Review by SadieVaughan88 -- Head Waggling in Delhi
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SadieVaughan88
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Review by SadieVaughan88 -- Head Waggling in Delhi
[Following is a volunteer review of "Head Waggling in Delhi" by Eytan Uliel.]
Head Waggling in Delhi: And Other Travels from an Epic Journey around India by Eytan Uliel. I enjoyed reading this book and I would give it 3 out of 4 stars. The book is well written and very descriptive; as the reader, you can experience the sights, sounds and even smells of the journey around India as if you were right there with the author. I particularly liked the portrayal of the bureaucracy of India and the sheer frustration of dealing with tedious rules and all of the head waggling along the way. You can just sense the build-up of irritation in certain situations on the trip until the point of outburst! However, towards the end of the journey, I started to languish in the desert with my backpacking friends and the book itself became a bit tedious to read.
The book is collection of short stories, about Eytan and his companion, Camilla, as they backpack in India for four months in the year 1996. The Prologue jumps in right away with the reasons for the head waggle. I met a variety of people from India and I could never figure out how they did that, why they did it and what does it mean? Eytan and Camilla traversed the entire outline of the subcontinent which is neatly laid out on a map of the country (Loc 141) with city names and a picture of what they encountered at each stop. I found this very handy to go back to and remember where the couple was and what terrain they were traveling through.
The journey was wrought with highs and lows: shimmering white Taj palaces to dirty inner city streets filled with homeless; sharing meals with generous locals on a delayed train and getting ripped off by outrageous tourist gimmicks; playing cricket with the kids and getting into fistfights with ticket agents over silly rules; a glorious sunset that set the desert ablaze with red light and getting seasick on a two day camel safari. A number of the stories made me laugh out loud!
The emotions shared made the journey epic to me. Eytan made it so real that I could totally relate to what he was feeling: “I felt the mix of emotions – joy, amusement, annoyance, and disgust – that came from laughing with an emaciated Sadhu holy man, entranced by the infectious twinkle in his eye at the very same moment he was shamelessly ripping me off.”
If you have traveled to other countries with the hopes of exotic adventure, but then realize during your journey it is not as much a holiday as it is hard work, you will totally relate to this book. I think Eytan captures his travels best with this line: “we saw a lot of India – possibly more than most Indians ever will – and we had some amazing, frustrating, truly wonderful, terrible experiences along the way.”
******
Head Waggling in Delhi
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Head Waggling in Delhi: And Other Travels from an Epic Journey around India by Eytan Uliel. I enjoyed reading this book and I would give it 3 out of 4 stars. The book is well written and very descriptive; as the reader, you can experience the sights, sounds and even smells of the journey around India as if you were right there with the author. I particularly liked the portrayal of the bureaucracy of India and the sheer frustration of dealing with tedious rules and all of the head waggling along the way. You can just sense the build-up of irritation in certain situations on the trip until the point of outburst! However, towards the end of the journey, I started to languish in the desert with my backpacking friends and the book itself became a bit tedious to read.
The book is collection of short stories, about Eytan and his companion, Camilla, as they backpack in India for four months in the year 1996. The Prologue jumps in right away with the reasons for the head waggle. I met a variety of people from India and I could never figure out how they did that, why they did it and what does it mean? Eytan and Camilla traversed the entire outline of the subcontinent which is neatly laid out on a map of the country (Loc 141) with city names and a picture of what they encountered at each stop. I found this very handy to go back to and remember where the couple was and what terrain they were traveling through.
The journey was wrought with highs and lows: shimmering white Taj palaces to dirty inner city streets filled with homeless; sharing meals with generous locals on a delayed train and getting ripped off by outrageous tourist gimmicks; playing cricket with the kids and getting into fistfights with ticket agents over silly rules; a glorious sunset that set the desert ablaze with red light and getting seasick on a two day camel safari. A number of the stories made me laugh out loud!
The emotions shared made the journey epic to me. Eytan made it so real that I could totally relate to what he was feeling: “I felt the mix of emotions – joy, amusement, annoyance, and disgust – that came from laughing with an emaciated Sadhu holy man, entranced by the infectious twinkle in his eye at the very same moment he was shamelessly ripping me off.”
If you have traveled to other countries with the hopes of exotic adventure, but then realize during your journey it is not as much a holiday as it is hard work, you will totally relate to this book. I think Eytan captures his travels best with this line: “we saw a lot of India – possibly more than most Indians ever will – and we had some amazing, frustrating, truly wonderful, terrible experiences along the way.”
******
Head Waggling in Delhi
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The Book You Need to Read by Debbie Wilcox
