Mr. Tandon wrote the book that surprisingly no one ever thought of writing. The book is sort of a biography of a family .. in it he has masterfully woven the whole society around it, though the reader never would realize his till you finish the book. He describes the society, the cultre and traditions from the past with great care love and nostalgia. His command of the subject is complete, I didn't find a single thing he wrote that I had known to be otherwise!!!

I first read this book 2 years ago and keep reading it again. Its a book about the Punjab that the British built ("without any hangovers from the Company") but it is also a book of Indian life of that period, and its the *best* such narration. India does not have a deep tradition of such narrations put to paper --not such superb stuff anyways. Earlier I'd read two "sequels" to this book about post-1947 India, and while they're very good, this one is really fascinating. Mr. Tandon *writes* !!

This is an absolutely superb account of a Punjabi family in transition, during a century of massive change that takes in the fading Mughal Empire in the 19th century and goes through the period of British colonial rule in the 19th and 20th centuries and finally to India's Independence in 1947. This is all seen though the eyes of a family in Punjab, which successfully makes the transition from old traditions to modernity, as seen through the thoughtful eyes of the author, who eventually becomes the first Indian Chairman of a renowned British multinational company in India and finally a leading senior manager in India's public sector. The author was also the first Chairman of the famous Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, set up together with the Harvard Business School and financial support from the Ford Foundation. Written with a verve and a keen and observant eye, it is socio-economic history at its very best. A must read for all Punjabis from India and Pakistan and for all general readers interested in the sub-continent plus all scholars of South Asia..It is a shame that this book it is out of print.The publisher should be encouraged to bring it back into print again!