A portrait of incredible change and economic development, of social and national transformation told through individual lives. A rich tapestry of lives being altered by economic development, and an insider's look at many of the most important forces shaping our world today. Among the characters we meet are a broker of cows who must adapt his trade to a modernizing economy; a female call center employee whose relatives worry about her values in the city; a feudal landowner who must accept that he will not pass his way of life down to his children; and a career woman who wishes she could 'outsource' having a baby. Through these stories, Kapur provides a fuller understanding of the complexity and often contradictory nature of modern India. India Becoming is particularly noteworthy for its emphasis on rural India -- a region often neglected in writing about the country, though 70 percent of the population still lives there. Kapur builds intimate portraits of farmers, fishermen, and entire villages whose ancient ways of life are crumbling, giving way to an uncertain future that is at once frightening and full of promise.

Golden times -- Demographic dividends -- The shandy -- Garden city -- A drowning -- Blindness -- Goondagiri -- Dioxins -- Hard times -- Reality.