Author: Samit Sawhny
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 270
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0143030345
Description
After five years in London, Samit Sawhny decides to move back to India - the long way. Vowing not to board a plane between London and Delhi, he heads east with a backpack, and soon finds himself where no Indian has gone before. Born of a talent for seeing order and humor in chaos, this book is a rollicking journal of a road less traveled..
After experiencing twenty-four-hour sunlight in Norway and teaching Europeans to play Kabadi in Helsinki, Samit watches Russians sunbathe standing up in St. Petersburg and takes a stiff swig of Moscow's nightlife. Crossing the cultural border into Asia, he marvels at the courtship rituals of Yakutian women and the Siberian taste for B-grade Bollywood idols. Mongolia reveals the joys of open-air billiards, fermented mare's milk and stunningly pristine countryside. In China, Samit fishes for cormorants, watches the modernization march and follows briefly in Vikram Seth's footsteps.
Tibet brings thrilling treks to Mt. Kailash and Everest Base Camp, not to mention a hair-raising encounter with some boy monks. The journey comes full circle in Kathmandu, where Samit finds himself discussing 'the real India' with a group of Western backpackers. Called upon to define Indian culture, he rises to the occasion and finds that some things never change.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Out of England
Scandinavia
Russia
Mongolia
China
Tibet
Nepal