This book is the last of the series of books VS Naipaul has written on India. His understanding of the contemporary India he visited is remarkable. The way he connects the then realities to the history of India is what makes this book most interesting. His writing has been a mix of talking to regular people, understanding their lives, connecting those events to the notable history of India, and establishing that association for the readers to interpret. He has just presented what he learned from the exchange without passing on a moral judgment of the situation. Being someone who has grown up in the 80s and 90s, I found some of the descriptions very apt to the character of the period. There was a limited supply of funds, and people were aspirational and followed a line of thinking that claimed to fulfill that dream. The book covers, Bhimsena, Shivsena, British India's influence on Calcutta, Lucknowi Nawabs, the history of the Sikh gurus and their influence, operation Bluestar, the anti-brahmin movement in the South, the story of Kashmir and the Maharaja, etc. There is a chapter dedicated to Women's Era magazine and the emergence of new thinking of women who are tied to traditional India and want to look at it in a modern interpretation. VS Naipaul has discussed India nicely, is all I can say.
A recommended book.
