Thinking about traveling to India but not ready to pull the trigger? Pick up a book to inspire you! Ok, but to be fair, before I went to India, I didn’t read a single one of these. While I was there I read a few, and since I’ve been reading India books quite often because they make me laugh out loud when I relate to something funny that happens. These 5 books will seriously inspire travel to India!

Update: I wrote a book! I wrote the e-book the Insider’s Guide to Goa. After five years of living here, I’m sure this 170-page book is the most comprehensive guide to Goa on the market. Click here to buy it before your trip to Goa!

 5 Books to Inspire Travel to India 

1. Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure by Sarah Macdonald

I read this while backpacking in Rajasthan. I’d been on the road about one month before I picked this book up and could not believe how spot-on she was with her descriptions about India. She starts out with her desperation to leave the country, while a creepy man tries to touch her thigh at the airport and thinks, “I will NEVER come back to this place!!!” Fast-forward to when she has to move to India to be with her husband and his new job. It’s hilarious and completely relatable. I also never saw myself living in India, but here I am waking up every morning in Goa (also because of a boy). This book will make you laugh out loud and is great for the solo traveler because you won’t feel so alone in your “I hate India” moments, or in your better “India is Incredible” times.

“Mild-mannered Abe, however, is Tarzan of the traffic jungle. He knows the strict species pecking order: pedestrians are on the bottom and run out of the way of everything, bicycles make way to cycle-rickshaws, which give way to auto-rickshaws, which stop for cars, which are subservient to trucks. Buses stop for one thing and one thing only. Not customers – they jump on while the buses are still moving. The only thing that can stop a bus is the king of the road, the lord of the jungle and the top dog. The holy cow.” 

books to inspire travel to india photo sourced from flickr and edited by me

2. The White Tiger: A Novel by Aravind Adiga

My boyfriend bought me this book while I was in Hampi with him so it’s quite special to me… even though there is nothing romantic about this dark book. The inside look at the under-belly of the “forgotten people” of rural India. A boy shares his life with you from where he starts (nowhere) to where he ends up (the CEO of a huge company. He gets there through deceit, murder, lies, and corruption. You can’t be mad at him because you were with him from the beginning. You hate first class Indians right along side him, and are a little pleased deep inside when he starts to take matters into his own hands- even while the way he works is highly illegal and immoral. Written in a letter-style, it is easy to read and will show you what’s really going on with the poor in India. You’ll start to realize how realistic his scenario is. Sometimes shocking, it’s a tale you’ll never forget.

“Sometimes I wonder, Balram. I wonder what’s the point of living. I really wonder…’

The point of living? My heart pounded The point of your living is that if you die, who’s going to pay me three and a half thousand rupees a month? ” 

books to inspire travel to india

3. Life of Pi by Yann Martel

You may have already seen the movie, but the book is still worth reading. It’s a quick tale of heartache and adventure. Follow along as a boy from Pondicherry helps his family move a zoo on a boat to Canada. He doesn’t quite make it there. The book is unique in that it gives you a choice on how the story ends (well, really how the story evolves). You can ask yourself, “would I rather this were a happier story?” and you can make it be one. The author tells you to believe what makes you happy… he’s not just talking about this story, but about life. It’s and ending you’ll flip back through and read a few times. The start of the book in French Pondicherry will turn your itinerary all around to make sure you can walk the same streets as him. I hear they are adding “tourist” spots from the book which isn’t ideal, but I suppose always happens after a movie comes out.

“A tie is a noose, inverted though it is, it will hang a man nonetheless if he’s not careful.”

“Hindus, in their capacity for love, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, and Christians, in their devotion to God, are hat wearing Muslims.” 

books to inspire travel to india

4. The Art of Living: Vipassana Meditation

If you’re curious about the spiritual side of India and plan on taking yoga classes or meditation classes this is a great introduction book. It’ll give you step by step instructions so you can read slowly and try out techniques at the end of the chapter. Want to be at peace with yourself and all others? Do you want to only feel happy?

Started by S.N. Goenka in Burma far before Buddha made it popular in India, it started being taught in India in 1969. People came from all over to learn, including the Beatles. The book teaches you a code of discipline, but also prepares you for things your teachers will mention throughout your journey in India. It’s a great book to keep in your backpack (very thin) and read at your own pace. Had I not read this, I wouldn’t understand most of what I learned from the Dalai Lama when I went to his classes in McLeod Ganj. I was incredible lucky. If you’re interested in taking the 10 days Vipassana course, this is a MUST read. It is not for the weak of mind. If you’re curious to read more, check out the website.

meme ashram yoga

5. Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

How could I not include Shantarm? After about a year in a half in India, I finally read it. First I want to say it’s great to pick up a few Hindi words from the almost 700 page book. It’s very long. Basically a gora “white dude” comes to Bombay after escaping jail, joins the Bombay mafia, traffics guns to Afghanistan in the war, and lives in a slum where he helps treat sick people. It was a little far-fetched, but he does call it a “fictional story” even though the writer DID escape jail, did go to Bombay, and really lived in a slum. It’s hard to tell which parts are embellished. The people in his old slum say he’s a heroin junkie and lied, but Hollywood decided it was movie-gold and plans to make a feature film. My favorite part of the book were the conversations he has with Prabu, his friend and fellow slum-dweller. Prabu is hilarious. The book is a must-read and I’m shocked so many people hated it. I think they were just jealous of Linbaba’s awesome Hindi, Marathi, and Urdu skills / ability to connect with locals.

“Nobody is ever naked in India. And especially, nobody is naked without clothes.

So…how do you take a shower?

By wearing the over-underpants over underpants.”

books to inspire travel to india

        

Want more travel books about India? Me too!

Here are some of the many books I have on an iPhone list that I’m reading slowly, one by one out in the sunshine that’s finally peaking through this Goan monsoon (which wasn’t that bad this year!). I’ll either update this post and add them as a review (if I like them) or I’ll just make another post up once I’ve read a few. Most of the ones listed below are by Indian authors. I loved the ones by westerners when I first came, but now I’m curious to see what the Indian writing style is like and they’re perceptions on their own country. I think my Hindi classes are making me want to delve even more into the Indian culture- if that’s even possible!

Right now I’m reading The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and LOVING IT! Highly recommend. Also:

For more books to inspire travel, check out my post on ones not India-related: 9 best travel books to induce severe wanderlust

 

There are affiliate links in this post; if you make a purchase of a book it’ll give me a small percentage of the sale from Amazon. Thanks for supporting Hippie in Heels!

feature image photo source flickr