"The most stimulating and thought-provoking book on India in a long time..Bumiller has made India new and immediate again." THE WASHINGTON POST BOOK WORLD In a chronicle rich in diversity detail and empathy Elisabeth Bumiller illuminates the many women's lives she shared--from wealthy sophisticates in New Delhi to villagers in the dusty northern plains to movie stars in Bombay intellectuals in Calcutta and health workers in the south--and the contradictions she encountered during her three and a half years in India as a reporter for THE WASHINGTON POST. In their fascinating and often tragic stories Bumiller found a strength even in powerlessness and a universality that raises questions for women around the world.