India is, at present, in the throes of a transition – a period of enduring turmoil as it transforms from a feudal agricultural society to a modern industrial one. History shows us that Europe went through such a phase between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, marked by wars, revolutions, social churn and intellectual ferment. It was only after passing through this transitory turbulence that modern society emerged there. Justice Markanday Katju, former judge of the Supreme Court, says that India is going through a similar time in history. It is not yet a modern society as it has not managed to rid itself of the ills of its feudal days, such as casteism, communalism, poverty, malnourishment, joblessness, racial and lingual strife and corrupt and criminal politics. He argues that this period will last for another twenty odd years, and only through a scientific mission for national reconstruction will India come into its own as a modern, highly industrialized and prosperous country. Saying it like it is, Justice Katju holds up a clear mirror to the country so that from the dark times emerges a shining vision of the nation its people deserve.