India in the Age of Ideas is not a book/novel in the conventional sense, as it is a compendium of articles written and published in print media by the author, Sanjeev Sanyal, over the last decade. But it is in an innovative format to write a book as it was easy to read a bunch of articles which tell a story.

The book is divided into three sections - Indian history, Urban Dynamics in India and Economics, fields which the author is known to have interest and expertise in. All these fields are covered under the umbrella of “Complex Adaptive Systems,” that which involves dynamic interactions and relationships and whose individual entities do not sum up to the entire system, unlike a Newtonian system. Since there is a tendency to look at history, urban dynamics/planning and economics as a static planned system which can be entirely explained or simulated, it was refreshing to see it from this perspective.

As a history buff, I enjoyed reading the first part the most, in spite of it containing a few rehashes from his other books (which was the case for the other sections as well). Particularly interesting ones were on the need to have the Independence Day speech from different locations in India and the need to rewrite history books, for which the author deserves a lot of credit.

The articles under urban dynamics stressed on the importance to develop cities by using a framework which can adapt to changes over time and the need for institutions to be an integral part of any city/town rather than being walled away both ideologically and physically. While I agree with both these points, the repetition of the same in most of the articles was tedious.

Lastly, the ones under Economics were a bit abstract and esoteric, but nevertheless impactful. Looking at the world from an economic perspective makes one aware of the challenges countries face in terms of debt, maintaining fertility rate and so forth.

Overall, a well-organized book giving us an insight into the various aspects through which the author looks at India, and one which makes us want to create positive change in these fields.

Originally published here.