Book: Democracy on the Road: A 25-Year Journey Through India
Author: Ruchir Sharma
Publisher: Penguin
Pages: 388; Price: Rs 999
Ruchir Sharma is a US-based Indian and the lead investment strategist at Morgan Stanley. The book revolves around how the author, along with some of his friends in the Indian electronic and print media, travelled around India during elections — something they have been doing for almost three decades. And, this book is a compilation of the observations that they have made over the years. For Sharma, all this started during the 1979 election campaign in Bijnor, Uttar Pradesh. At that time, his grandfather, then a noted personality in the small town of Bijnor, took a young Ruchir for an election rally.
Each chapter is an interesting read as it gives a sneak peak into the behind-the-scenes story of each election. Political parties are either trying to remain in power or planning on routing their rivals in the elections to come. Hence, the election tours tell us the pulse of the Indian voters during those times. Though the results of past elections might be still vivid in the minds of the people, what makes it an interesting read is the personal interaction that Sharma and his friends have with the leaders. And Sharma is right when he says that politicians appear more transparent during election time.
The book covers all national elections from 1998 to 2014 and state elections during the same duration. Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal — Sharma and his friends have travelled to the nook and corner of these important states, speaking to the farmers, the sarpanchs and the locals. One cannot hide amusement when one reads about how difficult it was for the team to reach the interiors of the central Indian states each time their cars broke down and how they managed it.
Another chapter that can amuse the readers is their visit to the residence of then Bihar Chief Minister — Lalu Prasad Yadav. This book is a rollicking ride of Sharma and his team who interview the voters across social strata and also speak to leaders like Mayawati, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi.
The book is fast-paced as Sharma doesn’t waste time by making it boring by carrying out analysis of every elections as they are easily available in the public domain. The ultimate message that can one can get from all these travels is that while democracy tends to be retreating in some of the areas in the world, the picture in India is quite positive: Democracy is thriving!
With the 2019 general elections just around the corner, the joy of reading this book, rather than watching it on television or reading about them on social media is unexplainable.