THE INDIAN RENAISSANCE INDIA’S RISE AFTER A THOUSAND YEARS OF DECLINE This page intentionally left blank THE INDIAN RENAISSANCE INDIA’S RISE AFTER A THOUSAND YEARS OF DECLINE Sanjeev Sanyal World Scientific NEW JERSEY • LONDON • SINGAPORE • BEIJING • SHANGHAI • HONG KONG • TA I P E I • CHENNAI Published by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. 5 Toh Tuck Link, Singapore 596224 USA office: 27 Warren Street, Suite 401-402, Hackensack, NJ 07601 UK office: 57 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9HE British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Cover image courtesy: Smita Barooah Sanyal THE INDIAN RENAISSANCE India’s Rise after a Thousand Years of Decline Copyright © 2008 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without written permission from the Publisher. For photocopying of material in this volume, please pay a copying fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. In this case permission to photocopy is not required from the publisher. ISBN-13 978-981-281-877-5 ISBN-10 981-281-877-4 Typeset by Stallion Press Email:
[email protected] Printed in Singapore. Sandhya - The Indian Renaissance.pmd 1 9/19/2008, 6:51 PM b660_FM.qxd 7/14/2008 10:44 AM Page v Contents vii Acknowledgements 1. Waiting for a Thousand Years 1 2. From Independence to Freedom 33 3. The Entrepreneurial Explosion 61 4. The Great Indian Middle Class (and its Limitations) 93 5. Poverty, Inequality and the Last Bastion of Control 113 6. The Two Revolutions 141 7. The Importance of Institutional Reform 171 8. How India will Change 191 9. Is India’s Rise Inevitable? 225 239 Index v b660_FM.qxd 7/14/2008 10:44 AM Page vi This page intentionally left blank b660_FM.qxd 7/14/2008 10:44 AM Page vii Acknowledgements There are many people witho