Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us About Modern India [BOOK]

About the Book

Whole Numbers and Half Truths by Rukmini S. challenges the widely held assumptions about India’s growth, society, and identity by grounding them in hard data. While popular narratives speak of rapid urbanisation, booming middle-class prosperity, and progressively liberal youth, the real numbers suggest a far more complex and often contradictory reality. Drawing on nearly two decades of on-ground reporting and deep data analysis, Rukmini exposes how misinformation, inaccessible datasets, and socio-political pressures distort our understanding of the country. Through rich storytelling, expert insights, and never-before-reported data, she offers a clear, compelling blueprint to interpret India today—and the India that is emerging.

Key Features

• Dissects India’s perceived socio-economic progress using real, verifiable data.
• Challenges myths about urbanisation, caste mobility, gender violence, and economic growth.
• Reveals how only a small fraction of Indians migrate, inter-caste marriages remain rare, and modest incomes place individuals in the top economic brackets.
• Includes exclusive data insights and new reporting not previously available in public discourse.
• Combines data journalism with engaging field interviews for a holistic, humanised narrative.
• Acts as a toolkit for understanding India’s evolving political, social, and demographic landscape.
• Written by one of India’s most respected data journalists, with over twenty years of experience.

Product Details

Author: Rukmini S.

Publisher: Context (6 December 2021)

Language: English

Format: Hardcover, 324 pages

ISBN-10: 9391234674   |   ISBN-13: 978-9391234676

Item Weight: 500 g

Dimensions: 13.97 × 2.69 × 21.59 cm

Country of Origin: India