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Governors of Empire: The East India Company’s Chief Functionaries in India, Amar Farooqui

In April 1608, when a ship named Hector – belonging to the English East India Company – arrived on the shores of Surat in present-day Gujarat, no one foresaw how some of the merchants on board would go on to alter the course of history in India. From the moment of its docking to the Revolt of 1857, a succession of its eminent passengers helped transform the Company from a trading collective to a colonising juggernaut. In Governors of Empire, historian Amar Farooqui traces the journeys of each of these men undertook, from arriving on Indian shores, through acquiring territories using equal parts trade agreements and political deceit, all the way to returning to Britain considerably wealthier than before.

Beginning with Robert Clive, the self-proclaimed hero of the British imperial project who played a pivotal role in the annexation of Bengal, the book follows several important governors whose actions ultimately delivered India into the hands of the Crown. After Clive came Warren Hastings, who began his tenure as governor of Bengal and settled down to govern both Bengal and Bihar. His “rule” was followed by the regime of Charles Cornwallis, often portrayed as the golden age of British rule in India – a claim supported by colonially-sponsored historiography alone. After him, lesser-known figures like John Shore and Robert Hobart were followed by Richard Wellesley, under whom the system of “subsidiary alliances” became a regular feature of the Company’s expansionist policy in India.

Lord Moira came next and demolished the peshwai, destroying the rule of the Marathas in western India. William Bentinck’s governor-generalship then marked an interlude before a violent phase of large-scale warfare that completed the Company’s conquest of the subcontinent. Lord Dalhousie, who followed Bentinck, played a key role in the annexation of Punjab and Awadh, expanding the Company’s frontiers to cover swathes of northern India. He was succeeded by Charles Canning, the last governor-general to be appointed by the Company, and John Lawrence, the last of the Company’s old timers to rule over the Indian empire (he was crucial to the recapture of Delhi after the Revolt of 1857).

Through rigorously drawn portraits of the Company’s key functionaries, Governors of Empire brings to vivid life the story of the East India Company’s conquest of India through the lives and deeds of its governors.

A Sixth Of Humanity: Independent India’s Development Odyssey, Devesh Kapur and Arvind Subramanian

India’s journey has been distinctively ‘precocious’ in comparative terms. It opted for democracy before development and social change, promoted high-skilled services before and over low-skilled manufacturing and chose a globalization that favoured exports of talented people and short-changed the poor. The socialist state became an inefficiently capitalist one before providing the public goods of physical infrastructure and human capital. The outcomes have been surprising, with the country achieving success in creating and sustaining democracy, albeit flawed, and maintaining a modicum of order.

Four decades of economic dynamism and the emergence of a somewhat more capable Indian state has meant that it is able to build infrastructure and deliver the essentials of life to its population at scale-still not without disappointments, but a massive improvement over the past. Just as India’s aspiration has lifted to building ‘world-class’ statues, temples, bullet trains, airports and digital systems, the undermining of some of the real achievements of democracy, federalism and nation-building stand in the way.

As the world gets radically upended, India’s development odyssey is at a critical juncture. A Sixth of Humanity is an attempt to trace how one of the largest and most diverse countries in the world, uniquely and daringly, attempted four concurrent transformations-building a state, creating an economy, changing society and forging a sense of nationhood-under conditions of universal suffrage.

Jointly written by political scientist Devesh Kapur and economist Arvind Subramanian, both of whom have decades of academic and policy experience, this book encompasses perspectives that span disciplines, experiences and geographies. Rigorously researched, carefully argued and lucidly written, this is the definitive development history of India. There is no book remotely like it.

The Great Indian Brain Rot: Love, Lies and Algorithms in Digital India, Anurag Minus Verma

Welcome to the Indian internet – where meme templates turn into national anthems, influencers become demigods and dating apps curate our lives. In The Great Indian Brain Rot, Anurag Minus Verma dives into the chaotic pits of the country’s digital life, where every second Indian is chasing fame for fame’s sake, serving up a satirical feast of essays.

Anurag unpacks the bizarre world of “cringe” creators and the raw economics of virality. He writes of the relentless influencer hustle and the unsettling rise of fake followers, and mines through the toxic digital battlefield of online hate and the bewildering quest of young millennial Indians for love via screens in the age of cheap 5G data.

Determinedly exploring our profound loneliness despite being hyper-connected and exposing the caste and class politics behind our collective online “brain rot”, Verma taps into a nation in churn.

These essays challenge readers to question the true cost of “free” social media, the dodgy trail
of propaganda and the silent battles fought by those striving for authenticity amidst the relentless digital cacophony.

Farmer Power: The 2020-21 Movement, the State and Agricultural Reforms in India, Sudhir Kumar Suthar

In September-October 2020, around 300,000 Indian farmers marched to New Delhi to protest against three new farm laws by stationing themselves on national highways around the capital for over a year. This movement, the largest farmer assertion in recent times, with its firm commitment to democracy, civil disobedience and peaceful resistance, carved out a distinct political space for itself.

For over a decade prior, farmer groups had repeatedly tried to highlight agricultural issues neglected by successive governments. However, what transpired after 2020 was a unique moment in the history of world social movements.

Farmer Power examines the 2020-21 movement and delves into its evolution, history and what made it unique on a global scale. This book also looks into broader agricultural sector issues, including the challenges faced by small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, and the limitations of the procurement system. It seeks to highlight the policy interventions made by the Indian state in the past two decades on these issues. This comprehensive account is essential for anyone interested in the politics of agriculture, livelihoods, and rural scenarios.

The Outsider: A Memoir for Misfits, Vir Das

When comedian and actor Vir Das found himself stranded on a pier in Cozumel, Mexico, watching his cruise ship sail away without him due to visa issues, it became a metaphor for his life: he’s always been, and will always be, an outsider. Standing on that beach, he took in the absurdity of it all-broke, hungover, dumped, jobless, trousers full of sand. He knew the best way to deal with the situation wasn’t to retreat. It was to laugh.

Vir’s story is one of cultural dissonance and identity exploration. As a child, he bounced from India to Lagos, Nigeria, and back again. He navigated life between worlds, never quite fitting in.

You’ve heard stories of kids who despise boarding school, but have you ever heard the story of a kid who despised it so much they faked appendicitis and went through with the surgery to get out? That’s Vir. In Africa, he was the kid from India, and back in India, he was the kid from Africa. As the only Indian kid costarring in War and Peace on stage at Knox College in Illinois, his outsider status was undeniable. Whether he’s washing dishes at a Grand Lux Cafe in Chicago, navigating Bollywood, getting cancelled by an entire country and then embraced by that country all over again, or performing on stages from New York to Mumbai to Stavanger, Norway, Vir has learned to lean way into his place as an outsider, and to find humour and meaning on the fringes.

The Outsider is more than just a memoir about Vir’s rise to comedic fame; it’s a reflection on how being a misfit can shape one’s identity into something truly unique. Vir’s story speaks to anyone who has ever felt out of place, serving as a testament to the resilience and humour that can arise when you resist the urge to fit in and stay true to who you are.

The Tree Within: The Mexican Nobel Laureate Writer Octavio Paz’s Years in India, Indranil Chakravarty

The Tree Within is the enchanting story of Octavio Paz’s passionate love affair with India, where he served as Mexico’s ambassador in the 1960s. Immersing himself in the country’s rich cultural life and contemplative traditions, Paz travelled widely, forged deep friendships with some of India’s finest minds, and produced several of his most inspired poems and essays. It was here that he met the love of his life and experienced what he called his “second birth”.

Indranil Chakravarty reconstructs the inner journey of the poet by delving into multilingual archives, declassified diplomatic files, personal letters, and intimate interviews. Blending biography, cultural history, and literary criticism, The Tree Within is a testament to the enduring alchemy between India and the world through one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

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