The Rise of Goliath: Twelve Disruptions

What can best illustrate India's journey in the last seven decades? Disruptions.Almost every decade of India's history since Independence has been marked by major disruptions. India became independent through an act of disruption-Partition-that killed millions in communal violence and turned many more into refugees. The turn towards a model of state-led economic development delivered as big a shock to the economy as did the food crisis or the spike in crude oil price. If the Emergency in 1975 shook the foundations of India's democracy the unprecedented balance-of-payments crisis of 1990 turned India towards a path of economic reforms. Just as the reservation of jobs for backward castes changed the idiom of India's politics the movement for building a temple for Ram drove India closer to becoming a majoritarian state. No less disruptive have been the telecom revolution the banking crisis demonetization and the launch of the goods and services tax.How did these disruptions impact India? How did they influence the rise of this Goliath?This is the story of twelve disruptions that changed India. The book also provides a peek into the kind of disruptions India could face in the coming years. Review Presents a riveting account of India's transformational moments. -- Nandan Nilekani chairman and co-founder Infosys and founding chairman UIDAI (Aadhaar)Mr Bhattacharya a brilliant financial journalist has written a novel and thoughtful analysis of India's economic policies since Independence. While I do not agree with all his answers he raises the right questions. -- Jagdish Bhagwati university professor Columbia UniversityA.K. Bhattacharya has written an engaging and informative account of the dozen economic disruptions that shaped modern Indian history as well as predicting those that might be about to arrive in the near future.The Rise of Goliath provides a first-rate guide to India's chaotic but inevitable rise as a true global giant. -- James Crabtree author of The Billionaire RajLucidly captures India's journey in the last seven decades. -- Vijay Kelkar vice-president Pune International Centre About the Author A.K. BHATTACHARYA-AKB to every journalist-set the bar for business reporting as the chief of bureau at theEconomic Times in the early 1990s when economic reforms raged. He had a ringside view to many other disruptions creative and otherwise during his four decades in journalism a journey that started when he switched careers after a year of teaching. AKB then went on to become the editor of thePioneer andBusiness Standard. He is nowBusiness Standard's editorial director and a writer of two long-running columns. This is his first book.