Author: Amrita Kumar
Several Contributors/
Translator(s)/ Editors(s): Aman Nath/HH Gajsingh II
Publisher: Rupa
Year: 2011
Language: English
Pages: 252
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788129119117
Description
Rajasthan has been romanticized through the centuries as the land of kings and warriors, forts and palaces, daredevil Rajputs sporting brilliantly colored turbans, the place where more fairs and festivals are celebrated than there are days in the year. But it is also a harsh, hostile and merciless land where the hot winds blow, where creeping sands, shifting sand dunes, devastating droughts have repeatedly altered the destiny of its people.
How does one travel through such a collage of contradictory images? Journeys through Rajasthan shows you Rajasthan through the eyes and imaginative universe of some of India’s most talented writers and feted travelers including poets, journalists, novelists, explorers, historians, a wildlife enthusiast, a bird lover and a princess.
Their stories, each located in a different part of Rajasthan, are informative, sensitive, humorous, even dark, and at times deeply moving. Journeys through Rajasthan is an invaluable companion for both the wandering traveler and the armchair one interested in the imaginings, memories, dreams and discoveries that emerged from the skilled pens of those who choose to look beyond familiar picture-postcard images of a fabled land.
COMMENT:
"…brilliant, authentic, spontaneous… Fills an important vacuum by bringing together eminent writers to share their personal experiences."
--- HH Gajsingh II
CONTRIBUTORS:
1. Aman Nath
2. Amrita Kumar
3. Annie Zaidi
4. Bittu Sahgal
5. Gayatri Devi
6. James Tod
7. Jug Suraiya
8. Nilangana S Roy
9. Pierre Loti
10. Pradip Krishen
11. Prem Shankar Jha
12. Rajesh Mishra
13. Royina Grewal
14. Rudyard Kipling
15. Sanjay Singh Badnor
16. William Dalrymple
Contents
Foreword by HH Gajsingh II
Introduction by Aman Nath
1. Going home – Amrita Kumar in Ajmer, Nasirabad and Todgarh
2. The Singer of Epics – William Dalrymple in Pabusar
3. Dying to Live – Pradip Krishen in Jodhpur
4. Two Discoveries – Aman Nath in Shekhavati and Neemrana
5. Bury my heart at Rambagh – Gayatri Devi in Jaipur
6. Through a glass, darkly – Sanjay Singh Badnor on Rajasthan’s Royal Legacy
7. Where on Earth Am I? – Jug Suraiya in Pushkar, Udaipur, and on the Palace on Wheels
8. When I Saw Laxmi – Bittu Sahgal in Ranthambhore
9. Fate in the balance – Prem Shankar Jha in Bharatpur
10. The Nowhere People – Royina Grewal on The open Road
11. There’s a sparrow in my puri!- Nilanjana S. Roy in Surajgarh
12. Love in ‘Switcherland’ – Annie Zaidi in Mount Abu
13. In Search of Kika Rana – Rajesh Mishra in Udaipur, Haldighati and Kumbhalgarh
14. Mappings – James Tod in the Aravallis
15. The Songs of Famine – Pierre Loti in Jaipur and Amber
16. The Pleasures of loafer Dom – Rudyard Kipling in Chittor
Contributors
Acknowledgements