Synopsis This book India and the West - A Cultural Contrast, makes a comparative study of certain cultural features of some western countries particularly USA and UK in comparison to India on the basis of author's observations made during his stay in USA and UK for one year in each country when he went there for advance studies in sociology in 1965-66 and 1971-72 respectively. There are differences in social living, material prosperity and in their family, economic, political, religious, educational, medicinal and cultural institution etc. as compared to India. Beside the differences in the social living in India and west, the author has thrown light on social and economic development of India in detail particularly after independence on the basis of his researches which he constantly carried out since 1952 in rural and urban areas of the country and organizing social welfare activities for the welfare of the weaker section through voluntary organizations. As far as economic development of India is concerned, the programmes of adult education, family planning and industrialization in rural areas are not being implemented properly in many states due to lack of good leadership as envisaged by Gandhiji and Gunnar Myrdal. To bring modernization in India the changes will have to be brought out in its economic and social structure through land reforms, religious institutions and ways of living as it happened in the west.