Customer Reviews

India Arriving: How This Economic Powerhouse Is Redefining Global Business

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The known fact is that very few people have been able to appreciate India's potential and give credit to what it truly possesses in the manner Rafiq Dossani has done. But I feel slowly and steadily, the realisation of it being the destination for foreign investment is setting in people abroad and his book would be a great help in establishing a clear wave of understanding for India being a global power, centre of outsourcing, and potential partner with the United States.

I never thought it would be possible for an "economic history book" to be a page turner, but this one is! Dossani, a marvelously fluid writer, tells the story of India's economic transformation in a very engaging manner, while in substance going well beyond the conventional wisdom that one reads in the news and business journals. Reading this book feels like having an extended, wide-ranging chat with the author, who engagingly draws upon his careers as an academic, investment banker and journalist to provide insight into the many topics he covers. Dossani probes in depth into India's history, culture, corruption, religious strife, educational system, media and business models, and paints a complex picture of an amazing country with some serious question marks yet ahead of it. Dossani is not afraid to make some rather controversial assertions, which he backs up with both hard data and personal anecdotes. An illuminating and thought provoking book that should be read by any one doing business in or with India.

I read this book in two sittings as it was such an easy read. It was indeed a page turner. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I give a few reasons below:

1. Anecdotes, opinions and facts are dangerously intermingled. A casual or uninitiated reader can confuse one for the other. This is especially risky because the book is written by an academician, courses are likely to be taught and research papers are likely to be written based on this book, and not too far in the future opinions and anecdotes may be quoted as truth.

2. The title is catchy and timely as India is indeed arriving. That might be the only uncontested truth. However, there is no logical 'let alone scientific' progression on why and how this is happening. A set of chronologically ordered chapters would have helped.

3.There is lot of political bashing - Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Modhi and so on for their poor policies or lack of them but not much credit given to the Vajpayee or the Manmohan Singh governments for their positive moves. Alas, there is no mention of Narasimha Rao under whom the new changes actually started.

4. Extensive coverage of Hindu/Muslim difference in chapter 10 is not backed up, controversial, and appears to have been written with a strong bias. Sadly enough, for the most part this chapter, the way it is written, is irrelevant to the theme of the book.

5. The generalization of prevailing caste system in India is appalling. A casual reader would assume that in the 21st century the upper castes are calling the shots everywhere which is not known to be true. The exception quoted of Jayalalitha 'a Brahmin' in Tamil Nadu as the mistress of a former backward caste CM 'MGR' is false. MGR was a Menon and Menons by caste/profession were ministers in the royal court, and commanders in the royal armies.

6. References are skimpy at best. I would have expected a book coming from an academician and from a reputed place like Stanford University to be much better researched with significantly more references.

My overall opinion is that academics should be careful when writing books on their home countries. Readers would assume that, by default, these books are well researched. When they are not they can do more damage than good.


As an Indian living in the west I thought that with INDIA INDEED ARRIVING I could take a breather from answering questions to ignorant westerners about arranged marriages, caste system, Hindu/Muslim/Sikh/Christian wars in India, and vegetarian food. Books like this make it only harder to achieve that and take us a few notches down!

Not only is the book exciting to read but is timely and should be recommended as essential reading for anyone seeking to address the future growth of rural India. Dr. Dossani has unerringly pointed out why and how India can succeed--but also more tellingly how and why she could fail! We (overseas Indians) need more writers of this caliber to educate and inform.

Dr. Rafiq Dossani, a well-known scholar at Stanford University, is author of India Arriving: How This Economic Powerhouse is Redefining Global Business. In his book, Dossani highlights the contrasts of modern India, a country maturing as a nation but still pluralistic, and a country which is joining the global superpowers but growing in its own way.

Dossani discusses how India has the fourth largest economy in the world, a youth population larger than any other nation, and a thriving middle class. Yet, he notes, to many India also is a mysterious, exotic, and seductive land with a pluralistic society and unpredictable government.

The author believes that the entrepreneurial culture of India reaches far beyond its urban centers to small towns where innovation also flourishes. Dr. Dossani is correct when he states that many Americans are quick to recognize India as a center of outsourcing but fail to see India as an emerging global power with whom the U.S. should partner.

Before becoming an effective partner, Dossani notes, America must revise its policies toward India. India Arriving is an insider's view of India's economic evolution, business climate, and growing impact on the global market. Like myself, Dr. Dossani is optimistic that India will succeed in spite of its widespread poverty and political leadership.

By Gunjan Bagla
Author of Doing Business in 21st Century India

INDIA ARRIVING: HOW THIS ECONOMIC POWERHOUSE IS REDEFINING GLOBAL BUSINESS is a powerful `must' acquisition for any college-level library strong in global business trends. It provides an insider's view, coming form an expert in Indian affairs who helped introduce some of the most liberal reforms to the Indian government, and provides insights into the country's business climate, economic evolution, and impact upon world markets and processes. No serious global business collection should be without this.