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Democracy on the Road

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 On the eve of a landmark general election, Ruchir Sharma offers an unrivalled portrait of how India and its democracy work, drawn from his two decades on the road chasing election campaigns across every major state, travelling the equivalent of a lap around the earth. Democracy on the Road takes readers on a rollicking ride with Ruchir and his merry band of fellow writers as they talk to farmers, shopkeepers and CEOs from Rajasthan to Tamil Nadu, and interview leaders from Narendra Modi to Rahul Gandhi.

No book has traced the arc of modern India by taking readers so close to the action. Offering an intimate view inside the lives and minds of India's political giants and its people, Sharma explains how the complex forces of family, caste and community, economics and development, money and corruption, Bollywood and Godmen, have conspired to elect and topple Indian leaders since Indira Gandhi. The ultimately encouraging message of Ruchir's travels is that, while democracy is retreating in many parts of the world, it is thriving in India. Elections & Political Process Essays Political Science Politics & Government Socialism
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This is a wonderfully well written book spoilt by the inability of the narrator to live through its pages. Pratik Sharma coughs, wheezes and repeats several lines with disdain that would surely make the author cringe at its apathy.
The book in itself was such s revelation and having a narrator be someone who has travelled and lived through the Indian diaspora will have been useful. The author talks of the deep experiences from north to south, east to west of India: only for the narrator to struggle pronunciation, of names such a those of former MP Kanimozhi and the german word “Schadenfreude”. I will buy the book now that this painful rendition leaves me no other choice but I hope Audible chooses its narrators better.

Great book but terrible narration

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Narration was poor. Clearing of throat, flawed pronunciation at places and repetition of lines erodes the impact of story line.
Book presents an oversimplified analysis of Indian democracy. Caste based portrayal of the drivers of Indian democratic system is a very unidirectional, shallow and archaic assessment. Today's Indian democratic agenda gets driven by economic ambitions of the youth and the subversion of electoral processes. Criminalization of politics that started in Indira Gandhi's times continues to pull back the growth agenda which both the farmers and the urban population so desperately want and well meaning politicians are not able to deliver. That also acts as a deterrent to well meaning and capable minds to enter into the political system. Absence of these perspectives oversimplifies the assessment of Indian democracy.

Poor narration. Story lacked depth of analysis

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