Gurcharan Das

Traces India's economic and social transformation into a free-market democracy, sharing the stories of its top players while weaving in the author's own life experiences as a former CEO for Procter & Gamble India. Reprint.

India Unbound

on the subtle art of dharma

The difficulty of being good

Gurcharan Das turns to the Mahabharata in order to answer the question, why be good?, and discovers that the epic's world of moral haziness and uncertainty is closer to our experience as ordinary human beings than the narrow and rigid positions that define most debate in this fundamentalist age of moral certainty.

On the Subtle Art of Dharma

The Difficulty of Being Good

Gurcharan Das new book "India Grows At Night" postulates a liberal case for a strong India, for a strong leadership and system that ensures swift governance and justice. Das' work is rooted in the enlightenment philosophy of 18th century thinkers like Adam Smith and John Locke. So Das' strong state is not the autocratic states of Stalin or Mao and not even Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew. The book is timely as the country seems to be embroiled in an endless web of financial irregularities and political uncertainties. It draws from the original conception of the liberal state, essentially a product of the enlightenment thought process. In Das' own words, "It has three pillars: One, the ability to take quick and collective action; two, that action is bound by the rule of law and three, that action is accountable to the people. In India's case, these three pillars often act against one another. It is the mark of a weak state."

A Liberal Case for a Strong State

India Grows at Night

The Elephant Paradigm: India Wrestles With Change Is, Quite Simply, About An Ancient Civilization&Rsquo;S Reawakening To The Spirit&Mdash;And Potential&Mdash;Of Its Youth. Following Up On The Success Of India Unbound, Which Took Up The Process Of India&Rsquo;S Transformation In The 1990S From A Closed To An Open Economy, The Elephant Paradigm Ranges Over A Vast Area&Mdash;Covering Subjects As Varied As Panchayati Raj, National Competitiveness, And The Sacred And Philosophical Concerns Of The Average Indian Consequent To India&Rsquo;S Entry Into What The Author Calls The &Lsquo;Age Of Liberation&Rsquo;. While India May Never Roar Ahead Like The Asian Tigers, Das Argues, It Will Advance Like A Wise Elephant, Moving Steadily And Surely, Pausing Occasionally To Reflect On Its Past And To Enjoy The Journey. Gurcharan Das Employs The Essay Form To Sew Together Varied Facets Of This Remarkable Transition. Divided Into Three Sections, The Book First Establishes A Context For The Changes That Have Occurred, And Then Assesses How We Have Changed&Mdash;Or Not Changed&Mdash;In Our Public And Private Lives. As He Sweeps Over The Major Political, Social And Economic Developments, He Does Not Forget To Examine The Individual Beliefs And Aspirations That Underpin The Process. Crisp, Insightful And Witty, These Essays Capture Both The Disappointments And The Joys That Resulted From The &Rsquo;90S Revolution And Serve As An Essential Guide To The New India. &Nbsp;

India Wrestles with Change

The Elephant Paradigm

India's is a tale of private success and public failure. Prosperity is, indeed, spreading across the country even as governance failure pervades public life. But how could a nation become one of the world's fastest-growing economies when it's governed by a weak, ineffective state? And wouldn't it be wonderful if India also grew during the day - in other words, if public policy supported private enterprise? What India needs, Gurcharan Das argues, is a strong liberal state.

From Independence to the Global Information Age

Why should we be good? How should we be good? And how might we more deeply understand the moral and ethical failings--splashed across today's headlines--that have not only destroyed individual lives but caused widespread calamity as well, bringing communities, nations, and indeed the global economy to the brink of collapse?In The Difficulty of Being Good, Gurcharan Das seeks answers to these questions in an unlikely source: the 2,000 year-old Sanskrit epic, Mahabharata. A sprawling, witty, ironic, and delightful poem, the Mahabharata is obsessed with the elusive notion of dharma--in essence, doing the right thing. When a hero does something wrong in a Greek epic, he wastes little time on self-reflection; when a hero falters in the Mahabharata, the action stops and everyone weighs in with a different and often contradictory take on dharma. Each major character in the epic embodies a significant moral failing or virtue, and their struggles mirror with uncanny precision our own familiar emotions of anxiety, courage, despair, remorse, envy, compassion, vengefulness, and duty. Das explores the Mahabharata from many perspectives and compares the successes and failures of the poem's characters to those of contemporary individuals, many of them highly visible players in the world of economics, business, and politics. In every case, he finds striking parallels that carry lessons for everyone faced with ethical and moral dilemmas in today's complex world.Written with the flair and seemingly effortless erudition that have made Gurcharan Das a bestselling author around the world--and enlivened by Das's forthright discussion of his own personal search for a more meaningful life--The Difficulty of Being Good shines the light of an ancient poem on the most challenging moral ambiguities of modern life.

The Difficulty of Being Good:On the Subtle Art of Dharma

Traces India's economic and social transformation into a free-market democracy, sharing the stories of its top players while weaving in the author's own life experiences as a former CEO for Procter & Gamble India. 25,000 first printing.

India today is a vibrant free-market democracy, a nation well on its way to overcoming decades of widespread poverty. The nation’s rise is one of the great international stories of the late twentieth century, and in India Unbound the acclaimed columnist Gurcharan Das offers a sweeping economic history of India from independence to the new millennium. Das shows how India’s policies after 1947 condemned the nation to a hobbled economy until 1991, when the government instituted sweeping reforms that paved the way for extraordinary growth. Das traces these developments and tells the stories of the major players from Nehru through today. As the former CEO of Proctor & Gamble India, Das offers a unique insider’s perspective and he deftly interweaves memoir with history, creating a book that is at once vigorously analytical and vividly written. Impassioned, erudite, and eminently readable, India Unbound is a must for anyone interested in the global economy and its future.

Why be good? What exactly is Dharma? How does one practise it; and to what effect? Gurcharan Das’s superb exposition of the dilemmas and ambiguities inherent in the Mahabharata shows us how we can come to terms with the uncertain ethics of the world today; a world that is uncannily similar to that of the great epic.

Difficulty of Being Good

Richard Bernstein

The literary critic for The New York Times retraces the path of Buddhist monk Hsuan Tsang through Asia, vividly reconstructing the spiritual and physical journey undertaken by this famous holy man in the sixth century. 30,000 first printing.

Retracing the Path of an Ancient Buddhist Monk who Crossed Asia in Search of Enlightenment

Ultimate Journey

A Play in Three Acts

Larins Sahib

This majestic novel by the author of India Unbound is the extraordinary chronicle, rich in passion and incident, of a Punjabi family that is uprooted from its settled existence in Lyallpur by the violence of Partition and forced to flee to India. Everything is lost in the transition, but when a son is born into the family, hopes revive of rebuilding the family's fortunes, the efforts towards which mirror those of India itself as it struggles to build itself anew.

A Novel

A Fine Family

This Majestic Novel By The Author Of India Unbound Is The Extraordinary Chronicle, Rich In Passion And Incident, Of A Punjabi Family That Is Uprooted From Its Settled Existence In Lyallpur By The Violence Of Partition And Forced To Flee To India. Everything Is Lost In The Transition, But When A Son Is Born Into The Family, Hopes Revive Of Rebuilding The Family'S Fortunes, The Efforts Towards Which Mirror Those Of India Itself As It Struggles To Build Itself Anew.

Gurcharan Das

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