The end of karma

By Somini Sengupta

Subjects: Youth, india, Women and democracy, Manners and customs, India -- Social life and customs, India, social life and customs, Democracy, Youth, Women and democracy -- India, New York Times reviewed, Social life and customs, Youth -- India -- History -- 21st century, India, History

Description: "A penetrating, personal look at contemporary India--the world's largest democracy at a moment of transition. Somini Sengupta emigrated from Calcutta to California as a young child in 1975. Returning thirty years later as the bureau chief for The New York Times, she found a vastly different country: one defined as much by aspiration and possibility--at least by the illusion of possibility--as it is by the structures of sex and caste. The End of Karma is an exploration of this new India through the lens of young people from different worlds: a woman who becomes a Maoist rebel; a brother charged for the murder of his sister, who had married the "wrong" man; a woman who opposes her family and hopes to become a police officer. Driven by aspiration--and thwarted at every step by state and society--they are making new demands on India's democracy for equality of opportunity, dignity for girls, and civil liberties. Sengupta spotlights these stories of ordinary men and women, weaving together a groundbreaking portrait of a country in turmoil."--Dust jacket.