India in a New Key—Nehru to Modi: 75 Years of Freedom and Democracy, targeted at a global audience, takes the reader on a journey through the history of India from Independence to the present times. The author, Narain D Batra is puzzled as to why the new-found freedom did not break this huge and diverse country called India and nudge it towards authoritarianism, as was the case with so many other newly independent countries of Asia and Africa. To unpack the mystery of India’s resilience and evolution as a constitutional democracy, he looks in depth into important developments and issues during the tenures of all Prime Ministers from Nehru to Modi. He tries to look at all the trials and tribulations which India encountered, against the backdrop of its evolution as a vibrant democracy and a major global economy. He argues that Partition was the price paid for freedom, and for India, it was an asset more than a loss. By creating Pakistan, Jinnah unencumbered India from the weight of the two-nation theory. India started its voyage on a positive note, it could now engage with democracy unhindered. Nehru, ‘a master of creative illusions’ taught Indians to think big and gave them a sense of self-respect. India took great strides as a nation under his stewardship. The history of India since then is a story of its experiments with freedom and democracy.
The book examines three major themes of modern Indian history. Part one deals with the initial years and explains how the Indian leadership was able to negotiate through the horrors of Partition and its after-effects. Our leaders at the same time were laying the foundations of India’s constitutional democracy. He credits Nehru for being instrumental in bringing the essence of European Enlightenment in the form of a secular constitution and democracy to India.