Book excerpt: Coming on the eve of the Indian elections of 2009, The Measure of Time in the Appraisal of Social Reality is a timely and an explosive expose of what went wrong in Indian developmental planning. Focussing on the land, caste and gender issues, and advocating a place-time-people based research agenda, the Measure of Time is a scathing critique of how the elite nexus between politics and academic neo colonialism has subverted the course of genuine development in India. This is a must read for those who wish to understand contemporary India.