All the world's a spittoon travels back to India

After five years in London, Samit Sawhny decides to move back to India - the long way. Vowing not to board a plane between London and Delhi, he heads east with a backpack, and soon finds himself where no Indian has gone before.After experiencing twenty-four-hour sunlight in Norway and teaching Europeans to play kabadi in Helsinki, Samit watches Russians sunbathe standing up in St Petersburg and takes a stiff swig of Moscow's nightlife. Crossing the cultural border into Asia, he marvels at the courtship rituals of Yakutian women and the Siberian taste of B-grade Bollywood idols. Mongolia reveals the joys of open-air billiards, fermented mare's milk and stunningly pristine countryside; in China, Samit fishes for cormorants, watches the modernization march and follows briefly in Vikram Seth's footsteps.Tibet brings thrilling treks to Mt Kailash and Everest Base Camp, not to mention a hair-raising encounter with some boy monks. The journey comes full circle in Kathmandu, where finds himself discussing 'the real India' with a group of Western backpackers. Called upon to define Indian culture, he rises to the occasion and finds that some things never change. Born of a talent for seeing order (and humor) in chaos, All the World's Spittoon is a rollicking journal of a road less traveled.