The Braided River: A Journey along the Brahmaputra
(By Samrat Choudhury)
Read Ebook | Size | 26 MB (26,085 KB) |
|---|---|
| Format | |
| Downloaded | 654 times |
| Last checked | 13 Hour ago! |
| Author | Samrat Choudhury |
In The Braided River, journalist Samrat Choudhury sets out to follow its braided course from the edge of Tibet where it enters India down to where it meets the Ganga at a spot marked by the biggest red-light district in Bangladesh. Along the way, he meets suspicious Indian spies, gets packed off on the back of a cement truck by soldiers, visits a shelter home for baby rhino and elephant orphans in Kaziranga, and hops from river island to riverside town meeting the locals. The tales of these encounters spice up a story that weaves in the history of the emergence of the border between India and China in Arunachal Pradesh, the formation of the Assamese identity – a matter of great contemporary relevance owing to the National Register of Citizens and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act – and the ecological challenges posed by proposed dams.
This is a genre-bending book that touches upon several hot-button issues – environmental, military, and political – as it blends travel, memoir, and history with the present.
According to the author Samrat Choudhury, ‘This book is primarily a travelogue following the Brahmaputra, from the McMahon Line in Arunachal Pradesh at the edge of Tibet on the disputed India-China border down to its confluence with the Ganga near the fabled ghat of Goalando in Bangladesh. It is a journey through places, times, and issues along the way…sometimes serious, sometimes hilarious, occasionally adventurous, and often illuminating.’”
