Overview

After backpacking her way around India, 21-year-old Sarah Macdonald decided that she hated this land of chaos and contradiction with a passion, and when an airport beggar read her palm and insisted she would come back one day - and for love - she vowed never to return. But twelve years later the prophecy comes true when her partner, ABC's South Asia correspondent, is posted to New Delhi, the most polluted city on earth. Having given up a blossoming radio career in Sydney to follow her new boyfriend to India, it seems like the ultimate sacrifice and it almost kills Sarah - literally. After being cursed by a sadhu smeared in human ashes, she nearly dies from double pneumonia. It's enough to send a rapidly balding atheist on a wild rollercoaster ride through India's many religions in search of the meaning of life and death. From the 'brain enema' of a meditation retreat in Dharamsala to the biggest Hindu festival on earth on the steps of the Ganges in Varanasi, and with the help of the Dalai Lama, a goddess of healing hugs and a couple of Bollywood stars - among many, many others - Sarah discovers a hell of a lot more.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sarah MacDonald
Publisher:   Transworld Publishers Ltd
Imprint:   Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group)
Dimensions:   Width: 12.70cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 19.80cm
Weight:   0.220kg
ISBN:  

9780553816013

ISBN 10:   0553816012
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   01 March 2004
Recommended Age:   From 0 years
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Reviews

Funny, touching and addictive * More * British images of India are invariably filtered through the apologetic hangover of the Raj or the ganja whiff of the hippy trail. In this refreshingly cliche-free and highly readable memoir, we are given a blunter, Australian view... frequently wry and thoughtful * Daily Telegraph * Refreshingly ambivilent about the country's so-called charms. Part travelogue, part life-changing odyssey, part love story * The Scotsman * Kathy Lette meets Tom Robbins on a slow train to Varanasi with Bill Bryson supplying the onion bhajis... Very, very funny. Sarah MacDonald captures everything that is frustrating, infuriating and exhilarating about India and presents it in an irresistible package. Will make even the most die-hard atheist want to don a sari and go on a spiritual journey -- Peter Moore Sarah Macdonald pays up in the spiritual mega-market... Raunchy religion with redemption on the side -- Justine Hardy, author of Bollywood Boy

Karma, dharma and drama jostle in this romp across the Indian subcontinent. Sarah Macdonald follows her fiance to India and soon embarks on a quest for self-discovery. After a brush with death, she samples the 'spiritual supermarket' of a hectic, multi-faith society. Her journey ranges from north to south as she experiences meditation, living gods, Bollywood and ribald flatulence. Macdonald's wry Australian voice provides an astute commentary on this nation of paradox. Whether describing a Punjabi disco night, the Kumbh Mela or political deadlock, Macdonald's touch remains light and humorous. Holy Cow! is nonetheless reflective and contains poignant observations on religion, ego and the human condition. Macdonald's prose can be beautiful: her descriptions of the Kashmiri mountains, the succulence of Kerala and the madness of Delhi are all enthralling. A riotous travelogue as bold as its subject. (Kirkus UK)

Funny, touching and addictive More British images of India are invariably filtered through the apologetic hangover of the Raj or the ganja whiff of the hippy trail. In this refreshingly cliche-free and highly readable memoir, we are given a blunter, Australian view... frequently wry and thoughtful Daily Telegraph Refreshingly ambivilent about the country's so-called charms. Part travelogue, part life-changing odyssey, part love story The Scotsman Kathy Lette meets Tom Robbins on a slow train to Varanasi with Bill Bryson supplying the onion bhajis... Very, very funny. Sarah MacDonald captures everything that is frustrating, infuriating and exhilarating about India and presents it in an irresistible package. Will make even the most die-hard atheist want to don a sari and go on a spiritual journey -- Peter Moore Sarah Macdonald pays up in the spiritual mega-market... Raunchy religion with redemption on the side -- Justine Hardy, Author Of Bollywood Boy

Funny, touching and addictive * More * British images of India are invariably filtered through the apologetic hangover of the Raj or the ganja whiff of the hippy trail. In this refreshingly cliche-free and highly readable memoir, we are given a blunter, Australian view... frequently wry and thoughtful * Daily Telegraph * Refreshingly ambivilent about the country's so-called charms. Part travelogue, part life-changing odyssey, part love story * The Scotsman * Kathy Lette meets Tom Robbins on a slow train to Varanasi with Bill Bryson supplying the onion bhajis... Very, very funny. Sarah MacDonald captures everything that is frustrating, infuriating and exhilarating about India and presents it in an irresistible package. Will make even the most die-hard atheist want to don a sari and go on a spiritual journey -- Peter Moore Sarah Macdonald pays up in the spiritual mega-market... Raunchy religion with redemption on the side -- Justine Hardy, author of Bollywood Boy

Author Information

Sarah Macdonald is a journalist and radio broadcaster who lives in Sydney with her husband, ABC journalist Jonathan Harley, and their baby daughter Georgina. HOLY COW! is her first book.

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