INDIA CALLING
An Intimate Portrait of a Nation’s Remaking
Published in the United States by Times Books, an imprint of Henry Holt and Company, in January, 2011. Order today from Amazon, Borders or Barnes & Noble. And available in India from HarperCollins and in Australia from Black Inc.
Anand Giridharadas
Reversing his parents’ immigrant path, a young American-born writer returns to India and discovers an old country making itself new
Anand Giridharadas sensed something afoot as his plane from America prepared to land in Bombay. An elderly passenger looked at him and said, “We’re all trying to go that way,” pointing to the rear. “You, you’re going this way?”
Giridharadas was returning to the land of his ancestors, amid an unlikely economic boom. But he was interested less in its gold rush than in its cultural upheaval, as a new generation has sought to reconcile old traditions and customs with new ambitions and dreams.
In India Calling, Giridharadas brings to life the people and the dilemmas of India today, through the prism of his émigré family history and his childhood memories of India. He introduces us to entrepreneurs, radicals, industrialists, and religious seekers, but, most of all, to Indian families. He shows how parents and children, husbands and wives, cousins and siblings are reinventing relationships, bending the meaning of Indianness, and enduring the pangs of the old birthing the new.
Through their stories, and his own, he paints an intimate portrait of a country becoming modern while striving to remain itself.
***
Reviews of INDIA CALLING
“India Calling is a fine book, elegant, self-aware and unafraid of contradictions and complexity. Giridharadas captures fundamental changes in the nature of family and class relationships and the very idea of what it means to be an Indian.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Capturing the monumental changes sweeping India is a feat many attempt but few manage. . . . In India Calling, Giridharadas has written the best of this now established genre. . . . A finely observed portrait of the modern nation.”—Financial Times
“[A] readable, intriguing book. . . . [Giridharadas is] a marvelous journalist—intrepid, easy to like, curious. . . . India Calling connects us to a new India, and an engaging new voice.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer
“A beautifully written, intelligent look at the cultural history and changes of India. . . . The book [is] worth reading because of [Giridharadas’s] skill as a writer. . . . Giridharadas publishes sentences and paragraphs that are exquisitely worded, to the point of becoming downright memorable, and certainly quotable.”—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Giridharadas successfully uses his first-hand account of self-discovery to illustrate a larger picture of empowering change.”—Christian Science Monitor
“In this fresh, clear-eyed account of his stay, the author writes eloquently of how he came upon a very different place from where his parents grew up.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Well thought out . . . Like a morality play, each chapter reflects a different inner quality, while woven together in the narrative are bits of the author’s family history. The portraits . . . show the myriad ways in which India has changed and yet remains the same.”—Library Journal
“Rarely has an author deciphered the Indian enigma the way Anand Giridharadas does in India Calling. By lucidly portraying the country’s real locomotive—its vast and populous youth—he provides the most timely and elegant guide to perhaps the most important next generation in the world.”—Parag Khanna, author of The Second World and How to Run the World
“Anand Giridharadas is more than just a widely admired journalist; with India Calling he has transformed into a fluent, witty, and intelligent writer. His very personal and perceptive look at the new India is a memorable debut, full of insight and diversion.”—William Dalrymple, author of Nine Lives: In Search of the Sacred in Modern India
“Anand Giridharadas has become one of the finest analysts of contemporary India. In India Calling, he has produced an engrossing and acutely observed appreciation of a country that is at once old and new—an enormously readable book in which everyone, at home in India or abroad, will find something distinctive and altogether challenging.”—Amartya Sen, Nobel laureate in economics
“The emergence of a more dynamic India has been widely observed. Less well understood are the myriad reinventions that make the New India so exciting. In India Calling, Anand Giridharadas renders this change on an intimate scale with a tapestry of keenly observed stories about the changing dreams and frustrations of all walks of Indians—and his own. Savvy and often moving, India Calling is for those who prefer the view from the ground than from thirty thousand feet.”—Edward Luce, author of In Spite of the Gods: The Rise of Modern India
***
An excerpt from INDIA CALLING:
India was erupting in dreams.
It was the dream to own a microwave or refrigerator or motorcycle. The dream of a roof of one’s own. The dream to break caste. The dream to bring a cellphone to every Indian with someone to call. The dream to buy out businesses in the kingdom that once colonized you. The dream to marry for love, all the complicated family considerations be damned. The dream to become rich. The dream to overthrow the rich in revolution.
These dreams were by turns farsighted and farfetched, practical and impractical, generous and selfish, principled and cynical, focused and vague, passionate and drifting. They were tempered by countervailing dreams and, as ever in India, by the dogged pull of the past. Some were changing India palpably; others had no chance from the beginning. But that was never the point. It was the very existence of such brazen, unapologetic dreams, and their diffuse flowering from one end of India to the other, that so decisively separated the present from the past – and separated the India my parents had left from the India to which I had now returned.
The Indian revolution was within. It was a revolution in private life, in the tenor of emotions and the nature of human relationships. The very fabric of Indianness – the meaning of being a husband or wife, a factory owner or factory worker, a mother-in-law or daughter-in-law, a student or teacher – was slowly, gently unraveling by the force of these dreams, and allowing itself to be woven in new ways.
You can read an excerpt from the first chapter by clicking here, or another excerpt, published in The New York Times Magazine, here.
[...] book [...]
Pingback by India’s New Generation of Caste Busters | Anand Giridharadas - Columnist and Author of India Calling — January 1, 2011 @ 8:28 am
Anand, I wish you all the best as your new book releases tommorow. I cannot wait to get a copy! I look forward to attending your program at the Asia Society next Monday!
Comment by Lavanya P. — January 2, 2011 @ 9:31 pm
Hi Anand,
I have asked at every book store in Bombay but nobody knows when your book will be available here. It would have been the perfect Christmas gift for so many people. Please let us know as the HarperCollins India website does not mention it either.
Thanks and good luck, Rahul
Comment by Rahul — January 3, 2011 @ 9:00 pm
Just heard you on NPR this morning and immediately bought the Kindle edition of your book. I decided about two years ago to broaden my knowledge of a different culture and have been engaging people in India on Twitter to this end. I’m looking forward to reading your book.
Comment by Gordon MacPherson — January 4, 2011 @ 6:45 am
Naipaul is my favorite writer and I shall say that you may become the second one.
Comment by Ramchandra Moennsad — January 4, 2011 @ 8:55 am
Hi Anand,
I heard you on NPR this morning while driving to work. I could’nt wait to get to work and order India Calling.
Thanks and Good Luck!
Nan
Comment by Nan Sambandan — January 4, 2011 @ 10:56 am
Hi Anand,
the other day I (from Nepal) and my wife ( from Kerala) were talking to 14 year old cousin ( American born, bright kid) about her experiences in the last two years of stay in India and how she should put all those stuff together to make a book which we think will be a great plot to write about.
I guess you have done the same in a wonderful way. Can’t wait to read it.
Best!
Rajeev
Comment by Rajeev — January 4, 2011 @ 3:00 pm
Heard you on NPR today (01/04/2011).
Want to comment on two things
1. You talk about a certain Ravindra and his success story and almost make it seem that everyone is not thinking like him and hence the issue is on the individual. Though Ravindra has acquired financial success I would like to know where he stands with respect to Social status. I bet he has already been shown that in spite of his success and his sway in business he is still inferior in social status. Circumstances where this might have been made evident could be marriage, any religious ceremonies where he needed service of the bramhin priests, Was he able to secure a dwelling in an area owned by upper castes/bramhins. I think in this aspect presenting Ravindra’s story is a little askew. He (I can bet with all my life) is always inferior in social status, either you haven’t found the same from him or he hasn’t yet encountered them.
2. Are you willing to go ahead and expose the root cause of this problem. Have you dared to identify Hindu religion as the root cause. I will quote Babasaheb and rest my case
“All the same, it must be recognized that the Hindus observe Caste not because they are inhuman or wrong headed. They observe Caste because they are deeply religious. People are not wrong in observing Caste. In my view, what is wrong is their religion, which has inculcated this notion of Caste. If this is correct, then obviously the enemy, you must grapple with, is not the people who observe Caste, but the Shastras which teach them this religion of Caste.”
Comment by Sidd Valicharla — January 4, 2011 @ 10:48 pm
hi sir,
we all umredians are glad 2 say that our proud is goin 2 become popular worldwide..***RAVINDRA*** A magical man………..!
congrats & best wishes
Comment by rohit karoo — January 10, 2011 @ 1:39 am
Hi Anand,
The sixth annual book day at Ramaz Upper School in New York City will take place on Wednesday, March 23rd. We are focusing on India this year. The entire school will have read Q & A by V. Swarup. I just read your book which I enjoyed very much and am wondering whether you are available on March 23rd to participate in our program. We are located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Esther Nussbaum
Comment by Esther Nussbaum — January 19, 2011 @ 5:30 pm
[...] book [...]
Pingback by “Daily Show” viewers: learn more about INDIA CALLING | Anand Giridharadas - Columnist and Author of India Calling — January 24, 2011 @ 9:08 pm
My husband came to America from Mumbai,India in 1959 at age 7. He did not marry an Indian girl. We went back to India in 2008, his first time back in almost 50 years, stayed in Mumbai with a couple in their two bedroom flat for six weeks with a short trip to Goa. We are close with the Indian community in our little town, mostly motel owners, and continue to learn about the Hindu culture, my husband was raised Catholic in India. We also have hosted many Indian students who come here for the education, usually in computers, business, medicine, etc. I have started asking, since I have been to India, and saw the progression up close, “Why are you still coming here? We don’t exactly offer the American Dream anymore.” I applaud their dedication, but see them struggle with their visas and finding a place of employment. There are success stories, of course, but the real success would be- to be proud to go back home and help India in its path to a better future for all. It sounds like your book might open some eyes and maybe the kids will re-think their decisions as to where the REAL dreams can be found.
Comment by Vicki — January 26, 2011 @ 3:44 am
Hi Anand,
My daughter got me a copy of your book signed at your talk at Brown University. Thanks a lot.I saw your interview on Jon Stewart ‘s show and sent my daughter the link to watch.Then she mentioned that you were coming to Brown! Looking forward to reading the book, as soon as she finishes it, and sends it my way to Japan.
Best Wishes.
Sunita
Comment by Sunita Devadas — February 4, 2011 @ 7:27 pm
Hi Anand, like many other bibliophiles I too look forward to buying my copy of “India Calling”. It appears to be a promising read, although I hope you have not allowed yourself to be influenced by the extreme-leftists (ex-communists) who, though just a handful, tend to dominate India’s media and hence discourse.
@Sidd Valicharla: Your argument, though well intended perhaps, is wrong. Firstly, the caste-system is NOT ordained by Hinduism. Unlike the newer Abrahmic religions that are more rigid, have just one “book”, and proselytize aggressively, Hinduism is very old, very liberal, and whatever various people wrote over the years gets counted as part of its vast array of scriptures. To select the key BOOK (the shastras one needs to consider as the foundation of Hinduism), the yardsticks would be (a) what is most widely followed/read (b) what contains words of the supreme avatar. The Bhagwad Gita (most read/cited, maximum copies sold, and contains teachings of Krishna – the samoornavatar or Complete Avatar) thus would be a fair proxy for Hinduism’s “book”, and nowhere does it condone, encourage, or suggest casteism. Casteism is a social problem, just as apartheid/racism cannot be termed as Christian phenomena. That brings me to my second point: Dr BR Ambedakar’s words are often quoted selectively and then interpreted as convenient. The way I see it, he would rather have Hindu society reform. Fortunately, unlike the more rigid Abrahmic faiths (Islam or Christianity), Hinduism has always been open to reforms and changes. Politicisation certainly has made such progress more tedious, but the average Hindu is pretty much aligned to the philosophies of Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Ambedkar.
+
Comment by AP Keshari — February 8, 2011 @ 4:39 am
Anand, enjoying the book so far. Do you have images of any of the people or place you so vividly paint pictures of. I’ve found myself reading with Google maps close at hand to keep track of the geography you write about.
Thank you, Darren
Comment by Darren — February 9, 2011 @ 1:33 pm
I read your book and mostly liked it. I am an IIT grad who came to US in 70s so I could relate to many situations in the book. I had read your articles in NY Times so the book completed some of the narratives. The book helped me connect the dots on some of the changes going on in India.
The book loses its direction in the Anger part about Naxalite and PWG movement.Please check the statistics on history of Communist movement in India. Communists have received 7-10% of popular vote in last 15 national elections. They have never become a force and probability of their gaining power nationally on their own is zero. Duplicity in communist dealings highlighted by you should not come as a surprise at all. You must have heard of German ‘Democratic’ Republic.
You get some things wrong. Perhaps your exposure to Hindu ideas is superficial. Theory of Karma is all about action and reaction, and it gives complete freedom in the present moment on the course of action. What it tells is that what you do now determines your future.
Similarly the preoccupation with caste in any analysis related to India is a typical Western trait. Societies take time to change. Some of the changes have been taking place since a long time. After all, did your Brahmin paternal grandfather or grand mother object to their son marrying a daughter from a Bania caste? If you go by Bhagvad Gita which says the ‘Varnas (not Jathi) were created by Guna (natural proclivities) and Karma (actions). Apply that to your family and Indian people around you. You will be surprised to find most are not of the ‘caste’ they claim to be. Just as Dubeys from Ludhiana are not Brahmins. Both own businesses, so they are baniyas (or vaishyas)
Comment by Viraj S — February 11, 2011 @ 10:52 pm
I have devoured the two excerpts and am looking forward to the Delhi book launch and getting my hands on the whole book. As an ‘outsider’ who has now been in India for 40 years, I can relate so much to your initial bewilderment in settling down. After some time, you begin to love the place. Each day brings a new experience and that makes India such an exciting place in which to live. Congratulations. I hope this is the first of many books
Comment by isabel sahni — February 15, 2011 @ 11:27 pm
A beautiful analogy of the classic transformations with far reaching impact on a diversified nation that India represents – so eloquently attempted and expressed.
Comment by Usha Mujoo Munshi — February 21, 2011 @ 3:45 am
hi anand ,
we all are glad to say that we all people of UMRED are feeling proud about the succes of our freind RAVINDRA …. the way you wrote about him is fantastic..i read the book and i m sure about the succes… best of luck ANAND…
cheers…
Comment by rohit karoo — February 25, 2011 @ 8:17 am
Hi Anand, I have read your book. Being an Indian studying in the US I think I can understand both sides of the ‘who gets to write about india’ debate. And I would just like to say you are spot on in your book. Don’t let these fools tell you what to write. India as you said is big enough to fit everyone. And your voice actually makes more sense then the jabber a lot of my comrades make. I hope you continue writing the way you do and If you need a review from an unbiased indian then I’d be happy to give you one.
Comment by Vik — February 26, 2011 @ 5:11 pm
An nest yet sensitive portrayal of the cultural transition a developing nation must go thru….
I donated 7 copies to the local public library system in Albuquerque, NM
keep up the good work!
bomi
Comment by bomi parakh — February 28, 2011 @ 2:28 pm
Excellent work. Riveting. I am looking forward to the follow up.
Will you become an activist like Arundhati Roy? I think she is providing an important service but I understand it is an impossible one.
Thank you.
Comment by Cecelia — March 3, 2011 @ 10:28 pm
Anand, your book was an excellent read. As a 45 year old who has spent the first half of his life in India and the second half in the US, I’ve enjoyed the analysis you’ve put forth. In several instances I found literary expression for my thoughts, in others a refreshingly candid and insightful light being shed on questions I have wondered about. My children, a pre-teen and an older teen, have a great time with their relatives in India when they meet. But before this summer’s trip to Bombay, I’m going to give my teen your book to read so she can perhaps find expression to what she has observed as well as tickle her curiosity about things that have escaped her observation so far.
Thanks for writing this book.
Sanjay
Comment by Sanjay — March 6, 2011 @ 11:32 pm
This book was brilliant, simply brilliant. I grew up where Anand’s mother grew up in South Bombay, and reflected on my own life and journey to America and how India continues to pull at my heart strings. Anand’s observations about the new and old India and his writing style is just delightful. I would burst out laughing in many parts of the book. Can’t wait for his next book!
Comment by Raj Mitra — April 16, 2011 @ 1:32 pm
Hi Anand,
I came to your book not really sure what I was looking for. I am traveling to India soon and wanted to read memoirs on other people’s experiences there. I soon found India Calling to captivating. It was such an honest and vivid account of the biases you had towards your mother country. I, too, am traveling back to my mother country this year after 20 years of separation. Your book inspires me to open up my vulnerabilities coming into this journey, and I hope to learn many great lessons along the way.
Thank you for your work.
Ngoc T.
Comment by Ngoc — April 17, 2011 @ 9:46 pm
Anand, a thoroughly enjoyable book. Holding a mirror up to the changes being wrought in the lives of Indians in this brave new millennium makes for a riveting read. Your storytelling skills are superb.
You talk of the dichotomy of cultures – the chasm that separates Indians of your parents’ generation and Indians of today, and I find myself firmly boxed into the former category. Is it a true dichotomy or just the universal, and rather wearisome generation gap?
I do sometimes feel as your father does – a growing bubbling irritation when I visit Delhi these days. Yet I also feel as if India has outpaced me and left me behind so that I no longer belong.
Have recommended your book to fellow deracinated bharatvasis who, like me, are trying to come to terms with the new India.
Jaya
Comment by Jaya — April 22, 2011 @ 4:34 am
Hi Anand,
I had the privilege of attending your book reading here in New Delhi and I must add that the book is brilliant. Do let me know if you have reading and signing in Ohio some friends are extremely jealous since i got to meet you and get my copy signed
!!!
thanks
Kanaka
Comment by kanaka — May 7, 2011 @ 1:29 am
Just finished reading the book. Having grown up in India, lived “abroad” for twenty years and now back I could relate to everything…life in India as it was, as it now is and what lies in-between when you are away. Very perceptive and thought-provoking.
Comment by Kumud Tiwari — May 10, 2011 @ 9:53 am
Super read your book is, Anand. You held a mirror to my thoughts. Insightful. Thanks for it.
Comment by Suhas — May 18, 2011 @ 11:23 pm
Hi
I really enjoyed the book.It was quite insightful.It clarified what I have been thinking since my last visit to India in 2010: The Indian locals in the cities are turning into crass American consumers.
Well done.
Taariq Hassan
Comment by Taariq Hassan — June 1, 2011 @ 3:46 am
Hello,
I have done my doctorate on works of V.S.Naipaul and diaspora literature attracts me a lot. I went through excerpt from India Calling and also witnessed your interview on National Tv in India a few days back. It sounds quite reflective of the Indians abroad. I think you mentioned in that interview that you wanted this book to be translated in many more languages. I am a Gujarati and would love to do this work, of course with your permission.
Dr. Mukund Revadivala
Lecturer in English,
Arts & Commerce Mahila College,
Unjha (Gujarat)
Comment by Dr. Mukund Revadivala — June 2, 2011 @ 2:11 pm
A riveting read, no doubt, in spite of a predictable plot line.
Comment by I Me My — June 12, 2011 @ 9:35 pm
Hi dear Anand want to meet you soon….
with Ravindra…
Regards
Ravi ALAT
Comment by Ravi Alat — July 1, 2011 @ 7:03 pm
If you finding a real story as u want again from umrer
i am the one…wanna meet you soon…
Regards
Ravi Alat
Comment by Ravi Alat — July 1, 2011 @ 7:07 pm
Hi Anand,
AMAZING BOOK!! Just couldn’t put it down!!! haven’t read such a good book (I loved your writing style) in a long time – your book gave a wonderful insight about the new and modern India … looking forward to reading more books by you … Best Wishes!
Regards,
-anitha
Comment by Anitha K — August 11, 2011 @ 1:21 am
Loved the book! Definitely one of the best non-fiction books I ever read.
Other than being interesting and informative, the book is not about India only: it speaks for immigrants from/to other places as well. I’d even say that to certain extent, this book applies to me even more than it applies to the author (though I am not from India, and never been there).
Unlike the author, I was born and raised in my parents’ home country. It was me who decided to leave at the age of 20. I emigrated more than once. Both of my children were born in different countries, that they do not belong to, and will never live in. Their first language was the one of the country that they never even visited (my native). I want them to read the book, too. I recommend the book to all my friends, most of whom are also double-immigrants.
Thank you!
Comment by Gennadiy Kemelmakher — August 26, 2011 @ 9:26 am
Having read this excerpt and listened to your speech today at the Platform, i am quaking with excitement as I anticipate reading this book. An eye opener not only for nations in the process of rebirth, but for the individual soul, striving against circumstance to achieve potential. Thank you for this contribution to the common good of mankind.
Comment by Nnaemeka Nwachukwu — October 1, 2011 @ 6:18 am
Its great to see Nigeria become 51 today,it would be greater to see visionary youth of today take front roll in the building of Nigeria of our dream.Happy birthday Naija!!!
Comment by kazeem abiodun — October 1, 2011 @ 6:18 am
Like you rightly said in your speech at the Platform, we only celebrate, today, the independece of Nigeria as a country, but not our independence as individuals. There will be a second independence, that will give more meaning to the celebration of the first independence.
Comment by Seun — October 1, 2011 @ 6:19 am
hello,Nigeria’s independence come about with the positive thinking and dynamism of our heroes past. We need to see the positives of ourselves while been aware of our collective short comings. And finally we will have our real independence and consequently be exonorated. Thanks
Comment by oladimeji — October 1, 2011 @ 6:21 am
Hi Anand. Thanks for coming to Nigeria on our 51st independence at the Platform. i enjoy the challenge for the revolution in the India fashion. Nigeria’s main problem in my own opinion is the amalgamation of the north and south. For every step we take forward due to the enlightened south, the northerners with the fatalistic view and underdevelopment takes us backward. Yet the north wants to hold on to power and will not let go because of the oil in the south. This has not allowed meritocracy essential for development. A case in sight is the boko haram phenomenon
Comment by Gbemisola Boyede — October 1, 2011 @ 6:24 am
India has drawn enormous wealth from its culture-afterall we cannot demonize this concept called culture. Nigeria has failed to develop because it has failed to draw capital from its culture. We have lost our identity to religious bigotry, materialism and western imperialism.we need to resurrect the ”african thought” better said africanism before applying cultural relativism to complement our weakness. Nigeria is losing its identity.thankyou
Comment by Dapo Ojikutu — October 1, 2011 @ 6:25 am
Hope the book will be on sale in Nigeria and made accessible to our Leaders. I believe it will do them a lot of good. Keep up the writing.
Comment by Ajose Repguy Olufemi — October 1, 2011 @ 6:25 am
Greetings Anand, You are a Blessing to many and Your Book is so riveting and inspirational.
Hope to read and hear more from You.
Thanks.
Comment by Blogs On Blogger Directory — October 1, 2011 @ 6:26 am
I am certain ‘India Calling’ promises to be a great and inspiring read. I look forward to getting a copy soon.
Comment by Soji — October 1, 2011 @ 6:27 am
Nigeria has only expirienced collective Independence! Sadly, the independence of the Individual is a long way coming. The average youth has so many challenges, to overcome before his voice can be heard! But your Speech today, on The Platform, has broken a lot of barriers, most especially in my life!!! Thank You!!!
Comment by Abraham Oliseji-Ndidi — October 1, 2011 @ 6:30 am
Well so far so good not to say another thing, as you have said and i quote ‘the past is just a gentle suggestion, not a command.’ i wont dwell on the past, as we all know Nigeria is a developing country and has not gotten there but i am positive we will with people like me because i am breaking out of the norm with people like you around to blow my mind all the time. Thank you anand.
Comment by Adedokun tolulope — October 1, 2011 @ 6:31 am
India has drawn enormous wealth from its culture-afterall we cannot demonize this concept called culture. Nigeria has failed to develop because it has failed to draw capital from its culture. We have lost our identity to religious bigotry, materialism and western imperialism.we need to resurrect the ”african thought” better said africanism before applying cultural relativism to complement our weakness. Nigeria is losing its identity
Comment by Dapo Ojikutu — October 1, 2011 @ 6:32 am
Congratulations to our dear country Nigeria on this 51st anniversary of our independence from Britain. However as Anand rightly said I look forward to when we will celebrate independence of the individual Nigerian – the true independence, independence of the mind, independence of the self, mental independence. Thank you Anand.
Comment by chuka umenne — October 1, 2011 @ 6:32 am
Nigeria independece today is great, but we still have a long way to go. What we see today is that we were diliver from the hand of the British but have not been free from them. Curuption Increasing daily and room are not been giving to passion and creativity, including integrity. Also one of the thing that also affected the nation also is not been a Le to break away from unprofitable culture and lack of information that is able to change our mentality. Nigeria at 51 will be great cos the beutiful one a now born.
Comment by muyiwa — October 1, 2011 @ 6:33 am
hi! anand,love your book but i ges i’ll have to sit and read all over.as for my country Nigeria,i know we will get there someday.thanks
Comment by olanrewaju ojedokun — October 1, 2011 @ 6:40 am
Nigeria is 51 today. I am very positive about my country. The transformation has began. Other countries like India have transformed, so can Nigeria.
Anand your presentation at the Platform is yet another wake up call. It made me say again. Yes, I can!
Comment by Trisha Fom — October 1, 2011 @ 6:41 am
Wow.This is the second time I am listening to Mr. Giridharadas in Lagos.I will definitely read this book in the near future.I hope to write some sort of “Nigeria Calling”
Comment by Anthony Ekene Onyeahialam — October 1, 2011 @ 6:42 am
I want to really thank u sir for coming to my country Nigeria on this of our independence!your speech was exactly on point.The state of my country Nigeria is really deteriorating as the days goes by and like u said sir,”the past is just a gentle suggestion and not a command”great quote from u sir!
Comment by Umendu martins — October 1, 2011 @ 6:43 am
1960 earmarked the start of independent Nigeria though we have been living together for a long time. The second independence has started and the state of the mind of the citizenry changing to changing their predestined destiny to a self made one and taking care of self: not selfish but at thesame time selfless. Nigeria is Great and we’ll make it right.
Comment by Ajose Repguy Olufemi — October 1, 2011 @ 6:48 am
The Nigerian independence was a legislative coup by the leadership at that time to gain control of the country and use the existing framework for dependence to assert themselves and their interests over Nigerians.at 51years it’s still the same leadership such that we have a classic case of state capture, meanwhile the liberation of self will enlighten Nigerians see through the smokescreen that the leadership has created, this might take a long time but it is inevitable, because traditional and social media preaches the ideal to the mind and that sets the mind free.
Comment by Akinfolarin — October 1, 2011 @ 6:52 am
Anand, your presentation was very informative. it really was a wake-up call, truly an independence day gift. And Nigeria, this is out time for change.
Comment by Tosan Ogun — October 1, 2011 @ 4:42 pm
Hi Anand,
Am reading your book now, and must thank you for taking the effort to write and publish this. Loving it so far, don’t want it to end. Very apt observations about the changing face(s) of India and Indians. A great read (so far)…
Comment by Anusuya — October 9, 2011 @ 12:10 pm
Hi Anand,
‘India Calling’ is a justification of your name.Nearly after 8 months of its publication, I had the opportunity to read this wonderful book. This masterpiece connects. Foreigners with Indians. Indians with Indians.In their voyages to self discovery.It is refreshing.Illuminating.
Wish you good luck.
Comment by Gopabandhu Dash — October 23, 2011 @ 1:07 am
Today I was just trying to get something good on myTV and heard you on TVO about India’s corruption. You spoke very true.
This is one of the reasons, I decided to migrate to Canada. I miss my family,who is there in India. But I am frustrated with the systems. Did not pay bribe for a recognition,which I deserved.
I would love to see India free of corruption..
Good luck with your efforts .
GK
Comment by Gurpreet — December 8, 2011 @ 9:05 pm
Great work Anand!
India Calling is a great book. I haven’t read it all, just the first chapter. But it really connects with people who have left India and those who also have left their countries in search to earn money, education or in most cases marriages. I am looking forward to read the book and I am sure it offers a lot. I just want to congratulate on this wonderful journey of yours and just so you know that your observations at looking things is very innovative….
Comment by Annie — December 12, 2011 @ 3:05 am