India for Indiaphiles -- Literature, Cinema, Music, Travel

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An excellent launching pad!

Some favorite books that quickly come to mind:
The White Tiger by Araqvind Adiga - won the Man Booker Prize in 2008, wonderful

A Journey With Elsa Cloud by Leila Hadley, written in 1997, a beautifully told tale of travel in India and family relationships.

The Death of Vishnu - delightful novel of a Hindu and Muslin family living in the same apartment building

non fiction: Planet India by Mira Kamdar - a picture of India and its national and global potential

Can't wait to read what others recommend

2nd that on The White Tiger.

For film, Monsoon Wedding. And Salaam Bombay is pretty good.

And of course that classic, Gunga Din. In which Din is played by a blackfaced and veeeery thin Sam Jaffe!

IndianaPearl, thank you for starting this thread. ANd thanks to all contributors.

I gave our driver a copy of "White Tiger" in HIndi. Cant wait to get his reaction. I loved the book. We stayed at ITC Maurya in New Delhi (incredible place) as we were lucky enough to have Starwood pints. I searcched in vain for the businessmen described in the book as frequenting that hotel but couldnt find any (-;

Rohinton Mistry, "A Fine Balance" Very touching. And you'll never think of Indira Gandhi in the same way.

Movies: in addition to LAleslies' great Mira Nair choices--"The Namesake" I never tire of it!

Michael Palin's "HImalaya" documentary. Fascinating, and showcases places including including **Golden Temple* in Amritsar, the Wagagh border ceremony, and McLeod Ganj near Dharamsala.

For movie beautifully filmed in Munnar, Kerala (tho the story takes lace in Wayanad regin, furthe northin Kerala) "Before the Rains" Also very interesting story culturally/ethically.

IndianaP had mentioned a Dalrymple book in another post. "CIty of Djinns" has been on my "gotta read" list for a long time.

Travel: too many to name here, but as i mentioned Amritsar above---it is IMHO a must see. Right up there with Taj Mahal is The Golden Temple--both at night and daytime. Incredible, incredible place!! If you can fit it in as a trip from New Delhi (plane or Shatabti train) ..try!! It's not a day trip, but if you can spare one day and night---highly recommended!

For "easy reading" before going to Agra--with scenes that will make the Fort and TM come more alive when you see them--"Beneath a Marble Sky"

For a British take on the days of the Raj, some of the John Masters books like "Bhowani Juncion" and "The Deceivers"

Asia Travel Summer Reading List by Nutella/ thread started on July 1 has 33 responses with many many thoughtful suggestions for books about India--and is ongoing; why not focus on cinema, music and culture for this one?

Deepa Mehta's 2005 WATER set in Varanesi is a particularly moving and beautifully shot film. "The Apu Trilogy" by Raj Karamchedu are classics that anyone interested in India should try to see.

Rez Abbasi is a terrific Indian acoustic guitarist who weaves in some traditional sounds of India along with those of some of the great jazz musicians to his own compositions and interpretations.

Deepa Mehta also has "Earth" and "Fire." All three films focus on the status of women in India.

Has anyone read "India: A Million Mutinies Now" by V.S. Naipaul? Naipaul is from Trinidad, which has a large Indian community, and found that visiting his ancestral home much different than being an Indian in Trinidad.

"Darshan: Seeing the Divine Image in India" by Diana Eck is a short little book that explains a lot about religious images in Hinduism and the issues that American (or any) Hindus must consider when building and funding a temple outside India.

i think "The Apu Trilogy " films are by Satyajit Ray..or am I getting confused??
Unfortunately, some of the Apu Trilogy are not avail on DVD yet. Waiting and hoping...

You're TOTALLY right, Cali!!! I Googled the trilogy to check on the spelling of Satyajitn and saw an article about them by
Raj Karamchedu! I was the one who then got confused! Apologies--as well as for the grammatical error--trilogy IS (not are). Anyway, they're great films. I first saw the trilogy in one fell swoop 100 years ago and have since seen the first two again, but not the full trilogy. Seeing them together made an indelible impression on me.

If I could suggest a site that seems more than relevant here, check out http://theindiaphile.com/ which is a site based on all these things! Lots of book recommendations, films and travel tips, as well as cool you tube clips, yoga.. wow, it's got everything on there. Glad to discover some other Indiaphiles out here!

johnbarry1978: Thanks! Excellent site! I also found baloji.com several months ago -- more for Indians about India, but a great resource in any case.

Sorry. It's boloji.com.

thanks indian pearl. Yes good recommendation.

Interesting article:


http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/world/asia/15india.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=anglo%20indians&st=cse

I loved White Tiger and Shantaram. Has anyone else read the latter?

ekscrunchy: Yes, and I found it quite interesting and sad. Dalrymple makes mention of Anglo-Indians in his wonderful White Moghuls. There was a window of time before about 1800 when they were sent back to England to be educated and moved freely within British society, but that time ended and they became second-class citizens.

live42day: I listened to Shantaram on my iPod. Quite long, but not too bad. His prose doesn't sing, but it's semi-autobiographical and an interesting story.

Also recommended Piers Moore Ede's All Kinds of Magic - one of the best travelogues I've read about India.

Indiana: I agree. Fascinating and sad. It reminded me of the book by Paul Scott, Staying On:

http://www.amazon.com/Staying-Phoenix-Fiction-Paul-Scott/dp/0226743497/ref=pd_sim_b_1



ALSO:

http://www.amazon.com/Raj-Quartet-Scorpion-Silence-Division/dp/0688042120



This also got good reviews, but I could not get involved:

http://www.amazon.com/Other-Rooms-Wonders/dp/0393337200/ref=pd_sim_b_42

I've read the Paul Scott books, but not the other, although he had an article in today's NYT op-ed.

I'm bringing this thread back to the top.

Somewhere here on Fodors someone recommended the Bollywood film, 3 Idiots. I put it on my Netflix list, but it said unavailable. I left it there, and last week, suddenly it was available. We watched it tonight and loved it. Highly recommended!

In case you have not watched: "Slumdog Millionaire"

Oh, yes, we've sen Slumdog Millionaire, also highly recommended.

I just finished "The Twentieth Wife" and the "Feast of Roses" both by Indu Sundaresan. Both were easy and enjoyable reads which gave great insight into the Moghul Empire.

I just started Shantaram and think it is brilliant. If you aren't scared of the 900 pages, it's a great read (so far).