Around the world in 536 pages
Reviewed by Balwinder Kaur

I’ll Follow The Sun
by Akhil Bakshi
Odyssey Books Pages 536. Rs 595

Every book is a journey each complete with a beginning and ending. But this book is many: Journeys to places and through time. Akhil Bakshi’s wanderlust has led him far and wide across this beautiful planet making memories and accumulating experiences. The experiences he recounts in this book include wonderful moments, fascinating histories, rich cultures and remarkable people. Unlike most travel guides along with the good is the bad; with startling candour and wit he shares it all right down to the awful. There is a mix of the personal and the factual providing both information and amusement.

Akhil Bakshi tries to remain true to the spirit of a location that he experienced himself, channelling it in its entirety acknowledging both beauty and ugliness. There is no unnecessary gloss suffocating the places encumbering them with an unrealistic elegance or artificial saccharine flavouring. From bad food to sublime sunsets it’s a smorgasbord of variety. From the tourist cluttered venues to the best kept local secrets he talks about it all. Even the whimsical nature of the travel gods who dictate how matters proceed. How a holiday of considerable comfort can be less eventful and engaging yet one on shoestring budget can result in wealth of fond memories.

The allure of these destinations in undeniable shining bright on most pages despite misadventures and irritations. They make for wonderful protagonists not merely settings but characters with a life of their own. There is Bali with its unworldly serenity. The floating Chong Khneas Elementary School on a wooden barge in Cambodia. The hilariously named Hell in the Cayman Islands. The splendour of the Torres del Paine National Park in Chile. The undeniable charm of the lovely capital city of Ireland; Dublin. The fruitless hunt for the Loch Ness monster in Inverness Scotland. And the poetic beauty of Bagh i Babur on the Kabul River in Afghanistan.

The evolution of his consciousness and perspective is ever present as the travels cover a span of many years including many rites of passage and a transition of personal identity from single to married to becoming a parent.

The veteran author of several books, Bakshi shows his mastery over both the language and the terrain. Every page bursts with his passionate desire to see it all and experience it all. Reading the book will awaken the wanderlust in even the most homebound of readers who will want to follow in his footsteps.Seasoned travellers too are bound to feel a renewed appreciation of the places they’ve visited.

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