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Zanskar to Ziro: No Stilettos in the Himalayas
Zanskar to Ziro: No Stilettos in the Himalayas is a travelogue about two women’s decade-long love affair with the Himalayas. Their 10,000-kilometre trail stretched from the remote Zanskar Valley in Ladakh through Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Nepal, Sikkim, Bengal and Bhutan to Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh.
It is the ‘female gaze’ that sets this book apart, since it also narrates how women cope with ‘being woman’ in an unfamiliar land. The two ladies have had an eye for the aesthetic and the curious, a heart for the exotic, and an ear for the local lore, or even a recipe.
Zanskar to Ziro: No Stilettos in the Himalayas emerges thus as an infusion of luxuriant landscapes and rich history, a successful evocation of a sense of place. The book is further enriched by echoes and allusions from all that the ladies have read, and high-quality visuals.
The acceptance that comes from having lived half of one’s life has allowed the travellers to wade across difficulties with a sense of humour—often self-deprecating—that twinkles through the book.
It is the ‘female gaze’ that sets this book apart, since it also narrates how women cope with ‘being woman’ in an unfamiliar land. The two ladies have had an eye for the aesthetic and the curious, a heart for the exotic, and an ear for the local lore, or even a recipe.
Zanskar to Ziro: No Stilettos in the Himalayas emerges thus as an infusion of luxuriant landscapes and rich history, a successful evocation of a sense of place. The book is further enriched by echoes and allusions from all that the ladies have read, and high-quality visuals.
The acceptance that comes from having lived half of one’s life has allowed the travellers to wade across difficulties with a sense of humour—often self-deprecating—that twinkles through the book.
436 pages, Flexiback
First published October 10, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 11, 2019
If you are the kind of person who is plotting their next escape to the hills, this is the book for you. A paean to the Himalayas, Sohini Sen describes her various trips to the mountains simply, beautifully. There is no profound wisdom, pithy observations. But there is a deep love of snow covered peaks, dense forests, simple folk, that shines through. Makes you yearn for that escape.
April 24, 2019
Love makes you traverse distant lands; passion drives you to surmount many a formidable heights; but devotion makes you go on that arduous pilgrimage again. And again. Because love is its own reward.
Zanskar to Ziro: No Stilettoes in the Himalayas is such a love story of two companions, brave women, following the call of their hearts. Like Alexander Frater's Chasing the Monsoon, Z2Z is about realizing a dream of witnessing the author's deepest passion. A very engaging read, Z2Z is punctuated by brief rendezvous with religion and mysticism, mythological tales and recorded history, cultural flavors and local folklore, and many woke moments of mellowed fruitfulness.
I would say, Z2Z is NOT a travelogue; not merely one. It's perhaps a memoir, a mountain memoir or a pilgrim's progress, one that takes the reader on a sublime journey, to leave us calmer, gentler, humbler, happier, truer versions of ourselves.
Z2Z is NOT for a weekend reading. It's not a book one can't wait to finish. It is the book which surprisingly dictates the reading pace - the unique individual pace at which you the reader can negotiate the corrugated terrains and variegated moods of both the prolific landscapes that Z2Z takes us through, and the vistas of mindscapes it open within us.
There are pages where you want to pause reading, place a soft bookmark and sit very quietly. I spent many silent dusks watching the splendid sunrise at Deoria Taal in my mind's eyes. And there I simply cannot go back to some desolate breathless nights of biting cold and darkness. Or the near-death experiences of Sumita and Sohini.
Z2Z is captivating as it lets the reader become part of the journey. We keep vigil with these brave women, suffer their pains and rejoice when they discover secret destinations not part of the original itinerary... marvelling with them at the sedate snow-capped peaks, wet verdant slopes, a flower, a dew drop.
And then there are these exquisite photographs - not frozen frames - but living pulsating moments: azure skies, gurgling brooks, tranquil mountain ranges, monastries, relics, birds, people, smiles; life unsullied which creates a sense of pristine timelessness.
It's a land you simply must visit, this Z2Z. I bet you'll come back to the book again, leaving your stilettoes back at home, and leave enriched by the cool warmth of your sojourn.
Zanskar to Ziro: No Stilettoes in the Himalayas is such a love story of two companions, brave women, following the call of their hearts. Like Alexander Frater's Chasing the Monsoon, Z2Z is about realizing a dream of witnessing the author's deepest passion. A very engaging read, Z2Z is punctuated by brief rendezvous with religion and mysticism, mythological tales and recorded history, cultural flavors and local folklore, and many woke moments of mellowed fruitfulness.
I would say, Z2Z is NOT a travelogue; not merely one. It's perhaps a memoir, a mountain memoir or a pilgrim's progress, one that takes the reader on a sublime journey, to leave us calmer, gentler, humbler, happier, truer versions of ourselves.
Z2Z is NOT for a weekend reading. It's not a book one can't wait to finish. It is the book which surprisingly dictates the reading pace - the unique individual pace at which you the reader can negotiate the corrugated terrains and variegated moods of both the prolific landscapes that Z2Z takes us through, and the vistas of mindscapes it open within us.
There are pages where you want to pause reading, place a soft bookmark and sit very quietly. I spent many silent dusks watching the splendid sunrise at Deoria Taal in my mind's eyes. And there I simply cannot go back to some desolate breathless nights of biting cold and darkness. Or the near-death experiences of Sumita and Sohini.
Z2Z is captivating as it lets the reader become part of the journey. We keep vigil with these brave women, suffer their pains and rejoice when they discover secret destinations not part of the original itinerary... marvelling with them at the sedate snow-capped peaks, wet verdant slopes, a flower, a dew drop.
And then there are these exquisite photographs - not frozen frames - but living pulsating moments: azure skies, gurgling brooks, tranquil mountain ranges, monastries, relics, birds, people, smiles; life unsullied which creates a sense of pristine timelessness.
It's a land you simply must visit, this Z2Z. I bet you'll come back to the book again, leaving your stilettoes back at home, and leave enriched by the cool warmth of your sojourn.
November 28, 2022
I don't know how to describe this book, because it's not merely a travelogue, it's much beyond that. I actually felt I was with them on this trip seduced by the vastness and beauty in those snow-capped mountains, experiencing mythology and history, grateful for witnessing the incredible beauty, humbled by the mightiness, and finding happiness in the smallest of things!🏞️🌄 I must say, I have the greatest admiration for these two brave hearts for the courage to follow their deep yearning for mountains! I am quite sure you could have done all this with your stilettos on because you people are superwomen for me!! 👠💎
And I felt so lucky to be a part of this journey🌷
It made me realize we are just a speck of dust in this beautiful yet-to-be-discovered part of the universe!!✨🌌
(Ps: And thank you for making my thesis writing a part of such an incredible journey!! Cz I literally felt I was 'working from the mountains' (WFM)!🗻🗻)
And I felt so lucky to be a part of this journey🌷
It made me realize we are just a speck of dust in this beautiful yet-to-be-discovered part of the universe!!✨🌌
(Ps: And thank you for making my thesis writing a part of such an incredible journey!! Cz I literally felt I was 'working from the mountains' (WFM)!🗻🗻)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews