---
product_id: 2222239
title: "India Becoming: A Portrait of Life in Modern India"
brand: "akash kapur"
price: "VT12868"
currency: VUV
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 10
url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/2222239-india-becoming-a-portrait-of-life-in-modern-india
store_origin: VU
region: Vanuatu
---

# India Becoming: A Portrait of Life in Modern India

**Brand:** akash kapur
**Price:** VT12868
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** India Becoming: A Portrait of Life in Modern India by akash kapur
- **How much does it cost?** VT12868 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
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## Description

India Becoming: A Portrait of Life in Modern India

## Images

![India Becoming: A Portrait of Life in Modern India - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51FTAouckBL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    "Development, I came to understand, was a form of creative destruction."
  

*by A***K on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 25, 2014*

This thoughtful, incisive read comes from the pen of Akash Kapur, the former columnist of the "Letter from India," which appeared regularly in the IHT.  Kapur's skill is to tell the 'big' story of India's ongoing economic transformation by focusing the 'small' stories of how that transformation translates into the lives of a dozen or so of this book's subjects.What does come across quite clearly is the author's skill at building relationships.  He earns these people's trust and comes back to them again and again through the book's pages.  I especially liked the stories involving Sathy, struggling with a world in which his position as the head of a leading family in a small town means less and less, and Hari, struggling with his sexuality in world pressuring him to follow  the path of traditional marriage.Kapur eventually comes to see the insidious effects of the transformation:  "Development, I came to understand, was a form of creative destruction. For everyone whose life was being regenerated or rejuvenated in modern India, there was someone, as well, whose life was being destroyed."Ultimately, it's a split decision: Kapur reveals that "I had returned from America full of enthusiasm. I celebrated what I saw as the rejuvenation of my home. Later, the enthusiasm started seeming naive, the rejuvenation something of an illusion. My optimism turned to skepticism, occasionally to despair. Now it seemed to me that I had perhaps rushed to judgment on both occasions-- that my initial, positive reaction was as hasty as my later, negative one."If you 'touch' India at all (and anyone in IT does in one way or another), this book is a fascinating read.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Excellent first person account of major transformations
  

*by S***V on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 24, 2012*

This is a fantastic first person, participative narration of the monumental changes occurring in India since the economic liberalization of the 1990s.  The author is able to bring an outsider's perspective while being an insider in the story, and able to relate the intricate details of the social fabric without sermonizing, bias, or excessive personal interpretation.  It is amazing how in a relatively short book, he has covered such a large swath of topics such as transformation of village life, consumerism in metropolises and their impact on the people's values and behaviors, ambivalence toward religion, changing roles of women in society and changing social mores, the growing environmental and ecological impacts of the new economy, lawlessness and the impotence of law enforcement and its real impact on every day lives, and a host of other related matters.  What is truly remarkable is that he is able to do all this by simply tracking the lives of only about ten people in a relatively small locale in Tamilnadu around Chennai and Pondicherry, and in Bangalore, with short sojourns into Mumbai.  The writing flows extremely well, and once started, it is hard to put down this book.  This reviewer finished the book in one long sitting.  This reviewer, of Indian origin, has lived for over thirty years in the US, and on visits to India, goes through the same thoughts and reactions that are reflected in this book.  It all rings very true.  While the author expresses opinions, they are done in an unobtrusive manner, and largely without judgement, and more importantly, he shares the euphoria about the new wealth creation, as well as the artificiality and rudderless nature of the new consumerism.  In the end, he himself comes to peace with these opposing forces and is ready to be a spectator in these transformations and upheavals of a billion people.  This is truly one of the best books on such a topic and is a must read.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 







  
  
    Well-written
  

*by D***A on Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 8, 2015*

This is an ethnographic study of how the lives of common people are being impacted by contemporary economic development in India.  Kapur’s writing style draws the reader into the lives of his characters as they cope with unique challenges.  All the characters in this book are persons who believe in the new emerging India and are committed to making successful lives for themselves. Beneath the stories of the lives of these characters, one can sense Kapur’a own odyssey of re-settling in India after living many years in the United States.Although all the characters are strong-willed, some are naïve, some are ill-prepared and some are very wise, their stories reveal how contemporary economic developments are creating new opportunities and new challenges for some, while affecting the lives of everyone.The basic take away from this book is that urban India is expanding.  That is, people from the nearby villages with some education and drive are moving into the cities, and concurrently, cities are encroaching into neighboring villages.  Most of these people from the villages are ill-prepared to handle the modes of city life, and their cultural norms that once protected them in the village are a hindrance to successfully negotiate the challenges of city life. Further, as cities intrude into neighboring villages, village life and village modes are breaking and the solitary beauty of rural India is being displaced by environmental chaos.A secondary underlying theme is that the market economy is not being managed by good government, the rule of ‘gundagari’ has replaced yesterday’s license raj.

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*Product available on Desertcart Vanuatu*
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*Last updated: 2026-02-06*