I read this book over a year ago, so I don't remember every detail. However...

You know how people say that women do not have a voice in male dominated societies, and one goal of feminism is to foster new voices for women, so that we may express ourselves and have a tradition of our own? Well, the idea in this book is that the women that these authors worked with do have a voice of their own. It may be subversive in their societies, it may often have to work through riddles, but it is there, and well-developed. And highly expressive.

The authors make the argument that in the study of gender relations, the subversive women's voices are assumed not to exist while in this case, they are present. If you're involved in gender studies and Indian Studies, this is a fine book and one which ought to be read frequently.

But even for someone not involved in these subject areas, these are clever women with entertaining songs and stories--I refer to both the authors and the Indian women here--which anyone can find wisdom in.

March 14, 1999 Review of Hoetzlein Rose, Warren's Living Tibet: The Dalai Lama in Dharamsala

I was fortunate enough to read Living Tibet recently while doing research work on Tibetan refugee schools in northern India. Happily I can say that the Warren, Hoetzlein Rose book is beautiful to look at, thanks to the excellent photographs of Bill Warren, and easily read. Warren's photos give the reader a true feeling for the Dharamsala landscape, while the prose of Hoetzlein Rose are as good as I've ever read - not overly personal, but rather intelligent and engaging. I particularly enjoyed their chapters on Tibetan Children's Village in Dharamsala, and their chapter on Tibetan nuns.

I have visited Dharamsala and was brought back to the Himalayan hills that I've come to love by this book. I strongly recommend Living Tibet to anyone who has interest in Tibetan refugees and refugee culture/communities generally, or desires to expand their awareness of Dharamsala.

My research interests include Tibetan refugee schools in India and refugee education as a worldwide phenomenon. If you have any information, including web-sites, that may be useful please contact me. I'll enjoy hearing from you. Thanks.

My daughter and I referred to this book constantly during our recent travel to India. We found it to be extremely useful, full of information that we needed, without having to sift through information that we didn't need. I highly recommend this book to anyone traveling to India on a trip that includes visits to Delhi and Agra.

This guidebook by the Lonely Planet was an excellent companion on my recent trip to India. The information was up-to-date and informative, yet never too wordy or boring. The "text-box" inserts were very entertaining while at the same time useful.

This guide is perfect for those traveling on a budget or those who want to take a "first-class" trip across northern India.

The maps in the book are very useful, as is the information about how not to get ripped off as a tourist. Highly recommended to everyone (of Indian origin or not) if you are contemplating a trip to India.

This guide is very comprehensive. I have travelled exstensively throughout Southern India and have found that this book is imperative to a well informed and succesful travel experience. The information is unfailing in its accuracy. The book seems to be written more with the budget traveller in mind, but certainly provides a wealth of information for the traveller looking to be a little more spendthrift. Also important to take notice of, is the honest and unbiased perspective conveyed throughout the guide; if something is to be avoided, you will know it. Well organized and profusely detailed. An interesting read just for pleasure as well.

This is one powerful book -- one of John Bennett's best, I think, having read several of them carefully. Bennett is much better known for his sudies in Sufism, Subud, and the philosophies of Gurdjieff & Ouspensky. But this one is written with perhaps more humility than any of his others. I don't see how one could read even a few pages, without wanting to make some changes in one's life -- the book makes the ancient Hindu scriptures come alive for the modern Western reader, without necessitating belief in anything traditional -- it establishes practices that can be integrated into modern life without pre-supposing group work or work with a teacher -- it explains clearly where & why you might need a teacher, a group, or a religion for that matter. Many books that "tell you what to do" don't simultaneously leave you room to direct your own path according to your own intelligence and discrimination. This book is amazingly different and thus singularly profound.

One can wish that we knew more about Govinda's meetings with people all over the world during and after his pilgrimage, but as he himself is quoted, roughly: "I am not important; this teaching is important."

Anyone interested in comparative mysticism from a practical standpoint (i.e. with the hope of applying a book as a teaching, to one's own life)can only be very thankful that Dawn Horse took it upon itself to republish this story and methodology almost 10 years after Bennett had died -- and 20 years after the original edition. However, if you are the type who judges a book by its preface, the Dawn Horse preface can be disregarded. Written by Georg Feuerstein, apparently a devotee of Master Da Free John, the preface is an almost hilarious non sequitor to the book itself. Mr. Feuerstein presumes to be able to pigeonhole both the level of soul-evolution of the Shivapuri Baba and the method he taught, according to a system of levels defined by an ad hoc terminology atributed to Da Free John.

Such an attempt at categorization is indeed ludicrous in the face of a story like this: After reaching the age of 18, the Baba spent 25 years alone in the forest as an adult, came out sane enough to spend another 50 or so years travelling the world, mostly on foot, meeting Queen Victoria and many other world leaders. Bennett, who was no dilletante at comparative religion himself, was amazed at how at home the Shivapuri Baba was in several religious traditions -- as if he belonged to each, completely. And Bennett did not travel to meet the Baba at his home in Nepal until the man was over 135 years old! I have heard a couple of tapes of their conversations, and it is remarkable to hear the Baba answer any question put by Bennett, instantly, with no hesitation, and with complete relevance. Introduce me to someone like that -- and over 100 years old! Bennett, in his introduction, gives some sense of what it must have been like to meet so rare a person. But again, it was the teaching of "Right Life" or Swadharma that the Baba emphasized, over and above any interest in his person, in spite of the awesome authority with which he spoke.

Lords of the East offers a richly illustrated, densely detailed text describing the East India Company from many aspects as it evolved from a handful of adventurers to the backbone of an empire. Everything you wanted to know, from the seamen to the captains, from the ships and yards to the voyages, from the directors and London politics to the Mogul and the Marathas, is here in a slender, handsome volume

This is one of the best biographies of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose that I have come across in recent times.
It is neither a hagiography nor one of those twisted character -assasination books written by, as author Mihir Bose calls them, "the raj warriors". This is the story of the Indian subcontinent's independence struggle, at a time when many inside India were busy collaborating with the British to perpetuate their empire and their own enslavement, one man was abroad planning an independence war to liberate it. The man of course was Netaji Subhas Bose. This book traces the steps of Subhas from a child growing up at the turn of the century to his rise in the national movement. The author shows with great precision that of all the leaders in the 1920s and 1930s, it was only Subhas who had the foresight and vision to not only think of a viable liberation struggle, but to plan for the country's development in the post-independence years. The author also goes into the details of the 1939 Congress Presidential Elections, and how a defeated and vindictive Gandhi managed to destroy Subhas's presidency.(following the defeat of Gandhi's candidate) [it is interesting to note of course, that one of the things that Gandhi vehemently opposed was Subhas's call for the British to withdraw from the subcontinent, however those who know Gandhi's past history will not be surprised; he had actively supported Imperial Britain's war against Imperial Germany during 1914-1918, and had tried to get volunteers to join the Imperial British Army, not only was this against the freedom fighters who were operating from Europe and elsewhere to further the Motherland's cause, but was also a hypocritcal act on the part of Gandhi himself. The man who preached non-violence against an illegal and violent occupation of the Indian subcontinent was trying to get young Indian men to commit violence against a European power which at the time was sympathetic to the Indian Independence Movement and fighting against the very power occupying India! Not surprisingly, in places like Gujrat, Gandhi was received very coolly when he tried to recruit for the British, and rightly so, for his double-standards, which only furthered British ends. To crown it all, Gandhi did receive a medal from the British for his efforts on their behalf, in addition to getting Indians to join the British army he also managed to wean away many nationalist freedom fighters from the effort against British occupation.That is of course another story. ] Imprisoned by the British after the success of his own party, the Forward Bloc,[and its program for complete independence] and knowing full well that the leaders of Congress and other parties were about to tread on the slippery slope of collaboration, he decided to leave India:that escape from british-occupied India in 1941 is now part of popular legend. What is more important is that the author goes to great lengths to show that while Subhas did go to Britain's enemies, he never sympathized with their more sinister motives, all Subhas was willing to do was to wage a common war against britain, nothing more. The Free India Radio for example, never sympathized with Nazi Germany's activities in Europe nor with their war against Soviet Russia, a fact noted by British propagandist during WWII, George Orwell. In fact, Subhas openly denounced the Germany invasion of Soviet Russia in 1941, even more significant, when the Free India Government declared war on Britain on 21 October, 1943, they did not declare war on Soviet Russia or China, showing the Indian movement was a free agent, and as said before, only interested in freeing its occupied Homeland. The fact that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose had maintained his independence from both the Germans and the Japanese was in itself a feat, but the establishment of a Free India Government and an Indian National Army while fending off suspicious, encroaching and at times antagonistic Japanese attention was all the more outstanding. His personal courage and self-sacrifice were shining examples during the terrible retreat from Burma following the defeats of the Japanese and Indian forces at Imphal in 1944.Ultimately, although the INA was defeated, his vision came true; his belief that the presence of soldiers of a Free India Army on the soil of the Homeland would finally have an effect on the Indian mercenaries of the British army materialized during the INA Officers Trial of 1946. The final chapter was of course the INA inspired revolt of the sailors on board British Navy ships in the subcontinent's ports during february of the same year. Instead of taking the opportunity, Nehru, Jinnah and Gandhi sided with the British and urged the sailors to surrender. As Nehru would tell a British author years later that he and his colleagues did not have the stomach any more for the independence struggle and thus meekly gave in: and in addition accepted the fatal British partition of the subcontinent in 1947, and its horrific implications. The one man who would have most definitely opposed Jinnah,his partition and British machinations was no more. On 18 August, 1945, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, while flying to Manchuria to ask for Soviet Russia's help[following Japan's surrender] in the war against the British died in a crash.
Although Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and the INA had not driven the British out of India, they had nevertheless created a revolutionary situation like the one during the First War of Indian Independence during 1857, which made it impossible for the British to hold on to their rule. In 1956,former british premier Clement Attlee who had supervised Britain's withdrawal from India, said in a discussion with Pani Bhushan Chatterjee, the acting governor of West Bengal, that it was Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his Indian National Army who had rocked the very foundations of British rule in India and made the situation impossible to sustain, when asked what role had Gandhi, his movements or his disciples [Nehru etc] had played in the British decision to leave,Attlee had suppressed a smile and said 'minimal'.
Thus it followed that the one man who should have been on the scene during the fateful years of 1946-47, was tragically not there.
Without a doubt[and I agree with the author] he would have created a more stronger and united India then his lesser and ineffectual successors. Most certainly the tragedy of partition would not have occured, he would have definitely opposed Jinnah[Jinnah was seen as the 'Hitler of India' by British author Michael Edwards, an eyewitness of those events],by force if necessary, to resist the breakup of the subcontinent and would not have allowed the partition of his own native Bengal and the subsequent slaughter of 3 million defenseless Bengalis during fascist Pakistan's systematic genocide in East Bengal during 1971.(After committing some of the most barbaric crimes against humanity, fascist pakistan's officers and soldiers who perpetrated those crimes remain unpunished to this day. For that matter the collaborators in Bangladesh today run free as well. Neither international organizations like the United Nations nor any government of Bangladesh since independence has undertaken this pursuit of justice.) Finally I liked the conclusion of this book; that though Netaji Subhas did not live to fulfill his vision,"the revolution that he had eloquently championed",[although he did do it in part by forcing the British to leave India] many people in the subcontinent are still hopeful, that somehow that vision may one day be fulfilled. One thing is certain though, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose remains the outstanding leader of the Subcontinent, and he will live forever in the memories of his people as a shining example of genuine leadership, integrity, self-sacrifice and a farsighted visionary nationalist.

We have traveled to India 12 times using Louise Nicholson'sIndia Companion in all its editions. On the first trip we followedher advice to the letter and had a most fabulous trip which generated the succeeding 11. It has proved invaluable on all our trips no matter how sophisticated and experienced we've become. Her descriptions of hotels and restaurants, sites and shopping opportunities are unfailingly accurate. Whether you'll be most comfortable in a European style hotel, a venerable Raj era hotel, palace, or Indian hotel, Louise's accurate descriptions will guarantee no unpleasant surprises. Her grasp of Indian history and insights into the marvelous sights, people, animal preserves, temples, and natural wonders that await you insure you won't miss anything wondrous where ever you plan to travel. Her restaurant reviews are just what you need to make the right culinary decisions. We've read nearly all the other guide books and none compare for any country. It will spoil you for any other travel guide. If you're just considering a journey or have dreamed about a trip to the sub-continent all your life, reading India Companion will transport you to this exotic and exciting world. As entrancing as a great historical novel, it can be read just for fun!

Madhur Jaffrey has done it again. She, of the lore fame, has spun a tale taking the reader into different states of the country. Her unique style of narrative makes you feel you are having a cup of tea across from her and listening to her elaborate on each distintive cuisine. Her recipes are simple yet the creator comes up with authentic and complex foods that strive to do justice to the varied cuisine of India. As with all her other books, this one is a keeper. Madhur Jaffrey has become my favorite aunt whose knowledge of both cuisine and culture I devour with each new offering from her.