Zócalo Public Square

Patrick French, author of India: A Portrait, answers the question, "Is India rich or poor?" India is both rich and poor, he explained to a large crowd at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica. It's such a large country and is changing so rapidly that it is creating its own paradigms about what it means to be rich, and confounding the world's expectations when it comes to global economic development. Telling stories of individuals in contemporary India, reaching back into the history of the country in the 20th century, and debunking the myths and assumptions of the West, he cut through the hype to create a fascinating and surprising narrative of the New India.