Democracy on the Road: A 25 Year Journey through India
Timed to coincide with a pivotal general election, Ruchir Sharma draws on over two decades of criss-crossing India to paint a richly observed picture of how the world's largest democracy actually functions. He's covered campaigns in virtually every major state, clocking up distances that would circle the globe, and this book is the distillation of all that restless travel. It's an exhilarating ride. Sharma journeys alongside a lively group of fellow writers, stopping to speak with farmers, shopkeepers, and chief executives from Rajasthan to Tamil Nadu, and securing interviews with figures as contrasting as Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. The range of voices is striking. What sets this account apart is its closeness to the action, both the grand political theatre and the quieter human stories behind it. Sharma unpicks the layered forces that have shaped Indian politics for generations: family dynasties and caste loyalties, economic pressures, rampant corruption, the outsized cultural influence of Bollywood, and the curious power of religious figures. Together, these elements help explain how leaders have risen and fallen since the era of Indira Gandhi. The book's underlying conclusion is a quietly heartening one. At a time when democratic norms are weakening in various corners of the globe, India's system, for all its contradictions and chaos, continues to hold. Sharma makes a convincing, grounded case for why that matters.
- Author: Ruchir Sharma
- Publisher: Penguin Allen Lane
- Genre: Journalism & Media Studies
- ISBN: 978-0670092208
- Pages: 352 pages