Traversing India: A very good list of travel writing

Editor’s note: Chintan’s excellent selection of Indian travel writing uncovers offbeat destinations, hidden gems in familiar cities and historical and culinary trails. Get ready to discover the many other Indias.  

Written by: Chintan Girish Modi is a writer, journalist, educator, book reviewer and cultural commentator. He writes for Hindustan Times, Business Standard, Art India, The Hindu, Frontline, Queerbeat, Himal, and Teacher Plus, among other publications. His prose and poetry have appeared in books like ‘101 Indian Children's Books We Love’, ‘Bent Book: A Queerish Anthology’, ‘Fearless Love’, ‘Clear Hold Build’, and ‘Borderlines’. You can follow him on Instagram and X. 

As we head into the holiday season, here’s a list of Indian travelogues to help you plan an extraordinary trip. Whether you are a foodie, a history nerd, an adventure seeker, a pilgrim, or just want to relax, there’s something for everyone. PS: They make for great reads, for the armchair traveller too!

A Taste of Time: A Food History of Calcutta by Mohona Kanjilal: A vacation seems incomplete without trying out local delicacies, especially in the capital of West Bengal where people take great pride in their culinary heritage. Mohona Kanjilal’s book is a must-read as she ventures beyond the overpriced bourgeois haunts on Park Street. She offers a tour of small eateries in neighbourhoods all over the city that enjoy a loyal clientele cultivated through consistency and quality. Apart from celebrating Bengali cuisine, she writes about how migrants like Parsis, Marwaris, Gujaratis, Jews, Armenians, Chinese, Punjabis, Sindhis, Biharis, and Oriyas have contributed to the city’s diverse eating habits.

People Called Ladakh: Through the Lens of Culture and Everyday Lives by Nisha Nair Gupta and Shashi Velath: This book is for people who travel not only to see new places but to learn about new cultures and forge lasting bonds with people and communities. Nisha Nair and Shashi Velath have curated and edited this anthology highlighting various aspects of life in Ladakh including the arts and crafts, oral histories, biodiversity, indigenous knowledge, rituals, cuisine, textiles, sustainable practices, and relationships between people and their surroundings. There are 32 essays, by practitioners and academics, to provide a well-rounded picture of a place often reduced to cliches.

In Pursuit of Freedom: Travels Across Patriotic Lands by Pradeep Damodaran: This book is ideal for solo travellers who scoff at highly-curated itineraries and prefer to rough it out with public transport, hitchhiking, and visiting faraway places with the help of friendly locals. Pradeep Damodaran takes us to locations that either played an important role in India’s freedom struggle or are associated with contemporary socio-political movements of resistance. Some of these sites are Sabarmati Ashram, Bardoli, Dandi, Jhansi, Chauri Chaura, Motihari, Bilga, Don Parewa, Tamluk, Tentuligumma, Godhra, Dharampur, Unnao, Panchalankurichi and Idinthakarai. 

Buddhist Heritage Sites of India by Sunita Dwivedi: This is a comprehensive guide for people who draw inspiration from the teachings of Gautama Buddha. Beyond popular pilgrimage centres in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, she includes those in West Bengal, Odisha, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Ladakh, Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. This book is also useful for tourists interested in art and architecture beyond religion.

Sculpted Stones: Mysteries of Mamallapuram by Ashwin Prabhu: This is a great book to pick en route to Pondicherry from Chennai. It is packed with historical information, architectural details, mythological references, and scientific trivia about the seaside town of Mamallapuram (also called Mahabalipuram). The town is dotted with heritage structures dating back to the late sixth and early eighth centuries CE. It avoids jargon, is packed with photographs, and would resonate with audiences across age groups. Instead of spoonfeeding readers with interpretations of the art at the site, the author poses open-ended questions urging them to reimagine the way they travel. This is a skill that could come in handy for other trips too.

Banaras: A Journey into the Heart of the City by Vertul Singh: No one can claim to have experienced all the sights and sounds, flavours, and aromas that Banaras has to offer. This ancient city has many secrets up its sleeves, and Vertul Singh unravels some of those with his well-researched and elegant prose. He writes about lesser-known festivals celebrated with great fanfare in Banaras, and gastronomical specialties that come and go with seasons. The book is peppered with legends associated with the river Ganga and various shrines along the ghats, so it might be a good idea to carry it along to read on a long train journey with hot cups of tea.

Digesting India by Zac O’Yeah: This is an enchanting travel guide for people who get a kick out of sampling the most unusual food items when they hit the road for an adventure, casting aside all fears of digestive repercussions. He takes us on a joyride across Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and Kerala. He eats all along the way, at dhabas, street corners, hole-in-the-wall eateries and posh restaurants. He has a flair for scatological humour and you are in for a laugh riot.