Everyday life in contemporary rural India is characterized by an increased sense of mobility, inequality, and uncertainty. Ordinary villagers often find themselves caught between the promises and failures of democracy and development. This ethnographic study of the village of Khanpur (in Uttar Pradesh, north India) is an attempt to grasp everyday life in rural India. Satendra Kumar in this lucidly written book shows that villages in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere havebeen and continue to be vibrant grounds for the production of culture, sociality, hope, politics, and persons.