No comments about The Smile of Murugan.

2 comments about The Shining Mountain.

1. Peter Boardman, (now dead from a subsequent mountaineering accident), in this book relates his successful 1976 two-man climb with Joe Tasker up the west wall of Changabang in the Garhwal Himalaya. The hardships of an Alpine-type assualt on this monster mountain are related, as are the doubts and fears he experiences, along with the disciplined mental state he cultivates to banish them.

   The most curiously attractive thing about the book is the young author's thinking: clear, intelligent, and able to remain focused on each task at hand under the most extraordinary circumstances. The reader follows PB through each portion of the ascent and descent as he and Joe Tasker face and eliminate seemingly impossible obstacles one by one. The rhythm of the tale told feels right. It moves forward at a careful and deliberate pace, never puffed up or pedantic.

   An emotional epilogue by climber Chris Bonington underscores Boardman's achievements both on the mountain, as a climber, and off, as a gentle human being.
   




2. This book is a refreshing change to a lot of others I have read because it doesnt rely on the gore and shock value of climbing tragedy`s in fact it exposes the true dry witt that that helps keep climbers sain . Although some reference is made to a few but these are totaly in keeping with the rythum of his writing .
   
   It is factual, matter of fact and walks you through the true emotions, trials and tribulations of a close personal and proffesional relationship of these two very talented mountain authors .
   
   The photographs are stunning .
   
   In summary a great account of a low budget two man assalut on Changabang. Five stars from me .

No comments about Indian English Language & Culture (Language Reference).

No comments about A Way Into India.

No comments about Black Man Under The Deep Blue Sea : Memoirs of a Black Commercial Diver in Southeast Asia (First Printing).

No comments about Sleeping in Caves.

No comments about 33rd Wife of a Maharajah: A Love Affair in India.

4 comments about Travels to Northern India: Jaipur.

1. When I ordered this CD, I was not sure if it would add anything to the travel guide I bought earlier. I was extremely pleased that I did, because not only does it give all the travel related info on shopping, transportation, phrases etc., but also the incredible quality of video and photos actually made me realize how incredible these palaces are and I can't wait to go there. Plus viewing these places on my computer helped me decide on which points of interest to focus my time there. The alluring background music completes the illusion, and I was able to print all the info including color pictures that I will take with me on my trip and later add to my scrapbook. I would recommend this CD to anyone looking to learn more about India or visting the exotic/mystic city of Jaipur.



2. The cover says it all in terms of rich and bright colors. The pictures are incredible and the film-roll photo viwer is really fun to play with. Travel info on the CD will be very useful for my trip to India and I was able to print everything to take with me. Although the CD has a list of hotels, restaurants, etc. but I wish that they had a list of preferred travel service providers who I could call to book sighseeing tours with and get a good deal. Also, I have an older B&W printer, so was unable to print pictures. Interactive map is really cool too.



3. I am planning to visit India later this year and a friend of mine couldn't stop raving about these CDs and recommended that I buy them before my trip. Hats off to the developers of this product. The video, pictures and exotic Indian music in the background just enthralled my girlfriend and I. The best part is that now we know exactly which places to see and what to do during our trip. I am looking forward to the New Delhi CD to be released. Totally worth it!



4. This is the second CD I have purchased from this company and I am amazed with the quality products they produce. As a "self proclaimed" history buff I have learned so much about Jaipur in so little time. The CD was full of interesting facts about the history of Jaipur and its forts, palaces, and surrounded buildings. From the water palace, to the palace of winds, to the mirror palace, to the many forts, to the resevoir with buried treasure, exploring Jaipur is a history buffs dream. The CD also highlights the detailed artwork that went into building such elaborate palaces. That alone is worth seeing this video. Also of interest was the influence of astronomy and the building of huge time instruments and seeing the local craftmen at work.

5 comments about Arousing the Goddess: Sex and Love in the Buddhist Ruins of India.

1. Wow, what a great novel! It is insightful and skillfully weaves together a spiritual journey through India with an unplanned, but welcomed love story. Arousing the Goddess is an easy-to-read novel which holds the reader's attention from the first to the last page. Tim is very open about his experiences, but he is also able to interject the right amount of humor and wit into the storyline.

   As Tim and Sabina's relationship evolves, the reader is constantly left wondering what will happen next as they journey together. What makes this a great novel is that as the story unfolds, the reader can't help but get caught up in the different emotions (passion, frustration, disappointment, heartbreak) that Tim and Sabina experience both individually and as a couple. Additionally, the reader can relate to the different levels of their relationship and can share in their pain and joy. Tim is able to engage the reader throughout his story even to the end where he leaves the reader with a thought provoking question.




2. Arousing the Goddess: Sex and Love in the Buddhist Ruins of India is the personal memoir of one man's sexual and spiritual awakening in India. Author Tim Ward traveled throughout India and the far east for two years, and fell in love with a beautiful Austrian Indologist on her own search for knowledge. The energy harnessed the power of tantric sex to achieve a sublime plateau of bliss, color, sensation, and awakened truths amid their passion. Their journey is one that pursues enlightenment as well as spiritual wisdom, and the heat of their unions recalls echoes of the ancient sex practices of the mysterious Tantrics. An enthralling true story of physical, carnal, and spiritual exploration as witnessed, lived, and recorded by Tim Ward.



3. A mystical philosopher engaged upon an autobiographical journey into the East, "searching for the inexplicable, something to crack open [his] metaphysical prejudices." Arousing the Goddess introduces us to a true traveler, an intrepid spiritual pilgrim looking for that elusive point wherein the hand of heaven touches earth. Yet in the early naïveté of the journey, the sexual and the spiritual get fused and confused under the banner of Tantric allure. Though even in this, the author is honest, perhaps too honest. For painfully prolific are the pages sticky with the seedy recollections of one seeking to uncover the metaphysical nature of sex. All the while, this novice exploration into the ruins of Tantric lore proves something of a bust. And thus the spiritual journey must continue, as this bona fide pilgrim yearns for a greater glimpse into the mysteries of reality. And as such, he challenges each of us to overcome our confusions and our delusions and travel onwards into What the Buddha Never Taught.



4. This is a fun read...Sabrina is a "tireless" Goddess
   
   Sudden Warm Shower
   opening
   entirely
   
   [...]



5. Would highly recommend this book to all those interested in travel and sex. For it provides a wonderful account of travelling through India and then goes very deeply into the experience of falling in love, and making love. I have studied the anthropology of sexuality at Cambridge University and the University of Hawaii, and this book deserves to be on every syllabus - I believe it is already on the syllabus of Claremont University in California. Even that doesn't justify this book for it also a deeply spiritual study of one young man's quest for meaning when he studies Buddhism. Not only that but is an easy to read account, that is absolutely gripping - and Tim's emotional honesty is breathtaking. I quoted extensively from on my book on travelling with your intuition Travelling Magically: How to Turn Your Journey into a Life-Changing Experience I read an enormous amount of travel books for it and quoted from some. But this book - I originally found from an amazon list - is way up there with the very best. Really, I wish I had come across it years ago. I can't recommend it more highly.

1 comments about India File.

1. It isn't easy capturing a country of over a billion people in a hundred and eighty five pages. In India File, Trevor Fishlock, however, comes very close. His novel, funny and shocking in its honesty, is a wonderful introduction to India. In a style similar to Bill Bryson and a tone similar to Jamaica Kincaid, his anecdotes and descriptions bring the vast nation alive. While this book doesn't work well as a guide to India (as a result of its somewhat random organization and its lack of travel details), it makes for a great prep book before a trip to the subcontinent or just an interesting read. There are parts of the novel that are not for the faint of heart. This is non-fiction at its most graphic as Fishlock describes the Indian's intolerance for crime through the stories of common people dropping large stones on people's kneecaps to break them or wardens pok ing prisoner's eyes out with bicycle spokes. On the other hand, these vivid, if violent details, add a level of realism and balance to the book not often found in your average travel guide. As well, despite its very reasonable length, India File reaches some depth in describing India's culture and its people's customs. In this slow moving country even a book originally published in 1987 is relevant and current enough to be useful. This is especially true when one considers that most of its subject matter hasn't substantially changed in hundreds of years. Fishlock follows everything from fishermen's stories to mass marriage ceremonies to the ever-present danger of an overflowing bus falling on you. His humour, sometimes subtle and sometimes blatant, is omnipresent, lightening up what can at times be an either dreary or overwhelming subject matter. Because Fishlock shows us India instead of telling it to us, we are inclined to believe him, almost unquestioningly. Instead of depicting India from the tourist's point of view, Fishlock shows us India from the inside out. He describes it as a foreigner who is at home in India, a non-native untouchable who is in touch with India's grandeur and deformity. In his bluntness Fishlock creates a feeling of the every day in his writing. That is to say, instead of describing a train packed full of people (both inside and on top) crashing into a river and everyone on board dying as a unique and shocking experience he tells of how it's the kind of thing that happens all the time in India. This feeling of everything being common amplifies the feeling of hearing about India from someone who really knows the country as well as emphasise the country's massive scale. In a country this big,, even the most random and bizarre occurrences are repeated.

   There is a strong focus throughout Fishlock's novel on religion, language and the Hindu caste system. This focus is paralleled in Indian society and creates a framework in which everyone leads their lives. From the daily work of the untouchables to the different way a priest treats the Brahmins during a mass marriage (that includes members of all of the castes) we see the interaction of religion and class at every level.

   As a novel, as a story, as a summary of India itself, this book excels. While not a light read, it is never boring and is never off topic. Fishlock knows India intimately. I, like Fishlock, lived in India (New Delhi) for three years. In a manner very similar to myself, Fishlock developed a love hate relationship with the country and is sharing it with his readers.