Aravind Adiga's New India

In May, more than 400 million people turned out to vote in India’s national elections - by far, the world’s largest expression of democracy.

Peaceful elections and the significant rise of India’s economic power aside, the country still faces rampant corruption, widespread poverty, illiteracy and preventable diseases. A series of bombings in Mumbai last November highlight longstanding animosity between India and Pakistan.

Locally, tensions between Muslims, Hindus, and other groups continue to play out, and the gap between the rural poor and the urbanites working in high-tech startups and the glimmering office towers of Bangalore and Delhi remains wide.

The writer Aravind Adiga delights in exposing the contradictions and complexities of his native country. Last year he was awarded the Man Booker prize for his debut novel The White Tiger.

His new collection of short stories, Between the Assassinations, has just been released in the U.S. The stories are set in the period between the assassinations of Indira Gandhi in 1984 and her son Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. We spoke to him by phone this week while he visited Australia. He explained what the Gandhi dynasty means to India.

Another point of discussion: whether those who are enjoying India’s newfound wealth, especially the young people working in the information and technology industries, are in touch with the many people at the bottom of the economy.