M Rajshekhar

Fractured/Earth. Reportage on a planet without equitable or sustainable development.

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Despite the State: Introduction, recommendations, and readers’ feedback
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On the Drafting of the “Forest Rights Act”, 2006
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Why farmers burn their fields in Punjab despite knowing that it worsens the fog over north India

November 24, 2015 · by m rajshekhar

On the evening of 7 November, a deep fog settled along the stretch of 250 kilometres between Sirsa and Gurgaon in Haryana. By ten in the night, it was thick enough to make travel almost impossible. In places, visibility shrank to not more than five metres.State transport buses cut their trips short. Cars, trucks and buses which kept moving towards Delhi did so cautiously, taking as long as six hours to cover a distance of 150 kilometres.

That night, the consensus among drivers and locals was that the fog was not natural but man-made. Not only does this part of India have several industrial units and power plants, in the months of October and November, farmers in Punjab burn fields to clear the crop stubble left after their kharif harvest. A sudden nip in the air that evening appeared to have trapped the emissions from both industry and burning fields close to the earth.

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Out on 18 January, 2021

Reviews

Sophie Landrin (Le Monde): "... une plongée dans les failles béantes de la démocratie indienne, un compte rendu implacable du dysfonctionnement des Etats fédérés, minés par la corruption, le clientélisme, le culte de la personnalité des élus et le capitalisme de connivence. (...a dive into the gaping holes in Indian democracy, a relentless account of the dysfunction of the federated states, undermined by corruption, clientelism, the cult of the personality of elected officials and crony capitalism)."

Uday Balakrishnan (Biblio): "...a critical enquiry into why representative government in India is flagging."

N Kalyan Raman (Scroll.in): "...strives for an understanding of the factors that enable governments and political parties to function in a way that is seemingly hostile to the interests of the very public they have been elected to serve, a gross anomaly in an electoral democracy."

KRA Narasiah (The Hindu): "M. Rajshekhar’s deeply researched book... holds a mirror to Indian democracy, and finds several cracks."

Rohit Chandra (Open): "...excels at connecting the local to the national."

T Sundararaman (Seminar): '...refreshingly new writing on the play between India’s dysfunctional democracy and its development challenges...' (Fifth review on page)

Suhit Kelkar (Business Standard Weekend): "A patient mapping and thorough analysis of the Indian system's horrific flaws..." (Image here)

G. Pramod (Malayala Manorama): "33 മാസം, 6 സംസ്ഥാനങ്ങൾ, 120 റിപ്പോർട്ടുകൾ: ജനാധിപത്യം തേടി മഹത്തായ ഇന്ത്യൻ യാത്ര... (33 months, 6 states, 120 reports: Great Indian journey in search of democracy…)"

Mohammad Sajjad (www.qindeelonline.com): "Hindustan ki maujooda siyasi wa maaashi soorat e hal"

Sandeep Dikshit (The Tribune): "What emerges is the image of a state that is extractive, dominant, casteist and clientelist."

Manas Chakravarty (www.moneycontrol.com): "...reporting at its best. The picture that emerges is of a democracy that has been hijacked by vested interests, interested only in power and pelf."

Allusions/Mentions

"Urban History of Atmospheric Modernity in Colonial India". Mohammad Sajjad's review of "Dust and Smoke: Air Pollution and Colonial Urbanism, India, c1860-c1940", in Economic & Political Weekly.

"Books as corrective to 'two plus two is five'", Suresh Menon in The Hindu.

"Westland closure: Titles that are selling fast and a few personal recommendations," by Chetana Divya Vasudev, Moneycontrol. (And then, this happened. In February, a year after DtS was released, Amazon decided to shutter Westland, which published the book. The announcement saw folks rushing to buy copies of Westland books before stocks run out.)

"Time to change tack on counterinsurgency" by TK Arun, The Federal.

"All Things Policy: The Challenges of Governing States" by Suman Joshi and Sarthak Pradhan, Takshashila Institute (podcast).

"The Future of Entertainment", Kaveree Bamzai in Open.

"On What India's Watching", Prathyush Parasuraman on Substack.

"The puppeteers around us", Karthik Venkatesh in Deccan Herald.

"Will TN election manifestos continue 'populist' welfare schemes?", Anna Isaac for The News Minute.

"Why wages-for-housework won’t help women", V Geetha in Indian Express.

"The poor state of the Indian state", Arun Maira in The Hindu.

Book lists

"Ten best non-fiction books of the year", The Hindu.

"Twenty-One Notable books from 2021" Sanjay Sipahimalani, The Wire.

"What has Southasia been reading: 2021 Edition", Himal Southasian.

Interviews

The News Minute. "Democratic decay at state level: Journalist M Rajshekhar on book ‘Despite the State’"

Asialyst. "Covid-19 en Inde : "des décès de masse" dont un "État obscurantiste est responsable"

Book discussions

26 December, 2021: At Rangashankara, Bangalore, a discussion with Dhanya Rajendran.

16 November: At Rachna Books, Gangtok, a discussion with Pema Wangchuk.

29 August: Books In The Time of Chaos, with Ujwal Kumar.

21 May: Hyderabad Lit Fest with Kaveree Bamzai and Aniruddha Bahal.

28 March: Paalam Books, Salem, Tamil Nadu.

19 March: The News Minute, "Citizens, the State, and the idea of India"

6 March: Pen@Prithvi, with Suhit Kelkar

20 February: A discussion between scholars Usha Ramanathan, Tridip Suhrud, MS Sriram and me to formally launch Despite the State.

6 February: DogEars Bookshop, Margoa.

5 February: The Polis Project, Dispatches with Suchitra Vijayan.

30 January: Founding Fuel, "Systems Thinking, State Capacity and Grassroots Development".

25 January: Miranda House Literary Society

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