In the process of trying my hand at travel blogging I have read substantial number of travel blogs and articles on the net but never a paperback travel book before Srinath Perur's debut work.

The most inherently beautiful quality about the book is that it describes places through the prism of human interactions. It's never as much about parks, peaks, museums and restaurants in a place as it is about the people visiting those places and the experiences that are created along the way. If there is any difference between a 'tourist' and a 'traveller' then Srinath Perur has managed to bring it out as effectively as any established writer of this genre. Talking about genre I am unsure if it can be categorised as a "travelogue' but we may stick to it for want of a better sub-categorisation.

His writing style is essentially descriptive with the right doses of detail to capture a situation but never goes overboard with it. The initial chapters are a laugh riot with funny incidents aplenty.For example, during the desert safari in Jaisalmer, the camel shits on an American in the middle of the desert or when a bunch of Europeans are shaken by loud shouts of 'Ganpati Bappa Moriya' by his tour group during a cable car ride or when a tour member during the Shodh Yatra declares in his Mumbai-ish Hindi about women folk busy with their daily chores as ' mataen aur behne busy hai kyuki unke dhande ka time hai'. There are countless instances which will leave the reader in splits.

The book captures the essence of a complex country like ours with all its regionalism, cultural differences, hypocrisy and idiosyncrasies in a non-judgemental and subtle tone. For example, when a few sex tourists to Uzbekistan after days of boom-boom time indulge in ostentatious display of religious piety on a Friday or when the Shodh Yatra group facilitates a Sarpanch in a MP village while his wife, the real Sarpanch, sits mutely among the audience.

At a personal level this book has brought about a change in my outlook. Always averse to the idea of traveling in a group for its 'restricted' nature, I have consciously stayed away from conducted tours. But SP has opened in front of me possibilities of myriad experiences to be gained on a conducted tour. I plan to go on a tour like this and see what stories can be weaved from them.