Changing India: Insights from the Margin

India is changing, profoundly and inevitably. But what direction should it go? Here are people contributing to India's transformation, working at the margins, pushing across frontiers of need. Their stories offer insight, hope and also throw light on the key question: what role does religious conversion have in bringing change? What factors lie behind it? Can it be positive? Does it have a place in the modern world? Throughout the twentieth century, every one of India's leaders, from Vivekananda to Vajpayee, from Mahatma Gandhi to the Nehru-Gandhis, has been in the business of trying to change India for the better. India is changing, profoundly and inevitably. But in what direction should it go? And who are the agents of change? The politicians, the media, the environmentalists, the technocrats, the religious leaders, the Internet whiz-kids, the missionaries...? Here are stories of people who are contributing to India's transformation. They work at the margins, pushing across frontiers of need. For example, the young parents who have pioneered medical care for children with special needs, the former rock singer who is now working for the environment, the NRI who catalysed India's telecom revolution, the village women who have transformed health care in their communities. Their stories offer insights and hope for the future. They also throw light on another key question: what role does religious conversion have in bringing change? What factors lie behind it? Can it ever be positive? Does it have a place in the modern world? The writer's reflections on these issues, and the stories of his friends, are fresh and appealing. The issues he raises are significant. "I arrived back in India to work, straight from university. Like everybody else, I wanted to do my bit in the changing India. But I didn't know how...In the last 35 years I have made a lot of friends and seen their work. I want to share their stories, to learn what kind of contribution can help to transform India."

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Ram Gidoomal CBE; Introduction; Acknowledgements; 1: Coming Home: India in the Sixties; 2: Kerala: the Beginnings of Christianity in India; 3: Coromandel: the Spread of Christianity in India; 4: Unravelling Caste: Walking through Villages in Andhra Pradesh; 5: Working with the Community: Rural Change in Maharashtra; 6: Taking Sides: Pioneer Work with Marginalised Children; 7: 'Your Passion for These People': Tribal Transformation in Orissa; 8: Neglected Sisters: the Riddle of the North East; 9: Urban Poverty: Different Approaches in the Delhi slums; 10: Work, Worship and Witness: Healing the Environment; 11: In Two Worlds: the Contribution of the Diaspora; 12: Change is Inevitable: But What Is It? 13: Conversion: What Kind of Change Does It Bring? 14: Changing India: What is the Goal? For Further Reading

About the Author :
Robin Thomson was born in Mussoorie, India and has spent the last thirty five years working in India or travelling between India and the UK. He is married to Shoko and they now live in London, where he works at Satya Bhavan, a Diaspora resource centre.

Review :
"Unlike most books written by Westerners about India, Robin Thomson's sympathetic and gentle book nevertheless goes to the heart of the questions facing our country today." Professor Prabhu Guptara; "Though this book is bound to raise Hindu eyebrows it is well worth a read since it discusses carefully the all important and hotly pursued issue of the day in religious circles - conversion." Bimal Krishna Das; Secretary, National Council of Hindu Temples, UK; "Easy, pleasant reading... breadth and objectivity to unravel complexities of development, conversion and change." Dr Vindo Shah; Emmanuel Hospital Association, New Delhi