Journalist Anand Giridharadas had an “almost American life” growing up. Born in Ohio, the son of Indian immigrants, he shared with students the story of what led him to live in India for six years. A New York Times columnist and the author of India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation’s Remaking, Mr. Giridharadas was this year’s Hong Kong Distinguished Lecturer.
“The country I grew up with in my mind was giving way to a different India. It was a revolution from within . . . The changes had to do with people revolting against parents who told them they would be a doctor or a lawyer, or who they would marry . . . You had millions of people starting to say to themselves that destiny is what you make it.”