Book Description

Journeys are voyages of discovery, infinitely enriching explorations of the self and of the universe. Journeys can take you to the Himalayas, across oceans, into the wilderness of forests and to the farthest corners of the earth and the human mind. Such journeys are sagas of the human spirit and of endurance the will to break free from the mundane and the familiar. This unique volume of twenty-two essays, photoessays and critical texts brings together accounts of epic heroes and saints, pilgrims and trekkers, journalists and photographers, historians and folklorists. They are travellers who chart their course across vast seas and countries other than their own in search of the unknown and the exotic. While their narratives may be deeply personal, they are, ultimately, accounts of voyages that are universal. At times these are private confessions that transcend details of geography and conquest to express the solitude of the traveller. This volume also includes moving accounts of spiritual journeys that delve into the recesses of the mind like those of Akkamahadevi, Bulle Shah, Nanak, and countless poets, singers and saints and journeys typical of the Indian tradition those of the yogi prince, renouncing the illusionary nature of the finite world to attain immortality. And finally, there is the journey through life by those who are touched by a moment of revelation which transforms their inner and outer selves. Here we follow the path taken by a writer, an artist, a dancer and an activist as they speak of transformation. Deeply felt, revelatory and inspiring, the writings in Journeys explore voyages both finite and infinite journeys into the unknown and into the inner psyche that are a reaffirmation of the power of the human spirit and imagination.