Rana Dasgupta - Capital - The Eruption of Delhi

business families

advantages of, 224–27

continuity of purpose in, 225–26

examples of, 6–16, 213–24, 227–34

relationships necessary for commerce, development of, 9–11

warrior ethos and, 212–13, 224–27

business-politician partnerships, 347–53

business process outsourcing (BPO), 60–69

American Express and, 61–62

entrepreneurship and, 62–64

GECIS and, 64–67

Gurgaon as home of, 64, 68–69

opportunities for middle classes offered by, 72–74

Quatrro and, 67–68

Raman Roy and, 60–62, 64–69

cafés, 80–81

Calcutta, 29, 166

capitalism

corporate, 77–81

global ( See global capitalism/globalisation)

Chhattisgarh, 260

China, 266, 267, 313, 399, 445

Chopra, Mickey, 7, 15, 353–61, 365, 366, 370–73

cinema, 176–77

Clinton, Bill, 93–94

coffee/caffeine, 80–81

colonialism, 140, 200, 259

Commonwealth Games, 2010, 23, 223, 275, 400–404

Communist Manifesto, The (Marx & Engels), 258

Congress Party, 56, 313, 314, 315, 318, 336, 337

construction workers, 265–66, 276

corporations

business process outsourcing (BPO) and, 60–69

corporate culture, impact of, 41, 77–81

hospital, 96–114

Japanese, and development of Indian industry, 10

private townships and, 3–4

corruption, 312–13, 317–18

Bofors financial scandal, 344

bureaucratic, 320–28

business-politician partnerships and, 347–53

middle-class resentment of, 406

countryside/rural India, problems of, 258–71

creativity, 82

credit, 9

Cultural Revolution, China, 445

culture

Anglicisation and, 172–74

language and, 173–77

Partition and, 191, 193–95

Curzon, Lord, 164

customs services, 320–21

Dasgupta, Rana

attempts to visit father’s home, 46–48

family history of, 29–35

moves to Delhi, 35–36

police prostitution sting and, 307–10

Defence Colony, 177–85

Dehlvi, Sadia, 157, 158–63

Delhi

accelerated change in, 47–48

anti-Sikh violence following Gandhi’s assassination, 334–38, 339–42

architecture of New Delhi, 167–68

bohemian and alternative culture in, 39–43, 81–84

British decision to move capital to, 165–67

building contractors as aristocracy of New Delhi, 168–72

bureaucracy of, 319–28

business migration to, during Gandhi’s time, 317–18

cafés in, 80–81

corporate capitalism, impact of, 77–81

Defence Colony, 177–85

driving in, 17–21

elites in ( See elites/aristocracy)

families, stresses on, 115–33

“farmhouse” estates of elites in, 1–16

gay scene, 82, 90

globalisation and, 37, 39–46, 436, 443–46

Hindu mythology in, 195–200

history of, 149–56

hospital care in, 96–114

hyper-aggressive masculinity and violence in, 202–6

languages in, 173–77

legal system in, 158–59

liberalisation of 1991 and, 36–37

malls in, 117–18

as mature city, exemplifying world’s future, 433–39

middle classes in ( See middle classes)

Mughal dynasty and, 150–51

Muslims’ experience in, 157–63

Nadir Shah’s sacking of, 151

New Delhi, 150, 165–74

New York’s development compared, 434–37

Partition refugees in, 192–95

in poetry and literature, 151–54

poor in ( See poor and working classes)

pre-globalisation life in, 37–39

property price rise, in late 2000s, 404–5

rape and sexual violence in, 43–44, 138–40, 142–48

real estate wealth in, 364–73

rebellion against and reprisal by Britain, 1857, 154–56

roads and thoroughfares of, 17–27

as segregated city, 16–17

sewage system of, 430–31, 441–42

Shahjahanabad (Old Delhi), 150, 151–53, 155, 167–68

social life of, 16–17

walking in, 17–18

water system of, 426–33

working classes in ( See poor and working classes)

Yamuna River and, 423–31, 439–43, 446–48

Delhi Development Authority (DDA), 72, 288–89, 362

Delhi Metro, 40

Desai, Morarji, 315, 329, 331–32

devaluation, rupee of, 315

development indicators, 399

Dham, Vinod, 93

Dickens, Charles, 444

Diwali festival, 196

DLF, 3, 64, 362, 364

Dostoevsky, Fyodor, 225–26

driving, 17–21

by buses, scooters and rickshaws, 21

by car, 17–21

privilege and, 20–21

road deaths and, 21

drugs

in Bhalswa Colony, 247

elites and, 375–78

elites/aristocracy, 344–96

Anglicisation of, 172–74

building contractors of New Delhi as, 168–72

business-politician partnerships and, 347–53

centralised authority, relation to, 436–38

Chopra (fictitious name) interview, 353–61

drugs and parties of, 375–78

“farmhouse” estates of, 1–16

middle class resentment of, 399–407

plight of poor and, 271–73, 277

private townships of, 3–4

real estate wealth, 362–73

servants of, 263

spiritual problems with money and wealth, 378–96

emasculation of men, and hyper-aggressive behavior, 200–206

Emergency, 328–30

Engels, Friedrich, 258

England. See Great Britain

English language, 173–74, 176, 314

entrepreneurship

business process outsourcing (BPO) and, 62–64

warrior ethos and, 212–13

Fabian Socialists, 50

Facebook, 327

factory workers, 265–66, 271

families, stresses on, 115–33

famine, 313

Faridabad, 273

Fish Fry, 85

Five-year Plans in, 53, 54–55

flyovers, 23

food deficits, 313

Forbes, 364

Gandhi, Feroze, 314

Gandhi, Indira, 137–38, 290, 314–18, 328–34

achievements of, 316–17

assassination of, 331, 334

autocratic rule of, 328–31

leftward turn of, 315–16

loss of power, in 1977 election, 331–32

national emergency declared by, 328–30

1971 elections, 316, 328

populism of, 316

reelected, in 1980, 332

Gandhi, Rajiv, 56, 336, 344–45

Gandhi, Sanjay, 274, 330–31, 332, 361–62

Ganges River, 430, 440

gay scene, 82, 90

GE Capital International Services (GECIS), 64–67, 68

General Electric, 64–67

Genpact, 67

George V, King, 166

George VI, King, 50

Ghalib, Mirza, 155–56, 157, 160, 161

global capitalism/globalisation, 37, 39–46, 59, 95–96, 150, 436, 443–46

Americanization, 93–96

cheap labour exploitation and, 267–68

energy and utopianism in early years of, 39–43

factory workers, impact on, 266

intensity of daily life and, 44–45

spiritual impact on middle class of, 95–96

urban violence and, 43–44

Godfather (movies), 434

Golden Temple, Indian army storming of, 333–34

Great Britain

Delhi sepoy rebellion and British response, 1857, 154–56

disdain for legal system of, 158–59

water practices of, in Delhi, 427–29

Great Leap Forward, China, 445

Green Revolution, 261, 317

“Grimmest Situation in 19 Years” (Mulgaokar), 314

gross domestic product (GDP), 399

groundwater, 5–6, 425–26, 428, 431–32

Guha, Ramachandra, 94, 333–34

Gupta brothers, 367–70

Gurgaon, 3–4

business process outsourcing (BPO) firms in, 64, 68–69

kidney-stealing scheme in, 280

Singh/DLF’s development of, 362–64

worker housing, lack of, 273

gurus. See spiritual advisers