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Author

Gurcharan Das

Gurcharan Das is a renowned author, commentator and public intellectual.

Mr. Das is the author of two best sellers, India Unbound and The Difficulty of Being Good, which are volumes one and two of a trilogy on life’s goals. His latest book, Kama: A Riddle of Desire, is the third.

His other literary works include a novel, A Fine Family, a collection of plays for the theater, Three Plays and a book of essays, The Elephant Paradigm. His last book, India Grows at Night, was on the FT’s best books for 2013.

Mr. Das is general editor for Penguin’s multi-volume “Story of Indian Business.” He studied philosophy at Harvard University and was CEO, Procter & Gamble India, before he became a full time writer.

He writes a regular column for six Indian newspapers, including The Times of India, and occasional pieces for The Financial Times, Foreign Affairs and New York Times. He lives with his wife in Delhi.

Kama: The Riddle of Desire (Penguin) is available on Amazon.

As are India Unbound and The Difficulty of Being Good.

Articles by Gurcharan Das

US and India: Stop Your Uncivil Wars at Home!

Democracies are only as healthy as their institutions: A conversation with Gurcharan Das.

January 16, 2021

The Tragic Dilemma of the Indian Voter

Being neither a Modi fan nor a Modi hater is a position many Indians find themselves in.

May 12, 2019

A Hindu’s Reflections on Desire and the Human Condition

The beguiling world of kama, presented around the Western world’s Christmastime.

December 25, 2018

Message to India: We Have to Bring Up Our Boys Differently

That the #MeToo movement has spread to India with such rapidity is a tribute to globalization.

November 14, 2018

The Supreme Court of India Has Decriminalized Homosexuality

For 157 years, Indians have lived under a tyrannical colonial law that was contrary to our country’s ancient spirit.

September 15, 2018

India and the Politics of Anger

To rein in the present political “Age of Anger,” everyone must suspend the belief that their way of life is morally superior.

January 23, 2018

India’s Winter of Discontent

India’s improvement in The Ease of Doing Business index is the first tangible proof of Modi’s election promise of “maximum governance, minimum government."

December 3, 2017

Make a Life, Not Just a Living!

Passionate, self-forgetting work is the secret of happiness as well as of making a life.

October 14, 2017

India’s Choice: Opt For National Honor Or National Interest?

How to get out of the tit-for-tat pattern of past India-Pak encounters

November 3, 2016

Are You a Patriot Or a Nationalist?

Nationalism is on the rise from the United States to India and China. How to rein it in?

October 29, 2016

India: Confessions of a Disillusioned Libertarian

Will the political class of India step up or will the Indians themselves need to reform government and rid it of corruption?

January 12, 2013

India Grows at Night

How could a nation become the world's second-fastest growing economy despite having a weak, flailing state?

January 11, 2013

Ayn Rand and I

Did Ayn Rand's libertarian philosophy stem from improperly transferring her experience in revolutionary Russia to the western world?

September 29, 2010

Democracy and Capitalism in India

What is unique about India's experience with democracy and capitalism?

May 11, 2003

India: Go Nuclear to Win Respect?

Has India managed to gain global recognition by going nuclear?

March 1, 2003

India: Focus on China, Not Pakistan

Why should India concentrate on the threat of China rather than Pakistan?

July 30, 2002

India — Skipping the Industrial Revolution?

Can India advance to the IT age without first undergoing an industrial revolution?

November 18, 2001

India’s Growing Middle Class

Will India be able to build a middle class as backbone for its economy?

November 5, 2001

India on the Brink of Change

How did the 1991 financial crisis help to reshape India's static economy?

September 1, 2001