Away

Amitava Kumar was born in Patna, India. He is Associate Professor of English at Pennsylvania State University. A writer and poet, he is the author, most recently, of Bombay-London-New York, also published by Routledge. He lives in University Park, PA.

"Indians have been describing their passage to the western world, and their experiences and encounters there, since the last years of the eighteenth century. This invaluable anthology is an antidote to the idea that the traffic in description was only one-way. Here the East reports on the West, vividly, comically, enlighteningly." -- Ian Jack, Granta"As a literary critic, memoirist and social historian, Amitava Kumar is a rare and bracing presence in the world of Indian writing in English." -- Pankaj Mishra"The book is full of such treasures. My only regret is that Kumar couldn't find room for the delightful Jumpha Lahiri, who is such a lovely writer." -- Courier Mail/Australian newspaper"Its juxtaposition of the likes of Chaudhari, Rushdie, Tagore, Gandhi, and Rohinton Mistry create a delightful atmosphere for a non-Indian reader to start from, and indulge in. The book is full of treasures." -- Rosemary Sorensen, The Courier-Mail"Unlike many anthologies of its sort, Away's disparate pieces coalesce into something far greater than the sum of its parts, no mean feat given the quality of those parts. [...] Enthralling and upsetting in equal measure." -- James Bradley, The Age

• PROLOGUE NIRAD C. CHAUDHURI England (from The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian) SALMAN RUSHDIE Good Advice is Rarer than Rubies (from East, West: Stories) AMITAV GHOSHA to Z Street Atlas (from The Shadow Lines)NISSIM EZEKIELGoodbye Party for Miss Pushpa T. S. (from Ten Twentieth-Century Indian Poets)PART IDEAN MAHOMEDAdvertisements in Brighton 1822-38 (from The First Indian Author in English by Michael H. Fisher)SUNITY DEVEEMy First Visit to England (from The Autobiography of an Indian Princess)RABINDRANATH TAGORELetters and Notes (from Rabindranath Tagore, An Anthology)M. K. GANDHIIn England and South Africa (from An Autobiography or The Story of my Experiments with Truth)SAROJINI NAIDULetters (from Sarojini Naidu: Selected Letters 1890s to 1940s)SUBHAS CHANDRA BOSE The Sum Total of Good I Can Do (from Subhas Chandra Bose, An Indian Pilgrim)JAWAHARLAL NEHRU In the Modern World (from Before Freedom: Nehru's Letters to his Sister)MULK RAJ ANANDLions and Shadows in the Sherry Party in Harold Monro's Poetry Bookshop (from Conversations in Bloomsbury)QURRATULAIN HYDERRed Indians in England (from River of Fire)PART IIR. K. NARAYANMy America (from Frontline, October 1985)DOM MORAESChanges of Scenery (from Voices of the Crossing)FARRUKH DHONDYSpeaking in Tongues (from Voices of the Crossing)VED MEHTANaturalized Citizen No. 984-5165 (from A Ved Mehta Reader)A. K. RAMANUJANSome Indian Uses of History on a Rainy Day (from Selected Poems)V. S. NAIPAULThe Ceremony of Farewell (from The Enigma of Arrival)SALMAN RUSHDIEEating the Eggs of Love (from The Jaguar Smile)BHARATI MUKHERJEETwo Ways to Belong to AmericaHANIF KUREISHIWild Women, Wild MenABRAHAM VERGHESEThe Cowpath to AmericaPART IIIAMIT CHAUDHURIOxford (from Freedom Song: Three Novels)MEERA SYALIndoor Language (from Anita and Me) MEERA SYALGold Emporium (from Life isn't all Ha Ha Hee Hee)ANURAG MATHURThe First Letter Home (from Inscrutable Americans)ANITA DESAIVegetarian Summer (from Fasting, Feasting)AGHA SHAHID ALI When on Route 80 in Ohio (from A Nostalgist's Map of America)ROHINTON MISTRYSwimming Lessons (from Swimming Lessons and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag)AMITAV GHOSHThe Imam and I (from In an Antique Land)AMITAVA KUMARFlight (from Bombay-London-New York)EPILOGUEPANKAJ MISHRAThere's No Place like Home