The nation as a 'continuous conversation'

Through a series of essays, Rajeev Bhargava reflects on our times, what is good and bad, right and wrong. His book is a treatise to the inquiry: Have we lost our way?

Between Hope and Despair: 100 Ethical Reflections on Contemporary India
Author: Rajeev Bhargava
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Pages: 352
Price: Rs 699

Writers can be conscience keepers. Some conscience keepers are novelists, like George Orwell. Others, politicians like C Rajagopalachari. The commentary and clarity of their essays make them relevant even today. In a collection of hundred essays, Rajeev Bhargava’s book Between Hope and Despair: 100 Ethical Reflections on Contemporary India, brings out the jurist in him who can guide India’s conscience.

Contemporary India is in a struggle. On prosperity, it hopes to become an economy that is developed and