1 comments about India (Cadogan guides).

1. The background information on Indian culture and history is great. The idea of organizing the book into a collection of regional tours is great. The book is a bit weak on how to get from stop to stop on each tour. It would also be nice to have some photos. But the writing is good and the author is an expert on the country and culture.

No comments about A Mughal Jewel: The Mausoleum of I'timad ud-Daulah (Ex Oriente Lux series).

No comments about Goa (Inside India).

2 comments about Jackals' Wedding: A Memoir of a Childhood in British India.

1. Jackals' Wedding is a fascinating book about growing up in British India, and the authors' trip back as an adult trying to understand the mysteries of her childhood. Her family's buried secrets, particularly the mysterious disappearance of her father, make for an interesting exploration into the culture of the times and family dynamics.

   I picked up this 500-plus page book on a Wednesday and barely put it down until it was completed on Saturday, four days later. I am anxiously awaiting the sequel.




2. The author shares her memoirs of British India, through this clever narrative, shifting back and forth from present to past. Her story truly tugged at my heart. As each early 1940's memory unfolded, I became more involved with this little girl. Her fear, pain, shame, and disappointment, as well as her hope, excitement, joy, and love left me crying or cheering. There will be more, as this is the first of a trilogy. "Reprints" is my favorite of several of the author's poems, included after the narrative ends...for now.

No comments about Wonder that is Sanskrit.

No comments about Fodor's Exploring India, 3rd Edition (Exploring Guides).

No comments about A Gazetteer of the Countries Adjacent to India on the North - West: Including Sinde, Afghanistan, Beloochistan, the Punjab, and the Neighbouring States. Volume 2.

1 comments about Dust on my shoes.

1. Enter www.dustonmyshoes.com.au in your browser to see a great interactive site, where two Aussie film makers are following in the footsteps of this great adventurer. It made me want to buy the original book. I'm so glad I did! How this man Peter Pinney survived to the ripe old age of seventy defies belief. The book "Dust on My Shoes" tells of his extraordinary journey, travelling "rough" from Greece through to Burma. Thrown in jail here, cadging visas there, working in tough seamen's bars in Beirut or entering head-hunter territory in Burma with trepidation; it's the kind of journey you're glad to read about but not experience personally. His travels also give an historical perspective to some of the conflicts still raging in the areas through which he passed. The reader warms to the friendships which he made, both with his fellow travellers and the people he met along the way. Be prepared to shake your head with admiration while thinking, "He's mad!" at the same time. A great read.

1 comments about Sketches of India.

1. Joan Bondurant is best known for her major work on Gandhian non-violent conflict, CONQUEST OF VIOLENCE. Years before that, when she was a young OSS officer posted in India during World War 2, she wrote this very engaging book of travel pieces, SKETCHES OF INDIA. As a travel book, it is quite different both from things written earlier by privileged Britons or later, by young Americans on pilgrimages to find the "real India" or their own "inner East."
   
   Bondurant saw India with a fresh, midwestern American eye, nevertheless a sensibility quite informed by the experience of having lived in ordinary circumstances in New Delhi in performance of her job with the OSS. She was privileged, of course: she had servants, free time, and resources. But she also had the advantage of not being a part of either the indigenous Indian, nor the British, class system. She was careful and respectful of Indian culture, customs and language, and also dealt explicitly with issues like relations with servants, clothing, food and famine, and the treatment of animals. In retrospect, some of her assessments of communal relationships may seem sunnily optimistic, given the atavistic violence she later witnessed, but her accounts are fully authentic to her experience at the time.
   
   Further, the reader can see, even in the course of the few months these essays span, Bondurant's own transition from the observer of an exotic land to a fuller participation. By the delightful final piece, "Rishikesh on the Sacred Ganges," she makes the transition, delineated by Maxim Gorki, from "explorer" to "wanderer."
   
   This new edition (the original has been out of print since 1946) includes a Foreword by Bondurant, a Prologue and Epilogue by her good friend and editor, Edna Cardish and, most strikingly, a number of poems written by her at the time. Most powerful of these is "Love Lost," a meditation on the Taj Mahal.

4 comments about Lonely Planet Mumbai: Bombay (Lonely Planet Travel Guides).

1. This is a good if somewhat inadequate guide to Bombay. It focuses mainly on the Southern sections of Bombay - namely Colaba, Fort, Kalbadevi, Bhuleshwar, Malabar Hill and Breach Candy. These neighnourhoods are collectively referred to as "Town" by many Bombayites. However much of the population of greater Bombay lives in the areas north of town along the western and central railway suburban lines. it used to be that all of Bombay's best attractions and restaurants were in town but these days a lot of the more interesting places and restaurants are found outside these areas and in the suburban city neighborhoods. The book has a good list of accommodation, places to eat and interesting sights. The maps are good but do not capture all of the narrow side streets and alleyways in Bombay that make city life so interesting. Finally in a city as chaotic as Bombay things are constantly changing and some of the information here is already out of date. Yet this remains one f the few practical guides to this giant and rather chaotic city. Bombay does not offer much in itself for tourists but it is a great place to experience the full variety of life in India. Bombay is also a good location from which to start travels in India. The Bombay - Delhi overland route passing through Rajasthan and Agra is fascinating and very rewarding for the adventurous traveler.



2. I read this book on my way to Mumbai and when I arrived I thought the plane landed in another country or city. The book was great for Mumbai proper, but once you get out to the suburbs, where people actually live, the book was useless.



3. There are several problems with this "guide" to Mumbai. When you visit a city, you usually want to experience it through the eyes of someone who loves it. Someone who can share their enthusiasm for the city and the cultures and artifacts that make that city interesting.

   When I go to foreign countries I like to meet the local people who are best at sharing their culture, or at least someone who gives it some respect, dignity and balance.

   The worse aspect of this book is to consistently read Collins distaste for Hinduism. It is nearly talibanistic and overall very ignorant. He sums up complex political, cultural and religious ideas into very simplistic, ignorant and negative statements throughout.

   He is also very ignorant of the Hindi film industry and yet insists on being a so called expert by providing a section on it. Though he admits that he finds "Bollywood" (I am not too comfortable with this term myself but I see that the locals seem to accept it) films to be not to his taste, he shows his ignorance by making some obvious generalisations.

   This film industry is rather quite big and many popular films do come out that are innovative in many aspects, cinematography, narrative, etc. But just like Hollywood, there are also films that are very commercial. Though these more commercial films get greater international distribution, they are not representative of most of the films that actually do come out of Mumbai.

   I personally find that there are great films that are consistantly coming out of that region. But I tend to explore foreign films in general with more depth than maybe most.

   In the end I would much rather there be a guide that celebrates the multiculturalism, diversity and tolerance that makes Mumbai one of the most enigmatic cities in that part of the world. There is enough of a propaganda campaign against the pacifist Hindus and Buddhists. India is possibly the most inclusive country and government that exists. And it is because it IS a free country that many are aloud to publish so much negativity against it unhampered.

   There is a market for a positive guide to Mumbai for someone who loves the city, culture and people. I for one would look for it.




4. We bought this book on the stregnth of our previous lonely planet guide books , and it proved itself to be every bit as valuable. We were only in Mumbai for 4 days, but during that time we were able to visit all the places that we wanted to go, thanks to the clear directions and advice. Although when we arrived at our hotel and shown the first room it was difficult not to giggle at the truth of lonely planets description"the paint is not always attached to the walls asfirmly as it could be"!!
   The descriptipn of the caves on Elaphanta Island were invaluable.
   A good, comprehensive guide on every thing you need to know from prices to hotels, don't leave home without it