Wanderings In India And Other Sketches Of Life In Hindostan

by John Lang

Lang was a friend and student of India, its cultures and people, at a time when this was hardly a fashionable stance among white colonial gentlemen.' - The Spectator Written by writer, journalist and Indophile John Lang, Wanderings in India is one of the best and most engaging, personal accounts of India in the nineteenth century. Spanning the years during and after the 1857 Sepoy Rebellion and taken from Lang's contributions to the weekly magazine, Household Words, it includes a series of 'sketches of life in Hindostan' as encountered by Lang during his travels. Included in this book are stories like 'The Ranee of Jhansi', an account of Lang's personal meeting with Rani Lakshmibai regarding the infamous Doctrine of Lapse; 'The Mahommedan Mother', a powerful portrayal of the predicament of Indian women who had relationships with European men; and 'The Himalayas', an account of Lang's adventures in the hills, camping and shooting kakur, bear, pheasant, ghooral and the like. From wonderfully evocative descriptions of the Himalayas to insightful narratives of his encounters with historical figures, Lang's remarkable book transcends genres and moves effortlessly from memoir to travelogue to fiction, but never fails to delight and enlighten the reader.

Genres: History, Travelogue, Nonfiction, Travel

436 pages, Paperback

First published July 15, 2013

About the author

Born in Australia in 1816, John Lang - novelist, newspaper editor and barrister, now best known for having defended the Rani of Jhansi in court against the British East India Company - spent a large part of his ife in India, and died in Mussoorie in 1864. A keen traveller and observer of human nature, Lang was also a raconteur par excellence.

His grave was found after much tribulations in the cemetry on Camelsback Road in Mussoorie by none other than the ace writer Ruskin Bond himself.

Reviews

[Vikas Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for all who want a different perspective of culture and traditions of early 18th century India. The first Australian novelist John Lang gives at times a hilarious account of some famous personalities from Indian history. One also gets to know how lavish were the rich in making their journeys comfortable. The book is more like a travelogue but an interesting travelogue.

[Sandeep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wanderings in India and other sketches of life in Hindostan - John Lang
Rating 4.25/5

Another interesting read of the year. I could complete this book within a week, and that too on my kindle. This is yet another book which I regret not having purchased a physical copy - because it was a fun read all along the way. The book comprises of many writings of Australian novelist John Lang and it is set in the mid 19th century.

To say (or assume) the book is infested with tales of imperialism would be an overstatement. John Lang does not go about singing praise of the empire, but records, writes about his encounters, observations in India in a very balanced manner. Though few places along he casts his opinion - (example Indians having holidays to celebrate festivals bringing public services to disrupt) but overall its a very interesting and intriguing pieces of writing which enlighten the reader much with the days, rather century gone by.

John Lang describes himself as an interloper, traveling in search of the picturesque and wanting to acquaint in person with the oriental character and way of life. I suppose he has done a fairly good job and courtesy him, we get to repaint in our minds a picture of the lifestyle back then.

The stories however do go about (if not everywhere) highlighting the aristocratic way of life led by the servants of the queen, yet, equally present are the glimpses of lavish lifestyle of the Indian princes.
What sets the stories apart are the first hand encounters written by John Lang (either fictionally or in real), and all of them being contemporary. They are set in the same era as him. Unlike modern contemporary oral historians (of today) who set about writing after digging literature history papers in library. (No offence on that front).

One more very interesting piece of trivia is that - these stories or John Lang himself can be placed as a predecessor to Kipling and few of the stories strike similarity with Kipling's stories or even Alice Perrin, thus making me conclude that - Kipling might have derived inspiration from John Lang's writings.

In one of the stories - there is present an Afghan trader selling dry fruits and with him is a European boy whom he raised since a child. Eventually the sahib's recognize the boy as the offspring of one of their own regiment's men Percy and the boy gets to be adopted by their grand-parents and sent to England where he could inherit his parents property.
This closely resembles Kimball'O Hara Junior, the trader from Afghan could be none other than Mahbub Ali - the horse trader from Afghan in Kim.

Kipling also writes about Black Cholera in one of the story and John Lang too mentions about cholera. Kipling story also has a sahib marrying a local Mohammedan woman whose family except the sahib encounters black cholera. Here too within John Lang's writings there exists one such story but only the sahib loses his health and heads to England to heal where on passage he does not make it. The offspring gets support form the regiment and the woman waits each day to catch a glimpse of her son who studies in the boarding school. Eventually John Lang helps her with a meetup with her son. Could the idea of boarding school which Kim goes to come from here? You never know.

Many such interesting stories decorate this book - One such is a meetup of the family of monkeys. John Lang mentions about this where one huge family of monkeys come from Nepal and the other from Central provinces and they meet up once every five years - Numbers being upward of five thousand. I have never heard of such a happening, but definitely could be true.

The story set about in the church graveyard is indeed interesting so is the company of the regiment officer who is in-charge of guarding the treasure convoy.

Overall the book is highly recommendable, if you set aside the big game (hunting), aristocratic lifestyle descriptions and imperial prejudices - you get to enjoy one book filled with information about many a thing of the 19th century. I am equally pleased with myself for having picked this book, though regret not having one physical copy on the shelf.

Cheers,

[Cheenu]

(DNF after 2 chapters)

Expected it to be a travelogue but it is a collection of fictional (or at the very least, heavily embellished) short stories set in the mid 19th British India.

[Vivek Sharma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very descriptive novel about the Raj, specially informative about life in Hill stations of the Raj and the mofussil towns of India like meerut, Agra, Bareilly etc. John Lang was discovered by Ruskin Bond and died in 1864 in Mussoorie. The book with its quaint spellings of Indian towns and people and pithy humour is a must read. Thank you Ruskin for bringing Mr. John Lang to us all.

[Debopriyo Moulik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly liked the book for its insight into the lives of Europeans in India, living in the upper provinces (as they were then known). It is a delightful and easy read.

[Barun Ghosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was astounded to know that a book written before 1857 is still so relevant even today. The writer doesn't judge Indian society but simply narrates what he saw and experience in those decades before 1857 turned the political history of modern history and ended the tenure of the once mighty East India Company. The descriptions of the lives of the Sahib's during those days of lack of quick communication makes one wonder who the despondent type of bureaucracy we have inherited as modern nation actually originated in thos times.

[Pramod Pant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enough reasons why he’s not known even after one and a half century later. Ruskin Bond, the man who introduces him is very likely to meet the same fate, though a benign and likeable guy!

There’s no art in them !

I reread The Idiot of Dostoevsky a few days ago. Perhaps his brilliance, sheer brilliance, is clouding my judgement about these two guys ! But if that’s what they have to compete with, so be it . Life is a short business. Let it not be wasted on plebeians!

[Gurlal Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book in Mussoorie and I was really eager to start this book. I was hoping it would describe the great Himalayas but it spoke very little with that context and could not satisfy my curiosity to know more about the Himalayas from personal perspective. The book never touched the interiors of Himalayas.

[Solitude Bird · Rating 1 out of 5]

A peek into white Supremacy at its peak!

A terrible decision to read this book, alas the crime is done. The review of the book by The Spectator at its back reads "Lang was a friend and student of India", not from the nearest possible way was he a friend of India.

John Lang was an advocate who worked in India, establishing a successful legal practice. The book portrays dairy entries of wanderings done by Lang as he travels across the northern provinces. His views and sketches of life in Hindostan are actually the sketches of the lives of some ruling British big shots whose flamboyant lifestyle he drools with ecstasy on every page. His views on actual Indians are racist and downtrodden.

Ruskin Bond in the Introduction says "Its a pity he was forgotten so soon".
No contribution was made by him to the Indians to be remembered in India. His views on Indians were naive and the same as those of the average ruling White man. He mentions with extreme sadness the loss of lives of British soldiers during the Revolt of 1857 while showing no remorse or pity regarding the plight of millions, murdered by the barbaric company and dying of hunger happening around the same circa.
In his view, the only good natives were those who were the palkee bearers and servants, in other words, "SLAVES".

In one of his entries, regarding a public Indian festive holiday, he writes "In the name of Hindu & Muslim festivals nearly a third of every year is wasted, and it is devoutly to be hoped that when our rule in India is re-established these absurd concessions will no longer be suffered to prevail", writes the so-called "FRIEND OF INDIA". He continues to write with the hope of teaching natives how to work tirelessly for the Raj around the year, while the "FRIEND OF INDIA" simply wanders, drinks and parties around the year.

Ruskin Bond writes John Lang died in Mussoorie and the country forgot his grave and memories, which according to me is truly deserving and rightful tribute of Indians to her "FRIEND OF INDIA".

[Srijoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was indeed a very interesting and rather instructive read for it gave one not just many parallels - of stories & incidents mentioned elsewhere in other chronicles of and about India - but also a fairly good glimpse (a sketch is a good descriptive word for it) into the lives of the English in India, as too some natives, in the mid to late 1800s. His skill for writing an engaging tale seemed to get better (and livelier) from the 3rd chapter. The chapter about the courts martial he attended were really funny and showed how futile the proceedings were.

In this regard, one description (on the back cover - by some daily, presumably in present day UK) calling him a friend of India is in my opinion rather a bit erroneous or at least quite overstated or perhaps misleading at any rate.

He certainly enjoyed his time in India, did interact and seemed to revel in the company of many natives of the country and he did offer advice to Rani Lakshmi Bai.. but he was mindful of doing all of these within the limits of being a subject of the crown who was residing in a foreign land and one who was looking to explore the country with persons of a similar rank and ethnicity without actually becoming one with the milieu or taking forth any form of protestations for the lot of the subjugated. He considered himself very much a part of the ruling classes or at least that is the definite sense one got from reading these stories.

This, as it may be, I should like to read the rest of his writings.

Finally a note to the publisher Rupa & Co. - which I hope will also act as a plea - please fix your editing. This book is, as are so many others (read over the years), littered with spelling and grammatical mistakes.

[Rahul · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Lang is a true Indophile. Although he is an impartial and astute observer of Indian people and customs. His narrative brings the world of mid-19th century India alive for us. It's a pity his works are limited and not well-known.

[Somnath Sengupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lang's account certainly covers an interesting phase of Indian history. However, there are two problems. First, it's s very anecdotal account, so it's difficult to conclude which is actual history & which part is fiction. Second, his prose is rather prosaic & he isn't really a good writer.

[Nadeem Gaikwad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love history of Indian subcontinent? This is a great read to understand an Australians perspective of spending his life travelling through India during 1800 century, before dying in Mussoorie. He met several interesting characters and the sketches of people from Raj as well as Indian royals are super interesting reads.

Interesting Fact (not in the book) : Ruskin Bond discovered John Lang's ( writer of this book) grave at the historical graveyard on Mussories famous Camelback road.

[Pradeep Narayanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Indian society of 1840s

A very good book to read. Know the Indian society. The first hand conversation the author had with so many. Provides a glimpse of caste system at that time. Do read.

[Amrendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains 17 chapters on the life and times during the British Raj in mid-1800s. The auther tours from Calcutta to Tirhut to Kanpur, Lucknow, Agra, Aligarh, Meerut, Mussoorie, Simla etc and recounts what he saw, both among the British and the natives. Life in the hill-stations and life in the plains, both are given due importance in the book. In 'The Himalayan Club', 'The Himalayas' and 'The Mohammaden Mother', the author captures social life and nature in the hills and in other chapters like 'The Upper provinces' he narrates his trudging the hot plains of India. Enroute there are descriptions of his encounters with the Rani of Jhansi, Nana Sahib and Tantia Tope. These encounters add the historical interest to an otherwise less dramtic work.

The important thing is that the book is a first hand narration of the encounters and incidents and for anyone who loves books that are less on drama but have a poignancy of narration, this book can be easily recommended. Added to it is the romantic charm of the Raj period which the book is based in. Overall a very good read.

[The · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is more like John Lang's personal diary of the times he lived in India and almost makes you feel like you are time traveling and standing right beside the man and experiencing India in the days of the British Raj.

With Mr. Lang you will tumble upon facts of unbelievable modes of transport used in those days, to how he felt as he approached the vision of the Taj Mahal and mistakenly tumbled upon a wall buried with terrible secrets.

A must read also for Mussourie lovers too since the author writes much of the book while he's there, when you start this one you just wont't put it down.