Economists say imparting quality education is critical for a country where one third of the billion-plus people are under 15 and where, despite a booming economy, many people are still poor.
VOA: standard.2010.04.01
The heroes are poor-but-honest and selfless federal prosecutors plus Martin Siegel, the handsome dealmaker who repents his misdeeds--while, not incidentally, providing lots of material for the author.
An amalgam of "Oliver Twist, " "The Three Musketeers" and Bollywood extravagance, it's the saga -- mainly in English, plus some subtitled Hindi -- of a wretchedly poor Muslim boy, played as a young man by Dev Patel, who pulls himself up by his brains instead of his bootstraps, and gets a shot at becoming a millionaire on a wondrously garish Indian TV quiz show.