Everybody loves a good drought

The news of the number of Indian billionaires in the Forbes list increasing every year should be heartening, right? Actually not, the major portion of the country (generally dubbed "The other India" by the foreign press) only seems to be getting poorer by the day. They are dispossessed of their only belongings of land and livestock, their identities fudged and don't even get a decent hearing in the media or any other public fora.

A friend who saw me reading this book, brushed it off as "Poverty porn" just by looking at the cover! This book is anything but that. It is based on the research of eminent journalist and Magsaysay award winner Palagummi Sainath. For those who read "The Hindu", he would be no stranger. The book written in the late 90s covers the unheard stories of the farmers, tribals, landless labourers and project evacuees from the states of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

As you keep reading the book, you keep wondering if this book was really written in the 90s because similar stories are still being reported in the media. Looks like we have still not learnt any lessons. This book hits out at our conscience without being sensationalist. Plain reporting of facts that I assure will get you thinking.

You should read the book to learn about real extent of development in India. Something needs to be done about these issues...