When he returned to India in 2004 after six years in New York, Siddhartha Deb discovered that a sweeping change had overtaken the country. Deb undertook an exploration of this vast, complex and bewildering nation, trying to make sense of what was underway. The Beautiful and the Damned is the triumphant outcome. From the worker at the call centre remaking herself from her provincial moorings to the migrant sweatshop worker trying to make his way in the city, Deb tells the story of India through its people: aspiring and deluded, desperate and hopeful, beautiful and damned.