As Monisha Rajesh, the young author of the travelogue “Around India in 80 trains”, leaves Hyderabad on her 80th train to Chennai, she talks about how people come and go in your life. Everything is temporary. It is a point where she feels the end of her remarkable journey and you feel yours as you read the book. It is a kind of book that tugs your heart and even as it ends, you wish it had some more of those travels. The author, British girl of Telugu origin, to me is a great writer. As I read through the book, having travelled much in trains all over India like any other Indian, I grew fond of the travels she had. The gust of winds in her hair as she sits on the railway steps, the stains of daal that spills over to the seats as the train wobbles its way through country side, watery teas and oily food, queues outside temples and the suffering children of our country, all gains a great frame in her words. She lets you know about your own country the way her meditation course makes her aware of her breath. There are moments that will give you smiles and joys of travel as you go through the book. The book doesn’t finely balances the details on destination, the train journeys and the views that the author builds up on her travel. There are many short lived characters that you carry with you as you finish the last page. The book touches religious, spiritual, philosophical, social and practical aspects of living in India as well. It is a book you will surely enjoy.
Summarizing – Strongly Recommended. Whether you like fiction or non-fiction, you are going to like this book.