In only six decades since independence, India has gone from a place associated with some of the most wretched poverty on Earth to one that, economically, could dominate the 21st century. French examines the cultural foundations that have made possible a stunningly accelerated transformation from listless planned economy to capitalist and entrepreneurial powerhouse.

"A portrait of the collision between tradition and modernity in India, as told through the lives of the Brahmins in the holy city of Benares"--