With barely 15 years left of its demographic dividend, India faces a stark possibility: growing old before it grows rich. Millions remain unemployed, underemployed, or trapped in precarious, low-quality work — a crisis that cannot be ignored. The authors argue that India must sustain 8 per cent annual growth by 2047 to secure its future and offer solutions to achieve it — job creation at the rate of nothing short of 10 to 12 million new non-farm jobs per annum. India must address the challenges of a structural economic crisis and simultaneously, its employment and education crises.
The Great Kanchana Circus by Vishwas Patil. Westland. Pages 392. Rs 599
World War-II is at its peak. The famed Great Kanchana International Circus is touring Burma when Japanese fighter planes bomb Rangoon and Mandalay, razing the British administrative and military installati ons to the ground and killing the local population. Kanchana Sarang Shine, proprietor of the circus company, risks her life to ensure a safe passage back to India for her 300-strong troupe, walking through treacherous mountains and jungles.
The Lane by the Temple and other stories by Rajesh Chander Sharma. Ukiyoto Publishing. Pages 233. Rs 350
This book by Delhi-based journalist Rajesh Chander Sharma is a collection of seven stories, short and long. And the long and short of it is that each one is a different portrayal of daily life — of different persons, different places, different problems. The first three stories belong to the wide and wonderful world of women, full of sacrifice, sorrow, suffering and satisfaction. While the fourth one is a sad love story, the next is a lovely and lively picture of happy hostel life. The sixth one, in a cheerful voice and playful tone, captures the highs and lows of tenant life in a cosmopolitan city. The last one is a tiny tender talk of childhood — and terror.