Imagine yourself at a hill station anywhere in India. It is mid-morning. Warm sun streams through the straw roof. In front of you are the mountains. Behind you is a door that leads to the house. Right there is a cup of tea on a cobalt blue painted wooden table. Next to the tea is a plate of pakodas. This book is that plate of pakodas - the perfect accompaniment to tea. Actually, the rest of the scene can fade away at this point. No matter where you are, the book is the perfect accompaniment to tea. The scene, the book will create on its own.
Reading the book is like being on twenty different journeys with the author and her family. From the roosters to blown glass, from gangajal to hippos who have no legs, the book is replete with interesting fables, sweet memories, and a sense of nostalgia.
At just 159 pages, it is an easy read. But not a quick one. After reading each story, you feel like staying for a while, thinking about that place, the souvenir shops, and if you have been to the place, then, of course, your own memories.
Indrani is already one of India's best known travel bloggers, so writing about travel comes naturally to her. One would have liked more pictures (colour pictures, may one add), but perhaps their absence makes the imagination (or memory, as the case may be) work harder.
My favourite souvenir is Goddess Tara (for purely personal reasons, I love Goddess Tara), but the story I most enjoyed was the one on Morano glass (again, I love hand blown glass).
Do read this book. :)
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