I am passionate for non-fiction books about India so this book was on my personal reading list. I will mention this: Something about Mr. Dimock's writing reminds me of that "lost" writing style of the 19th century. This is an absolutely fabulous book that unfortunately will probably be overlooked time and time again by readers. This is a book I will buy and always keep because it is so perfect in every way!

The great strength of this book lies in its brevity. Two-hundred pages divided by twenty chapters makes for fast reading, covering a wide variety of subjects. Edward Dimock is a man of the world; his depth of experience allows him to write with both fondness and irreverence. Early on he confesses himself to be an old fuddy-duddy, guided by the ancient Manu (like Dante and Vergil), yet is not above numerous and much-appreciated pop references to anything from Mel Brooks to Star Trek. For those of us who know choice little of India (let alone been there) Mysteries of the East is both didactic and hilarious. Dimock's a wonderful writer, quickly establishing a humorous tone while discussing otherwise weighty matters. The rhythm he works himself into had me anticipating his editorializing, even in the midst of the more luxurious description. He's always "on", always has a little something to say about his travels and discoveries, be they an American movie star in Agra or the island of Diu where Dimock "communes with the spirits" (my realization of what he meant by this caused me to laugh out loud; I was finally hooked). Dimock is a witty observer of detail, with a well-educated sense of comparison and contrast. The similarity between Santa Claus and Ganesha is nicely drawn, while the author is careful to distinguish between Sir Richard Burton and just plain Richard Burton. The Indians and Sahibs are allowed to speak for themselves either charmingly or boisterously, quick character sketches that add flavor to the cultural mix. Dimock also knows his Vishvamitra and Herodotus and lets these old-timers have their say. But as he himself writes, "It is no news to anybody that language is more than words", and some very fine study is put into his silent characters as well, everyone from Yusuf the waiter to Nikki the German shepherd. Dimock takes an obvious delight in the menagerie that is India, from thieving monkeys to a charging water buffalo, and a most striking non-speaking role is played by Gopal the elephant, whose astuteness and venerability Dimock compares favorably to his own father. He's correct in describing the glance of the polite pachyderm as sagacious: some animals--say, cows,--look right through you, but elephants look right at you . . . appraisingly. The change of scene in Part III of the book caught me somewhat off-guard as Dimock leaves India and travels to Aden and then back to New England. I thought the whole book was supposed to be about India, but I got to thinking about the title; the East. After all, Aden is in the Middle East, and Massachusetts is on the east coast, and both are plenty mysterious to me as well. The most memorable advice Dimock provides if one is to truly see India is that one must: 1. Meet a maharaja, whether he be sober or inebriated, 2. Ride an elephant to see an outdoor drama without trampling any of the locals, 3. See a ruby-eyed idol deep in a rain-forest straight out of The Jungle Book, 4.Take in a live performance by a cobra and its handler in the street, or at least stumble upon one of the great snakes out in the bush, or (Shiva willing) in one's own bathtub.

Mr. Dimock possesses a perspective on India that, few if any, Westerners will ever have. He is probably the only Western author who has been able to notice and accept the chaos of India. Mr. Dimock aslo has the unique insight of perceiving the order that arises from this choas. In his book he presents India to us as a place of constant comedy the humor of which is best understood by someone who is fimilar with the region and it's people. India comes across as a place of extremes where even the animals have a personality and express it in their own right. The book was funny and nostalgic at the same time. The ideas would have been best expressed in an Indian language but the limiations of English as a language used to recount India is also very amusing. The book is very highly recommended especially to those who live in mortal fear and awe of the place. Thanks! B

A beautiful offering! It is not just the world of music which is the richer for this account. Music, a system - or - music, a way of life. Devotion, dedication, service, and the universality of this music is Vedanta, lived and written of by Ravi Shankar. This lucid presentation of an exceptional culture is a way open for appreciation and more.

Ravi Shankars book "My music My life" from 1969 is a great introduction to Indian music and how it is to grow up in India as a music student.

In chapter one "My Heritage" Shankar explains the basic principles of Indian music, the difference between North and South Indian music and the most common musical instruments.Chapter two "My Masters" is about his teachers and chapter three "Myself" is Shankars autobiography. Chapter four is a manual for learning the sitar.

I found this book very enjoyable and a great introduction to one of the best music this planet has to offer and Shankar is one of the greatest musicians of this century. The chapter about his life in India as a music student were very interesting to me because it is so different from being a music student in Iceland.

For those interested I would also recomend the video "Raga" which is a documentary about Shankar (done I think in the late 60's) and of course all his fabulous c.d's.

I found the chapter on introductory sitar technique particularly captivating and enlightening. I'd spent many hours pouring over explanations of Indian music in Grove's, world music, texts, etc., and this short chapter made it seem real for the first time. (A curiosity: This was edited by one Carly Simon, scion of Simon & Schuster's elder Simon, before she became known in another capacity.) Those interested in East-West musical synthesis will also want to take a look at Jeff Burns's PENTATONIC SCALES FOR THE JAZZ-ROCK KEYBOARDIST.

Being a traveller who usually swears by Lonely Planet guides, I have to admit that when it came down to taking one or the other, the Lonely Planet book stayed at home and this one made it into my backpack. It's just plain good. I will be sure to check out other Moon Guides in the future. Their series might soon be alongside my LP and Footprint Guide collections.

This may be the best guide book I have ever used. I think I should write Kerry Moran a fan letter for helping me to have an amazing and wonderful time on my six-week trip to Nepal without always feeling like a clueless tourist. This guide is so well written and interesting that I read it cover to cover during the trip-- even the sections about places we weren't planning to go. The cultural descriptions are informative and sensitively written, but not unrealistically rose-colored. The guides to towns and trekking routes give you an accurate and practical idea of what to expect when you get there without being overdetailed or bossy about telling you what do. The Nepali vocabulary and grammar in the appendix really came in handy and Nepalis, even when they could speak English, seemed genuinely pleased that I was trying to speak Nepali. The maps are not especially good, but then even with maps you would still have to ask directions. This is a great guide for anyone whose itenerary is not set in stone and who wants to get some genuine insight into Nepali culture.

This may be the best guidebook I've ever used-- I read it cover to cover during my trip, and feel like I ought to write Kerry Moran a fan letter. The advice and information in this book helped me to have an amazing and wonderful experience Nepal without always feeling like a clueless tourist. The descriptions of Nepali culture and customs are sensitively written and indespensible for a mystified first time visitor. The guides for trekking routes and towns are right on the mark but not overdetailed, so you get an accurate idea what to expect without being told exactly what to do. The Nepali vocabulary and grammar in the appendix were very handy and I really had fun trying to speak the language. This book does not have good maps, but I was able to get pretty good maps in Nepal.

If you are not a Sindi, Punjabi, Hazara, Tajik or other enemies of the Afghans/Pakhtoon, this is a must reading for you.

This book is an extremely useful work for historical reference, perhaps the only one in its category extant. It can be called a magnum opus. The narrative of its writer is, of course, tinted heavily with his own emotion--and he has pointed this out to the reader himself when describing the nature of his book--therefore this aspect of the book may also be taken as a "historical reference", to its VIP author's attitudes, but otherwise has no value and is sincere, but very harmfully misleading to the unacquainted reader, about the true nature of the evil Pathan society and its ways, in the present time especially. The Pathans/Pakhtuns/Afghans were always a backward, turbulent society with a criminal culture, but they have changed drastically for the worse in the 44 years since this book was first written, mostly in the last 20 years or so.

This book is the most comprhensive book on the subject of the Pathans (Pukhtoon or Pushtoon. Written by the last British Governor of the North West Frontier Province, this book traces the geneaology of this unusual race. Recently the Readers Digest (July 2000) wrote a story on the connection with Alexander the Great. This is a scholary work so if you are looking for light reading this is not for you. At one time Afghan and Pathan or Pukhtoon/Pushtoon were synonymous. It was the fear of the Pathans of Pakistan joining with the Pathans of Afghanistan that led Pakistan to deny naming the province after the people for feaar of lending legitimacy to their cause. Winston Churchill fought here. So did Sherlock Holmes friend Dr. Watson. The fascination with ths area can be gauged by the number of National Geographic articles about this area. This book brings these people to life and gives them the honorable treatment they have earned. I should know, I am a Puktoon of the Yousafzai tribe.

I took a 7 week long (2hours a week) workshop with the author and read this book during the workshop and after. The book is almost like having Kathy inside your home to figure out how to make Vastu work for you! It's amazing the changes that have occured within my roommate and my sense of ease now that my house is vastu perfected :) I even began to bring it into the workplace and the changes were amazing. Before I left my job I took my meditation belongings home and the energy around me and throughout my small workplace immediately became less friendly. If you feel like you're looking for something and you're constantly running away from your apartment read this book! It will help you recognize exactly how to make your home a sanctuary for yourself, animals, family, and even roommates! Not to mention guests.

I practice yoga--seriously. I just heard about vastu and bought this book after someone told me it was the best book to read on this ancient science. I enjoyed it immensely and found it so logical to follow and understand. I've started to re-organize much of my apartment. Already, it looks so much nicer and really does make me feel much more comfortable and calm. I highly recommend this book to everyone--especially people who do yoga--the two go together for sure.

Who knew you could change your life so much by simply moving your bed or computer? I couldn't recommend a better book to learn how to improve your health, your job, even your romantic life. Forget all those male/female books that try getting you to color your hair or spend crazy amounts of time at coffee shops. This book lets you know the most significant changes come from within.

Princely India is a collection of photographs by one of the pioneer photographers in the world, namely Lala Deen Dayal whose work is a valuable reflection of India in the period 1870-1905. It covers architecture, views, portraits of native princes, visits of dignitaries and influence of the British in various aspects of political and social life. The photographs provide excellent reference material for period costumes, historical events and social life. It is a must for every library and every collector of 19th century photographs. The quality of the pictures is amazingly sharp with an artistic novelty about the composition and lighting coupled with attention to details. Most of the photos particularly views are collodian prints which incorporate the total mastery of the photographer in pioneering circumstances. The book can be an ideal gift for lovers of photography and a fine feast for the coffee table browsers.

Raja Deen Dayal was the most sort after photographer in the state. My parents wedding pictures werewere taken by his studio in 1938. The book is a pictorial history of the state and its people. Some of the most striking photo graphs of the time. Whether the pictures are studio portraits or panaramic view of landscapes. The are very accurateand wonderfully compsed. The light effects in black and whitephotography is phoenominal. Those baby boomers whogrew up in Hyderabad must possess this book. It brings brings the childhood memories of traditionspeople and the landscape back. A totally captivating book.the childhood

The only modern pictorial of pre-1948 Hyderabad of His Exalted Highness the Nizam, once the world's richest man. Good selection of pictures of monuments, people, dresses etc. A "must get" for any serious collector of impressions of the Deccan. Black and white pcitures; subjects covered are famine, palaces, circuses, birthday parties and one photo of Bhilwara temple at Mount Abu that is hard to beat

I have read quite a few materials on education related issues in India. Most of the literature is either quite dry or full of anecdotes and no data, or focused on specific area/issues. The PROBE report is different.

It is an easy to read, lively presentation of the current knowledge and understanding of issues relating to children's education in India. The authors examine the problem as a whole: ie. what does it take to educate a whole population? What has been done so far? What is education? What are the key challenges? How well are the teachers trained? Do rural parents actually value education?

The primary source is a survey of the BIMARU states (Bihar, MP, Rajasthan & UP) and Himachal Pradesh. But it also includes insights from a range of sources such as dissertations (Nidhi Mehrotra) to leading social workers (Mrs. Shantha Sinha) to NGOs (Eklavya in MP) to governement officials. To understand why some states (eg. Himachal) are succeeding, while others are not, they compare the story of Himachal Pradesh with those of BIMARU states. Key factors that lead to positive results are identified.

A must read for anyone intersted in basic education.

This is a highly unusual and readable report. It comes from India,researched and written by Indians who evidently care deeply about how their country fares and how their children do. But what it says it applies to the universal issues of basic education that are asked just about anywhere in the world. So anyone who wants to move beyond the "oh isn't it terrible?" mode to the "how to fix it?" mode will find this book worth reading. The report is really well researched for the five states of India which are its focus: Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh. But its power is not in its numbers, nor in the rehash of what "we know". Many other documents, such as World Bank documents, might do a more complete job of that. Its power is in the freshness and the passion coming out of the field investigations. Indias poor "shine through". We hear them speak in their own voice. And it is not just a keening about problems. It is a focussed and powerful statement of where the solutions are and how to get at them. It looks intensely at pockets of success and really asks, "why is that so?". This approach works in this report.

The Public Report on Basic Education in India (PROBE Report) must be the best and most genuine overall account of the state of basic education in the BIMARU states (Bihar, MP, Rajasthan, & UP) of India. The Report is based on a field-survey carried out by a team of investigators in the last few months of 1996. Simply put, I believe it is an absolute must for anybody interested in India's educational backwardness, and indeed anybody interested in the problem of development generally. The Report gives substance to a lot of what most people vaguely 'know' about the problems with rural elementary education. It ends up making a strong and very valid plea for, among other things: forming an effective lobby for rural and basic education; raising state investment in basic education; raising the awareness & improving the attitude of urban elites and middle classes and (ironically enough) the media to basic education issues; increasing the accountability of teachers; drastically improving school infrastructure; changing pedagogical styles; recognizing and overturning the elite bias of school curricula; making students less alienated from the educational environment; making basic education a participatory process between the students, their families, the teachers, and the community; and giving more value to the work of teachers and helping them overcome the manifold frustrations they face in their work. One thing the Report stresses is the benefits of making basic education a Fundamental Right rather than merely a constitutional directive.

A mere summary will not do justice to the Report - reading it is important because it not only provides detailed information, but it also hits one hard. However, here I will just point out some facts and myths about elementary education, as mentioned in chapter 2.

Fact 1: Low Achievements: Half the country's population (61% males, 36% females) cannot read or write. Less than 30% of adults have completed 8 years of schooling. Female literacy rates in India are much lower than in sub-Saharan Africa.

Fact 2: High disparities: By region, class, caste, gender (an extreme eg: literacy rates for an urban male from Kerala is 96%, and literacy rates for rural SC females in Rajasthan is 5%). Only 5 countries have higher male-female literacy gap than India - and Rajasthan alone has a larger population than these countries combined.

Fact 3: Slow progress: The increase of literacy rates is so slow that the absolute number of illiterate persons is still rising with each year.

Fact 4: State inertia

Myth 1: Parents are not interested; Myth 2: Child labor is the main obstacle; Myth 3: Elementary education is free; Myth 4: Schools are available.

One final word about the Report: it combines reasonable academic rigor with personal narratives, so that it is pitched at both the academic and the layman.

This is a wonderful book. This is a book that every Indian should read. This book really changed my view about INDIA/HINDUISM. Thanks Francis.. I owe you for the great book about my culture.

The book talks about Indian History from a different perspective, and gives evidences, why and how, Indian History has been distorted. The book covers history of India from Vedic period till 1996. Author's style of writing is very convincing; he is giving logical reasons for his statements. Being a journalist and correspondent for South Asia for French Newspaper "Le Figaro" in India for 30 years, Francois Gautier has observed India very well. Some of his observations are so subtle that even I (being an Indian) had missed them. In the later chapters, he gives an account of contemporary India. In the 14th chapter, he proposes a confederacy of South Asia led by India, which at this point seems distant but not unachievable. He also gives explanations why neighbors of India dislike it although India hasn't been ever an aggressor. Author has also given a good comparison of east and west in Indian context and higlights achievments of east & west. Unlike the British authors ( if you've read Percival Spears' "History of India", you will notice that British historians write Indian history in such a manner that they'd done a great favour(!) to India by ruling them. Unfortunately, there are many takers for this in India, who love India bashing not understanding the value of India.), tone is never derogatory. On the other hand, he doesn't hesitate to point out lack of collective discipline, illiteracy, etc. The book also points out the arenas such as spiritualism, Yoga ( which is spread all over the world now), which are Indian contributions to the Humanity. In summary, I would say it is the best book I've ever read on Indian History.

This is a very insightful book about problems which India faces today and why there is a need to rewrite the history of India correctly instead of hiding and distorting facts which is being done now. Although I do not agree with the author on all points, but most of his ideas are sensible and appealing to an educated reader. His suggestion of re-uniting of India and Pakistan makes a lot of sense but seems very impractical in the present situation. I hope this book will see the eyes of many readers.

Deftly written with the assistance of Barbara C. Johnson (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Ithaca College), Ruby Of Cochin: An Indian Jewish Woman Remembers is the personal memoir of Ruby Daniel, a Jewish woman born in the East Indian community of Cochin in 1912 and educated at a convent school, and then attending St. Theresa's College. In World War II she served as a member of the Women's Royal Indian Navy, and subsequently immigrated to Israel in 1951, and currently resides on an Israeli kibbutz. Ruby Of Cochin is a rich and engaging autobiographical story enhanced with historical legends, folk tales, and women's songs in the local language of Malayalam. Highly recommended reading, Ruby Of Cochin is a simply fascinating window into one woman's life in East India.

It seems that even before the destruction of the second temple, Jews were trading and settling in southwest India. If you look on a world map, you'll see it was because India and Israel are not really that far away from each other by sea. It turns out that India was good for the Jews. Because of the region's tolerance for ethnic diversity--the Indians saw Jews as just another cast--a Jewish community flourished in Cochin for thousands of years, without prejudice or pogroms. Women had much more equality within the Cochin Jewish community than they have had elsewhere. Anthropologist Barbara Johnson first met Ruby Daniel, one of the outspoken members of that community, when she visited Cochin in the 60s and formed a deep friendship that continues today, although Ruby, now in her 80s, has immigrated to Israel with most of the community (even the synagogue was transported, thanks to wealthy American benefactors, and is now on display in the Jewish Museum). The book is told in Ruby's marvelous voice and is a fascinating tale. I gave it to my mom as a gift and she loved it.

its one of the fantastic reveiw of the jewish life in india and particulary cochin, unknown to the jewish people around the world even in israel