Humbler Than Dust: A Retired Couple Visits the Real India by Tandem Bicycle

The writing in "Humbler Than Dust" illuminates India with the glow of Mona Lee's own inner light. The degree to which we learn about Mona as much as India is quite remarkable, and not in a self-serving ego-feeding way at all, but through that very "humbler than dust" clear-eyed honesty that Gandhi meant when he wrote the quote that gave the book its title. I can only imagine that Mona would be someone I'd really enjoy hanging out with. I found out about this book while I was looking at a bike to take with me on a trip to India (which I am planning on for a few years hence). I was at folding Bike Friday's website when I spotted a mention of this book about a retired couple riding their tandem for a couple of months in India, and since I wanted to know what I'll be up against (and get tips for what to bring) I ordered the book. Drawn from Mona's diary, the story carries us from arriving at the airport and stepping out into the Indian night and unsuccessfully fending off the touts who want a piece of their action (any piece will do.. taxi? hotel recommendation? carry luggage?); through negotiating the city in auto-rickshaws and on bike,; staying with strangers met on the way and new friends met via email; sleeping in tents, or in grim hovels that pass for hotels, or fine houses; shopping at 3-sided stalls and seeking potable water; having the water bottles stolen by nomads; dealing with rough roads and many flats; and much, much more. With only a few stock phrases of Hindi, Dick and Mona are limited in their ability to communicate fluently, but this does not slow their immersion into the real life of India as they meet and eat with generous souls all along their way. Mona finds the constant scrutiny and tendency to swarm as unsettling as has every writer I've read upon first encountering the lack of privacy and personal space, and straightforward questioning of who you are and what you're about that is the norm in India (but which would seem rude and intrusive in America). Yet every word she writes is suffused with her own down-to-earth nature and respect for everyone she encounters. What impressed me even more about Mona's tale was her willingness to talk about her personal preoccupations: from cleanliness, to the warmth of a sweater, to dental floss (no longer offered for sale when she was there due to a factory closure) and theories on immunological strength, she is unafraid to state just what she thinks, and then to learn from the experiences her travels bring to her. Just as she opened herself to the lives of those she met, she opens her life to us, and we are all better for the exposure. I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in bike touring, India, or who enjoys reading travel stories. And when I go to India I will go with off-road tires, spare inner tubes and patch kits, baby wipes, cough drops, and remember to bring extra dental floss.

This is simply a great read. If you've ever gotten off a train in a foreign city with no idea where you will sleep that night, this is your book. If you're way too sensible to have ever gotten into that kind of situation but secretly delight in reading about how much worse it could have been if you had, this is your book. If you love lndia and its people; if you ride a tandem bike; if you have learned never to leave the U.S. without a good supply of dental floss--this is your book! On the other hand, if you object to not being able to put a book down until you've finished it, probably better leave this one alone. It had me in its grip until 3 AM the night I opened it, and when I was done I had to actively resist the urge to start it over again from the beginning. No ordinary travel story, this is an engagement with India as it really is, through the eyes of two Americans who are committed to living as global citizens. That they happen to be 60-something-ish is almost incidental to a story that reads at times like a picaresque narrative, at other times like a survival guide, and at all events is an account of people and places encountered through a powerful combination of open hearts and fortitude. India comes pouring through these pages, the real center of the book, and of the journey itself. The writing is almost surrealistically vivid, a fitting expression of the journey and the cultural contrasts it poses even to the seasoned traveler. Lee's narrative sets a good pace, carrying the reader along from Agra to Mumbai with a keen curiosity to find out what happens next. I could practically feel the grit in my teeth. Mona and her husband Dick are for real; idealistic enough to undertake this adventure, practical enough to survive it, courageous enough to allow it to change them. Highly recommended for all travelers, armchair and otherwise.