Hindoo Holiday an Indian Journal

J.R. Ackerley

Published by Penguin Books, softcover


`He wanted someone to love him — His Highness, I mean'
`He alleged other reasons, of course — an English private secretary, a tutor for his son. . . He
wanted a friend. He wanted understanding and sympathy and philosophic comfort, and he sent
to England for them.'

Thus it was that J. R. Ackerley found himself cast in a demanding role as companion to the
Maharaj ah of Chhokrapur, in the nineteen twenties.

Hindoo Holiday is the j ournal he kept of his experiences. Marvellously observed and extremely
funny, it extracts the irony, absurdity and farce of life in India as well as the dignity and
richness of an ancient culture. Fresh, idiosyncratic and affectionate, Hindoo Holiday is written with
an immediacy and excellence that time will never dim.