INTRODUCTION
Touching,Feeling...
Contributorsrespond to an invitation from Outlook to revisit their memories anddescribe their defining Indian experience.
Is it possible to get beyond current buzzwordslike India Shining, or Not Shining, and 9 per cent growth, with or withoutequity, and 60 years of this, that and the other, while writing and reflectingon India? The short answer is yes. The long answer is contained in this seriesof memorable essays by contributors who have experienced India in differentways. They all responded to an invitation from Outlook to revisit their memoriesand describe their defining Indian experience. A Pakistani experience of Indiawas sorely needed, repeatedly promised, but alas, not delivered. Perhaps theyhave other things on their minds. Meanwhile, what did arrive was delightfullyvaried, ranging from the uproariously funny and wry, to the sentimental andsombre.
And should we be surprised that no twoexperiences are the same?
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PATRICK FRENCH
IHereby Attest Thee... Man And Wife
So we were married, followed by laddoos and theinstruction: You may now cross-feed
TASLIMA NASREEN
IAm But A Disembodied Voice, The Living Dead
What have I done that I can neither cross my ownthreshold nor enjoy human company?
JAN MORRIS
APanchatantra Of My Very Own
Encountering Gandhi's Dandi, rare Raj relics, apickpocket, a wanderer and a cool cabbie
MUKUL KESAVAN
AndThe Alarm Would Go, One, Two, Cha-Cha-Cha
Refugees from the streets, killers from next door, theterrible violence inside us
IAN JACK
LifeFlowing On The Ganga, As Seen From My Sick-Bed
A steadily accreting generosity amid the bedlam thatwraps one in a lasting warmth
LORD MEGHNAD DESAI
ThreeEncounters, One Enduring Image
I once chanced upon my hero, the PM. But it was twodeaths that showed me the real India.
LAILA TYABJI
Jungle,Bihar, Night, Apparition... Read On
The badland backdrop lingered. Until both sides got toknow the face behind the image.
DOMINIQUE LAPIERRE
Calcutta:One Saintly Morning, 26 Years Ago
That encounter with Mother Teresa changed my whole lifeand worldview
LLOYD I. & SUSANNE RUDOLPH
Emergency:Notes In Transit
Metaphor, analogy, circumlocution, we tried it all
STEVE MCCURRY
TheBefore, During And After
It was my best time, the summer I spent chasing theMonsoon
JASON OVERDORF
ObjectiveObservations By A Ludicrous Freak
Often, it all ends up as a strange, involuntary, one-mancircus act by a bald white man
MANJUSHREE THAPA
WhenIndia Was Legible
Big Brother helped in the democracy battle. But I can'tread more.
EDWARD LUCE
AnydayThe Better Half Of The World
Being "married to India" means one is alreadydefined by the experience
CATHERINE CLEMENT
TheMan I Met In Mid-Flight
There was something about KRN: a child of Nehru, deep,smiling
NANDITA HAKSAR
Democracy,Hang Down Your Head And Cry
A young man's painful death in a Manipur village; anindelible taint on the Indian dream
M.G. VASSANJI
WeDidn't See The Inner Courtyard
Partition, we didn't relate to, except as event in thefamily chronicle. Till, we went back.
MARK TULLY
Ah,It All Comes Out Right In The End
The 'chalne do' precept has a lot going for it. Or doesit? A Pune trip offers few conclusions.
RAMESH RAMANATHAN
"Nope,I Just Quit..."
That final leap of faith: dropping out, tuning in withIndia
