A Fractured Freedom - Chronicles of India's Margins

Freedom remains bitterly contested in Independent India. Democracy works only for some, who thrive in its liberties, security and choice. Others are condemned to life-sentences variously of hunger, homelessness, stigma, fear, penury and neglect.In this collection of essays, written between 2004 and 2011, we encounter many of these exiles from India s secular democracy children living on the streets, households battling hunger, communities battling the politics of hate; we encounter injustice and suffering, but also resistance and hope. These essays straddle many subjects people and policies, books and films. Within these pages, we witness a giant nation at once old and new, dark and shining, cruel and compassionate, unfree and free.