 1950 had more than six children, as against the average Indian woman in 2020, who will have just 2.2 children on average.
9. The fertility rate in urban India fell to 1.7 as of 2017, comparable to that of Belgium, Iceland and Norway, and lower than that of the United States or the United Kingdom (1.8).
10. The average Tamil man will be over twelve years older than the average Bihari man by 2036. Uttar Pradesh will have more people than all Southern states in a few years.
11. India is urbanising at a far lower rate than many countries had at a similar development stage, only up from 20% in 1971 to 31% in 2011.
12. Migration as it is usually understood in India is the movement of people (usually men) in search of jobs. But the truth is that migration in India is an overwhelmingly female phenomenon because of the sociological nature of marriage in the country, which tends to follow the norm of caste endogamy (marrying within one’s caste) but village exogamy (marrying outside one’s village).
April 30, 2022
Ironic to have data journalist have fact free commentary emanating from her bias against one particular party. No real insights from the book. Substandard and avoidable
December 17, 2021
TL;DR: Outstanding.
I picked up this book as a follow-up to Nate Silver's book on prediction and Josy Joseph's new release on the Indian State. The author uses numbers to answer questions, to help us understand India better.
Statistics have this negative rep of being cold and lifeless. Rukmini S proves otherwise when she breaks many, many myths about the Indian demographic through painstaking research. She lands her first big blow early, with the insight about policing and the Nirbhaya case, and keeps that tempo going through the book. Hat-tip.
I picked up this book as a follow-up to Nate Silver's book on prediction and Josy Joseph's new release on the Indian State. The author uses numbers to answer questions, to help us understand India better.
Statistics have this negative rep of being cold and lifeless. Rukmini S proves otherwise when she breaks many, many myths about the Indian demographic through painstaking research. She lands her first big blow early, with the insight about policing and the Nirbhaya case, and keeps that tempo going through the book. Hat-tip.
November 9, 2023
Business Professor and economist Aaron Levenstein once said, “Statistics are like bikinis. What they reveal is suggestive, but what they conceal is vital.”
Our own philosopher Sidhu countered, "Statistics are like mini-skirts, they reveal more than what they hide."
No matter whose statement you side, one thing is clear, we base our judgements based on the data we are provided, either by trusting it or finding faults in those.
Rukmini S. provides plethora of data to create ample doubts and drive many conclusions.
I learnt from this book -
That….
…Cops lie. Government lie. People lie. Data lie.
…Our judicial and law enforcement system is a mess.
…India is more conservative than you would otherwise believe.
…Vote banks exist. And, can be exploited.
…More Indians are non-vegetarians yet, they are protein deficient.
..Indians are poor. Very poor. Most rich people in India think that they belong to middle-class.
…Hardly there is a Bollywood movie without a love-story, yet, most of us prefer arranged marriages.
…India is growing old. Especially the prosperous southern India.
…More Indians are villagers.
…Indian healthcare system is a mess. It got messier during covid. Only for anti-nationals though
So many thoughts, but ultimately it could boil down to two conclusions depending what colour is your umbrella; either Governance in India (..includes both current and previous regime) has been in dire state or Rukmini S is Soros agent.
Our own philosopher Sidhu countered, "Statistics are like mini-skirts, they reveal more than what they hide."
No matter whose statement you side, one thing is clear, we base our judgements based on the data we are provided, either by trusting it or finding faults in those.
Rukmini S. provides plethora of data to create ample doubts and drive many conclusions.
I learnt from this book -
That….
…Cops lie. Government lie. People lie. Data lie.
…Our judicial and law enforcement system is a mess.
…India is more conservative than you would otherwise believe.
…Vote banks exist. And, can be exploited.
…More Indians are non-vegetarians yet, they are protein deficient.
..Indians are poor. Very poor. Most rich people in India think that they belong to middle-class.
…Hardly there is a Bollywood movie without a love-story, yet, most of us prefer arranged marriages.
…India is growing old. Especially the prosperous southern India.
…More Indians are villagers.
…Indian healthcare system is a mess. It got messier during covid. Only for anti-nationals though
So many thoughts, but ultimately it could boil down to two conclusions depending what colour is your umbrella; either Governance in India (..includes both current and previous regime) has been in dire state or Rukmini S is Soros agent.
November 17, 2022
Think of any regressive thought about India & you will find it in this book:
- Upper caste dominating lower castes
- Minority harrasment
- People lying about their voting criteria, it's always about ideas (read 'religion')
- The way non-vegetarians are mistreated and shamed for their food
- How youth is as regressive as their parents generation in fact even more than them
- How one political party under the disguise of development is destroying the nation by uniting Hindus against other religion
- How women and people from lower castes & other religions are living sub-standard lives when compared to upper caste hindu men
- How parents report fake rape cases to separate innocent love birds when they choose love marriage and even plan for their murders
- How inhumanely the LGBT community is treated
- How the money you make, your health condition, level of education, status in society can single handedly be predicted by your caste, religion and gender. Turns out if you are a upper-caste hindu male, you get to live the best quality of life amongst Indians
The best part is the way it is written. Reference to research that supports author's claims. All these injustice stories narrated through the viewpoint of the oppressed people. It's written very clearly in that sense. It's funny how after a point you get so clear about the author's ideology that you don't have to read any further, you can already tell what she'd have to say about every topic.
May be I'm living in a different India where things aren't this bad. Thus, I couldn't help but abandon after reading half of it. Waste of time.
- Upper caste dominating lower castes
- Minority harrasment
- People lying about their voting criteria, it's always about ideas (read 'religion')
- The way non-vegetarians are mistreated and shamed for their food
- How youth is as regressive as their parents generation in fact even more than them
- How one political party under the disguise of development is destroying the nation by uniting Hindus against other religion
- How women and people from lower castes & other religions are living sub-standard lives when compared to upper caste hindu men
- How parents report fake rape cases to separate innocent love birds when they choose love marriage and even plan for their murders
- How inhumanely the LGBT community is treated
- How the money you make, your health condition, level of education, status in society can single handedly be predicted by your caste, religion and gender. Turns out if you are a upper-caste hindu male, you get to live the best quality of life amongst Indians
The best part is the way it is written. Reference to research that supports author's claims. All these injustice stories narrated through the viewpoint of the oppressed people. It's written very clearly in that sense. It's funny how after a point you get so clear about the author's ideology that you don't have to read any further, you can already tell what she'd have to say about every topic.
May be I'm living in a different India where things aren't this bad. Thus, I couldn't help but abandon after reading half of it. Waste of time.
December 8, 2024
If there would have been an option of negative Rating, that would have been my review of this book.
Possibly one of the worst books on which I have wasted my time and money. Correlation has been presented as causation, and selective conclusion from various data points taken to suit a narrative (with the author making a cute assumption that the reader won't go into the original source to read the report and just believe what author has written. Too bad that I did and in many cases, was already aware of the actual data pros and cons).
The author took great pains to twist the data to push the following conclusion down the reader's throat in every chapter
1. Modi bad
2. BJP bad
Book offers nothing in terms of originality and is an atrocious example of how Echo chamber operates.
Taking one example, author doesn't even know the NSSO 2017 survey(of which she takes inputs several times in the book to compare with previous data) changed its methodology from the previous ones, hence rendiring the conclusion invalid for comparison. When one misses such basic stuff, this shows that book was written with a pre conceived notion with cherry picking done to suit the narrative author wants to legitimise using data as a tool.
Net net, a book designed to hoodwink the reader with carefully picked and plotted 'conclusions'.
Possibly one of the worst books on which I have wasted my time and money. Correlation has been presented as causation, and selective conclusion from various data points taken to suit a narrative (with the author making a cute assumption that the reader won't go into the original source to read the report and just believe what author has written. Too bad that I did and in many cases, was already aware of the actual data pros and cons).
The author took great pains to twist the data to push the following conclusion down the reader's throat in every chapter
1. Modi bad
2. BJP bad
Book offers nothing in terms of originality and is an atrocious example of how Echo chamber operates.
Taking one example, author doesn't even know the NSSO 2017 survey(of which she takes inputs several times in the book to compare with previous data) changed its methodology from the previous ones, hence rendiring the conclusion invalid for comparison. When one misses such basic stuff, this shows that book was written with a pre conceived notion with cherry picking done to suit the narrative author wants to legitimise using data as a tool.
Net net, a book designed to hoodwink the reader with carefully picked and plotted 'conclusions'.
December 29, 2024
Half Numbers and Whole bunch of lies and propaganda
Being a person who has been in the business of data and analytics for 25 years, the title piqued my interest. However, what I found that this book has nothing to do with real numbers. It is just leftist, anti-upper caste Hindu, anti-BJP propaganda. It is a shame that an educated and learned person would write such content. Author is either highly prejudiced against upper caste Hindus or have sold her soul to political forces that want to divide Hindus and have been doing the politics of appeasement.
In the first chapter author started with statistics and book seemed promising. But as it progressed it was very evident that author has no interests in presenting the data / numbers in neutral manner. She has twisted everything to create a narrative to make upper caste Hindus as some kind of monsters and have repeatedly created a narrative of Muslims being the most exploited and tortured lot. Completely forgetting that Muslims are not the only minorities in India. Also, forgetting that even non-Hindus have caste based systems and have upper and lower classes.
On one hand she calls ‘purda pratha’ an evil custom (which I agree) but at the same time happy to say it is Muslim women’s right to use ‘Burkha’. On one hand she is crying tears for how people’s liberties are trampled because they are not free to exercise their sexual choices such as same-sex or live-in, and at the same time she calls Hindu’s choice of wanting to have utensils / microwaves for vegetarians separate from non-vegetarian – a proof of prevalent untouchability.
She cites examples of how Muslim girls faced discrimination in air-plane. You kidding me? I mean who even asks a fellow passengers name, let alone religion that Muslim girls may feel discriminated in a flight.
These are just a few examples that I can remember as it was few month ago I read it. But, these examples sum up the entire narrative.
I felt like stop listening to this trash fairly early in it, but listened to the entire book as I wanted to understand how such anti-Hindu and anti-BJP narratives are getting created. And for that, I would definitely recommend that you read/ listen to this book and expose the author for her hypocrisy, prejudices, lies and propaganda.
Being a person who has been in the business of data and analytics for 25 years, the title piqued my interest. However, what I found that this book has nothing to do with real numbers. It is just leftist, anti-upper caste Hindu, anti-BJP propaganda. It is a shame that an educated and learned person would write such content. Author is either highly prejudiced against upper caste Hindus or have sold her soul to political forces that want to divide Hindus and have been doing the politics of appeasement.
In the first chapter author started with statistics and book seemed promising. But as it progressed it was very evident that author has no interests in presenting the data / numbers in neutral manner. She has twisted everything to create a narrative to make upper caste Hindus as some kind of monsters and have repeatedly created a narrative of Muslims being the most exploited and tortured lot. Completely forgetting that Muslims are not the only minorities in India. Also, forgetting that even non-Hindus have caste based systems and have upper and lower classes.
On one hand she calls ‘purda pratha’ an evil custom (which I agree) but at the same time happy to say it is Muslim women’s right to use ‘Burkha’. On one hand she is crying tears for how people’s liberties are trampled because they are not free to exercise their sexual choices such as same-sex or live-in, and at the same time she calls Hindu’s choice of wanting to have utensils / microwaves for vegetarians separate from non-vegetarian – a proof of prevalent untouchability.
She cites examples of how Muslim girls faced discrimination in air-plane. You kidding me? I mean who even asks a fellow passengers name, let alone religion that Muslim girls may feel discriminated in a flight.
These are just a few examples that I can remember as it was few month ago I read it. But, these examples sum up the entire narrative.
I felt like stop listening to this trash fairly early in it, but listened to the entire book as I wanted to understand how such anti-Hindu and anti-BJP narratives are getting created. And for that, I would definitely recommend that you read/ listen to this book and expose the author for her hypocrisy, prejudices, lies and propaganda.
February 3, 2022
It must take courage to venture into writing a book on socio-political, economic data about countries, let alone for a country like India which has unreliable and biased numbers at best. Very thankful to Rukmini S for taking this challenge and writing an enlightening book that tries to show a real picture of the country through hard data, collated through multiple sources & surveys. The book was super engrossing, even with all the dense numbers - which I feel is the real triumph.
The chapters range from 'How India Votes' to 'How we eat, love, pray' to 'how much we earn' and how our judiciaries and healthcare fare. I cannot recommend the book enough, adding some of the most intriguing facts I found in the book
- If you're an Indian reading this, your family was almost certainly NOT 'middle class'. In India, if your household income is >8 lakh rupees per year, you're among the top 2%. If >1.5 lakhs, you're in the top 20%.
- Delhi isn't as bad a place to live, as I thought it was. Nearly 60% of rape cases in India are men accused by girls' families, with whom they had a consensual relationship (or breach of promise of marriage). Only < 10% of cases would be rape by strangers.
- Millennials compliment themselves to be progressives too generously. All surveys show younger folks (<20 years and 21-30 years) hold similar or more regressive views on free speech, equality and democracy than the oldest folks. There's only 4% of marriages that are inter-caste.
India is a messy country and our systems and people are complicated. This book feels foundational to begin understanding this country anew.
The chapters range from 'How India Votes' to 'How we eat, love, pray' to 'how much we earn' and how our judiciaries and healthcare fare. I cannot recommend the book enough, adding some of the most intriguing facts I found in the book
- If you're an Indian reading this, your family was almost certainly NOT 'middle class'. In India, if your household income is >8 lakh rupees per year, you're among the top 2%. If >1.5 lakhs, you're in the top 20%.
- Delhi isn't as bad a place to live, as I thought it was. Nearly 60% of rape cases in India are men accused by girls' families, with whom they had a consensual relationship (or breach of promise of marriage). Only < 10% of cases would be rape by strangers.
- Millennials compliment themselves to be progressives too generously. All surveys show younger folks (<20 years and 21-30 years) hold similar or more regressive views on free speech, equality and democracy than the oldest folks. There's only 4% of marriages that are inter-caste.
India is a messy country and our systems and people are complicated. This book feels foundational to begin understanding this country anew.
February 27, 2022
Goosebumps. So much of India’s big picture that we get wrong is presented in this book.
December 30, 2024
Cherry picked data to suit the narrative.
April 16, 2023
Wasted opportunity.
March 12, 2023
Data, data, and more data. That sums up the book. It has everything related to India's demographics, consumer data, elections, caste, politics, taxpayers, religion et al. The author has done extensive research collating this data from all the various national surveys, statistical institutes, govt, and independent organisations. There are various titbits of interesting information strewn all over the book and it provides insight into Indian society at large.
While the book is a completely different genre altogether and might be interesting for some, it was not exactly my cup of tea. For me, this was an overload of information which I thought was the reason it took me so long to finish. However, kudos to the author for compiling this book which throws great insights into our very complex country.
While the book is a completely different genre altogether and might be interesting for some, it was not exactly my cup of tea. For me, this was an overload of information which I thought was the reason it took me so long to finish. However, kudos to the author for compiling this book which throws great insights into our very complex country.
January 20, 2022
Highly recommend this book for myth-busting on modern India. Superbly organized chapters, paints somewhat of a grim yet realistic picture on where we stand with respect to the data architecture and usage of data in India.
February 15, 2022
"The world cannot be understood without numbers. But the world cannot be understood with numbers alone.” ― Hans Rosling
பொதுவாகவே தகவல்கள் நிறைந்த புத்தகங்களை வாசிக்க அதிக நேரம் பிடிக்கும், ஒரு தகவலை உள்வாங்கி, சீர்தூக்கி பார்த்து, பின்பு செரிப்பதற்காக எடுக்கும் நேரம் அதிகம். இந்த நூல் வெளிவந்த காலகட்டமும், அதில் அடங்கி இருக்கும் கருத்துக்களும் எதார்த்தத்தை தெளிவுபடுத்துகிறது. சில எதிர்மறையான முன்முடிவுகள்(Prejudice) நேர்மறையாக மாறவும் , பல நேர்மறையான முன்முடிவுகள்(Preconceptions) எதிர்மறையாக மாறவும் இந்த நூல் பெரிதும் உதவியுள்ளது. தரவுகளை (Datas) வைத்து இவர் சொல்லும் கதைகள் எல்லாம் எளிதாக வாசகருடன் ஒரு இணைப்பை ஏற்படுத்தி கொள்கிறது, இந்தியாவின் வளமான எதிர்காலத்தை கருத்தில்கொண்டு இந்நூலை அணுகினால் பெரும்பாலான எதார்த்த நடைமுறைகள் அதற்கு ஒவ்வாத ஒன்றாகவே இருக்கிறது.
இருட்டில் இருந்து வெளிச்சத்தை அடைவதற்கான வழிகாட்டியாக நாம் இந்த தரவுகளை எடுத்துக்கொள்வதா அல்லது இருளில் சிக்கி தவிக்க போவதற்கான முன்னோட்டமாக இதை எடுத்துக்கொள்வதா என்பதை படிப்பவர் தான் முடிவு செய்யவேண்டும். இருவேறு வழிமுறைகளுக்கான தரவுகளையும் இந்நூல் கொண்டிருக்கிறது.
இந்தியாவில் குற்றங்கள் காவல்துறையாலும், நீதி துறையாலும் எப்படி அணுகப்படுகிறது, இந்தியர்களின் உணர்வுகள்-சிந்தனைகள்-நம்பிக்கைகள் எல்லாம் எத்தகையதாக இருக்கிறது, எதை அடிப்படையாக கொண்டு இந்தியர்கள் வாக்களிக்கிறார்கள், காதல்- கல்யாணம்- உணவுமுறை- கொண்டாட்டங்கள் - வாழ்க்கை முறை போன்றவை எல்லாம் இந்தியர்களிடம் எப்படிப்பட்டதாக இருக்கிறது, இந்தியர்களின் வருவாயும்- செலவழிக்கும் தன்மையும் எப்படிப்பட்டதாக இருக்கிறது, இந்தியா(இந்தியர்களுக்கு) எப்படி வயதாகிறது, இந்தியர்கள் எங்கு வசிக்கிறார்கள், இந்தியர்கள் எப்படி நோய்வாய்ப்பட்டு அதிலிருந்து மீள்கிறது என்பதை எல்லாம் விரிவாக பேசியுள்ளார் நூலாசிரியர்.
நூலின் மற்றுமொரு முக்கிய அம்சமாக நான் கருதுவது, மாநிலங்களிடையே நிலவும் ஒற்றுமைகளை வேற்றுமைகளையும் மேற்சொன்ன பகுதிகளில் எல்லாம் சுட்டிக்காட்டியுள்ளார். வெறுமனே இந்தியா என்றில்லாமல் மாநிலங்களுயிடையே நிலவும் துறைசார், சிந்தனைசார், பண்புசார் வேற்றுமைகளை குறிப்பிட்டும் எழுதியுள்ளார். ஒருவொரு மாநிலங்களுக்கும் இப்படிப்பட்ட புத்தகங்கள் எழுதப்பட்டால் எதிர்காலத்தில் கொள்கைகளை வகுப்பதற்கு(Policy making) ஏதுவாக இருக்கும்.
தரவுகள்(Data) என்று வரும்போது அதன் உண்மைத்தன்மையும்(Integirity) முக்கியத்துவம் பெறுகிறது, உண்மைத்தன்மை கொண்ட தரவுகள் வருவதே குறைந்துள்ள காலகட்டத்தில் அதன் வீச்சை மட்டுப்படுத்த அரசும் சில ஜால்ரா ஊடகங்களும் மும்முரமாக இறங்கி விடுகிறார்கள். மக்களிடமும் தரவு சார்ந்த அணுகுமுறை(Data centric approach) இன்னும் ஏற்படவில்லை, பிற்போக்கு சக்திகளின் எழுச்சியை நாம் அப்படி தான் புரிந்துகொள்ளவேண்டி உள்ளது.
இதில் பெரும்பாலான தரவுகள் அரசிடமிருந்தும் அங்கீகரிக்கப்பட்ட பொதுநல நோக்கம் கொண்ட தனியார் நிறுவனங்களிடமிருந்தும் பெறப்பட்டதாகும். அரசு சரியான தகவல்களை மூடி மறைக்க முயலும்போது தனியாரை சார்ந்திருக்கும் கட்டாயம் இயற்கையாகவே ஏற்படுவதாக குறிப்பிடுகிறார் நூலாசிரியர்.
வளர்ந்த மாநிலங்களில் குற்றங்கள் அதிகம் பதிவுசெய்யப்படுகிறது(சிறந்த நிர்வாகம் மற்றும் வெளிப்படைத்தன்மை காரணமாக)
பெண்களுக்கென தனி காவல்நிலையம் இருக்கும் பகுதிகளில் பெண்கள் மனஉறுதியுடன் புகாரளிக்க வருகிறார்கள்.
கல்விக்கும் மத நம்பிக்கைக்கும் ஒரு சம்மந்தமும் இருப்பதில்லை, படித்தவர்கள் தான் அதிகம் பக்தியோடும் பழமைவாத மனநிலையிலும் இருக்கிறார்கள்.(Educated minds are still irrational.)
64% ஹிந்துக்கள் இன்னும் “இந்தியர்களாக இருப்பதற்கு ஹிந்துவாக இருக்க வேண்டும்” என்றே நம்புகிறார்கள்.
நகரமயமாக்கல் எந்த வகையிலும் சாதி-மத முரண்பாடுகளை குறைப்பதில்லை.
பணக்காரர்களை விட ஏழைகளும் அதிகம் படிக்காத மனிதர்களும் தான் வாக்களிக்க ஆர்வமாக இருக்கிறார்கள்.
இன்னும் வளர்ச்சிக்காக வாக்களிப்பவர்களை விட கொள்கை அடிப்படையில் வாக்களிப்பவர்களின் எணிக்கை அதிகமாகவே இருக்கிறது. (People still vote for ideas)
இளம் வாக்காளர்கள் பாஜகவுக்கே அதிகம் வாக்களிக்கிறார்கள், காங்கிரஸ் கட்சியை விட தலித்துகளின் வாக்குகளை பாஜகவே அதிகம் அறுவடைசெய்கிறது.
சாதி மறுப்பு திருமணங்கள் பணக்காரர்களை விட ஏழை மக்களிடமே அதிகம் நடைபெறுகிறது.
தனியார் துறை வேலைவாய்ப்புகளில் சாதிய ஏற்றத்தாழ்வுகள் அதிகம் கடைபிடிக்க படுகிறது.
ஆ��்கில அறிவின் தரம் என்பது சாதியினாலும் மதத்தினாலுமே தீர்மானிக்கப்படுகிறது.
கிராமப்புற மக்கள் எரிபொருளுக்கும் மின் விளக்குக்குமே அதிகம் செலவழிக்கிறார்கள், மாறாக நகரத்தில் வசிக்கும் மக்கள் கல்விக்கும் வீட்டு வாடகைக்கும் செலவழிக்கிறார்கள்.
வேலைக்கு செல்லும் பெண்களின் எண்ணிக்கை பிற வளரும் நாடுகளுடன் ஒப்பிடுகையில் இந்தியாவில் குறைவாக இருக்கிறது. மேலும் COVID-19 பெருந்தொற்றுக்கு பிறகு அது இன்னும் குறைய தொடங்கியுள்ளது.
மக்கள் தொகையின் விகிதம் குறையும்போது அது பெண் குழந்தைகளின் பிறப்பு விகிதத்தையும் குறைக்கிறது, பெண் குழந்தைகளை விட ஆண்குழந்தைகளையே இந்த சமூகம் இன்னும் விரும்புகிறது.
மருத்துவ சேவையை அளிப்பதில் வளர்ந்த மாநிலங்களுக்கும் வளர்ந்துவரும் மாநிலங்களுக்கும் அதிக வேறுபாடுகள் இருக்கவே செய்கிறது. இந்த மாநில வேறுபாடுகளை பொறுத்தே தனியார்- பொது மருத்துவமும் அமைகிறது, எடுத்துக்காட்டாக தமிழ்நாட்டில் பொது(Public) மருத்துவ சேவை இருக்கும் அளவுக்கு கூட பிஹாரில் தனியார்(Private) மருத்துவ சேவை இருப்பதில்லை.
இதுபோல் இன்னும் ஏராளமான தகவல்கள் நூல் முழுக்க நிரம்பி கிடக்கிறது. அரசிடமிருந்து தகவல் பெரும் முனைப்பை பொதுமக்களிடம் ஏற்படுத்த வேண்டும், எதிர்காலத்தில் ஜனநாயகத்தின் காப்பரணாக உண்மை தன்மை கொண்ட தரவுகளே இருக்கப்போகிறது. அதை காப்பதும் நம் கைகளில் தான் இருக்கிறது.
வாய்ப்பிருக்கும் நண்பர்கள் அவசியம் வாசிக்கவும்.
இந்நூலை எனக்கு அன்பளிப்பாக வழங்கிய Yazhini P Mஅக்காவுக்கும் Jeyannathann Karunanithiஅண்ணனுக்கும் "Dear gowtham, Thanks for the support” என்று கையெழுத்திட்டு கொடுத்த நூலாசிரியர் Rukmini S ஆகியோருக்கு என் அன்பும் நன்றியும்.
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பொதுவாகவே தகவல்கள் நிறைந்த புத்தகங்களை வாசிக்க அதிக நேரம் பிடிக்கும், ஒரு தகவலை உள்வாங்கி, சீர்தூக்கி பார்த்து, பின்பு செரிப்பதற்காக எடுக்கும் நேரம் அதிகம். இந்த நூல் வெளிவந்த காலகட்டமும், அதில் அடங்கி இருக்கும் கருத்துக்களும் எதார்த்தத்தை தெளிவுபடுத்துகிறது. சில எதிர்மறையான முன்முடிவுகள்(Prejudice) நேர்மறையாக மாறவும் , பல நேர்மறையான முன்முடிவுகள்(Preconceptions) எதிர்மறையாக மாறவும் இந்த நூல் பெரிதும் உதவியுள்ளது. தரவுகளை (Datas) வைத்து இவர் சொல்லும் கதைகள் எல்லாம் எளிதாக வாசகருடன் ஒரு இணைப்பை ஏற்படுத்தி கொள்கிறது, இந்தியாவின் வளமான எதிர்காலத்தை கருத்தில்கொண்டு இந்நூலை அணுகினால் பெரும்பாலான எதார்த்த நடைமுறைகள் அதற்கு ஒவ்வாத ஒன்றாகவே இருக்கிறது.
இருட்டில் இருந்து வெளிச்சத்தை அடைவதற்கான வழிகாட்டியாக நாம் இந்த தரவுகளை எடுத்துக்கொள்வதா அல்லது இருளில் சிக்கி தவிக்க போவதற்கான முன்னோட்டமாக இதை எடுத்துக்கொள்வதா என்பதை படிப்பவர் தான் முடிவு செய்யவேண்டும். இருவேறு வழிமுறைகளுக்கான தரவுகளையும் இந்நூல் கொண்டிருக்கிறது.
இந்தியாவில் குற்றங்கள் காவல்துறையாலும், நீதி துறையாலும் எப்படி அணுகப்படுகிறது, இந்தியர்களின் உணர்வுகள்-சிந்தனைகள்-நம்பிக்கைகள் எல்லாம் எத்தகையதாக இருக்கிறது, எதை அடிப்படையாக கொண்டு இந்தியர்கள் வாக்களிக்கிறார்கள், காதல்- கல்யாணம்- உணவுமுறை- கொண்டாட்டங்கள் - வாழ்க்கை முறை போன்றவை எல்லாம் இந்தியர்களிடம் எப்படிப்பட்டதாக இருக்கிறது, இந்தியர்களின் வருவாயும்- செலவழிக்கும் தன்மையும் எப்படிப்பட்டதாக இருக்கிறது, இந்தியா(இந்தியர்களுக்கு) எப்படி வயதாகிறது, இந்தியர்கள் எங்கு வசிக்கிறார்கள், இந்தியர்கள் எப்படி நோய்வாய்ப்பட்டு அதிலிருந்து மீள்கிறது என்பதை எல்லாம் விரிவாக பேசியுள்ளார் நூலாசிரியர்.
நூலின் மற்றுமொரு முக்கிய அம்சமாக நான் கருதுவது, மாநிலங்களிடையே நிலவும் ஒற்றுமைகளை வேற்றுமைகளையும் மேற்சொன்ன பகுதிகளில் எல்லாம் சுட்டிக்காட்டியுள்ளார். வெறுமனே இந்தியா என்றில்லாமல் மாநிலங்களுயிடையே நிலவும் துறைசார், சிந்தனைசார், பண்புசார் வேற்றுமைகளை குறிப்பிட்டும் எழுதியுள்ளார். ஒருவொரு மாநிலங்களுக்கும் இப்படிப்பட்ட புத்தகங்கள் எழுதப்பட்டால் எதிர்காலத்தில் கொள்கைகளை வகுப்பதற்கு(Policy making) ஏதுவாக இருக்கும்.
தரவுகள்(Data) என்று வரும்போது அதன் உண்மைத்தன்மையும்(Integirity) முக்கியத்துவம் பெறுகிறது, உண்மைத்தன்மை கொண்ட தரவுகள் வருவதே குறைந்துள்ள காலகட்டத்தில் அதன் வீச்சை மட்டுப்படுத்த அரசும் சில ஜால்ரா ஊடகங்களும் மும்முரமாக இறங்கி விடுகிறார்கள். மக்களிடமும் தரவு சார்ந்த அணுகுமுறை(Data centric approach) இன்னும் ஏற்படவில்லை, பிற்போக்கு சக்திகளின் எழுச்சியை நாம் அப்படி தான் புரிந்துகொள்ளவேண்டி உள்ளது.
இதில் பெரும்பாலான தரவுகள் அரசிடமிருந்தும் அங்கீகரிக்கப்பட்ட பொதுநல நோக்கம் கொண்ட தனியார் நிறுவனங்களிடமிருந்தும் பெறப்பட்டதாகும். அரசு சரியான தகவல்களை மூடி மறைக்க முயலும்போது தனியாரை சார்ந்திருக்கும் கட்டாயம் இயற்கையாகவே ஏற்படுவதாக குறிப்பிடுகிறார் நூலாசிரியர்.
வளர்ந்த மாநிலங்களில் குற்றங்கள் அதிகம் பதிவுசெய்யப்படுகிறது(சிறந்த நிர்வாகம் மற்றும் வெளிப்படைத்தன்மை காரணமாக)
பெண்களுக்கென தனி காவல்நிலையம் இருக்கும் பகுதிகளில் பெண்கள் மனஉறுதியுடன் புகாரளிக்க வருகிறார்கள்.
கல்விக்கும் மத நம்பிக்கைக்கும் ஒரு சம்மந்தமும் இருப்பதில்லை, படித்தவர்கள் தான் அதிகம் பக்தியோடும் பழமைவாத மனநிலையிலும் இருக்கிறார்கள்.(Educated minds are still irrational.)
64% ஹிந்துக்கள் இன்னும் “இந்தியர்களாக இருப்பதற்கு ஹிந்துவாக இருக்க வேண்டும்” என்றே நம்புகிறார்கள்.
நகரமயமாக்கல் எந்த வகையிலும் சாதி-மத முரண்பாடுகளை குறைப்பதில்லை.
பணக்காரர்களை விட ஏழைகளும் அதிகம் படிக்காத மனிதர்களும் தான் வாக்களிக்க ஆர்வமாக இருக்கிறார்கள்.
இன்னும் வளர்ச்சிக்காக வாக்களிப்பவர்களை விட கொள்கை அடிப்படையில் வாக்களிப்பவர்களின் எணிக்கை அதிகமாகவே இருக்கிறது. (People still vote for ideas)
இளம் வாக்காளர்கள் பாஜகவுக்கே அதிகம் வாக்களிக்கிறார்கள், காங்கிரஸ் கட்சியை விட தலித்துகளின் வாக்குகளை பாஜகவே அதிகம் அறுவடைசெய்கிறது.
சாதி மறுப்பு திருமணங்கள் பணக்காரர்களை விட ஏழை மக்களிடமே அதிகம் நடைபெறுகிறது.
தனியார் துறை வேலைவாய்ப்புகளில் சாதிய ஏற்றத்தாழ்வுகள் அதிகம் கடைபிடிக்க படுகிறது.
ஆ��்கில அறிவின் தரம் என்பது சாதியினாலும் மதத்தினாலுமே தீர்மானிக்கப்படுகிறது.
கிராமப்புற மக்கள் எரிபொருளுக்கும் மின் விளக்குக்குமே அதிகம் செலவழிக்கிறார்கள், மாறாக நகரத்தில் வசிக்கும் மக்கள் கல்விக்கும் வீட்டு வாடகைக்கும் செலவழிக்கிறார்கள்.
வேலைக்கு செல்லும் பெண்களின் எண்ணிக்கை பிற வளரும் நாடுகளுடன் ஒப்பிடுகையில் இந்தியாவில் குறைவாக இருக்கிறது. மேலும் COVID-19 பெருந்தொற்றுக்கு பிறகு அது இன்னும் குறைய தொடங்கியுள்ளது.
மக்கள் தொகையின் விகிதம் குறையும்போது அது பெண் குழந்தைகளின் பிறப்பு விகிதத்தையும் குறைக்கிறது, பெண் குழந்தைகளை விட ஆண்குழந்தைகளையே இந்த சமூகம் இன்னும் விரும்புகிறது.
மருத்துவ சேவையை அளிப்பதில் வளர்ந்த மாநிலங்களுக்கும் வளர்ந்துவரும் மாநிலங்களுக்கும் அதிக வேறுபாடுகள் இருக்கவே செய்கிறது. இந்த மாநில வேறுபாடுகளை பொறுத்தே தனியார்- பொது மருத்துவமும் அமைகிறது, எடுத்துக்காட்டாக தமிழ்நாட்டில் பொது(Public) மருத்துவ சேவை இருக்கும் அளவுக்கு கூட பிஹாரில் தனியார்(Private) மருத்துவ சேவை இருப்பதில்லை.
இதுபோல் இன்னும் ஏராளமான தகவல்கள் நூல் முழுக்க நிரம்பி கிடக்கிறது. அரசிடமிருந்து தகவல் பெரும் முனைப்பை பொதுமக்களிடம் ஏற்படுத்த வேண்டும், எதிர்காலத்தில் ஜனநாயகத்தின் காப்பரணாக உண்மை தன்மை கொண்ட தரவுகளே இருக்கப்போகிறது. அதை காப்பதும் நம் கைகளில் தான் இருக்கிறது.
வாய்ப்பிருக்கும் நண்பர்கள் அவசியம் வாசிக்கவும்.
இந்நூலை எனக்கு அன்பளிப்பாக வழங்கிய Yazhini P Mஅக்காவுக்கும் Jeyannathann Karunanithiஅண்ணனுக்கும் "Dear gowtham, Thanks for the support” என்று கையெழுத்திட்டு கொடுத்த நூலாசிரியர் Rukmini S ஆகியோருக்கு என் அன்பும் நன்றியும்.
#Must_read
December 23, 2021
This is a nuanced book, as befits a country that has so many variations. Rukmini does a superb job of separating data from narrative. She shows us what data is telling us, and what it isn’t telling us yet. She points to the challenges that statisticians face in India, and what can be done to improve the data we use. The book provides fascinating insights into what we eat, where we live, how rich we are, what we think, how we vote and how good our health is.
January 19, 2022
Easy to read book, compiled on credible data in the public (mostly). What it did most for me was to breakdown commonly held misconceptions and beliefs (what India eats, how much it earns, what they think etc.). Weaving stories from data isn't easy, and this is a solid attempt at doing so. What I feel less enthused about is how the author goes beyond data in the first and last chapters (by far the best in the book), she doesn't do that as much in the other chapters. The two chapters don't use data as the argument but use data to support the author's arguments, while i felt this wasn't that much the case in the other chapters.
Nonetheless, a good read, a great guide to data sources in India as well.
Nonetheless, a good read, a great guide to data sources in India as well.
January 30, 2022
Sobering read. Expect surprises.
February 7, 2022
“Of all the narratives that Indians wrap
around themselves — whether for disguise
or for comfort — none is as dearly held as
this one: I am middle class.”
So often did a statement in this book shock me that I had to stop for a moment and re-read it, and sadly nothing changed, I had read it correctly in the first time. I was surprised at how I was highlighting so much in this book, largely because Rukmini S goes on to shatter the notions that we hold firmly as ‘truth’ or ‘common sense’.
Upon reading this book I realised how smart the BJP party is in the way they play with the data. Also, how so many of our beliefs are merely myths and fabricated stories — like the ghost stories, only we’ve adapted so well with them that we’ve begun to see ghosts in their flesh and blood. We are in essence collectively “missing reality, manufacturing reality” as Rukmini S herself puts it.
The author touches upon some of the most crucial aspects of public debate around data: caste, urbanisation, voting patterns, migration, healthcare, religion, Covid, gender, population, crime patterns, unemployment, income levels, languages, and so on.
The prose on the other hand feels a bit bumpy and hurried at times, which might be a compulsion for this kind of book which is structured around the theme of data.
Overall, it’s a must read for every citizen of India.
around themselves — whether for disguise
or for comfort — none is as dearly held as
this one: I am middle class.”
So often did a statement in this book shock me that I had to stop for a moment and re-read it, and sadly nothing changed, I had read it correctly in the first time. I was surprised at how I was highlighting so much in this book, largely because Rukmini S goes on to shatter the notions that we hold firmly as ‘truth’ or ‘common sense’.
Upon reading this book I realised how smart the BJP party is in the way they play with the data. Also, how so many of our beliefs are merely myths and fabricated stories — like the ghost stories, only we’ve adapted so well with them that we’ve begun to see ghosts in their flesh and blood. We are in essence collectively “missing reality, manufacturing reality” as Rukmini S herself puts it.
The author touches upon some of the most crucial aspects of public debate around data: caste, urbanisation, voting patterns, migration, healthcare, religion, Covid, gender, population, crime patterns, unemployment, income levels, languages, and so on.
The prose on the other hand feels a bit bumpy and hurried at times, which might be a compulsion for this kind of book which is structured around the theme of data.
Overall, it’s a must read for every citizen of India.
April 11, 2024
Rating - 4.5 stars
NPS - 10 (Promoter)
But for Indian data, particularly official data, to continue to be able to tell us these big stories, there will need to something of a public movement to secure it. India’s official statistics are, for the most part, not lying to us, but they are being silent. A combination of neglect, distrait and dismissal makes the deficiencies in the data seem to be too fatal to fix. Indian statistics are missing true story of ‘new India’, we are being told, and should be buried, and administrative data, which is directly controlled by the government, be used instead. When inconvenient data is suppressed – as has also been the case – the narrative that is quickly dusted off and shipped off to the end, is this one : official statistics missed too much, so we are better without them.
This is a very much triggering, important book that talks about data in India. There is data available for almost everything in this country - but the relevance and the accuracy is the most crucial question that the book tries to answer.
A data humbug, Rukmini S tries to find answers that you might not wonder, and answers that might shock you.
My only complaint with this book is a certain bias that has been put across.
It’s a great read, recommend it for sure.
NPS - 10 (Promoter)
But for Indian data, particularly official data, to continue to be able to tell us these big stories, there will need to something of a public movement to secure it. India’s official statistics are, for the most part, not lying to us, but they are being silent. A combination of neglect, distrait and dismissal makes the deficiencies in the data seem to be too fatal to fix. Indian statistics are missing true story of ‘new India’, we are being told, and should be buried, and administrative data, which is directly controlled by the government, be used instead. When inconvenient data is suppressed – as has also been the case – the narrative that is quickly dusted off and shipped off to the end, is this one : official statistics missed too much, so we are better without them.
This is a very much triggering, important book that talks about data in India. There is data available for almost everything in this country - but the relevance and the accuracy is the most crucial question that the book tries to answer.
A data humbug, Rukmini S tries to find answers that you might not wonder, and answers that might shock you.
My only complaint with this book is a certain bias that has been put across.
It’s a great read, recommend it for sure.
February 28, 2023
Definitely an eye-opener : For all the biased notions I had of different aspects relating to the country based on the extremely limited experience I have, this was a much needed push in the direction to start looking for possible data to back your notions. Also, had absolutely no clue on the amount of data that already lies around and the problems that statisticians face in collection & organisation of data along with the planning of the whole architecture around how it should be structured. Must read to get some perspective and to be encouraged to keep digging!
December 27, 2021
An absolute must-read!
October 7, 2023
India's version of Factfulness.
Rukmini is India's Hans Rosling!
Rukmini is India's Hans Rosling!
March 19, 2022
If you have to pick one book this year, let it be this one. There's so much to absorb, unlearn and learn. All the data that we are fed by popular media and politics vs what the reality is like and while we as a generation might be over-estimating how this entire generation looks at progress, community and so much more! The book in itself is a hardcore revelation that you don't want to put down until the very end
December 30, 2022
If you have read the news over the last 10 years and have been reading about India for sometime, theres little new that this book offers.
January 25, 2022
I had mixed feelings about this book, but on the whole, I think this was a good one. It was easy to figure out which parts of the book are thoroughly researched and which parts seemed less so.
The first chapter on crime statistics is thoroughly researched and very well written. Having been familiar with Rukmini's reporting, I knew that she has reported on this in the past and it shows. The argument in this chapter is more cogent and neatly blends data with individual stories. In my opinion, chapters that drawn on her past reportage were the strongest. Some chapters didn't work as well, and had a more written-for-the-book vibe. While these were good chapters, they didn't touch the high bar set by the likes of Chapter 1.
Also, quite a few of the graphs lacked an explanation for what the quantities presented mean. Consider for example Figure 3.2. It isn't clear to me what "Politics of recognition" meant. While I have a broad understanding of what "Politics of Statistm" means there is no clear definition for either of the terms. However, since the source for each graph is clearly mentioned the reader could these sources to get a more thorough understanding. Figure 2.1 is a good example of a figure that is better documented even when using subjective measures. The axes labels are very clear (mean importance score ascribed on a scale of 1 - 10), and the context in the associated paragraphs leave little ambiguity.
Ultimately, the author did a great service by writing this book. While not a perfect book, it at least opens a conversation, makes the reader think harder about the subject at hand - in this case makes the people view data from various sources with a critical eye - and gives the reader some intuition into how to approach data. That makes it a good book. The author is good reporter and has the ability to augment data with relevant anecdotes in a way that doesn't take away from the larger direction the data points to, and that is a very difficult needle to thread.
Giving the readers a set of tools (though heuristic) to consume data more critically this book earns 4 stars out of 5 in my view.
EDIT: Fixed some grammar
The first chapter on crime statistics is thoroughly researched and very well written. Having been familiar with Rukmini's reporting, I knew that she has reported on this in the past and it shows. The argument in this chapter is more cogent and neatly blends data with individual stories. In my opinion, chapters that drawn on her past reportage were the strongest. Some chapters didn't work as well, and had a more written-for-the-book vibe. While these were good chapters, they didn't touch the high bar set by the likes of Chapter 1.
Also, quite a few of the graphs lacked an explanation for what the quantities presented mean. Consider for example Figure 3.2. It isn't clear to me what "Politics of recognition" meant. While I have a broad understanding of what "Politics of Statistm" means there is no clear definition for either of the terms. However, since the source for each graph is clearly mentioned the reader could these sources to get a more thorough understanding. Figure 2.1 is a good example of a figure that is better documented even when using subjective measures. The axes labels are very clear (mean importance score ascribed on a scale of 1 - 10), and the context in the associated paragraphs leave little ambiguity.
Ultimately, the author did a great service by writing this book. While not a perfect book, it at least opens a conversation, makes the reader think harder about the subject at hand - in this case makes the people view data from various sources with a critical eye - and gives the reader some intuition into how to approach data. That makes it a good book. The author is good reporter and has the ability to augment data with relevant anecdotes in a way that doesn't take away from the larger direction the data points to, and that is a very difficult needle to thread.
Giving the readers a set of tools (though heuristic) to consume data more critically this book earns 4 stars out of 5 in my view.
EDIT: Fixed some grammar
June 21, 2023
There are very few non-fiction books I manage to finish. There are even fewer that I binge read.
This is one of them.
This is one of them.
December 9, 2022
Numbers. That’s what this book is about. Numbers and the resulting interpretations of those numbers.
There weren’t many surprising conclusions and observations. The North-South divide - be it economical or health infrastructure or ideological - we all knew it existed, but just not to what extent. In this book, you do, with the help of some crisp statistics.
Overall, I just felt doom and despair while reading the book - which is a pretty common thing to feel while reading any news regarding my country - but it was also the kind of despair that is hard to counteract with a ‘but what if’. There are no what ifs. This is the data. These are the raw numbers. There’s nothing else than despair in those numbers.
Hopefully, and this is the cheery sunshiny persona in me trying to sneak in, all this data could be useful as a window to help us plan better in the future. With better governance. When a better government comes along. Hopefully.
There weren’t many surprising conclusions and observations. The North-South divide - be it economical or health infrastructure or ideological - we all knew it existed, but just not to what extent. In this book, you do, with the help of some crisp statistics.
Overall, I just felt doom and despair while reading the book - which is a pretty common thing to feel while reading any news regarding my country - but it was also the kind of despair that is hard to counteract with a ‘but what if’. There are no what ifs. This is the data. These are the raw numbers. There’s nothing else than despair in those numbers.
Hopefully, and this is the cheery sunshiny persona in me trying to sneak in, all this data could be useful as a window to help us plan better in the future. With better governance. When a better government comes along. Hopefully.
January 8, 2023
What struck me deeply through reading this book was how much of our opinions, our political inclinations, how we conduct ourselves everyday, and our general outlook towards the world and others is dependent on data(and its quality, and our interpretation skills, and our confirmation biases)! Making this a very important book for India and Indians.
Well structured chapters. Chock-full of insights and takeaways. I’m pretty sure I haven’t internalised many of these. Definitely see myself referring to this book several times in the future. However, the quality of the content and arguments is not consistent throughout the chapters. The author’s bias/political inclinations is evident not only from the direct text but also from the choice of data narratives, despite a feeble attempt at being neutral.
Overall, a much needed piece of work to build a habit of critical thinking among the public, and also to set a path forward for the future policies of the country.
Well structured chapters. Chock-full of insights and takeaways. I’m pretty sure I haven’t internalised many of these. Definitely see myself referring to this book several times in the future. However, the quality of the content and arguments is not consistent throughout the chapters. The author’s bias/political inclinations is evident not only from the direct text but also from the choice of data narratives, despite a feeble attempt at being neutral.
Overall, a much needed piece of work to build a habit of critical thinking among the public, and also to set a path forward for the future policies of the country.
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