Book Review: Planes, Trains and Auto-Rickshaws

Part travelogue, part history, and part cultural reflection, Planes, Trains, and Auto-Rickshaws provides an intimate glimpse of a nation at its turning point and is an easy read for travellers and those who want to understand India beyond the headlines.

This book makes for such an interesting itinerary, the author covered a lot of the physical, emotional and political ground and I’m convinced has picked the best and most rewarding sights to see. A journey through the wonders of India including Mumbai, Calcutta and Agra with tips and stories of Taj Mahal and the country’s nature reserves.

It’s interesting to read how much and how little India has changed since I was there in the 90s. Book review by Alan Greenhalgh.

India, a place where writer Laura Pedersen feared that the poverty and misogyny would be too disquieting and imagined walking barefoot on fire. Her first brush with India was back at kindergarten in 70s Buffalo, USA where kids asked Indian? “Dot or feather?” and which later shifted to Indian? “Computer or casino?” Fast forward to a satirical take on Bangalore’s call centres where Haimavati from Himatnagar is transformed into Debbie from Duluth.

Part travelogue, part wikipedia and part feminist manifesto this book has been written for the less well-travelled American. It’s warm, chatty and funny with helpful nuggets that chai is Red Bull for the masses, chaats are similar to Spanish tapas, the red  bindi is the equivalent of a butterfly tattoo above your butt and Goa is like the heavily Catholic Buffalo. It’s India translated for Americans to understand. There’s plenty of politics, mysticism and religion, colonialism and even some Elizabeth II – who, it’s claimed, was welcomed to Jaipur in 1876.

The travelogue part is wonderfully inspiring. Reading about the bird hospital is uplifting, especially the birds’ release days at Digamber Jain Temple or the Calcutta flower market with its glorious profusion of colour and activity. We are reminded of the seemingly eight festivals every week to celebrate elephants, chariots, mangoes, monsoons, full moons, and even inner light. Rescue stories of bear sanctuaries, rat temples and tales of infested waters. Laura’s tip to avoid food poisoning is trail mix with flavourless oranges that has her returning home ‘satisfied and slender.’   That and the yoga tourists repeatedly telling her that the yoga instruction in India was the best they’d ever had.

It is an in-depth snapshot of modern India. The past, present and some future framing – bringing the Ganges back from the dead with four billion dollars to clean it up and providing backup power for sewage-treatment plants to meet Varanasi’s needs through 2030.

The feminist part lauds India that when women were no longer discriminated against or treated as encumbrances, but given opportunity, they quickly became society’s biggest assets. There’s still a long way to go. Bride-burning is shockingly recounted in the ‘cooking accident capital’ Rajasthan. It’s fairly pointed out that Mother Teresa, who sought her own health treatment in California, and was against contraception, cottoned on to the fact that the brothels and children in the poverty-stricken north east ‘are society’s refuse.’

It’s also political and gossipy about India’s leaders – we are helpfully reminded that Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) ‘is not a Spanish dude and so yes, you pronounce the J.’  There’s well-thought out commentary on how favours are curried with well-placed bribes and reminding us that American leaders think that pastors burning the Koran is so not a good idea. It’s well-observed and worth a read.

There’s dust and poverty and color and excitement and ingenuity and much, much more. And we get all of that in Laura Pedersen’s Planes, Trains, and Auto-Rickshaws.

About the Author: Laura Pedersen has written for The New York Times and is the author of numerous books including Beginner’s Luck (chosen as a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection), Buffalo Gal, and Buffalo Unbound. In 1994, President Clinton honoured her as one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans. She has appeared on Oprah, Good Morning America, Primetime Live, and The Late Show with David Letterman, and she writes for several well-known comedians.

Planes, Trains and Auto-Rickshaws is published by Fulcrum books in the US.

The book is due for release in the UK and can be purchased through www.amazon.com