Indian Balm

This is an evocation of life in south-east India, where, behind the seemingly serene facade of customs and lifestyles unchanged for centuries, the world is in a state of turmoil, as is all India, as strict, conflicting religious philosophies approach the 21st century. In search of his roots, Paul Hyland traces the exploits of his missionary family from the early-19th century and meets the solitary remaining descendant, the fifth and last generation, who still carries on their work there, living on the final earnings of the mysterious and medicinal Indian Balm. Witnessing every detail of the minutiae of Indian life - from the quips and banter in the jostling market places to the performance of the Sankranti rites at a festival in Narsapur, from the earnest bathing in the sacred Godivari river to the mixture of militant asceticism and frenzy at religious festivals and mandalas - Paul Hyland gives an insight into modern India and its various degrees of divergence from the country his ancestors knew. The author also wrote "The Black Heart: a Voyage into Central Africa".