Backstage : The Story Behind India’s High Growth Years by Montex Singh Ahluwalia



I picked up this book with great enthusiasm. I made a silent prayer that hope it isn’t a political play on economics and to my joy it isn’t.

 I truly enjoyed the starting chapters, that detailed the author's early years. It set me up well to read the book. I too agree with Aung San Suu Kyi, that Mr. Ahluwalia made an excellent choice in Mrs. Isher Ahluwalia being his wife.

 The book covers Indian economy from 1980 to 2014. The entire journey saw lots of leadership and economic changes. These changes have been captured beautifully, by providing the relevant political context in which the economic changes were being made.

 My personal favorite is when the author was reviewing a speech that Rajiv Gandhi was to deliver. The speech talked about non-violence being deeply rooted in our value system. To this, the author observes that the statement is exaggerated, as the history of India is full of violence. After thinking about it for some time, Rajiv Gandhi responded, "Well, that may be true of the practice, but nonviolence as a principle has been embedded in our culture. Principles are important, even when we don’t always live up to them."
  
 The book does require a  basic understanding of the economic principles and tools. Anyone looking to beat the COVID lockdown with a refresher on the economic history of our country, I say go ahead.

 A great side effect for me was that I started discussing a few of these topics with my 8 and 13-year-old. As of now, we are debating about Operation Blue Star and where did LTTE get their funding from?

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