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| name = The Elephant Paradigm: India Wrestles with Change

Revision as of 04:23, 9 November 2019

The Elephant Paradigm: India Wrestles with Change
AuthorGurcharan Das
LanguageIndian English
GenreCollection of essays, non-fiction
Publication placeIndia
ISBN9780143029106
Websitehttps://penguin.co.in/book/non-fiction/the-elephant-paradigm/

The Elephant Paradigm:India Wrestles with Chnage is the collection of essays written by journalist and economist Gurcharan Das published as book.[1] In this book, Das covers a larger area looking at how India is wrestling with change. This book sequel of India Unbound. [2][3]

Synopsis

The book is divided into three parts where first part is about India’s economic liberation, second part is about behaviour in private space and third part is about behaviour in public spaces.

First part of the book namely The temper of our times consists of three chapters. First chapter, our liberating nineties, talks about economic liberation of India and how India changed in those transition period. Second chapter, understanding our times, is all about learning lessons from the economic history of India and about mistakes which should not be made. And the last chapter, what is wrong with our temper, is about asking questions to Indians why their temper is so low.

Second part of the book has been given name as Private Space. This part starts with the chapter called Laptops and Meditation which deals with balancing personal life and work. Next chapter is A Sentimental Education which is about educational values like how to write and how to read well and commitment to liberal values, followed by chapter Playing To Win in which Das shows steps on how to win in a competitive market.

The last and third part of the book is Public Space. Seventh chapter Learning to live, living to learn is about reforms needed by Indian education system. Eighth chapter deals with agricultural reforms which are required in India and how local self-government should work in rural India. To reform or Not to reform is the ninth chapter of a book in which the author blames poor governance of India and their weak advocacy to reform. Tenth chapter namely What slows us down deals with connection of capitalism with democracy and subsequently, last chapter, making the nation competitive discusses the issue of competitiveness in the open market from the perspective of political leaders aka policy makers of India.

Overview

As a sequel to India Unbound, this book is collection of 11 essays which are seguing from one to another within each section.

"The Elephant Paradigm: India Wrestles with Change" is about an ancient civilization's reawakening to the spirit and potential of its youth. The Elephant Paradigm ranges over a vast area and covering subjects as varied as panchayati raj, national competitiveness, and the sacred and philosophical concerns of the average Indian consequent to India's entry into what the author calls the 'age of liberation'. Das argues that India may never roar ahead like the Asian tigers but it will advance like a wise elephant which is moving steadily and surely, pausing occasionally to reflect on its past and to enjoy the journey.[1]

Reception

N. R. Narayana Murthy, at the launch of the event, said that every civil servant should be made to read it.[4] The Statesman categorized the book under 5 must soul-stirring books written by Gurcharan Das.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "The Elephant Paradigm | Gurcharan Das". gurcharandas.org. Retrieved 2019-09-10.
  2. ^ January 20, Sanjoy Narayan; January 20, 2003 ISSUE DATE:; July 6, 2003UPDATED:; Ist, 2012 16:29. "Book review: Gurcharan Das's 'The Elephant Paradigm'". India Today. Retrieved 2019-09-10. {{cite web}}: |first4= has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ^ "The Elephant Paradigm - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  4. ^ "Wrestling with change". The Hindu. 2003-01-03. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2019-09-11.
  5. ^ "5 must read soul-stirring books by Gurcharan Das". The Statesman. 2017-10-03. Retrieved 2019-09-11.