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Adventurous,
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Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure
by Sarah Macdonald

Published: 2004-04-13
Paperback : 291 pages
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Recommended to book clubs by 1 of 1 members
In her twenties, journalist Sarah Macdonald backpacked around India and came away with a lasting impression of heat, pollution and poverty. So when an airport beggar read her palm and told her she would return to India—and for love—she screamed, “Never!” and gave the country, and ...
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Introduction

In her twenties, journalist Sarah Macdonald backpacked around India and came away with a lasting impression of heat, pollution and poverty. So when an airport beggar read her palm and told her she would return to India—and for love—she screamed, “Never!” and gave the country, and him, the finger.

But eleven years later, the prophecy comes true. When the love of Sarah’s life is posted to India, she quits her dream job to move to the most polluted city on earth, New Delhi. For Sarah this seems like the ultimate sacrifice for love, and it almost kills her, literally. Just settled, she falls dangerously ill with double pneumonia, an experience that compels her to face some serious questions about her own fragile mortality and inner spiritual void. “I must find peace in the only place possible in India,” she concludes. “Within.” Thus begins her journey of discovery through India in search of the meaning of life and death.

Holy Cow is Macdonald’s often hilarious chronicle of her adventures in a land of chaos and contradiction, of encounters with Hinduism, Islam and Jainism, Sufis, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians and a kaleidoscope of yogis, swamis and Bollywood stars. From spiritual retreats and crumbling nirvanas to war zones and New Delhi nightclubs, it is a journey that only a woman on a mission to save her soul, her love life—and her sanity—can survive.

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Discussion Questions

Suggested by Members

What was her motivation to learn so much about the different religions?
Would you have stayed as long as she did, considering the difficulties she had and as much as she was separated from her husband?
Name one surprising revalation you had about one of the religions she studied while in India?
by [email protected] (see profile) 08/26/10

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by Jan S. (see profile) 05/27/20

 
  "Good account of India"by Belinda A. (see profile) 08/26/10

Having picked up this book while traveling in India, I found her comments accurate, although at times a bit harsh. There are many things in India that could considered sad or ugly by some, ... (read more)

 
  "A story of self-discovery set in India"by Donna D. (see profile) 02/19/09

I didn't care for this book. The humor didn't really work and the deeper topics addressed (customs, philosophies and religions of the many ethnic groups in India)were not presented in a particularly interesting... (read more)

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