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Showing posts with the label travelogue

Motorcycle diaries

from livemint.com A ride from Kerala to Sikkim ought to be a meaty travelogue. Sadly, this one falls short Dilip D’Souza From Ladakh, P.G. Tenzing decides to “push my luck and reach Manali, normally a two-day journey, in one day”. That’s how he begins Chapter 17, and its end comes two pages later, when Tenzing writes: “It had taken me 16 hours of hard riding but it had been worth every crazy minute.” In some ways, that sentence captures this little book. I read it and felt like writing Tenzing a one-line letter: “Won’t you please tell us about those crazy minutes?” Because he doesn’t. In those two pages he mentions—only mentions—a yak herder intent on talking while Tenzing pees, the man’s butter-tea, and an overturned bike. Also something made Tenzing cry copiously, but he won’t say what. I wanted to like this book. I’m not a biker, but I’ve spent time with the breed. I simply love the ro...