Chai, Chai - A Travelogue

There is yet to be a great Indian travel book, the kind that is definitive or required reading for anyone wishing to understand India. My guess is that when it comes it will be written by Indians whether they be natives such as Pankaj Mishra or foreign born India residents such as Bill Aitken or India born semi-residents like Stephen Alter. The essential quality of great travel writing is local know-how and visitor travel writers, even giants such as Theroux and Naipaul rarely have the requisite penetrative insight into local custom. Thus their writing tends to be superficial.

An example would be the travel books of Michael Palin which are witty but without any real understanding of the people or the hapless countries it visits. True, over time people do get a measure of insight. There is a gulf between the Naipaul of India, A Wounded Civilization (where one wondered whether it was India that was wounded or old Naipaul) and the Naipaul who wrote India a million mutinies now. But on the whole tourists rarely penetrate beyond the surface so while the writing is sometimes beautiful (such as Pico Iyers) or witty (such as Palins), they do not tell me anything I do not know. At their best they are like a witty and literary Lonely Planet Guide (remember to book early, carry your pills, keep spare money in your socks).

Full review here Desicritics.org