Accidental India  (English, Hardcover, Aiyar Shankkar)

Accidental India: A History Of The Nation’s Passage Through Crisis And Change highlights the seven most important turning points in independent India’s history. The book shows that these came about because of accidental crises, instead of careful planning.

Summary Of The Book

Accidental India: A History Of The Nation’s Passage Through Crisis And Change, published in 2012, takes an in-depth look into the major changes in India post-independence. The author has shortlisted seven game changers, and he deconstructs each one of them to explain to readers that India has missed many opportunities in every decade. Furthermore, he says that the most important decisions ever taken in the last sixty years have always been in the wake of a crisis.

Each chapter of Accidental India: A History Of The Nation’s Passage Through Crisis And Change begins with a date. In The Bonfire Of The Vanities, Aiyar points out that despite popular belief, Dr. Manmohan Singh was in fact not the sole architect of the liberalization in the 90s. The book also covers a very interesting story about the Green Revolution that took place in the 1960s. Titled Hunger Games, this chapter describes how Dr. G. V. Chalam, along with the help of IAS officer secretary S. Venkitaramanan, managed to transport a kilogram of paddy seeds in spite of being stopped at the Palam Airport. These smuggled grains became the seeds of a revolution. Readers will also learn about the political drama enacted by PM Indira Gandhi in order to nationalize banks in 1969. Accidental India: A History Of The Nation’s Passage Through Crisis And Change also covers Operation Flood, the Mid-day Meal scheme, software revolution in the 1990s, and the Right to Information Act.

This book has been written after intensive research. The author met leading personalities of the past and the present, collected facts and figures, and looked into India’s controversies. He has also incorporated many stories about how individuals have successfully transformed India while fighting against all odds. This book is for anyone who thinks that India deserves much better than just waiting for a crisis to solve a problem.

About Shankkar Aiyar

Shankkar Aiyar is an Indian author, columnist, and journalist-analyst.

Aiyar graduated with an Economics degree from Bombay University, and then became a Wolfson Chevening Fellow at Cambridge University. The author has written more than a hundred magazine cover stories, and has broken the front-page news numerous times. The journalist is married to Pinki Virani, a well-known Indian author and human rights activist.