In a rare attempt to understand the Indianness of Indians - among the most intelligent people in the world, but also, to a dispassionate eye, perhaps the most baffling - V. Raghunathan uses the props of game theory and behavioral economics to provide an insight into the difficult conundrum of why we are the way we are. He puts under the scanner our attitudes towards rationality and irrationality, selflessness and selfishness, competition and cooperation, and collaboration and deception.
Drawing examples from the way we behave in day-to-day situations, Games Indians Play tries to show how in the long run, each one of us - whether businessmen, politicians, bureaucrats, or just plain us - stand to profit more if we were to assume a little self-regulation, give fairness a chance, and strive to cooperate and collaborate a little more, even if self-interest were to be our main driving force.