Contents: Introduction/Krishan Kant. I. Polity: 1. Democracy: from consolidation to fluidity/Ravinder Kumar. 2. Secularism: the importance of Democracy/Romila Thapar. 3. Gandhi and Nehru: an intertwined legacy/B.R. Nanda. 4. Parliament: a mixed balance-sheet/Subhash C. Kashyap. 5. Rule of law: protecting the weak against the strong/M.N. Venkatachaliah. 6. Federalism: the ascendancy of regional parties/S. Sahay. 7. Civil service: continuity and change/P.C. Alexander. 8. Foreign policy: a critical introspection/J.N. Dixit. 9. Defence: a profile of five decades/Jasjit Singh. II. Economy: 1. Fifty years of development policy in India/Arjun Sengupta. 2. 50 years of progress in Indian a agriculture/M.S. Swaminathan. 3. Industry: from regulation to liberalization/Tarun Das. 4. Science: new frontiers and beyond/Raja Ramanna. 5. Science and technology: impressive strides/U.R. Rao. 6. Technology: surmounting cultural hurdles/P.V. Indiresan. 7. Entrepreneurship: the Indian Mindset/Sunil Handa. 8. Information technology: the knowledge industry/Ashok Soota. III. Society: 1. Society: tradition and autonomy/T.K. Oommen. 2. Minorities: many-splendoured contributions/Asghar Ali Engineer. 3. Women: from equality to empowerment/Vina Mazumdar. 4. NGOs: an alternative Democracy/Ashoke Chatterjee. 5. Education: uneven progress, difficult choices/Tapas Majumdar. 6. Population: the quest for stabilization/Ashish Bose. 7. Oh To be in India/Rahul Ram. 8. India: a dialectic of opposites/A.M. Khusro. IV. Culture: 1. Literature: signing in different scripts/K. Satchidanandan. 2. The languages: a multicultural plurilingual country/D.P. Pattanayak. 3. Music: from the traditional to the modern/Sheila Dhar. 4. Dance: revival, reiteration and renewal/Devesh Soneji. 5. Art: from enchantment to interrogation/Ranjit Hoskote. 6. Theatre: from metropolis to wasteland/Samik Bandhyopadhyay. 7. Cinema: the unstoppable chariot/Chidananda Das Gupta. 8. Archaeology: filling the blanks/M.C. Joshi. 9. Architecture: absorption and evolution/Achyut Kanvinde. 10. Culture: the crafting of institutions/Kapila Vatsyayan. 11. Media: the mirror and the market/Hiranmay Karlekar.
"Sponsored by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, this is a volume commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of India's independence. It presents a comprehensive picture of the developments over the past half-a-century in various spheres ranging from constitutional governance, federal relations, rule of law, national defence and economic growth, to education, architecture, archaeological heritage, literature, music and the media.
"Policy-makers, critics and scholars who have dominated their fields and in a sense helped create the India of today, have contributed to this book. Taken together, their essays provide a unique overview of the recent history of the country.
"While the volume seeks to celebrate India's achievements, it is also a clear-eyed look at various aspects of national life, indicating failures and areas of weakness. For all individuals and institutions interested in modern India, this is an indispensable book." (jacket)
[Hiranmay Karlekar is a well known Journalist, Novelist. His books include In the Mirror of Mandal : Social Justice, Caste, Class and the Individual.]