Indian Samurai इंडियन सामुराई

I recently read a book, Turtle Feet, by Nikolai Grozni. The author, a pianist prodigy, narrates the four years he spent in Dharamsala (the place in the Indian Himalayas where the Dalai Lama found exile). Though I got completely lost whenever he tried to explain Buddhist philosophy, I found it very interesting – another kind of experience you can have in India!

And I like this quote:

“[…] India,” I said, pointing at another road sign that read “Slow down! The life that you save might or might not be your own!” “I’ve never been to a country where nonsense is the norm. It’s like a big joke – life, death, rebirth, Enlightenment – it all amounts to nothing, a play on words, a crazy puzzle that can never be solved. No wonder they came up with the idea of maya, or illusion, you know. In the West things are taken seriously. Life is a serious matter. Eating is a serious matter. Tomorrow is a serious matter. Here I can finally breather: there is no pressure to stay alive! Whatever happens is okay. Dying is okay, begging is okay. I don’t have to plot my life. I can sit back and actually enjoy it.” 

Turtle Feet, Nikolai Grozni (page 41), 2009

I just read Delirious Delhi by Dave Prager who released this book after the success of his blog (ourdelhistruggle.com) about his adventures for 18 months in Delhi.

A urban tale that describes Delhi by combining personal experiences and research: the structure of the city, transportation, weather, tips about food (and man is he a foody!), hospitals, peons in offices, rickshaw and taxi drivers etc.

Delicious!

Very funny, very humble, very optimistic, very informative also.

It's very personal, but I could completely relate with my own adventure in Delhi.

I may have not written a lot lately but I haven’t stopped reading.

And like often, my books are about India…

In English, I just finished East of the Sun by Julia Gregson.

Beyond the mushy romance (that I personally love and I’m not ashamed of it!), this book makes you travel in the twenties when you British girls were crossing the sea to go to India and marry officers.

And what a party time it was for most of the colonizers! The novel however finishes with the end of an era, with Independence coming up, and many Britishers leaving…

But at the end, the three heroines settle down in India!