Eating the Indian Air

A few of the anecdotes and musings were good, but largely John Morris' memories of his revisit to India fell a little flat. The travels in his book took him just over a year in 1967-68, and he revisited places he had spent time in the British Gurkha Regiment, and other places that appealed to him.
One of the more interesting explains the book's title: A slightly fanciful translation of a common phrase in Hindi ‘to eat the air' means to take a stroll, a little journey, or an excursion.

Another amusement from the chapter on Benares (Varanasi): There was one old man I particularly noticed. He had lost both legs and squatted alone in a corner on a bundle of rags that looked verminous. He begged in a continuous high-pitched wail. Why, I asked, is the poor creature not in a hospital. ‘Your foreigners; you do not understand,' said the guide I had taken on for the morning. ‘This man is famed for the most successful beggar in our holy city, and is reputed to be one of the richest men in Benares.' My query as to why he did not then retire was quickly brushed aside. ‘It is true he need no longer work, but he does not wish to deny the pilgrims the merit they acquire from giving to him'.

And another from Cochin, finding himself short of reading material: Unfortunately a bookstall did not provide a solution to my problem. Besides a good selection of south Indian newspapers in various languages... there was a choice among five books only: Beekeeping in India; The Right Way to Keep Pet Fish; an English-Russian phrase book; Dracula; and a paperback edition of ‘All's Well that Ends Well' of which the last 30 pages had been torn out.