Stories of unusual entrepreneurs highlighted in a book

A young girl from Jammu and Kashmir is reviving numdah, the popular rug-making technique, a man from Coimbatore has created a machine that can make cheap but good-quality sanitary napkins, a social enterprise in Gurgaon is revolutionising the domestic housekeeping sector.

These lesser-known stories about independent entrepreneurs who are changing the face of India individually by working on issues that are

often ignored by the state but are an integral part of our social ecosystem are highlighted in journalist-author Hindol Sengupta's new book "Recasting India".

"There are millions of millions of entrepreneurs doing wonderful jobs in India and if the state can clean up the process, imagine what kind of growth India would be touching in coming years," Sengupta told IANS in

an interview.

"My argument in this book us that in spite of all these problems, look at the wonderful things happening in India and if the problems are solved, how much more can be done," he added.

Author of, among others, "The Liberals", Sengupta deliberately chose to write stories of these unsung heroes who are diligently and silently working towards

making society a better place for the marganalised communities or people caught in conflict zones.

He feels the country is deliberately painting a negative image of India and this could possibly be done because there is some "hidden agenda".

"Why are we so negative? Whose agenda is being fulfilled by painting India in negative light? I am sure someone's agenda is being fulfilled,"

he said.

"We have always sold and romanticised poverty to the world and that is why no one wants to tell positive stories about India," he added.

And the answer to this question lies in the chapter "Business Models in The World's Most Dangerous Place" where the author has shared many inspirational stories from the Kashmir Valley, which has been a conflict zone

since 1989.

Sengupta also elaborates on the wonderful work done by the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, especially during the early 1990s when militancy was at its peak.

So he questions why no one in the media has so far reported many of the good things that have happened in the Valley.

"The Indian elite will not let you tell a positive story about Kashmir. Has anyone told you India's best bank is in Kashmir and is run by Kashmiris? They risked their own lives to get the business going during

militancy years," he said.

"Why doesn't anyone talk about it? I want to ask this question - why are we so negative," he asked.

The book has also been shortlisted for Hayek Book Prize and with it, the author hopes to introduce the world to the good things happening in India.