An Introduction to Changing India An Introduction to Changing India Culture, Politics and Development Sirpa Tenhunen and Minna Säävälä Anthem Press An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company www.anthempress.com This edition first published in UK and USA 2012 by ANTHEM PRESS 75-76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK and 244 Madison Ave. #116, New York, NY 10016, USA Copyright © Sirpa Tenhunen and Minna Säävälä 2012 The moral right of the authors has been asserted. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tenhunen, Sirpa. An introduction to changing India : culture, politics and development / Sirpa Tenhunen and Minna Säävälä. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-85728-805-9 (hbk. : alk. paper) – ISBN 0-85728-805-9 (hbk : alk. paper) 1. India–Economic conditions–1991– 2. India–Politics and government–21st century. I. Säävälä, Minna. II. Title. HC435.3.T463 2012 954.05’3–dc23 2012026359 ISBN-13: 978 0 85728 805 9 (Pbk) ISBN-10: 0 85728 805 9 (Pbk) Cover image © Sirpa Tenhunen This title is also available as an eBook. CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Chapter 2 Young Nation, Old Civilization 9 Chapter 3 Unity in Diversity 15 Chapter 4 Caste and Kinship: The Keys of Interaction 33 Chapter 5 Political Transitions 53 Chapter 6 Political Alternatives 71 Chapter 7 Population Giant 89 Chapter 8 Between Poverty and Affluence 117 Chapter 9 Economy, Labor and Production 141 Chapter 10 New Technology: A Shortcut to Development? 157 Chapter 11 Growth Burdens the Environment 171 Chapter 12 Conclusion 183 References 189 Index 203 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The expertise that this book builds on has been accumulated during two decades of research in and about India. We would like to acknowledge the guidance and cooperation provided by innumerable colleagues, collaborators and friends in India, Finland, the United States, the Netherlands and other countries, both during our research projects and when writing this book. Among the most important persons to thank are villagers in Janta and Gopalapalli and urbanites in Kolkata and Hyderabad who were our primary guides to Indian realities and without whom this book would never have materialized. In the academic world, Prof. Emeritus Asko Parpola has been an inspiring and erudite supporter and encouraged us to complete the book. We also like to thank following people for their expertise, granted in interviews and discussions when preparing for this book: Virendra Pal Singh (Assam University), Arul Aram (Anna University, Chennai), Ravinder Kaur (Indian Institute of Technology), Suresh Babu (Centre for Research and Environment), N. S. Siddhartan (Institute of Economic Growth), Nilabja Ghosh (Institute of Economic Growth), Sir Ratan Tata Fellow Parmod Kumar (Institute of Economic Growth), Bharat Karndad (Centre for Policy Research, National Security Studies), Amiya Bagchi (Institute for Development Studies, Kolkata), and Smita Gupta. We are thankful for Rana Sinha, Kasturi Basu and Marie-Louise Karttunen who have all helped us with English idioms and expression in various stages of the manuscript. Rana Sinha translated the original Finnish manuscript into English which we have further developed and expanded into this book. We would like to thank the Finnish Cultural Foundation for granting us the funding to write a book, Muuttuva Intia, on the changing Indian society in 2005. We are thankful for the Academy of Finland where we both have worked as researchers as well as our current employers, the University of Helsinki (Sirpa Tenhunen) and the Population Research Institute in the Family Federation of Finland (Minna Säävälä), for providing us with the necessary intellectual and practical environment for developing and writing this book. Our special thanks go to the editors at Anthem Press for their belief in this book and their useful ideas, hard work and perseverance throughout the editing process. Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION India has long fascinated Western imagination, and trade routes from Europe have been linked to the Indian subcontinent for millennia. Today India is part of world economy more than ever before. Since the 1990s, India has emerged as one of the leading global economies, continuing to be one of the fastest growing economies. The state has liberated the economy, and infrastructure and communication systems are improving. Yet, despite having its own space flight program, India remains a developing country plagued by widespread child malnutrition, gender discrimination and caste hierarchies. Many features of Indian culture and society continue to be prominent even in the midst of changes, albeit accompanied by new interpretations and tensions. India is also visible and tangible outside of South Asia. People of Indian origin are among the largest migrant groups in the world, from the Caribbean and Malaysia, to the United States, Europe and the Gulf States. Migrant Indian populations keep up with their Indian identity and cultural practices, even when they have lived in their host societies for centuries. Cultural, social, and political transnational connections of migrant Indians link them with their country of origin and increase the need to understand how India as a nation-state is evolving and making itself recognized globally. India’s growing international importance—economically, politically, and culturally—has been accompanied with a widening need to understand India’s diversity, changes, and continuity. The idea for this introductory book evolved from our experiences of teaching diverse audiences about contemporary India from business people and civic organizations, to students of various disciplines. What unites these various audiences is their desire for a holistic understanding of contemporary India. For instance, issues of health and population do not merely concern health professionals but also business people and environmental activists: population issues determine the size of the market and contribute to environmental burden. This book is also intended to be used by students of Asian and Indian studies, development studies, and various social sciences when in need of a wider understanding of development, culture and society in contemporary India.