Speakers: Vivek Dehejia and Rupa Subramanya, authors of the recently published book of the same title
Moderator: Jonathan Shainin, Senior Editor, the Caravan magazine
Do seatbelt laws save lives in India? What was the real reason for the BJP's defeat in the 2004 election? Why did Nehru ignore the Chinese threat in 1962 and how does this relate to why people risk their lives to cross railway tracks in Mumbai? Using the tools of economics, and borrowing from such fields as psychology and anthropology, Indianomix presents new angles to old mysteries, to argue that when you dig down into the deeper mechanisms, India makes sense after all
Indianomix: Making Sense of Modern India
Speakers: Vivek Dehejia and Rupa Subramanya, authors of recently published book of the same title
Moderator: Jonathan Shainin, Senior Editor, Caravan Magazine
On Tuesday, 5th February 2013 at 6:30 pm in the Centre's Conference Room - I
Indianomix: Making Sense of Modern India
VivekDehejia and RupaSubramanya
Published by Random House India in December 2012
Have capitalism and the market economy made Indians more apathetic and uncaring?
Do seatbelt laws save lives in India?
What if India hadn't been ruled by the British?
What was the real reason for the BJP's defeat in the 2004 election?
Why did Nehru ignore the Chinese threat in the lead-up to the 1962 war and how does this relate to why people risk their lives to cross railway tracks in Mumbai?
What are the root causes of violence against women? Is a skewed sex ratio one of them?
Do dictatorships really deliver better economic growth than democracies?
What role do culture and religion play in the modern economy?
In Indianomix, Vivek Dehejia and Rupa Subramanya focus the lens of popular social-science on the confusing mass that is India. Using the methods and tools of economics, as well as borrowing from fields as varied as psychology, anthropology, political science, sociology, and religious studies, Indianomix examines a wide range of historical and contemporary questions to provide a unique, fresh insight into the country. In the process, Dehejia and Subramanya find answers to entangled questions and discover new angles to old mysteries.
Written with sharp, insightful and humorous prose, Indianomix reveals how life's everyday situations - even something as simple as trying to flag down a taxi - can be better explained when you analyse them with an economic outlook. It isn't about figuring out where the stock market is heading, what the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy should be or providing a dissertation on the need for economic reforms. Instead it is about debunking myths and calling into question bits of conventional wisdom about India - and showing that when you dig down into the deeper mechanisms hidden below all the confusing patterns in the country, India makes sense after all.
