Reiseskildringer

«India er overveldende,» skriver Torbjørn Færøvik i sitt forord til boka. Det enorme antallet innbyggere, hele 1,4 milliarder mennesker – det utgjør seksten prosent av hele verdens befolkning – alle språkene og kulturene, de etniske motsetningene, kastesystemet – dette mangfoldet og de utallige motsetningene gjør landet vanskelig, kanskje umulig, å forstå. India er annerledes enn alt annet. De er en viktig global aktør og har verdens femte største økonomi. Samtidig har de noen av de mest forurensede byene i verden. Nesten en fjerdedel av innbyggerne lever under fattigdomsgrensen, kvinnene har lav status i samfunnet, millioner av indere lider under alvorlig vannmangel og flere storbyer står i fare for å slippe opp for grunnvann.

Færøvik gjør sveip innom indus-sivilisasjonen, som regnes blant verdens eldste, allerede da med svært folkerike byer og avansert infrastruktur, den listige Aleksander den stores erobringstokt før krigeren Ashoka samlet India til ett rike på 200-tallet f. Kr. og skapte historiens første velferdsstat! India er også hinduisme, fortellingene om Buddha, den berømte elskovsguiden Kamasutra: «I likhet med etikk og rikdom er seksualitet en av sivilisasjonens søyler», islams inntog på 600-tallet, mektige sultaner, blant dem en kvinne: Razia Sultana besteg tronen i 1236 etter sin far og ble den første muslimske hersker i Sør-Asia, Vasco da Gamas og andre portugiseres handelsfremstøt i sør, mogulenes inntog i nord, kolonitiden, Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru og mye, mye mer. Færøvik sammenfatter historien fra tidenes morgen til i dag.

Akkurat nå er India svært hardt rammet av pandemien. Hvor går veien videre? «Framtida avhenger av hva du gjør i dag», sa Mahatma Gandhi. Boka er rikt utstyrt med både bilder, kart og illustrasjoner, og har med en tidslinje med viktige årstall.

• Forfatter: Torbjørn Færøvik
• Publisert: 2022
• Innbinding: pocket
• Språk: Norsk
• Antall sider: 206
• ISBN: 9788248929338

En annerledes reisebok som formidler både besk realisme og skjønnhet, glede og opphøyet ro - og ikke minst: Kunnskap.

"Den som vil forstå India, må belage seg på en reise i tid og rom", sa Indias første statsminister Jawaharlal Nehru.

I sin bok tar Torbjørn Færøvik deg med på en slik reise. Likevel inntar han en ydmyk holdning til dette veldige landet, og som han selv skriver: "Sannheten om India får du ikke, men jeg lover å gi deg viktige biter av den."

Tildelt Brageprisen i 1999 i klassen for beste fagbok.

• Forfatter: Torbjørn Færøvik
• Publisert: 2014
• Innbinding: Heftet
• Språk: Norsk
• ISBN: 9788202438142

An ambitious and magnificent new travelogue by internationally bestselling, prizewinning writer Erika Fatland. The Himalayas meander for more than two thousand kilometres through many different countries, from Pakistan to Myanmar via Nepal, India, Tibet and Bhutan, where the world religions of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are interspersed with ancient shamanic beliefs. Countless languages and vastly different cultures exist in these isolated mountain valleys.

Modernity and tradition collide, while the great powers fight for influence. We have read about climbers and adventurers on their way up Mount Everest, and about travellers on a spiritual quest to remote Buddhist monasteries. Here, however, the focus is on the communities of these Himalayan valleys, those who live and work in this extraordinary region.

As Erika Fatland introduces us to the people she meets along her journey, and in particular the women, she takes us on a vivid and dizzying expedition at altitude through incredible landscapes and dramatic, unknown histories. Skilfully weaving together the politics, geography, astrology, theology and ecology of this vast region, she also explores some of the most volatile human conflicts of our times. With her unique gift for listening, and for storytelling, she has become one of the most exciting travel writers of her generation.

• Forfatter: Erika Fatland
• Publisert: August 2022
• Antall sider: 578
• Innbinding: Heftet
• Språk: Engelsk
• ISBN: 9781529416893

For 15 years, award-winning travel writer Stephen McClarence and his BBC Radio journalist wife Clare Jenkins made a series of journeys through India to learn about one of its most eccentric and fast-dwindling communities: the Anglo-Indians. Mainly descendants of British men and Indian women, their combined heritage stretches back 350 years through the times of the East India Company and the British Raj. In Jhansi - a railway hub in the state of Uttar Pradesh and inspiration for John Masters's 1950s book Bhowani Junction - the Anglo-Indian community is reduced to around 30 families.

Teatime at Peggy's shares their stories. Inspired by Jenkins' own Anglo-Indian family connections, the couple immersed themselves in the customs of this little-known dimension to India, soon developing a profound affection for their new friends, particularly for two of the area's most memorable figureheads: the title character 'Aunty Peggy', daughter and widow of railwaymen, overseer of the European cemetery, and 'friend of the great and the good, the rich and the poor'; and Captain Roy Abbott, the last British landowner in India, who never dined without wearing a blazer, cravat and immaculately pressed trousers. The authors spent hours at Peggy's kitchen table - eating cake, samosas and curry; drinking tea; welcoming eccentric characters, like Pastor Rao who could recite Winston Churchill speeches from memory; listening to stories, told in lilting accents, of the Railway Institute and May Queen Balls, Monsoon Toad Balls (where 'the ugliest, most hideous-looking man' would win the prize), waltzes and foxtrots, dancing in the jungle to Victor Silvester gramophone records, games of rummy and housey-housey, and Anglo-Indian cookery that embraced plum cake, goat's brain curry, Mulligatawny soup and crème caramel.

Warm, humorous and evocative, Teatime at Peggy's is a lyrical, loving homage to the Anglo-Indians. Filled with larger-than-life characters and with the ever-present exhilaration of 21st-century India, it is both intimate and revelatory, and a testament to the importance of tradition, community and friendship. This enchanting book is for anyone who knows India well - or who simply yearns to take the 'trip of a lifetime' to the 'sub-continent' and see things a little differently.

• Forfattere: Stephen McClarence og Clare Jenkins
• Publisert: Juni 2024
• Innbinding: Heftet
• Språk: Engelsk
• ISBN: 9781804692424

Journey through Southern India is a delightfully irreverent yet insightful travel memoir that invites readers to join two wisecracking retirees on an extraordinary three-week odyssey across the dazzling landscapes of southern India. It neatly fills in some of the geographical gaps left after the duo's tour of northern India, described in author Mark Probert's 2021 book, Journey through India (2021). The two British pensioners' latest 'trip of a lifetime' proves to be an unforgettable tour brimming with strange encounters, near-misses and life-affirming moments.

This book's refreshing candour and gentle wit sweep readers into a kaleidoscope of rich experiences. With travels taking in the bustling streets of Mumbai and the serene backwaters of Kerala, ancient temples of Hampi and the modern experimental township of Auroville, the cricket world cup and the world's largest bust, this fast-moving narrative is an immersion into a dazzling world of vibrant colours, exotic aromas and cacophonous soundscapes. From your armchair, you can meet an internationally famous yoga guru, swim in the Arabian Sea and celebrate Diwali in what was once the world's second-largest city, Hampi.

Whether dodging Delhi belly with a thimbleful of Imodium, nearly causing an international incident at the Auroville exhibition centre or finding themselves accidentally stoking political fervour at a Mumbai rally, Mark and his best friend Nick gamely stumble into experiences that would shake travel certainties in even the most daring souls. Yet it is his openness to adventure, self-deprecating humour in the face of chaos and profound appreciation for the diversity of the human spirit that makes Mark such an enchanting and compelling guide on this intercultural exploration of India's intoxicating extremes. Fun yet thoughtful, and written in richly descriptive prose, Journey through Southern India takes readers far beyond a typical tour itinerary to deliver an authentic, amusing and surprisingly moving account of a traveller's quest for perspective, connection and meaning amid the beautiful contradictions of the subcontinent.

This is a perceptive, open-hearted memoir of an unforgettable journey - one that inspires us to live every adventure to its fullest.

• Forfatter: Mark Robert
• Publisert: Desember 2024
• Innbinding: Heftet
• Språk: Engelsk
• ISBN: 9781784779863

Dette er en av de bøkene man ikke klarer å legge fra seg. Boken er en selvbiografisk gjengivelse av et fantastisk liv - og det er utrolig hva en person kan klare å gjennomgå i løpet av et liv. Boken handler om India og er skrevet på en ”indisk” måte. Den er på noen måter som en Bollywood-film med store handlinger, store følelser og store ord. Og skal du til Mumbai MÅ du lese denne boken. Sett deg på Leopolds Café sammen med alle de andre som har Shantaram i hånden.

A novel of high adventure, great storytelling and moral purpose, based on an extraordinary true story of eight years in the Bombay underworld - A literary masterpiece... at once erudite and intimate, reflective and funny... it has the grit and pace of a thriller' Daily Telegraph

'A publishing phenomenon' Sunday Times

'A gigantic, jaw-dropping, grittily authentic saga' Daily Mail

'In the early 80s, Gregory David Roberts, an armed robber and heroin addict, escaped from an Australian prison to India, where he lived in a Bombay slum.

There, he established a free health clinic and also joined the mafia, working as a money launderer, forger and street soldier. He found time to learn Hindi and Marathi, fall in love, and spend time being worked over in an Indian jail. Then, in case anyone thought he was slacking, he acted in Bollywood and fought with the Mujahedeen in Afghanistan...

• Forfatter: Gregory David Roberts
• Publisert: August 2011
• Utgave: 5. utgave
• Antall sider: 933
• ISBN: 9780349117546

Iain campbell has been fascinated by mountains for as long as he can remember. In his new book, he tells the story of a journey following the course of the indus river from its mouth in the mudflats of karachi through the karakorum, kashmir and the himalayas to its source in ladakh on the indian side of the tibetan plateau, where it springs from the 'lion's mouth' on mount kailash. His narrative paints an insightful, honest and heartfelt portrait of pakistan, a country that through all his wanderings of the deserts and mountains of asia kept drawing him back, and a place which combines a rich religious heritage with some of the most spectacular mountains in the world.

'i came to see how closely the indus river is involved with pakistani religious life and how this has been true for thousands of years' he says. 'i took four months to make this trip and was able to travel slowly... It became apparent to me as I travelled and developed personal friendships that the image of pakistan that we are often fed by the media is distorted.

i found the pakistanis to be the most hospitable people I have ever met, to the point where I would have to allow time on my walks in the mountains for the delay caused by sitting down to tea and chapatti in every settlement.'over the course of his journey, he is exposed to all sides of local life, from a sufi shrine attended by crocodiles to a holy man competing with saudi-sponsored wahhabi clerics in the swat valley, a near meeting with the fairies of nanga parbat and the temple of a three-year-old buddhist lama on the edge of the tibetan plateau. Engrossing and eye-opening, iain campbell's account of his travels through this mesmerising land will appeal to travellers, mountaineers, trekkers, wilderness enthusiasts, anyone interested in the culture and history of the subcontinent, and fans of quality travel writing.

Publisert måned: Aug
Publisert år: 2019
Sider nr: 213