Beginning in the late '60s, hundreds
of thousands of Westerners descended
upon India, disciples of a cultural
revolution that proclaimed that the
magic and mystery missing from their
lives was to be found in the East.
An Indian writer who has also lived
in England and the United States,
Mehta was ideally placed to observe
the spectacle of European and American "pilgrims" interacting
with their hosts. When she finally
recorded her razor sharp observations
in Karma Cola, the book became
an instant classic for describing,
in merciless detail, what happens
when the traditions of an ancient
society are turned into commodities
and sold to those who don't understand
them.
In the dazzling prose that has become
her trademark, Mehta skewers the entire
spectrum of seekers: The Beatles,
homeless students, Hollywood rich
kids in detox, British guilt-trippers,
and more. In doing so, she also reveals
the devastating by-products that Westerners
brought to the villages of rural lndia
-- high anxiety and drug addiction
among them.
Brilliantly irreverent, Karma
Cola displays Mehta's gift for
weaving old and new, common and bizarre,
history and current events into a
seamless and colorful narrative that
is witty, shocking, and poignant.
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