In 1938 the New York-based Institute of Current World Affairs awarded 23-year-old Phillips Talbot a fellowship with a mandate: visit South Asia and learn about the intricacies of life in India. Till 1950, Talbot graphically recounted the buildup to Indian and Pakistani Independence and the early experiences of the new states, in the form of several letters to the institute. Talbot's reports from the field, presented here in the original, offer a Kaleidoscope of ...
