Somini Sengupta emigrated from India to the United States as a young child in 1975. Returning 30 years later as the bureau chief for The New York Times, she found a vastly different country: one defined as much by aspiration and possibility—at least by the illusion of possibility—as it is by the structures of sex and caste. The End of Karma is an exploration of this new India through the lens of young people from different worlds: a woman who becomes a Maoist rebel; a brother charged for the murder of his sister, who had married the “wrong” man; a woman who opposes her family and hopes to become a police officer. At this event, Sengupta will speak about her new book, which spotlights these stories of ordinary men and women and in so doing weaves together a portrait of a country in turmoil.

“The End of Karma is the essential beginning for any reader who wants to understand the future of the world’s biggest democracy."

--Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found

In 'The End of Karma,' Young Indians Work to Overcome Their Past - NPR Interview with Somini Sengupta