“ghost of a rose said: 4 stars
I chose this book because it had both the India tag and the humor one, but the only thing about it that I think really fits the humor tag is the front cover. There is some dry, subtle humor, but basically this is a more serious-minded work. It is a nonfiction account of an Australian woman's experience of India. MacDonald didn't just travel in India, but lived there for a couple of years, so her book has more range and detail than the usual travel narrative does.
MacDonald's focus is primarily on the culture of India, especially the religions. She also examines a few cultural traditions such as wedding traditions, arranged marriages, and the role of women, but mostly this book is centered around the richly varied spiritual practices in India. With the striking exception of a lake in Kashmir, there isn't much description of the natural setting, nor is there much discussion of the cuisine except as it pertains to religious practices.
It is quite an interesting and well-written book. MacDonald really immersed herself in numerous and astonishingly varied religions and sects to get a wide experience of all that India could teach her. Some of her studies include Sufism, the Sikhs, Hinduism, Tibetan Buddhism (including some time spent with the Dalai Lama), Kundalini Yoga, and Islam. Others are more surprising: a Divine Feminine sect that worships a woman considered to be the living incarnation of all the Goddesses, a branch of Indian Jews, Catholicism, Vipassana meditation, and Zoroastrianism (an ancient and very exclusive religion believed to be the possible predecessor of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.)
Holy Cow is anything but a dry philosophical study, though. It is sometimes funny, sometimes scary, and sometimes exciting, such as when she and her husband are awakened by an earthquake. And especially when, in India on September 2001, they were caught up in the events and aftermath of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and her husband narrowly escaped death as a result.
MacDonald has a gift for description, and she avoids romanticizing the country or its people, seeing both the richness and the flaws. More than any other India book I've read, there is a strong sense of the poverty, filth, noise, pollution, disease, and pervasive overcrowding that she encountered no matter where she went in India. I've always wanted to visit there, but I have to say that this book made me think twice about that. But I also feel that she probably presents a much more realistic picture of the country than I've gotten from other books I've read. And her unsentimental approach is balanced by a genuine love of the people and open-minded respect for all of the spiritual teachings.
In judging this book by its cover, I expected a slapstick, goofy romp through India. What I got instead was something I appreciated much more: an highly informative and vivid look at India's culture, particularly its wide range of spiritual teachings.
Quotes from Holy Cow!:
"I've always been too angry, using this emotion as an active alternative to depression and hopelessness . . . I've always see anger as strong and sadness as weak, but now sorrow seems stronger than fury. It's less likely to spread the energy of hate, an energy that must have consumed those terrorists. If I can be strong enough to use my Buddhist training by not giving in to anger, then I become less like them; I can help stop the cycle of hatred and violence. I realize that life is precious and tenuous and I need to focus on what I do believe in and what sustains me: my family, my husband, my friends and the lotus people - those who grow tall and beautiful above the muck and mud of humanity."
"In the morning we wake up sadder than before, older than yesterday and exhausted by living."
"Songs are like religions; they mean different things to people at different times of their lives because they speak direction to the heart and soul."
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