India with Sanjeev Bhaskar

Sanjeev Bhaskar, the comedian and writer behind The Kumars at No. 42 embarks on an epic and highly personal journey through modern India. Sanjeev's characteristic humour and unique take on the country form the heart of this beautifully written travel book that became a Sunday Times bestseller in hardback when it accompanied his BBC series. Exotic and diverse, richly colourful and endlessly complex India is one of the most exciting countries to visit in the world today. Sanjeev Bhaskar of Goodness Gracious Me has visited his Indian relations there over many years, but this is his chance to delve deeper into what makes this country so fascinating, perplexing and often challenging to visit. As Sanjeev travels from Delhi to Bombay, Jaipur to Calcutta, he meets ordinary and extraordinary Indian people from every background, and brings his natural warmth and sense of humour to these encounters. Although often baffled by the eccentricities of India, our endearingly good-natured guide never fails to find humour in these situations. Sanjeev's India is also a personal journey as Sanjeev meets old relatives who reveal their moving and often traumatic stories of Indian's turbulent and bloody past, and comes to understand a little more about his own roots. During his trip Sanjeev is invited to a middle-class wedding in Delhi as well as witnessing the poverty of the slums in the Calcutta backstreets. He wryly observes the polo-playing Maharajah jet-set in Jaipur as well as the kitsch of Bombay Bollywood, and experiences the Ganges lit up by a million floating candles for the ancient ritual of Diwali as well as the majestic colonial architecture of the British Raj. With such an engaging and thoughtful travelling companion, we find ourselves going beyond the clichs to reveal a country steeped in history yet at the forefront of new technology, at once confusing, astonishing and jaw-droppingly beautiful.