The City of Joy

machadinha

Yes, and be bloody poor while they're at it (no I'm not arguing Nofly).

Another favorite if not exactly uplifting is Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance. Little more of an inside view shall we say, and stretched out over a longer period. Bulky read, not bad on a trip, except for the carrying home bit.

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

noflylist

I will fight to death for your right to argue!

machadinha

Heheh now there's a philosopher. Voltaire or who was it?

"Party for your Right to Fight"

Prashant.M

It was Voltaire. Funny, I always thought that it was Socrates.

"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."
- Voltaire, (Attributed); originated in "The Friends of Voltaire", 1906, by S. G. Tallentyre (Evelyn Beatrice Hall)

__________________
Happiness is just a thought away

machadinha

Hey thanks, just a wild guess, I assumed I'd be proven wrong.

Half the world of quotes is attributed to Socrates or some other such ancient Greeks, usually turns out to be not quite the case. Inspiration goes a long way though I guess.

Prashant.M

Now if we can some how bring Indian philosophers into the picture . Sadly not many of us (me included) know Indian philosophers well.

bijapuri

book, A+
Movie, D-

__________________
Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. Because it's only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.
Barack Obama

lookit me!!!: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bijapuri/

Utube fuzzy logic:
http://youtube.com/profile_videos?user=bijapuri&p =r

slumpainter

Read both the book and saw the movie.

I worry that the message the movie gives is that the "an outsider, a white man has the answers and can potentially be of service apart from his monetary aid." As a former Peace Corps volunteer to Nepal, I know the absurdity of that concept firsthand.

More worrisome is the communication barrier that is instantly and effortlessly broken because the poor, destitute slum children who have never gone to a school in their lives, understand and speak adequate English. My experience getting off the beaten trackin India is that I am put in a "Linguistic and Communicative Bubble." If I or any one like me on my own was to go into the slums and help people, I would spend most of my time trying to talk to people and end up getting exhausted and give up or have to hire an interpreter.

A better movie is "Salaam Bombay." Realistic and full of pathos. The Ugly American portrayed there was some "fat" slob buying hashish. In his own way he was helping out the plight of the poor (or so he thought, see the movie...)

Indiamad

Yes that's another I've been trying to get hold of for ages!

__________________
The brave may die young but the cautious don't live at all.

PeakXV

It might be easier to source a VCR and find/buy the tape at a used video store or on Ebay. I found a "Holy Smoke" vhs in the bargain bin for a buck a few weeks ago .... and still a bit gobsmacked by that one.

__________________
What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us.
~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Don't go to India ~ Pre-trip Warnings & Misconceptions?

machadinha

Great movie yes, little by way of India though. Once you get over that it doesn't matter does it.

Indiamad

Even an average or even bad movie about india is still an indian 'fix' while I'm not there.

Thanks for all the suggestions, going to buy a copy from the states and just see how I go changing the region settings.

ananda2193

Ditto on Salaam Bombay, a great movie that will fix any Indian junkie.