A visionary look at the evolution and future of India In this momentous book, Nandan Nilekani traces the central ideas that shaped India's past and present and asks the key question of the future: How will India as a global power avoid the mistakes of earlier development models? As a co-founder of Infosys, a global leader in information technology, Nilekani has actively participated in the company's rise during the past twenty-seven years. In Imagining India , he uses his global experience and understanding to discuss the future of India and its role as a global citizen and emerging economic giant. Nilekani engages with India's particular obstacles and opportunities, charting a new way forward for the young nation. Nandan Nilekani is the cofounder and cochairman of Infosys Technologies, Ltd., and the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India. A graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology, he has received a number of prestigious awards, including the Joseph Schumpeter Prize, and has been recognized for his technological and economic innovation by the likes of Time and Forbes . Thomas L. Friedman has won the Pulitzer Prize three times for his work at the New York Times.  He is the author of six bestselling books, among them  From Beirut to Jerusalem,  winner of the National Book Award, and  The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization.  He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his family. Table of Contents   Copyright Page Title Page Dedication Foreword   Part One - INDIA REIMAGINED IDEAS THAT HAVE ARRIVED INDIA, BY ITS PEOPLE FROM REJECTION TO OPEN ARMS - The Entrepreneur in India THE PHOENIX TONGUE - The Rise, Fall and Rise of English FROM MANEATERS TO ENABLERS HOME AND THE WORLD - Our Changing Seasons THE DEEPENING OF OUR DEMOCRACY A RESTLESS COUNTRY   Part Two - ALL ABOARD IDEAS IN PROGRESS S IS FOR SCHOOLS - The Challenges in India’s Classrooms OUR CHANGING FACES - India in the City THE LONG ROADS HOME ERASING LINES - Our Emerging Single Market MOVING DEADLINES   Part Three - FIGHTING WORDS IDEAS IN BATTLE THE SOUND AND THE FURY - Our Biggest Fights JOSTLING FOR JOBS INSTITUTIONS OF SAND - Our Universities A FINE BALANCE   Part Four - CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR IDEAS TO ANTICIPATE ICT IN INDIA - From Bangalore One to Country One CHANGING EPIDEMICS - From Hunger to Heart Disease OUR SOCIAL INSECURITIES - The Missing Demographic THE FOREST FOR THE TREES - India’s Environment Challenge POWER PLAYS - In Search of Our Energy Solutions THE NETWORK EFFECT   CONCLUSION Acknowledgements NOTES A TIME LINE OF KEY EVENTS INDEX VIKING CANADA Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Canada Inc.) • Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa   Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England   Simultaneously published by the Penguin Press, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.     Copyright © Nandan Nilekani, 2008 Foreword copyright © Thomas L. Friedman, 2009   All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.     .S.A.   Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication data available upon request to the publisher.   eISBN : 978-1-101-02454-6   American Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data available   Visit the Penguin Group (Canada) website at www.penguin.ca   Special and corporate bulk purchase rates available; please see www.penguin.ca/corporatesales or call 1-800-810-3104, ext. 477 or 474. For Nihar, Janhavi and Rohini, who keep me grounded FOREWORD E VERY TIME I go to India, people ask me about China. Every time I go to China, people ask me about India.Who’s going to win between these two emerging giants? I always give them the same answer: India and China are like two giant superhighways, and each has a big question mark hanging over its future. The Chinese superhighway is perfectly paved, with sidewalks everywhere and streetlights and white lines ne