India, One Question at a Time, by Jeon Myeong-yun

I remember when Han Bi-ya’s books and television appearances brought India to the attention of Korean readers who had scarcely considered going there.

That interest was particularly visible in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Firsthand accounts also brought home some of the difficulties of traveling alone.

When the enthusiasm for India cooled

As low-cost airlines opened more routes to Southeast Asia, Korean travelers had more affordable destinations to choose from. Concerns about safety also shaped where some people felt comfortable going.

India, One Question at a Time

Jeon Myeong-yun, who writes under the name Fanta, produced this book in collaboration with Korean Air.

The title plays on “India” and “to lead” in Korean. It sounds like a promise to answer life’s questions, but the journey starts with particular places and what the author found there.

Places, culture, and history

As a child, I remember travel books filled with photographs and accounts of the author’s own trip. It is now easier to find books that concentrate on the practical information you need before you leave.

Perhaps fewer people were planning trips of their own back then. Whatever the reason, I sometimes miss the books that let you spend a while with a traveler’s photographs and thoughts.

This book brought back the pleasure of reading one of those accounts and thinking that I might see the places in it someday.

The pleasure of reading about travel

Even after reading other accounts of India, I am struck by how much the name of one country has to encompass.

India’s influence in the global technology industry is familiar, as are some of its economic and social divides. A trip through a few cities can only reveal part of a country of that scale.

What makes the book appealing is the chance to approach a place through details that give you something to wonder about.

That is a different pleasure from looking up everything you need to plan a visit.

The chapters move among the following places and subjects.

1. Delhi
2. Chandni Chowk
3. Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque and the Qutb Minar
4. The Taj Mahal
5. When the Lights Go Out
6. Mathura
7. Mumbai
8. What Happens in a Bollywood Cinema?
9. Varanasi
10. Amritsar
11. Jodhpur
12. Jaisalmer
13. Jaipur
14. Fanta’s Guide to Indian Cooking
15. Aurangabad
16. Hampi
17. Kerala
18. Pangong Lake

When the lights go out

One detail that stayed with me was the way planned power cuts could become part of the rhythm of the day. Jeon describes neighborhoods taking turns going without electricity in the chapter about what happens when the lights go out.

The book came out in 2017, so the chapter is best read as an account of the author’s trip at the time.

Inside a Bollywood cinema

The Mumbai chapter describes going to a Bollywood film and coming out to find that an afternoon has disappeared. Some of the films the author describes run for around three hours.

An intermission gives the audience a chance to stretch or make a trip to the restroom before settling back in.

Jodhpur and Finding Mr. Destiny

Jodhpur was a location for Finding Mr. Destiny, the Korean film based on the musical of the same name. I had never seen it, but encountering the city here made me curious about how it appears on screen.

It went on the list of things I wanted to watch after reading.

The book is an easy read in the older tradition of the travel essay. Its photographs and observations made me want to see some of these places for myself.

Book details

India, One Question at a Time

Author

Jeon Myeong-yun

Published

February 10, 2017

ISBN13

9788970655598

View the book on YES24

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