HT Picks; New Reads

On the reading list this week is a book on Doordarshan that’s a time capsule of a bygone era of television watching in India, and a volume that traces how India attempted huge transformations under conditions of universal suffrage

The original voice of Indian television

This week’s pick of interesting reads includes a book on Doordarshan and the early era of television in India and a volume that traces how India attempted huge transformations even as it stayed democratic. (Akash Shrivastav)

175pp, ₹395; Om Books International (A time capsule of a bygone era)

Long before remotes ruled our palms and algorithms curated our choices, there was Doordarshan — the singular, soulful voice of Indian television. In the days of black-and-white screens and fixed evening broadcasts, families across the country gathered around their TV sets not just for entertainment, but for a shared cultural ritual. From 6pm to 10pm, India paused. News bulletins shaped opinions, Sunday serials inspired conversations, and educational programmes lit sparks of learning in the most unexpected corners. Spanning over three transformative decades, this book is a time capsule of that bygone era. Sheila Chaman, whose career grew alongside the medium, takes us behind the scenes of Doordarshan’s rise — from modest beginnings to becoming a unifying force across the subcontinent. Through vivid recollections and untold anecdotes, she brings to life the people, programmes and pioneering spirit that made DD not just a channel, but a national memory. Whether you’re reminiscing about the charm of old jingles, the gravitas of news anchors, or the dance dramas that unfolded like poetry on screen, this is your journey home. For the older generation, it is a walk down memory lane. For the younger, it is a gentle invitation to rediscover their roots in a quieter, slower India, one frame at a time.*

India’s development odyssey

760pp, ₹1299; HarperCollins (Tracing how India attempted four concurrent transformations – building a state, creating an economy, changing society and forging a sense of nationhood – under conditions of universal suffrage.)

India’s journey has been distinctively ‘precocious’ in comparative terms. It opted for democracy before development and social change, promoted high-skilled services before and over low-skilled manufacturing and chose a globalization that favoured exports of talented people and short-changed the poor. The socialist state became an inefficiently capitalist one before providing the public goods of physical infrastructure and human capital. The outcomes have been surprising, with the country achieving success in creating and sustaining democracy, albeit flawed, and maintaining a modicum of order.

As the world gets radically upended, India’s development odyssey is at a critical juncture. A Sixth of Humanity is an attempt to trace how one of the largest and most diverse countries in the world, uniquely and daringly, attempted four concurrent transformations – building a state, creating an economy, changing society and forging a sense of nationhood – under conditions of universal suffrage.

Jointly written by political scientist Devesh Kapur and economist Arvind Subramanian, both of whom have decades of academic and policy experience, this book encompasses perspectives that span disciplines, experiences and geographies. Rigorously researched, carefully argued and lucidly written, this is the definitive development history of India. *

*All copy from book flap.