India Books

A rare and delightful travelogue......

Fanny Parkes should be ever grateful to William Dalrymple for rediscovering and bringing out her 'unique and wonderful' travelogue on India - the long-titled " Wanderings of a Pilgrim in search of the Pictureseque, During four and twenty years in the East; with revelations of Life in the Zenana" originally published in 1850 by Pelham Richardson.....yet once again to the world at large.

It is 'unique' because Fanny Parkes is at once an observant, fluent, compassionate, intelligent and fairly without prejudice as a travel writer in the mid 19th century when British arrogance on the colonised peoples colored almost all printed material written in the english language. This book is one rare exception. Its 'wonderful', because the writing style of Parkes is amazingly contemporary and unless one is reminded, it would be impossible to guess that these journals were written almost 175 years ago. Her observations cover almost all aspects of a European living and travelling in 1820's in India.

Her journal is like a rare encyclopedia on all things Indian and peppered with thousands of anecdotes on all the nuances and nuggets of daily life.

One of the most enjoyable and priceless books....

I first read this book for an independent study class on India, and I must say that this book is incredible. The insight the Wisers share with the readers is mindboggling-that the residents of a small Indian village would be willing to open their hearts, souls and emotions to Westerners enough for them the come back years later to the same effect is absolutely unbelievable. The Wisers have done an outstanding job on this book. I would recommend that readers interested should also read Pubjabi Century by Prakash Tandon, a book on Modern India.

This is a tremendous book. I am Indian, but grew up in a very western household in India, and have spent my whole life thinking about what it means to be Indian. This book more than any other has shed light on this question. In writing about Indian attitudes towards power, money, technology or culture, Pavan Varma hits the nail on the head on what makes the Indian civilization so different than any other and so complex in many different ways. He writes excellently all through and makes insightful comments on every single page. I would recommend this book to any Indian who wants to learn more about themselves, or to any non-Indian who has either spent time in India or around a lot of Indian people.

i read this book because i found the title intriguing. then i found i could not put it down. ipsita's life has been and is a fascinating one. she has captured the magic of the unknown in our lives. i would like to read more of her writings. she seems to have tapped some mysterious spring in her book. Here is a pagan, a mystic and an extraordinary woman. One complaint. I wish the book had more pages. 283 went by too quickly.

One of the extraordinary charecters among the cartoonist Journalists the world has ever seen, Laxman had a long career of over 40 years bringing the common man of India to the face of millions of Indians who open 'The Times of India'. Each cartoon feature a very alive issue of India - be it the political issue, public figures, social factors or scientific administration. You find his sheer brilliance gives you extraordinary perspective to the ordinary events we all witness day in and day out. If we say that no other Indian cartoonist or journalist have ever understood India and its masses as much as Laxman did, it is more than truth. Because of this he had a wide area to cover from the lives of millions of common Indians. Laxman's cartoons reflect such dramatic moment of an event which will have something before and something after. He present such crucial spot where we can get the whole ambience. The current work has lots of reflections of laxman's genius. A must for all those who believe that we are in a lovable world and we should make it more lovable by looking at issues from a good perspective.

I originally bought this book at Govinda's, a Hare Krishna restaurant in downtown Prague, Czech Republic. I had spent a semester abroad and learned the joys of Indian food from Govinda's. On their shelf was this book, and it was the book that closest fit the food I had been eating there for the last four months. Now that I am back home in the states, I always get a taste of Govinda's when I cook one of the many true Indian dishes such as Sesame Yogurt Potatoes or Mung Dal soup with tomatoes. Here are a few suggestions if thinking about buying this book: make sure you have availability to unique, ethnic grocery stores or you can find close substitutes because many foods and spices used in this book are very unique. In addition, each recipes calls for many many ingredients so don't get this book if you are hoping to make quick, painless Indian meals. Look elsewhere. Having said that, if you want true cuisine of India, this is the book.

This is a traditional book written in 1951 in tamil and then translated into englsih a few years back....I have the english version and it is great.....

this book was supposedly given as a gift to brides since 50's in th south and is still as charming and useful as ever...... I got my copy when i moved out of home.....:)

if you want to explore south indian vegetarian cooking (which btw is non greasy and simple, and quite unlike what you get in the Indian restuarants in th US), this is the book to go for......

It is a legend in South India.....and probably one of the best kept secrets.....Not many people other than traditional tamilians know of it......

It must be remembered Osho is talking to Indians, in 1970, when socialism was being touted as the answer to that country's post-Ghandi woes. That being said, every single page applies to the world today. The talks are so fresh and inspired. Nice anecdotes throughout, and incidents from his growing-up (including an extremely eye-opening and amusing account of his meeting Ghandi himself). Osho's vision here is that a healthy capitalism will give way, unforced, to a realistic socialism. All things natural, make use of every energy given...much in keeping with his tantric philosia (love of seeing). From the book: "If we [are to] create a dynamic society, a live society, we will have to lay its foundation on discontent, not on contentment. We always ask why we are poor. We are poor for the simple reason that we are contented with poverty." Insights into Marx, Buddha, everyone...

I've never found a more accessible Maharashtran cookbook -- perfect for the casual Western cook.

I have a deep understanding of death after reading this book and made me realise how wonderful each moment in life is. This was very helpful in living life blissfully. I would recomment this book to all those who want to live each n every moment!