Indians wryly admit that 'India grows at night', but that is only half the saying, the full expression is 'India grows at night . . . when the government sleeps', suggesting that the nation may be rising despite the state. But wouldn't it be wonderful if India also grew during the day, in other words if public policy supported private enterprise? What India needs is a strong, liberal state but, says Das, achieving this will not be easy, because India has historically had a weak state and a strong society.