000 01788nam a2200181 4500
008 240702b |||||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020 _a9780143030348
082 _a915.4
_bSAW
100 _aSawhny, Samit
_911186
245 _aAll the world's a spittoon travels back to India
260 _aNew Delhi
_bPenguine Books India (P) Ltd.
_c2003
300 _aix, 269p.
_bpbk
520 _aAfter 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.
650 _aGeography
_91327
650 _aTravel
_91163
650 _aIndia
_9456
942 _cG
999 _c10375
_d10375