Almost done reading said book and vicariously traveling with Monisha Rajesh, author and protagonist in this tale of her visiting the land of her heritage - India, using the rails to get around.
Lot of narrative is poignant and well written and brings back very recent memories of my own backpacking adventure this past summer, largely restricted to the south of India. In the book she attempts to cross the entire sub continent using the rails and most importantly using crucial help from some well placed resources she can tap into along with a male companion from the UK (which is her home) to ward off evil.
I too had the advantage of getting help from a retired Air Force vet - father of a friend - in Chennai - who had time and internet connectivity on hand that helped book rail reservations in advance for me. Monisha faces the immediate craziness of arranging for travel by rail and has to resort to her god father also in Chennai, India to come to her aid. Not designed for everyone and certainly fraught with dangers the railways in India do provide the most direct and convenient way to get somewhere.
One comment in the book about the country being a 'nice shit'ole' sort of resonates but only if you know you can escape its craziness whenever you wish. Some narrative tries to romanticize her experiences and that is helpful when you are in the thick of it but personally I prefer a clean toilet on demand when the need arises.
As we start the exercise to plan our spring break destination this year it struck us that it's no wonder that of all the travel guides and journals and food blogs and such for places round the world, there is relatively very little documented on and about India or expressed in superlatives as a must see destination. There is more content on Morocco than India at the local Silicon Valley library.
Shame!
Lot of narrative is poignant and well written and brings back very recent memories of my own backpacking adventure this past summer, largely restricted to the south of India. In the book she attempts to cross the entire sub continent using the rails and most importantly using crucial help from some well placed resources she can tap into along with a male companion from the UK (which is her home) to ward off evil.
I too had the advantage of getting help from a retired Air Force vet - father of a friend - in Chennai - who had time and internet connectivity on hand that helped book rail reservations in advance for me. Monisha faces the immediate craziness of arranging for travel by rail and has to resort to her god father also in Chennai, India to come to her aid. Not designed for everyone and certainly fraught with dangers the railways in India do provide the most direct and convenient way to get somewhere.
One comment in the book about the country being a 'nice shit'ole' sort of resonates but only if you know you can escape its craziness whenever you wish. Some narrative tries to romanticize her experiences and that is helpful when you are in the thick of it but personally I prefer a clean toilet on demand when the need arises.
As we start the exercise to plan our spring break destination this year it struck us that it's no wonder that of all the travel guides and journals and food blogs and such for places round the world, there is relatively very little documented on and about India or expressed in superlatives as a must see destination. There is more content on Morocco than India at the local Silicon Valley library.
Shame!
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