Following Fish: Travels Around The India by Samanth Subramanian
Following Fish: Travels Around The India by Samanth Subramanian
The writer of the book Following Fish: Travels Around The India, Samanth Subramanian is first a journalist, partly due to the circumstances and partly due to his own choice. If you would like to see objectivity and intimacy in a narrative at the same time, the book from Following Fish by Samanth Subramanian is the one where you would get it all. The readers actually get the feeling they are on a trail along the coastline with the writer as they meet his teachers who teach him about the fish.
Interesting Anecdotes
The book Following Fish: Travels Around The India by Samanth Subramanian has several interesting anecdotes though you are most likely to remember the one which saved many fishermen from near certain death in 2004. As one fisherman explains, all of them were still sleeping due to the toddy hangover during the time when tsunami struck the coastline, since the previous day was Christmas day. They had toddy one day before the tsunami.
Beautifully Captured Anecdotes
You expect the writers writing on fish to go to places like Alleppey and Goa, but Samanth Subramanian manages to take you to some unexpected locations as well, for example, he takes you to one angler's paradise in Konkan which is renamed as Xanadu by him so the exact location still remains a secret even if he tells you the story of the place in the book. Following Fish: Travels Around The India by Samanth Subramanian notices several finer things of life in these places which would have remained undiscovered otherwise. Elements such as indolence of Goa, the flavor of sol kadhi and the flavor of Mumbai are all beautifully captured in the book Following Fish: Travels Around The India by Samanth Subramanian.
A Chapter That Stands Out
At the same time, there are some chapters in the book which do not gel well with other parts of the book. For example, there is a chapter on Fish treatment in Hyderabad in which people swallow a live fish. The essay itself doesn't have any problem, as it is nicely written about a family into faith healing, though it doesn't connect well with rest of the book.
A Beautiful Travelogue
Samanth Subramanian's book does not have anything new, particularly for those who are well acquainted with the areas described in the book. You will come across a reportage feel in the book even though no breaking news is being produced in the book. It is just a travelogue, though a beautiful one.
Don't Expect Breaking News
Chances are that those who belong to the areas being written about will not find anything they didn't already know in Subramanian's essays. Following Fish has a reportage feel to it but it isn't attempting to present any breaking news about the various fishing cultures of India. It's a travelogue and in that, it is successful. As you reach the last page of the book, you feel Samanth Subramanian should have stopped more often along the coastline during his travel.
Recurring Events
One essay which is based on the toddy shops of Kerala, explains most people who go to the toddy shops want to get high as quickly as possible, they don't want to enjoy their drink or stay there. That's the reason why so much spurious liquor is flowing around the place, and instances when people go blind keep happening, time and again. The first essay is on West Bengal and keeps moving to the coastline up to Gujarat. Shilpa Shetty entices with her fantasy look at the final day of WLIFW Spring/Summer 2011 Country Club Oman, the best destination to be enjoyed by all members Luxury Tours of India, Luxury Rajasthan Tour in India Visit Bihar for Buddhist Tours in India Round the Year Tourism in Goa Get Your Event Structured By Marquee Hire London Splendid plan for spending holidays at Mexico Villa or Puerto Vallarta Villa South Africa 2010 And the Magic of the World Cup The Difference between Touring Holidays and Resort Holidays Roofing Contractors London: Simple To Discover On-line A Perfect Holiday Destination That Adds Glamor and Fun to Your Life Free christmas Offers - the offers are jingling Costa del Sol - An All Time Favorite Tourist Destination