Constructing Post-Colonial India

An interdisciplinary and engaging book which looks at the nature of Indian society since Independence and unpacks what post-colonialism means to Indian citizens. Using the case study of the Doon School, a famous boarding school for boys, and one of the leading educational institutions in India, the author argues that to be post-colonial in India is to be modern, rational, secular and urban. In placing post-colonialism in this concrete social context, and analysing how it is constructed, the author renders a complex and often rather abstract subject accessible.

Introduction: the seductions of capital 1 Practical minds, solid builders, and sane opinions 2 The marble mirage: constructing the Orient 3 The garden of rational delights 4 Secularism, the citizen, and Hindu contextualism 5 The management of water: capitalism, class, and science 6 The order of men: sentiments of the metropolis, settlements of civil society 7 Conclusion: 'post-coloniality', national identity, globalisation, and the simulacra of the real