Who's reading what,when & the experience

capt_mahajan

never looked at it that way

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Humpty Dumpty was pushed. How do you know when push comes to shove?
Indiamike moderating team ..ich bin ein oneliner

anyone_for_tennis

Sir Salman Rushdie now, let's not forget

PeakXV

Reading "The Ride to Chandigarh" which is a record of a bicycle journey (2000 miles)from Old Satara to the foothills of the Himalaya taken by a Cockney back in 1950's India.

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We shall not cease from exploration and at the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started ...and know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot

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

sam371

Just finished India Unbound. Reading the 7th HP book now.
On tap: Sacred Games.

anar

finished 'butter chicken in ludhiana', now on to 'temptations of the west', both by pankaj mishra. irony ruled the first, wonder what the second one has to offer.

Aishah

These sound interesting, Anar, I have jotted them down in my 'look out for' list!
I have just finished Agatha Christie's Hickory, dickory, dock, as a quick, light read after Shantaram. I read it years ago when I was about 12, but it was like reading a new book again, couldn't remember a thing from before!! She does stand the test of time, and the 50's era when it was written is now almost an historical setting! Now I'm starting 'My name is Red' ...

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"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

tacita

Amritsar to Lahore: A Journey Across the India Pakistan Border, by Stephen Alter.

the backstory: my family was interested in the fact that i went to india, but not much. however, by great coincidence, the chair of the english department at my nephew's school (john alter) suggested that my nephew accompany him and his daughter to india. their destination: musoorie (which i hope to visit in january).

apparently, my nephew's school, the gunnery, in connecticut, usa, has an exchange program with the woodstock school, and (as i understand the history), john alter's family goes back a long way in mussorie and with the woodstock school. as it turns out, john alter's brother is the well-known actor, tom alter ("the chess player", inter alia), and his cousin (?) is the author of the book i'm reading. they grew up in musoorie, as did their parents and grandparents. they still maintain a family home there. a remarkable coincidence!

(btw, back home now from his 18-day trip, my 16-year-old nephew can't wait to return to india! he thought it was pretty cool, too, that everywhere they went with tom alter, people asked for his autograph! as if, as a giant-sized american, my nephew didn't already attract enough attention. can't wait to see his photos!)

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Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. ~Helen Keller

wonderwomanusa

THE SAFFRON KITCHEN by Yasmin Crowther.

An English-Iranian woman goes to the family village outside Mashad at her (Iranian) mother's bidding. She meets family members, and hears the stories her mother has hidden during her entire life in England.

This is one of the first books by an Iranian author that treats the Revolution like an ordinary political event and not the subject of the story.

gregornot

Dark tower series by Stephen King second time
namaste-gregor

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To conclude with the ever inspiring words of the Buddha:
"If the roots remain untouched and firm in the ground,
a felled tree still puts forth new shoots.

If the underlying habit of craving and aversion is not
uprooted, suffering arises anew over and over again."
~Dhammapada XXIV verse 338

Piscesman

JESUS LIVED IN INDIA
by
Holger Kersten

Kashmir is the promised land.
Correct Hebrew > English translation is Jesus the Nazarene. Nazerene is a term for Essenes. Nazareth didn't exist until after his death. He was born in Bethlehem.
From age 14 he spent six years learning to read and study the Vedas with Brahman Priests in Jagannath, Rajagriha, Benares, then spent six years studying Buddhist scriptures in Nepal. This record is kept at Hemis Monastery, Ladakh. He was known as Issa.
He returned to Palestine and joined the Essene sect.
Page 8 - researcher Notovitch's 1878 diary record - conversation with a lama which led to his seeing the sacred records at Hemis Monastery - ' Issa is a great prophet, one of the first after the twenty-two Buddhas. He is greater than any one of the Dalai Lamas, for he constitutes part of the spiritual essence of our Lord. It is he who has enlightened you (the West), who has brought back within the fold of religion the souls of the erring, and who allows every human being to distinguish between good and evil. His name and his deeds are recorded in our sacred writings.'

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"I work for what I believe in. Everything else is labour."

PeakXV

"Gardens of the Great Mughals" by C.M. Villiers Stuart .... who obviously "got" India based on her descriptions, analogies, & observations(both personal & through the eyes of Jahangir, Bernier et al) of the Mughal Gardens in specific and Indian gardens in general. Their legacy lives on today and are an important yet seldom mentioned factor in the allure of India.

Gardens of the Great Mughal - online version

gregornot

Namaste,
at this time I am reading, "Sacred Games" by Vikram Chanorapeace,gregor

global_yatri

rajagopalachari's translation of the "mahabharata"

reading a chapter each night, which may not be great for sleep because i keep struggling with questions of who decides what's good and evil -- i mean krishna, the incarnation of the great preserver vishnu, is so devious - especially now that i'm on the battlefield chapters - the way the "bad" guys get killed off is so full of trickery... just goes to show how there's so many grey areas in life i suppose.

would love to find other translations of the same epic after this, and maybe even a transliteration although that may take way too long to read?

anar

i have copied the whole lot - should provide fascinating reading, many thanks for the link!

Aishah

Thanks Peakxv for the link - this is a topic i am much interested in! I am still wading through My Name is Red and what a fascinating read - am thoroughly engrossed in it. The storyline is gripping, the detail of the Ottoman Empire and the miniaturists etc. is a history lesson in itself. A slow read but very satisfying.