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Learning about India and Pakistan
The best way that I feel I've prepared for my trip has been reading, hearing, listening to and about the Indian and Pakistani people and cultures. Following is a complete list in its utter incompleteness of starting places for information:
On Approaching Learning About and Travelling In India and Pakistan
Orientalism by Edward Said
Just to rethink the way you approach your travels.
Indian History and Culture
These are shamelessly taken from my HIS282 course at the University of Toronto:
A New History of India by Stanley Wolpert
A fairly good read, not at all particularly complex, good for a first go.
A History of India - Vol. 1, 2 by Romila Thapar
More detailed.
Sources of Indian Tradition II by S. Hay
Loved the readings from this - good distribution of Hindu and Muslim thinkers - don't know how Sikhs and others are represented as this was prepared in a course pack.
Amritsar to Lahore : A Journey Across the India-Pakistan Border by Steven Alter
Music
This is by all means a strictly personal taste thing - the stuff I listen to and adore...
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - for an easy intro try the "Night Song" CD with Michael Brook - go on from there!
Ravi Shankar - Can't decide what I like best. Not as much of a sitar fan...
Anthology Of World Music: North Indian Classical Music - A musical survey course that ranges from instruments to voice to percussion.
Talvin Singh - HA and O.K. - Modern Indian Ambient/Techno Pop - Singh is born & raised a Brit, but travelled to India and studied tabla for a number of years, loving Indian music along with everything else. Combines Indian music with electronic stuff and the result is mesmerizing. I LOVE these!
Fiction
Any good preparation involves reading fiction created by and about the inhabitants of the region you are visiting...
Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
The book that started it all for me. As I said in an essay, this is Novel as Nation. Read it and you read India and Pakistan. A better lesson in Indian history than any of the history books...
The rest of these books have been recommended for preparation...there are many more not listed. So far the only one I've read is A Passage to India, and it's good if you have a fairly good grasp on some of the complexities of England's rule in Britain and some of the interactions and identity changes it engendered. I wouldn't recommend the movie as a good introduction - read Rushdie's essay "Outside the Whale" from Imaginary Homelands for a good reason why.
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
India: A Million Mutinies Now by V.S. Naipaul
The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore
The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor
Karma Cola by Gita Mehta
City of Djinns by William Dalrymple
Partition: Sketches and Stories by Hasan Manto
More Preparations
Travel Essentials and Useful Websites
Safety and Health Concerns
Scams, Taxis, Practical Tips and Money
Getting a visa and Consulate contact info
Questions?
If you want more information about this area you can email the author or check out our Asia Insiders page.
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