Day 71 - Bangalore

We are now in the silicon valley of India, the outsourcing central of the east that is Bangalore. Very urban Indians wander round talking about capital and investments on their posh mobile phones and young women strut by in tight jeans. In MG road, where our hotel is located, Levis and Adidas shops vie for attention between Pizza huts, McDonalds and KFCs. There are a few cinemas that show western movies alongside bollywood classics, and many packed internet cafes and coffee shops. Yet another place that is like India in some ways, but so unlike it in others.

This morning we arrived after a 17hr train journey in Bangalore station and caught a (very expensive) taxi to our hotel. Thankfully the guy on reception had understood me on the phone, and our room was available. We have a TV (that has many channels showing many awful programs) and a balcony that has an attractive view of some grubby back-allys. After unpacking and changing, we left the hotel and went for a wonder around the MG road area. After much laughter at aformentioned shops and fast food places we eventually sloped into a great little bookshop (called The Bookworm - just in case you ever happen to be in Bangalore). I left with Q&A (Vikas Swarup) and Becca with A Million Little Pieces (James Frey). I am happy to have found these books - a little tired of the Paulo Ceulo books that constitute the main collection of little bookshops here. Whilst in the ashram I quizzed the guys on the best books they had read recently, and have been keeping an eye out for these books ever since. For my fellow bookworms (also for my own benefit, as I am bound to loose the list at some point)...

Random Recommended Books

• A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving (the guy who wrote Cider House Rules) - This is the book I've just finished reading - it was great, very funny, I highly recommend it.
• Q&A by Vikas Swarup
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
• The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
• The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
• Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
• A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
• A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
• The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
• The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (actually, I've read this too - v. good)
• One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
• Love in the Time of Cholera also by Gabriel Garcia Marquez