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India: A Million Mutinies Now is the third book of Naipaul's Indian trilogy. The first two books were the product of shock and revulsion, which greeted Naipaul's arrival in India. These books were gloomy and painted a picture of deterioration, poverty and destitution (which was valid to a certain extent). India: A Million Mutinies Now, on the other hand, is optimistic in its tone. In this book, one can see that Naipaul has accepted the Indian condition and, with this reconciliation, he can see the dynamic changes which the India of 1980s was experiencing. In this journey, Naipaul is travelling to the same places and some times meets the same people which he had met earlier some 26 years ago. Naipaul writes about the change which was taking place in India at both physical as well as psychological level. He shows that these changes have brought, long-buried internal conflicts, out in the open. Through seemingly unconnected stories, Naipaul skilfully depicts these internal conflicts and tensions. From the linguistic chauvinism of the Shiv Sena to the Sikh terrorism of Punjab, the major problem of the 1980s, are narrated brilliantly. In all these stories, two stories for me stand out as the most important. These two stories tackle issues which are still present in India.

Naipaul, through the character of Dipanjan, depicts how the Communist movement had shaped and influenced the lives of its foot soldiers. The story of Dipanjan is a tragic one. There was a point in the book in which Dipanjan talks about the conversation he had with a factory worker during his revolutionary days. He is taken aback when he learns that the factory worker willingly left his home in the village in pursuit of a better life in the city. This information, which to us seems trivial and obvious, was a great revelation to Dipanjan and contradicted the Marxist belief that workers were in more miserable condition than peasants. Naipaul, through Dipanjan, was able to show how there was a complete disconnect with the reality, the theoretical from the practical.

The Character of Rashid is equally fascinating. There's an absolute honesty in him. He is a practising Muslim and is distraught with the Muslim history of India. The decline of Muslim power, which began with the rise of the British power in India and culminated in the partition of India, has had a significant impact on him. He is nostalgic about the lost glory of the Awadh Nawabs. The Partition of India and the subsequent changes which it brought with it has moulded his world view. Although he is nostalgic about the Muslim past, he is also critical of Muslim society's and its reluctance to embrace modernity. Through Rashid, we see the dilemma which plagues the Muslim community, the struggle between memory and experience, past and present.

Naipaul believes that the Indian Independence was a revolution and the conflicts which India of the 1980s is facing are part of that revolution. For Naipaul, these conflicts are "little revolutions". He believes that, for India to progress, these conflicts are necessary, they are the part of the great transformation. Through these seemingly unconnected stories, Naipaul shows that these "little revolution", which India is experiencing, is the harbinger of something new, a kind of re-birth. He writes "the mutinies were not to be wished away. They were part of the new beginning of a new way for many millions, part of India's growth, part of its restoration."