Planet India

How the Fastest Growing Democracy Is Transforming America and the World

By: Mira Kamdar

Narrated by: Shelly Frasier

Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

A lively, indispensable, cutting-edge exploration of our stake in India's gambit to transform itself from a developing country into a global powerhouse in record time.

India is everywhere: Indian studios produce animated features and special effects for Hollywood movies; Indian software manages our health records; and Indian customer-service centers answer our calls. A country of English speakers and a free-market democracy, with the youngest population on Earth, India is not only the fast growing market for the next new thing, but a source for the technological innovation that will drive the global economy.

Yet India is also in a race against time to bring the benefits of the 21st century to the 800 million Indians who live on less than $2 per day. And it must do so in a way that is environmentally sustainable and politically viable on a scale never before achieved. If India succeeds, it will not only save itself, it may save us all. If it fails, we will all suffer. As goes India, so goes the world.

Like China, Inc., Planet India captures and catalyzes the growing interest in this rising power. With in-depth research, interviews, and provocative analysis, Mira Kamdar offers a penetrating view of India and its cultural and economic impact on the United States and the world. From Bollywood to the Indian diaspora to India's effect on global politics, she reports on the people, companies, and places shaping the new India. Kamdar examines the challenges India faces while celebrating India's tremendous vitality and the opportunities this Asian democracy has to shape its own and all of our destinies.

©2007 Mira Kamdar (P)2007 Tantor Media Inc.

Scratching the Surface

I thought this book was interesting, but it left a lot of pertinent information out. The sociological issues in India are a lot more important than most people realize. Towards the end of the book the author finally starts to talk about the caste system issues, but ever so slightly. The information is much better than most books, but after researching in West Bengal for a few months, I found this book a little sort on important details. The search continues.

mispronounciations abide

Sorry to go on and on but it should be noted that in a world where the rigor of political correctness and out of work actors abound that the zombie like reader did not make any attempt to pronounce the names or places correctly at all. This really bothered me, at least they could have done a bit of research to get it right, or better still how about hiring an Indian national... there are plenty of readers who could have pronounced properly.

Slanted, but enjoyable

You have to take this book with a grain of salt as the author reveals in less-than-objective prose her abject hatred of the Bush administration. Otherwise, the book rounds out the picture painted by the Friedman blockbuster. In its audio form, this book is an easy listen and an excellent educator for the current conditions in the country, dire or otherwise.

Disorganized

There is no unifying theme.

Couldn't stick with it...

I can't comment on this book much passed the first 2 hours - that's when I quit listening. It's so full of numerical facts and figures that it became extremely difficult to stay focused - it seems every third word is a number - 4 million of this, 6 percent of that, etc...I think the subject matter is excellent but the presentation is awful. This is the first book I "quit."

Blah, blah, blah

There are a few interesting tidbits that from time to time spice up this catalog of vapid nostrums. Find something better to read about India. I highly recommend Shantaram, or something by VS Naipaul.

A traveller's companion

I started this book before a trip to India and finished it afterwards. It was so full of information, that I wish I had read it TWICE before I left. This book really opened my eyes to the greatness of the Indian people, and this made my trip a truly memorable experience.