TamarindArt Presents: Mira Kamdar’s latest book Planet India

TamarindArt Presents: Mira Kamdar’s latest book

Planet India
How the Fastest Growing Democracy is Transforming America and the World

Monday 26 February 2007 6 - 8:30pm

New York, New York February 22, 2006- Join Mira Kamdar at TamarindArt this Monday, February 26. Kamdar will speak on her new book which focuses on the future direction of India and her interviews with Indians from all walks of life. This is your chance to acquire your own personalized copy of Planet India.

India is rising – financially, culturally and politically – and the transformation of this nation of 1.2 billion people will have a colossal impact on the world. As Smriti Mundhra, a young Indian-American filmmaker stated, “Who needs the American audience? There are only three hundred million people here.” Understanding India has never been so important. PLANET INDIA: How the Fastest Growing Democracy is Transforming America and the World by award-winning author Mira Kamdar, is a comprehensive view of India and the cultural and economic impact it is having – and will continue to have – on the United States and the world.

Mira Kamdar is the author of the award-winning memoir Motiba's Tattoos: A Granddaughter's Journey from America into her Indian Family's Past. She is a frequent commentator on India, and her work has appeared in numerous publications, including The Times of India, The International Herald Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, World Policy Journal, Seminar, and American Theatre magazine. A senior fellow at the World Policy Institute at the New School in New York and an associate fellow at the Asia Society, she has provided expert commentary and been interviewed for radio and television outlets as diverse as CNN International, the BBC, Public Radio International, American Desi TV, South Asia World, and TV Asia. She lives in New York City with her husband and two children.

Below are some highlights from Planet India

The new and powerful India is technologically savvy, culturally hip, politically powerful and poised to challenge the dominance of the western world. But despite this rapid rate of expansion and growth, India is still beleaguered by poverty and an overwhelming scarcity of resources. Kamdar tells us how even in a modern city like Mumbai, it is a common sight to see the new grand luxury homes of India’s powerful elite side by side with the huts and shanties of India’s overlooked poor. Naresh Fernandes, editor-in-chief of TimeOut Mumbai commented, “I am not optimistic about the future of this city at all, even though I love it dearly.”

But there is hope: in 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to put national resources into play to revitalize Mumbai. And rural India has become home to perhaps the most experimental and revolutionary methods of idea sharing and trade. Agribusiness giant ITC has installed several communal information kiosks called e-Choupals to bring local farmers access to innovative farming techniques as well as new trading partners from around the world.

These two sides of India will have immense repercussions on the world stage—both good and bad, and at this point it’s unclear which side will dominate. As the world invests in the future of India, our fate becomes inexorably tied to the fate of India. As Kamdar puts it succinctly, “So goes India, as goes the world.”

For more information on this event contact TamarindArt at 212-990-9000 ext 105 or visit our website at www.TamarindArt.com