Inexplicable India

In TV commercials and glossy tourism campaigns, it’s “Incredible India.” To historian and journalist David Mould, it’s a sub-continent so diverse that it defies description—simply inexplicable. India is an epic of epics, spanning thousands of years—of war and conquest, of the rise and fall of great civilizations, of architecture, literature, and art, of migration and settlement, of commerce with Asia, Europe and Africa. Faced with crowds, poverty, pollution, traffic congestion, crime and heat, some people find India too much to bear. But if you’re prepared to take India for what it is—often messy and disorganized, occasionally dangerous and always unpredictable—you will be well rewarded, and relish its smells, sounds, sights, culture and people.

David Mould, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University, has traveled widely in Asia and southern Africa. Born in the UK, he worked as a newspaper and TV journalist before moving to the US in 1978. His travel essays and articles have been published in Newsweek, Christian Science Monitor, Times Higher Education, History News Network and other print and online outlets. His books include Postcards from the Borderlands (Open Books, 2020), Monsoon Postcards: Indian Ocean Journeys (Ohio University Press, 2019) and Postcards from Stanland: Journeys in Central Asia (Ohio University Press, 2016).   

Kirkus Reviews describes David as “a genial travel guide … an academic who does not write like an academic.” Rick Steves, in an interview for his radio show, said: “Monsoon Postcards doesn’t really read like a guidebook, it reads like you’ve got a friend who’s really connected and committed to these cultures. It gives an intimate look at the people and the heritage.”