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HINDUSTAN TIMES-GURGAON
BUSINESS INDIA
MID DAY TOP
TRAVEL PLUS TOP
JETWINGS
ECS REVIEW
PAGE TURNER
-Review by Kajori Aikat
Between Heaven and Hell
-By AKHIL BAKSHI
In
1999, Akhil Bakshi led a team of South Asian activists on a motoring
expedition, “Hands AcrossThe Borders”, to promote peace and development
in the region. The travelogue, “Between Heaven and Hell”, is the result
of this historic journey, which began in Sri Lanka and ended in India,
covering a distance of over 18,000km.
“Between Heaven and Hell” is a book that offers a great deal of
important information about South Asia. Bakshi explores a wide range of
issues from politics and development to society, religion, myth, and
culture. All this information is delivered to us in a style that is
friendly and conversational, interspersed with lots of humorous
anecdotes and some sage advice. The book makes for an enjoyable and
absorbing read and will interest anyone who would like to know more
about the history, politics, and culture of the extremely diverse region
that is South Asia. Much has been written about Sri Lanka, India,
Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal in sundry travelogues, but we are rarely
given a glimpse of the region as a whole, and the common challenges that
face all these nations. Political strife, poverty, hunger, illiteracy,
corruption, and gender inequality are just some of the problems that
need to be addressed urgently. Bakshi tackles these weighty issues with
wit and irony, and with a clarity and passion that is rare in much of
what passes as “political” writing. About the typical “small” party
(political) worker, he has this to say, “The small party worker in South
Asia has a fondness for getting arrested in a political situation…he
will move heaven and earth to get a piece of paper from the jail
authorities…To command the admiring attention of his leaders, he will
come freighted with these certificates around his neck, like badges of
distinction, and at election time, use them to strengthen his case for
getting the party’s nomination”.
While humor does help present disturbing facts such as these in a more
palatable form, there are several occasions when Bakshi’s humor seems a
trifle forced and err on the side of impropriety. Sample this, “The
stupa (Swayambhunath, Nepal) was topped by a square-shaped monument that
had the gazing eyes of the Buddha painted on all four sides. Buddha
seemed a bit squinted to me, but they say it is normal when you are in
an intense state of meditation”. After a visit to Sri Lanka’s imposing
Jetavanarama Dagoba (dagobas are believed to enshrine the holy relics of
the Buddha), perhaps the largest in the world, he opines, “All it has is
fantastic height, achieved by an unimaginative arrangement of bricks,
roughly plastered and white-washed. I propose to write to the leaders of
Sri Lanka and India to consider utilising all these bricks for the more
productive purpose of building a bridge across the Palk Strait, linking
Sri Lanka and South India. The ‘bridge effect’ would result in
strengthening economic ties and create, within a few years, one of the
fastest growing and richest regions in South Asia”. Issues such as that
of ‘Sati’ in India are also dealt with in a similarly light-hearted and
off-hand manner. The book, in fact, abounds in “jokes” which, apart from
being in questionable taste, are guilty of being insensitive to regional
and cultural difference. Such displays of humor are surely inimical to
the spirit of goodwill and understanding that Bakshi’s expedition set
out to promote and could better have been avoided.
Also, including the experiences of fellow expedition members and
allowing their voices to be heard more often would have added interest
to Bakshi’s narrative and provided a more inclusive picture of the South
Asian “experience”.
556 Pages. Published by Odyssey Books
596 pages
Price $19.95 (plus postage
and handling)
Trade discounts available for bulk purchases.
Odyssey Books
Tower B-5, Flat 901
World Spa West
Sector 30
Gurgaon - 122001
India
bakshi.akhil@gmail.com
EMail:
odyssey@film-india.com