The Cost of LivingFrom the bestselling author of The God of Small Things comes a scathing and passionate indictment of big government's disregard for the individual. In her Booker Prize-winning novel, The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy turned a compassionate but unrelenting eye on one family in India. Now she lavishes the same acrobatic language and fierce humanity on the future of her beloved country. In this spirited polemic, Roy dares to take on two of the great illusions of India's progress: the massive dam projects that were supposed to haul this sprawling subcontinent into the modern age--but which instead have displaced untold millions--and the detonation of India's first nuclear bomb, with all its attendant Faustian bargains. Merging her inimitable voice with a great moral outrage and imaginative sweep, Roy peels away the mask of democracy and prosperity to show the true costs hidden beneath. For those who have been mesmerized by her vision of India, here is a sketch, traced in fire, of its topsy-turvy society, where the lives of the many are sacrificed for the comforts of the few. From the Trade Paperback edition. |
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Adivasi Anurag Singh ARUNDHATI ROY Bargi dam Baroda Bhaiji Bhai Big Dams cash compensation China command area cost crores Dalits dam-builder Delhi destroy Deterrence displaced drainage drinking water Environmental fight forest Gandhi going government of Gujarat government of India government’s Greater Common hilsa Hindu human Independent Review irrigation Irrigation Sector Review Kevadia Colony kilometers Kutch Kutch and Saurashtra land landless Large Dams live Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Maheshwar Maheshwar dam McCully Medha Patkar million monsoon Morse Narmada River Narmada Valley Development nation Nehru never nuclear bomb nuclear tests nuclear weapons official Pakistan percent political Project-Affected Rahul Ram Rehabilitation Policy Report salinity Sardar Sarovar dam Sardar Sarovar Narmada Sardar Sarovar Projects Sardar Sarovar reservoir Sarovar Narmada Nigam Saurashtra Shoolpaneshwar Sanctuary Single Authority story struggle submerged Supreme Court There's thing thousand told Valley Development Projects villages waterlogging what’s Wonder Canal World Bank