The Gujaratis: Salil Tripathi's book shines but falters under its ambition

The book, he says in the epilogue, has been the labour of love: Eight years of interviewing 213 people and the reading of more than 100 books about the state

The Gujaratis: A portrait of a community

Author: Salil Tripathi

Publisher: Aleph 

Pages:  xii+730 

Price: Rs 1,499

 

This doorstop of a book is doubly weighty.  First, the sheer size, some 700-odd pages printed with a relatively small-sized font and narrow margins.  And second, its mission — that of providing a portrait of a community that is home to unarguably the two most powerful leaders of Indian politics as well as industry in the last decade. It is also arguably the most vociferous and important community among the Indian diaspora.

 

The author Salil Tripathi is the descendant of one of the most illustrious Gujarati authors,