Kapur was awarded a Whiting Nonfiction Grant for Better to Have Gone,[2] which was named a book of the year by The New York Times,[3] The Wall Street Journal,[4] CNN,[5] The New Statesman,[6] Airmail,[7] Idler magazine,[8] and Scribd.
In 2010, his columns for the New York Times received an "Honorable Mention" award by The Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA), which praised Kapur's "brilliant accounts of developments in modern India.
[29] In Time magazine, Pico Iyer wrote that India Becoming was "impressively lucid and searching" and added that, "In his clarity, sympathy and impeccably sculpted prose, Kapur often summons the spirit of V.S.
A mix of genres, it starts as a standard non-fiction narrative, but is increasingly augmented by relevant remarks and reflections of an autobiographical nature.
Auroville's uniqueness and spirit, controversial struggles, dramatic events, and current status are presented chronologically, in an easy journalistic style.
Portraits of key community figures, including, Sri Aurobindo Ghose (1872–1950), Mirra Alfassa [the Mother] (1878–1973), Satprem (1923–2007), and Amrit (born 1943), are drawn.
Lives of residents are followed, two well-known Aurovilians: Kapur's wife's mother, Diane Maes (1950–1986), and her partner John Walker (1942–1986).
[47] Kapur's PhD thesis at Oxford focused on the effects of new technologies on economic and social development, and especially on the digital divide.
[54] Kapur has consulted for a variety of organizations on technology policy, including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and The Markle Foundation.
[55] Kapur is the author of "Internet Governance," published by UNDP, a manual widely used by policymakers in Asia and developing countries.