About the Book
Winston Churchill famously believed that India could never be a nation. In 1917 the British War Cabinet had concluded that it would take at least 500 more years for the Indians to be able to govern themselves. But just 30 years later India proved them wrong, when Nehru made his famous 'tryst with destiny' midnight speech. Of course, multifarious problems continue to plague India, but over the last 69 years it has made a remarkable journey. Mihir Bose is a midnight's child (born around the time of India's Independence) who grew up in Nehru's India and lived under Indira Gandhi's Emergency. Since becoming an NRI, he now draws on the experience of his annual travels back to India to reflect on how India has changed since it won its epic freedom struggle against British rule. It may be poised as an economic superpower and lauded for being the world's largest and highly vibrant democracy but Bose also brings out why ‘one size fits all’ has never been the Indian story, a story that can surprise both foreigners and Indians alike. He visits the site of Gandhi's historic salt march; returns to his father's birthplace in what is now Bangladesh; has a reunion with several of his former schoolmates from Bombay; talks to midnight's grandchildren and ponders the intriguing and unsung contribution to Indian history of “phoren” women from Sister Nivedita to Sonia Gandhi. Yet, while there is much to celebrate in how India has defied the predictions of doom when the Union Jack was brought down and the Tricolour unfurled, Bose's personal, nuanced and trenchant book shows that it would be naïve to pretend that the bright morning we all hoped for has yet dawned. The question mark in the title signifies not doubt about India's future, but recognition that there is still far to go.
About the Author
Mihir Bose is an award-winning journalist and author with 29 books to his credit. His History of Indian Cricket was the first book on an Indian theme to win the prestigious English Cricket Society's literary award. Bose writes and broadcasts on social, historical and sport issues for the BBC, Financial Times, Sunday Times, London Evening Standard, History Today and many international broadcast outlets. His most recent books are: The Spirit of the Game — How Sport Made the Modern World and The Lost Hero: A Biography of Subhas Bose. He has been the BBC's first Sports Editor, contributing to all BBC outlets including the World Service. Bose was chief sports news correspondent for the Daily Telegraph and also wrote on race, immigration and India. His presence has been felt in nearly all major UK newspapers, several business publications, and radio and television programmes. He has an honorary doctorate from Loughborough University for outstanding contribution to journalism and the promotion of equality.