India with Sanjeev Bhaskar

by Sanjeev Bhaskar

Sanjeev Bhaskar, the comedian and writer behind 'The Kumars at No. 42' embarks on an epic and highly personal journey through modern India. Sanjeev's characteristic humour and unique take on the country form the heart of this beautifully written travel book that became a Sunday Times bestseller in hardback when it accompanied his BBC series.
Sanjeev Bhaskar, comedian and writer of 'The Kumars at No. 42' and 'Goodness Gracious Me' embarks on an epic and uniquely personal journey through the heart of India for his latest BBC2 series, unveiling a country of contradictions and surprises, where ancient and modern collide, and millionaires and beggars live cheek by jowl.
As a young British Asian growing up in 1970s west London above his parents' launderette, Sanjeev was fed stories of exotic old India – of cobras and leopards, trapping fireflie and riding in rickshaws. But family visits to the old country revealed stifling heat, mosquitos, powercuts, and the pervasive aroma of cow dung – baffling to a young boy brought up in an England of fish and chips and light drizzle.
Now we follow Sanjeev on his adventures through India, where he is reunited with old relatives with traumatic stories of the Partition, but also takes in the shiny new India of state-of-the-art technology and glittering Bollywood. In Bombay, Sanjeev attends a billionaire's party worthy of James Bond, while grinding poverty is a stone's throw away. In Jaipur, he wryly observes the polo-playing Maharajah jet-set, and sees the Ganges lit up by a million candles during the festival of Dawali.
His trip sometimes gets a little surreal, as Sanjeev finds himself judging the world's strangest beauty pageant – Mrs India – or plays a sleazy uncle in a Bollywood blockbuster. But we also travel with him to the spiritual heartland of India – Rishikesh, where hippy throwbacks mingle with monks in saffron-coloured robes on the banks of the holy river.
In Sanjeev we have the perfect witty and thoughtful travelling companion with a unique take on a remarkable country – an India steeped in history on the brink of superpower status, chaotic and confusing, astonishing and jaw-droppingly beautiful.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, India

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sanjeev Bhaskar is a dear. If you’ve seen him in television and films I’m sure you’d agree. His part in this book (and no doubt the BBC tv documentary) brings it to life. Imagine Sanjeev trailing camera, sound and technical people on a route all over India prior to 2007 when this book was published. At one point, just as he is crossing the border into Pakistan, a local fan shouts out to him as Mr. Kumar, a tv role he is known for. Incidentally, he plays a hapless wanna be tv host on that show. A little later in the book a Maharani he is introduced to is appalled to learn he is married in real life to the granny character in that show. His wife is in fact only two years older than him. She wore a lot of make-up for her role in the Kumar’s at #42.

The book’s special mission is to visit the sites and events of partition, which played a huge part in the Bhaskar family history. His father and family had to leave their home in what is now Pakistan to flee what would have been annihilation for Hindus on the wrong side of the border. The same was true for Muslims on the “wrong” side. They had to leave their homes in India to flee to Pakistan. Bhaskar mentions lives lost and monumental disruption of lives but probably isn’t plain enough.

Most of the rest of the book is a lighter look at economic development, young IT whizzes, tea plantations, Maharajas still occupying parts of their fiefdoms, education and peeks into issues that continue to plague the nation, such as disparity between the tiny percentage of Uber rich and powerful and the masses of extreme poverty, government corruption and political strife.

There is scant mention why the British were so intent on leaving quickly before partition, the part played by other influential religions and groups (where are the Zoroastrians and the Tamil people? For that matter nothing much of southern India is mentioned at all except for IT People). I sense the heavy thumbprint of BBC thinking. They did sponsor Bhaskar’s show and book after all.

I do recommend the book. It is highly entertaining and has a point of view to consider. I couldn’t get the book in my library system so had to make do with a e-book which had no beautiful pictures all the reviews talk about. I can’t complain too much. My e-book cost 99 cents.

Thanks Chris Steeden for the recommendation.

[Chris Steeden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sanjeev Bhaskar makes a very personal journey around India which makes this a book of interest. The photos are beautiful and Bhaskar makes a very pleasant travel companion.

As you would expect with India, he visits some glorious and not so glorious places, looks at the boom in tech companies and the newly skilled workers but also how they are coping in rural India including new towns that are being created.

The fascinating part for me was when he was detailing partition and what his parents and others, both Hindus and Muslims, went through as he goes to his father's village in, what is now, Pakistan that they had to leave to make a new start in a country called India as they were Hindus.

This is not thick with historical facts or detailed observation. It is fairly light but very readable.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book enormously, but it’s a bit of a puzzle. One of the reasons it’s such a gripping read is because it speaks so much in the voice and with the humour of Sanjeev Bhaskar – a famous Indian/British comedy actor here in the UK. It comes across as an intensely personal road trip taken by him through India…but the book is more than that. Buried in the credits is the fact that in spite of being written in the first person, it was co-authored by someone called Deep Sehgal. So, I take my hat off to both Bhaskar and Sehgal. This is a wonderful book, and obviously both of them deserve acknowledgement for that. More people deserve credits too. I think the photography in this book is glorious. Bhaskar also had a television crew accompany him on this trip – it was made into a TV series as well as into a book – and they I presume are to be thanked for the fantastic photographs. The images are such a celebration of the vibrancy, warmth, eccentricity and larger-than-lifeness of India. Like this one:





And this one:





The book is beautifully written, India is not a country that can be described easily, yet Bhaskar gives us a real strong flavour of the place. Part of this is because his name opens doors. We are taken to see all sorts of exciting and interesting places – I suspect because exciting and interesting people are fans of Bhaskar’s TV shows. The end result is a smorgasbord of wonderful experiences and photographs. Then there is Bhaskar’s humour. He is a very funny man. I was roaring with laughter while reading this book, and that is always pleasure.

Bits of the book that I found particularly interesting…

* Visiting the heart of an IT company called Infosys, at Electronics City in Bangalore….

“Inside the glass enclosure, hundreds of skilled technicians are patched in to the worldwide web and what they’re very effectively doing is preventing problems before they happen.
A vast computerized map of the world dominates one wall. When a computer network in Los Angeles or Beijing looks close to reaching its processing capacity limit, an alarm sounds and hundreds of computer operatives are instantly on the case, making sure that the network in question doesn’t crash. These skilled technicians can re-route the information travelling from one computer to another in the same office on the other side of the world if a system overload is imminent……Microsoft and Wall Street are just two of the big names amongst many that rely upon this room to make sure that their computer systems keep running.”

*Wealth and poverty…

“At first glance, it seems that India’s recent economic boom is producing a clash of tectonic proportions, a rapidly widening gulf between the haves and the have-nots. It is convenient for those that support free market economics to point at India’s Open Skies policy of attracting international investment as the reason for India’s burgeoning commercial success and the dramatic rise in the middle class. However they shy away from citing those whose front door is a sheet of polythene and back wall is a billion dollar IT business.
Unlike tradition heavy industry, much of the data processing-based industries don’t require much ancillary work, hence there’s less likelihood of a trickle-own effect in terms of employment. India has always lived with the contradictions of the super-wealthy and the super-poor but this recent economic acceleration could leave half a billion people behind in its wake. This is India’s biggest and most severe challenge.

* Calcutta: Mother Teresa's Loreto Convent and The Rainbow Project

In spite of Calcutta's notorious poverty, here you will also find the exclusive Mother Teresa’s Loreto Convent, that produces pupils who graduate as highly educated women. The school runs a project called The Rainbow Project, where the city’s children are brought in to be taught the basics of reading, writing and maths – by the pupils of this elite school.


* Darjeeling, and the tea of the gods

“ Darjeeling is built more than seven thousand feet up on a west-facing mountain slope. The area is a combination of lush tea plantations and breath-taking Himalayan scenery....
The last tea that I taste is called Silver Tips Imperial – and that is the finest, most expensive tea in the world. The texture is smooth, the aroma is fresh, the taste subtle, and I’m left buzzing gently from the experience. I refuse to spit it into an urn. Apart from the fact that it is the finest tea I have every ingested, I can’t help thinking of how my Punjabi parents would be appalled at the thought of me spitting out so much money.”

I also loved Bhaskar’s description of the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, completed in 1881 and still being used today. It has been named as a World Heritage Site. Mark Twain, after travelling on it in 1895 described the experience in these terms ”The most enjoyable day I’ve spent on Earth is of mixed ecstasy of deadly fright and unimaginable joy.”

*The Ganges

”It is unfortunate that this holy river’s waters, considered powerful enough to cleanse a sinner of past offences and cure even the terminally ill, also carry some truly nasty diseases – dysentery, hepatitis and cholera…..An estimated 1 billion litres of waste per day finds its way into the Ganges, making it one of the most polluted rivers in the world. This fact is perhaps less shocking when you consider approximately 400 million people live along its banks.

*Muslims

Twelve per cent of the Indian population are Muslims, and India is home to more Muslims than every country in the Arab world put together.

*Partition and emigration

“The devastation of Punjab by Partition also had a curious side-effect ten to twenty years later – as a result of so many people being displaced and effectively not having any roots or ties to their new locality, many sought to rebuild their lives overseas. Punjab became the source of the vast majority of Indians who settled in the UK, USA and Canada. Post-war Britain, needing a workforce to rebuild itself throughout the 1950s and 1960s, opened up immigration from any Commonwealth country. Many people came to large British industrial cities like London, Birmingham and Manchester – and my parents made that journey too. Arguably, those of us born as second-generation Indians in England are the children of Partition.

*The Wedding

Bhaskar describes the preparations for a wedding , and it is a delight. The couple are second-generation Brits from Walsall, and having had their civil ceremony in England, they want their main celebration to be in India. They have invited some 5000 people. (That is not a typo, 5000 is correct).

"Any Indian wedding is an ambitious production number, and this one is no exception.... The whole place is done out like a fort,complete with five-storey-high towers and turrets.... As I wander through into the kitchens, everything goes momentarily black as I adjust my eyes from the brightness of the cavernous dining room. The cooking area is huge and dark and it feels like I'm entering some medieval cave. Slivers of light filter through the windows on two sides of this irregular-shaped room and are immediately diffused by the smoke, from what seems like forty gas fires..... There must be over a hundred people in here."

*A visit to the Maharaja

Bhaskar spends time with HRH Raj Rajeshwar Saramad-i-Rajha-i-Hindustan Maharajadhiraja Maharajah Shri GAJ SINGHJI ii Sahib Bahadur Singh. He’s an Oxbridge graduate, living in what used to be the largest private residence in the world at one time, but it is now partly a luxury hotel. His major passion seems to be a commitment to helping the people of his district, albeit that his powers are now far more human in scale than they used to be.

“Life appears to have changed drastically for the royals of Rajasthan since the heady days of the Raj. Under British rule, the numerous royal families of India were feted and in return for their compliance, cooperation and on occasions their unconditional support, they were allowed to keep a degree of governance over their kingdoms and some influence in their people’s affairs. The various principalities had never had any sense of a unified India – before the British there had been no country known as India. It was simply a region the stretched out towards Burma in the east and Afghanistan in the west. The Maharajahs of India had been involved in guerilla warfare against the Mughals for centuries, but under the British, they had a period of consistency and establishment.

After Independence, however, and now subsumed within the modern nation of India, they were given a stipend from the government and though stripped of political and administrative power, they were allowed to continue living and maintaining their palaces. They had no tax-raising powers now, and thus began their decline. This was hastened when the government systematically withdrew the privy purses from all of India’s royal families during the late 1960s and early 1970s. This led many of them into financial ruin, but the smarter ones adapted, moving into commerce, politics, tourism and social work aimed at their community.”

*Mayo College in Rajasthan

A boy’s public school run very much along the lines of British public schools, but seemingly with more discipline.

“Founded in 1870 at the height of British rule with the aim of giving young Indian Princes a proper public-school education, the school is still highly sought after for the children of modern India’s movers and shakers…..Mayo’s reputation is such that even Indian parents living in Britain are sending their sons here….. They get up at 5am, do half an hour of physical exercise like karate or gymnastics, then it’s breakfast and lessons. If they play around in class they have to go outside and do half an hour of sit-ups….

*The Barefoot College

This was set up in 1972, to help rural villagers.
The emphasis here is on practical skills rather than the traditional areas of reading and writing….It’s a place where communities attempt to find solutions by themselves, through interdependence. One of the college’s most popular schemes teaches people how to make and maintain solar powered lights… They also learn to purify water. Education and empowerment of women and children, health and sanitation and social awareness are all areas that are covered within its pragmatic curriculum.

*Bhaskar and bugs

Twice during his trip Bhaskar was afflicted with the most horrible sickness. First food poisoning and secondly a virus. The fact he continued with his adventure is worthy of note.

*Prune’s walled commune

Prune is another booming IT city, and about 4 miles outside its centre has been built an absolutely pristine walled and security-guarded commune. (Bhaskar’s description of it reminded me very much of America’s gated communities). The commune houses 40,000 residents, and there are schools, shops, sports facilities and office within its walls.

“Over the next few decades India will see a lot of these manufactured worlds popping up all over the country. (There are three more in planning for the Pune are alone, although planning permission has only been given for walled communities 1/3 the size of this one.)

Although there aren’t special conditions to buying a residency here, it is clearly aimed at the increasing middle classes. One needs to organize a mortgage to live here and that pretty much leaves out all those on low incomes….the majority of Indians in fact.”

*and finally, an extract from the book's epilogue

”India somehow functions, even flourishes, consigning all attempts to understand why to the analytical dustbin. India is an experience, not an argument. The whole of humanity is played out in front of your eyes. Everything from birth to death and all points in between, assaults your senses all the time. You can’t look away hoping to avoid humanity because you’ll simply see that it has moved, changed shape and is challenging you once again from a different angle. Life – India – in all its wonderful and terrible guises, dares you to accept it all.

I am left with one big conundrum though…. Twice Bhaskar mentioned that one of the reasons for India’s recent commercial success – since its opening up to foreign investment in 1991 – was its huge workforce. This contradicts what I read in Edward Luce’s book In Spite of the Gods, which suggested that due to draconian employment legislation and low levels of literacy, India’s producers do not have vast numbers of workers to lean on, and rely rather on machinery instead. Who is right? I am now very curious… I suspect there are two levels of workforce. The legal and the illegal, but I am not at all sure.

I got an incredible amount from this book, both from its writing and pictures, and would highly recommend it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Re. my musings....the last paragraph of this article makes some interesting points about the workforce in India:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/opi...

[S.Ach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love travelogues. Especially the funny ones. Especially about India. Especially written by people who don't live in India. I love to see my country through their eyes. Their perspective gives me an opportunity to re-evaluate my own bias. I try to find similarities in their shock, in their awe, in their delight, in their plight with those of mine.
The major difference with all travelogues that I have read about with this one is that in this case the traveler is a well-known (to some) TV personality of BBC, who happens to be of Indian origin. Sanjeev Bhaskar is deputed to create a documentary on India, and this book comes as a byproduct of that. The book comes as shallow and superficial and targeted towards BBC audience in UK perhaps. Hope the documentary is better.

Sanjeev's family were victims of partition and they had come from Pakistan side to India before migrating to England. Sanjeev, during this journey tries to find his route back to the ancestors while having his privileged journey through the major cities and tourist destinations of India.
Sadly, I didn't learn anything new about my country through Sanjeev's book, though I had some good laughs at certain quips.

[Keith Bullock · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you've read my review of Meera Syal's 'Anita and Me', it will come as no surprise that I have an equal interest, respect and admiration for Sanjeev Bhaskar... They are undoubtedly the most versatile and multiple-talented Asian couple in the world of British entertainment.
'India' is his story of his moving encounter with his ancestral roots.
I regret never to have caught the BBC documentary series upon which he has based his informative and entertaining book, but how much better then to have come to it through his pages! I would imagine that for a London lad, fed upon stories of old India, the trip that he made and the book that he has compiled must have been one of the most personally enriching experiences imaginable.
I hope that I will be forgiven for mentioning my own first novel 'Winning Ticket' here: the main protagonist, Rakesh Singh, makes a similar journey of discovery to India, from Dudley. He too, just like Sanjeev, learns that his relatives made the perilous journey out of a (now) Pakistani village, over the new border to safety in India, at the time of the Partition.
For me, the reading of both Sanjeev and Meera's books has been not only interesting and entertaining, but genuinely astounding... I would swear on oath that during the writing of my own novel, I had absolutely no idea of their personal stories - since, I have found one coincidence after another linking the narrative I invented, with their own personal stories.

[Coldsoup753 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fun read. Sanjeev Bhaskar is the man who was both behind and fronting The Kumars at No. 42, a talk show featuring a fictitious (cast and scripted) Indian family that aired on BBC one and two in the 2000s. This is important background information if you are an American and have no idea who Sanjeev Bhaskar is (which is a distinct possibility if you happened to pick this book up on a bookshelf in a hostel rather than in a bookstore and are an American). Now that pedigree suggests that this book is funny, and it is, but it is not the kind of laugh out loud funny that many people probably expected it to be. In the end it is exactly what it is, a companion book printed to go along with one of the BBC's celebrity hosted travel programs.

But don't let that get you down. This is a fascinating survey of India with a man who is entertaining and curious to know more about what the country of his heritage has become. This is a difficult topic to get a hold of because not only is India such a diverse country, his family is from a village that ended up in Pakistan after the partition. Because of this, the book has a sort of surface level feel to it, but I suppose that really cannot be helped, except to write a tome on each region of India with several follow up volumes on the partition and a subsequent life spent in England. And that is not what this book is going for. This is about a man trying to learn as much as possible about as many places as possible and he wants to share it with you. And I for one and willing to tag along on visits to maharajas, Mumbai, funerals in the Ganges, and ex-colonial get away spots. The story of his journey back to his ancestral village to look for his family's old house is, of course, particularly touching in it's difficulty and ultimate outcome.

If you do not know much about India and are thinking of learning more, this might be the book for you. I would even suggest that you put it near the top if your list. It's a good way in, and gives you lots of names, places, and events to write down and learn more about as well as being a lovely contemporary portrait of the Indian diaspora looking back, learning more, and taking long train rides.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

One sees the rapid construction of concrete and glass towers and internet cafes with the spectre of death hanging over the poor and disenfranchised right outside; people sipping their café lattes whilst texting on their latest mobile handset, while a mother and child beg for a few pennies. There's no doubt about it; this is a country that breaks your heart in a new way every day, fractures you in ways you didn't even realise you could be broken.

When i told my friends and family i was going to head off to India at the start of 2007, many of them asked me, of all the places in the world to go, why India? After all, in terms of emerging super-powers, the focus in recent years has almost entirely been on China.

Arriving back from my travels in June, one of the first things i saw on television was an advert for an upcoming BBC season focusing on India and Pakistan. All of a sudden, everyone is seeing and hearing for themselves why India is so special, so important, and why i decided to go.

Whilst i've never been a fan of Sanjeev Bhaskar's comedy work (or at least, i hated The Kumars At No. 42), the man himself is upbeat, witty and refreshingly down to earth. All of these attributes shine through in his book, released as an accompaniment to the BBC series.

Very few people - if any - go to India and see everything it has to offer. There's just too much to see in one go, even if you spend several months there. One of the reasons i enjoyed his series and this book is that he goes to some of the places i was never able to, whilst stopping off at some of my favourite places along the way (namely Jodhpur). Wherever he goes, the stories he tells of his experiences ring so many bells for me, making me go "Yes! So true!" time and time again.

A nice, easy but hugely enjoyable read, i recommend this to anyone with an interest in India - whether or not you've been there yourself.

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book.

Having never been to India, I feel a got a taste of the continent in its many differing guises, from dusty, bustling mega-cities to tropical, lush green countryside.

Sanjeev Bhaskar has a natural talent for writing with his wit and humour shining through.

His trip to discover his family's past is lovely, thoughtful, sensitive and deftly handled, especially when hearing about the atrocities during the Partition.

Brilliant book.

[Louis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being read by Sanjeev Bhaska so excellently really enhanced this book for me. He painted an excellent picture of modern day India and for part of the adventure went on a personal journey crossing the Pakistan boarder to find where his father lived before partition.
Well worth a read.

[Baljit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bhaskar gives a comprehensive overview of Indian towns and cities across this incredible country, but more than that are his acute observations of people, places and cultural nuances.
Despite having made many visits to India with his family while growing up, on this trip his purpose is to explore the path his father and other relatives encountered when the Partition occurred. That event had a lasting effect on his father’s generation. However he also discovers a new generation of forward thinking, innovative youth who have cast off the yoke of colonialism and are confident about their Indian identity. They enjoy travel but the lure of living abroad has dimmed.

‘In India, children are desperately proud to wear a school uniform and revere their books like holy artefacts, understanding that these emblems may be route to a more satisfying life. This is at odds with many western kids, who regard the school uniform as a social straitjacket and books as something to be defaced and derided.’

‘Within just a few hundred yards, the entire cycle of life was playing out before me. Birth, life and death, the joy of play and sadness of decay were all happily co-existing for all the world to see, with no shame or regret.’

[Danial Tanvir · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a memoir about an Indian man who is an Asian man who is living in England in the 1960's and it is about his life and about what he does.
there are various details given about his life and about how he feels.
there are a lot of details given about how India is becoming a super power and a great economy.
what happens next is that he goes to India which is his country of birth and also to Pakistan and he takes a journey in to the sub continent and discovers his past.
he meets and interacts with many different people and there are details given about his travels.
he grew up in Bombay and is an Indian!.
it was a short read actually ,only 266 pages long and this is the authors first book as a matter of fact!.

[Anupama Sarkar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved it in parts.. particularly when he talks about Delhi and Karnal.. It turns out that Bhaskars lived in Karnal for sometime during 1971 war and the accounts of Bomb Scare that jolted karnal at that time, is exactly a tale I have heard hundreds of time because my mother and maternal grandparents used to live in Karnal after their exodus from Lahore after partition. Most of the stories that Bhaskar’s uncle tells him about partition seem to instantly connect with what my Grandparents used to say.

However, it was more of a personal preference for me.. the book could have been way better if Sanjeev Bhaskar of "Kumars at No. 42" could add more of his characteristic charisma to it...

[Jane B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always liked Sanjeev as an actor. I was looking forward to reading his book and I was not disappointed. His personal tour of India was a great geopolitical lesson. His humor and writing were easy and enjoyable. He was using his own personal journey and how his British upbringing influenced him to try to share not only the history of India, but how India fits into the modern world. I loved this book and wish I could find out more where I could watch the documentary.

[Bethan Coles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. Learnt a lot. Was 20 years old so would be interested to see how much has chnzbged. Didn’t like all the references to beautiful women. Pictures could have been done better, although this is a complaint of all autobiographies where the pictures are in the wrong place.

[Ravish · Rating 2 out of 5]

not so great stuff for an indian. ok ok 1 time read. my least impressive book of the year yet

[Vamshi Jupelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories of Partition cast different shades and the lines in the epilogue are just enough to define this Country of Extremes. However, India isn't just this much, is it?

[Matt Seargent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little bit of trip prep. A mostly breezy read and a flash tour of a nation.

[Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sanjeev Bhaskar known from the hilarious sitcom "The Kumars" traveled to India and let us take part with his personal and funny way of telling about it. The pictures are beautiful and many of his encounters with the people of India as well as Pakistan are really touching.
He remembers his visits to India as a child when he met his extended family both on fathers and mothers side but also tries to find out more about the events in 1947 when India and Pakistan were created and which impacted his family greatly. He tells us about the millions of people who had to leave places they have lived all of their lives and had to experience a lot of violence due to the political insecurities. He also gives us an insight in Indian culture, the modern India as well as giving a lively image of the places he visited. This is a book I would love to own
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Sanjeev Bhaskar, der in Grossbritannien von der Serie "Die Kumars" bekannt ist, reiste nach Indien und laesst uns daran teilhaben durch seine sehr persoenlichen und lustigen Erzaelungen. Die Bilder sind wunderschoen und seine Begegnungen mit den Menschen von Indien wie auch Pakistan sind sehr beruehrend. Er erinnert sich an seine Reisen nach Indien als Kind, als er seinen weiteren Familienkreis sowohl vom Vater als auch der Mutter besuchte. Er versucht mehr ueber die Ereignisse in Indien 1947, als Indien und Pakistan getrennt wurden, heraus zu finden. Er erzaehlt von den Menschenmassen, die ihre Heimat verlassen mussten, in der sie ihr ganzes Leben verbrachten haben und die Gewalt erfahren haben, die durch die unsichere politische Lage hervorgerufen wurde. Er gibt uns auch einen Einblick in die indische Kultur, das "neue" Indien und zeichnet ein lebendiges Bild von den Plaetzen, die er besucht hat. Dies ist ein Buch das ich gerne besitzen wuerde!

[Belinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real life and other books intervened halfway through reading this book, and in a way I'm glad it did. The first half of the book was interesting, Bhaskar is a writer who can write laugh out loud funny and really interesting prose without it seeming over the top, and all the characters he met on his journey really seemed to leap off the page. However, it was definitely the second half of his journey, from visiting spiritual sites across India, to retracing his family's journey during the Partition of India in 1947 that drew me in. Perhaps it's the historian in me, but I really connected with this personal part of the journey, the spirit of the people, their endurance and strength and their stories. A couple of times it even made me cry, sitting on the train home. This book wasn't just a good read, it was a good experience.

[Sunnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, humorous personal journey.

If, like me you are planning to visit India and are wondering what it might be like, you can't go wrong with INDIA by Sanjeev Bhaskar. Bhaskar writes of his journey with wit and good humour. He is looking at the country is his parent's birth from a number of perspectives: from that of boyhood visits in the 70's, his father' s experiences is being uprooted as a young man during partition and finally what he sees now as an adult. He compares the three in order to GUI. A complete picture.

His description of the border closing every evening at Waga is a delight

[Smitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book but I have to say, it would be far more interesting to someone who's not from India. Some parts especially felt like it catered especially to people who are not familiar with India. Which is not a bad thing, just that it is not as interesting to some of us.

The part I truly enjoyed was the bit where the author traces his own history. The part addressing partition and the horrors that families went through was heart-wrenching to read.

All in all, a good but average read, is what I would say.

[kenneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book while traveling around India. I am not familiar with Sanjeev as an actor or as a famous person at all. He has a decent storyteller voice, but he is also a little spoiled sounding and generally I didn't like his narrative style. He did travel to some cool places in India, some of which I had been to and some I was on my way to, so that kept me reading. Overall, you can probably find better travel literature about India without having to listen to this whiny celebrity tell you how you are supposed to feel.

[Yvonne Aburrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fact that Sanjeev Bhaskar is part of the Indian Diaspora and visited India as a child gives him a really good perspective on India, as both insider and outsider. He also writes in a very engaging way, so this book is easy to read. The TV series it was written to accompany was also very good, and both the book and the series explore the multifaceted nature of modern India. He also writes very movingly about Partition, the massacres that took place, and its effects, both on his family and on India and Pakistan.

[LouD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, but not as funny as I expected. Lots of social commentary as well as historical info. Got me even MORE excited about impending India trip (if that is possible). The whole book was very rushed, though. I know it would be tough to cover the entire country in detail, but there were definitely things that could have been given more airtime. Felt like this book really was just the production notes and bit of a journal written as an afterthought to the documentary.

[Zoë Dawes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the photographic journey to India taken by Sanjeev Baskar. It's an easy read with lots of beautiful photographs and his anecdotes add to the enjoyment. It's not as 'erudite' as Michael Woods' excellent history of India, but it's not meant to be. Recommend it for anyone who wants to visit India and get a personal view of the country. However, it's a very 'pretty' view so not for those who want to get to the nitty-gritty of India.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only watched the first episode of the tv series and didn't watch any more because I felt Mr. Bhaskar came over as rather flippant about some of his country's problems. I know he's a comedy actor but didn't really like his delivery when presenting the programme. So, I decided to try reading the book instead and didn't have a problem doing so at all. I think his affection and concern for his country came over much better in the book.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is well written and entertaining. I guess I'm just getting tired of reading travelogues about India. Nonetheless, this book is worth a look, if for no other reason than for some of the stories about people's recollections of Partition.

[Saritha · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good ride, although I think the documentary may be better. Typical Bhaskar wit in places. Some of the best sections are when he talks about Partition and his family's exodus at that time. Written for Indians and non-Indians alike.

[Anu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is at times funny, at times moving, and made me want to read up on Indian history (esp at partition) a lot more. He managed to cover the extremes seen in India without being judgmental. Definitely a good read if you want a travel book with just a little bit more.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not very well written, but does a great job capturing India through the eyes of a foreigner, one that is really trying to understand it anyway. Paints well the balance of endearing, amusing and intriguing parts of India with the chaos, tragedy and excitement.