Reviews

A courageous account

A courageous account in the times of extreme harmful self censorship by the media. A lucid narrative joining the dots some of which we might have chanced on earlier. The book provides hope for the future in the sense that only when we are ready to acknowledge and identify the rot within we will have the tools to get rid of it

Ceejo Thomas


AN ALARM FOR CITIZENS TO WAKE UP

 A dazzling piece of non-fiction, A Feast of Vultures lays bare the problems that confound India. India’s best-known investigative reporter, Josy Joseph, writes with moral conviction, yet never denigrates to pontification as he piles up evidence of corruption in high places. The truth is conveyed through a searing prose—an alarm for the citizens to wake up and take notice. Corruption is everywhere, more so in India with the aid of the ubiquitous ‘middleman’, and the book exposes the morass at the heart of the world’s biggest democracy. While the rich get richer, and the poor continue to beg for their inalienable rights, the book displays immense courage in exposing the offenders, who are abetted by India’s political class for a price. While it criticizes the decaying system with impunity, the passion to see a resurgent India – minus its ills – is evident throughout the book. One of the stories is about an airline tycoon, who’s daylight murder in the 90’s was shabbily investigated and hushed up to abet the rise of a leading rival airline today. The book is a reminder to us, not to look away, but to take notice of what can kill the very idea of India as a nation.

Soni S


Must read for citizens in a democratic country!

Sheer depth in the writing, gives us the understanding of modern times we live in. Must read for all common citizens of this democratic country.

 


I read the book in 1 uninterrupted sitting of 12 hours (bio and lunch breaks excluded). This Unvarnished picture of Harsh Realities of India are a must read for every young and concerned Indian. Pages of the book came alive as I visualised each scene and situation and found myself introspecting on what I was and what was my country. Yet felt very blessed and grateful and also positive and hopeful for our Bharat!


It is often said that ‘Nothing works in India’ and …

 It is often said that ‘Nothing works in India’ and ‘Anything can happen in India’! Josy Joseph has explained how both the leisure lore are true!! In his very simple book, the author has chronicled India’s nebulous functioning!!


Modern India in a nutshell!
A must read to understand how modern India functions, the widening divide of have’s and have not’s; how the big fish get away with what they want and how as a society we have taken the swindle for granted and has become part of our daily lives.

Dinakar


A gripping Primer on the Political Economy of India.

Indian democracy is simultaneously a miraculous achievement and an abomination. A billion people govern themselves democratically while other cohort of nations formed under similar circumstances have wavered and fallen into authoritarian regimes. How does the levers gears of indian government work. Josy Joseph exposes the untold secret of Indian democracy, the dynamics of its underbelly where money greases its levers. In an age where everything is on sale from editorial integrity to the breaking news where one cannot tell the difference between an advertorial and real news, where news has become a business, the real news vital to the health of our democracy never sees the light of the day. Josy Joseph, the award winning investigative journalist tells the tales that would not see the light of the day in our daily news cycle in a gripping tale that takes us from a village in Bihar to the palaces of the modern princes.

Able Lawrence


A courageous account of wheeling-dealing in the power corridors of India, and how it keeps most of India poor. The stories are very interesting, though the writing could have been a bit more elegant and analytical. A must-read for anyone who is naive to believe in the rhetoric that the politicians throw at us. Also a must-read for people who falsely revere our top industrialists, who came into riches through corruption, manipulation and sometimes even murder – rather than innovation.

Do not be deluded with the false talks of patriotism. Nothing works in India. Justice system can be bought. Police serve their political masters, most of whom come from a criminal background. And anything can be purchased.

Highly recommended. Everyone should read this book to know the true nature in India. Because only when we do not delude ourselves that our country is great, we may try to change it.

ARGHYA B