City of Djinns - William Dalrymple

Travel writing is a favourite genre of mine. I was a member of the British Council Library in Mumbai for a couple of years, and that gave me access to works of authors such as Jan Morris, Paul Theroux, Bill Bryson, and others. But I ceased being a member a few months back. So it was with much anticipation that I started reading William Dalrymples' 'City of Djinns' which I borrowed from a cousin.

William Dalrymple has a lucid style of writing, which makes reading him a pleasure. The book is well composed, and provides very interesting nuggets of information about Delhi.

But reading the book set me thinking - considering how much urban India has changed over the past few years - the many typical 'foreigner in India' anecdotes felt very dated. With so many foreigners now working in India, and scores more traveling on business, do they continue to perceive India as a land of snake charmers and elephants? Or are they more attuned to the culture that India is not as much of a culture shock anymore?

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