The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cell Phone

Reflections on India, the Emerging 21st-Century Power

An overview of the nation’s politics, economics, culture, society, and sports by an author whose work “has been an illuminating introduction to India” (Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22).

In recent years, the country of India has evolved from a poverty-stricken sleeping giant into a world leader in science and technology that now boasts a middle class of over 300 million people—almost as large as the entire population of the United States.

Here, Shashi Tharoor—one of the subcontinent’s most respected writers and diplomats—offers revealing insights into this complex, multifaceted land, which despite its dazzling diversity of languages, customs, and cultures remains the world’s largest democracy more than seventy years after its founding.

Combining hard facts and statistics with personal observation, Tharoor discusses the strengths and weaknesses of his rapidly evolving homeland in “a fascinating portrait of Indian society” (Publishers Weekly).