Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond

Old, new; rich, poor; rural, urban; Brahmin, Dalit; Hindu, Muslim - India is a country of contrasts, and Temptations of the West explores this diversity in all its forms. From the empty corridors of a grand but guestless western-style hotel to improvised shacks clustered along muddy roadsides; from the polite efficiency of stewards on board one of India's private airlines to overpopulated tenements and one-roomed school buildings where no teachers ever set foot; from sites of religious worship to those of mass burial; from road blocks to voting booths - as Mishra's travels take him from one part of India to another, and then beyond, to Pakistan and Afghanistan, he paints a clear and often alarming picture of disarray and disorder. All too often, superficial changes seem simply to paper over the cracks, and beneath modern facades, the old tensions still exist.