A discussion based on the new book co-edited by Nayanika Mathur and Ravinder Kaur (Penguin)

Panelists: Prathama Banerjee, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies; Satish Deshpande, University of Delhi; Ravinder Kaur, Copenhagen University; and Nayanika Mathur, Oxford University

Chair: Amita Baviskar, Ashok University

‘The People’ and ‘New India’ are terms that are being invoked freely to both understand and govern India as she enters her 75th year of post-colonial nationhood. Yet, there is little clarity on who these people of India really are, what they do, their desires, histories and attachments to India. Similarly, the phrase ‘New India’ is used far too loosely to explain away a dangerously confounding politics. In this book, some of the most respected scholars of South Asia come together to write about a person or a concept that holds particular sway in the politics of contemporary India. In doing so, they collectively open up an original understanding of what the politics at the heart of New India are – and how best we might come to analyse them.
  
(Collaboration: Ashoka University; and Penguin India)