What India and Virgin Mary Have In Common von M. P. Prabhakaran

"I travel, therefore I am - apologies to Descartes for twisting his noble thought." That's how M. P. Prabhakaran explains his passion for travel in the "Preface" to this book. If academic qualifications are a measure of one's learning experience, he has a string of them, he says. But they are no match for what he has learned from his travels around the world, he adds. He shares with the readers what he learned through the pages of this book. He introduces them to the geopolitical, historical and cultural landscapes of various countries stretching from Argentina to China. He narrates in one English prose the scenic beauty of some of the places he visited and personal stories of some of the people he met. In the course of interacting with those people, he also projects among them the real image of India - the image of a country which, in spite of being multi-religious, multiethnic and multicultural, has remained intact as a single political entity and become the most vibrant democracy in the world. The book is a page turner.

M. P. Prabhakaran started his career in journalism, in 1969, as a cub reporter on Current, a weekly newspaper (now defunct) published from Bombay (now known as Mumbai). He then moved on, as a sub-editor (called copy editor in the U.S.), to March of the Nation, another Bombay-based English weekly (also defunct now); and then to Free Press Journal, one of India's leading English dailies. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1975, he worked as the editor of Th e Voice of India, a monthly, and of South Asia Newsspecial, a news and feature syndicate. Side by side with his journalistic work in the U.S., he also pursueda Ph.D. in Political Science, at Th e New School for Social Research, New York. After completing the Ph.D., in 1988, he taught for several years as an adjunct professor, at the City University of New York. Since 2001, Prabhakaran has been traveling extensively and posting his travel experience on Th e East-West Inquirer, an online monthly he started the same year. Th e monthly, published at www.eastwestinquirer.com, also carries his social and political commentaries. Prabhakaran can be reached by email at prabha@eastwestinquirer. com or mprabhakaran@nyc.rr.com.Book Price $10.99