Where the Madness Lies: Citizen Accounts of Identity and Nationalism

Drawing from years of on-ground reportage, extensive interviews and fieldwork, Where the Madness Lies foregrounds the perspectives of ordinary, often marginalised Indians and their everyday efforts to carve out a place for themselves in their own country. The author makes poignant use of family histories, memories, experiences of migration and dislocation, and genealogies to expand upon the theme of identity. ‘Citizenship’ becomes a concept where diverse identities crisscross to create new forms of meaning and interaction. A series of compelling stories take readers from Shillong to Jalandhar, to Banaras, Guwahati, Hyderabad, and Hampi, using the voices of residents to inform us of what it means to be a citizen. The book asks: How does exclusion work? What does it mean to be an ‘Other’ in one’s own country? Engaging and historically grounded, but built on multiple personal accounts, Where the Madness Lies persuades one to rethink the dominant imagination of ‘Indianness’ and bring back a sense of plurality to the idea of an Indian.
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