Deepti Kapoor's Age of Vice, published last year, is a story of power, corruption, and complicity, set in modern India. In the early 2000s, the lives of Ajay, Neda, and Sunny – the novel's three main characters – cross in New Delhi. There is idealism, optimism even; but also crime, drugs, and violence, as Sunny Wadia follows in the footsteps of his powerful father. Age of Vice, which became a New York Times bestseller and will be adapted into a series, is not a didactic novel, but a deeply researched portrait of a changing country, with a fast-growing economy, and ever greater inequality.

How does organized crime operate across business, politics, and family networks? What role is the media playing in times of change? Who gets to shape this new society and at whose expense?

After the surprising results of this year's elections in India, join us for a conversation and reading with author Deepti Kapoor on opportunity, power, and powerlessness in today's India.

The conversation will moderated by TOY Senior Fellow James Crabtree.

Deepti Kapoor is an Indian novelist currently based between India and Portugal. Her first novel A Bad Character was published to critical acclaim in 2014 and shortlisted for major Indian awards. In France it was shortlisted for the Prix Médicis.
Her second novel Age of Vice, the first part of a trilogy, was an instant NYT bestseller and published in 22 countries in 2023. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Oprah Daily, NPR and the Telegraph among other publications and shortlisted for the Prix Fragonard in France. 
It is currently being developed by FX for a major television series. 

James Crabtree is the 2024 TOY Senior Fellow at Asia Society Policy Institute and Asia Society Switzerland. He is a distinguished analyst with long-standing experience and a vast range of high-level contacts in the region. His book The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age, was named an Amazon book of the year and short-listed as FT / McKinsey business book of the year. He is a distinguished visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He was previously the Singapore-based Executive Director of the Institute of International Strategic Studies (IISS) in Asia, where he led the organisation of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit, the region’s most important annual meeting of security and defence leaders. He was also an Associate Professor in Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School, Asia’s leading school of public policy. More.

About Big Picture

Big Picture is a public event series where we celebrate art in all its forms and shapes: Be it food, movies, museums, or literature. We invite artists, curators, and experts to talk about their practices and how these can help shed light on the world we live in. These talks are designed to further the dialogue and exchange across disciplines and regions and to travel beyond the events.

Partners

The Big Picture event series is made possible with the support of Bergos and hosted in cooperation with Karl der Grosse.

This Big Picture event is hosted in cooperation with the Swiss-Indian Chamber of Commerce and the Zentrum für literarische Gegenwart.