To read this book is to realise that the best "stories" in India are not necessarily what you find in most of the newspapers or even the popular magazines; and that news does not have to be mostly bad news. In a country that is not short of problems, Civil Society has managed to focus on many heartwarming stories: people's initiatives, the change achieved by committed individuals, unsung heroes. To be sure, the backdrop is provided by the many problems that people face in this country, but to read these stories is to realise that the solutions are not necessarily with either governments or companies; ultimately, they are with the people themselves. And they are not just the ones who emerge on the national stage and get name-recognition and soon invitations to government committees; they are out in distant fields and it is up to the story teller to go and find them.
Rita and Umesh Anand have proved one other thing: that magazine stories retold within the covers of a book are not like yesterday's newspaper; they get a fresh lease of life, indeed acquire lasting value. The text lifts one's spirits, the pictures complete the story telling…And in the telling, they might well help these unsung heroes find ways to achieve scale; for others to try me-too efforts; and thereby to achieve replication in different ways. As always, the story-teller becomes a part of the story.
My compliments to Nimby Books for a wonderful piece of work.
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