Granta 57: India

Ian Jack introduces India's past 50 years, from nationhood through mid-life emergency measures crisis to its overwhelming potential. Twenty-two acclaimed writers wax pensive and lyrical: there's new fiction by Anita Desai, Amit Chaudhuri, Arundhati Roy, and R. K. Narayan; memoirs by Mark Tully, Nirad Chaudhuri, and Ved Mehta; pictures by Dayanita Singh; poems from Vikram Seth and Michael Ondaatje; an autobiographical account of the life of a pariah by Viramma; and a snippet of V. S. Naipaul's diary. All examine India's past, reflect on her present, and ponder her future now that her population--nearly a billion people--is on the brink of surpassing China's.