V.S.Naipaul a Noble lauret born and brought up in Trinidad, visits to see his ancestral place, dreaming of a mystical India only to witness people with contradicting beliefs and emotions. For an instance A brahmin who takes bath twice a day to keep himselves clean, can also be caught defecating in public. A Vyshya(Businessman) who believes that cheating the customer is his Dharma.
Naipaul gives a perfect third eye(Foreign perspective) view of India. Things like defecating in public even though happen everywhere, we Indians tend to turn a blind eye to it. We perceive things only that pleases us, rest either gets no attention or forgotten immediately. He talks about his encounters with Bombay Customs department, local businessman, and owner of a Shikara in Kashmir. He talks about his experiences, as well as others and intelligently relates it to our epics like Bhagavad Gita(Especially about cast based divisions).
It’s quite an eye opener, though the book criticizes the quintessential Indian nature, his arguments holds true. Good for one time reading.