What does India feel like? For England-based debut author, Vikas Dhawan, the answer lies in the rich memories of his childhood – the horse-driven tongas, impromptu parties during power cuts, gully cricket matches, and kites lazily soaring in the skies.
In his book, India India Feeling, the author, who grew up in Punjab and Chandigarh, tries to encapsulate his love for India, taking the readers on a light-hearted exploration of the country he grew up in. Dedicated to his Panchkula-based parents and his son Ruhaan, Dhawan seemlessly links the olden days to the future. The memoir, which is infused with wit and humour, has an old-world charm to it. “I hope the readers are able to relive their own memories, and find comfort in them, especially in these troubling times.”
A former civil servant in the United Kingdom, Vikas Dhawan, who has lived abroad for 20 years, says over the years he missed his family, friends,and the comfort of living in India. “I have written about how entire families used to travel on a scooter, a single household in a locality owning a telephone or a TV set, my schooldays, Doordarshan, advertisements popular in my youth.”
One memory which stands out the most for Dhawan is receiving a postcard from author and columnist Khushwant Singh, in response to a collection of his articles, which he had sent Singh.
{{/usCountry}}One memory which stands out the most for Dhawan is receiving a postcard from author and columnist Khushwant Singh, in response to a collection of his articles, which he had sent Singh.
{{/usCountry}}The memoir, which was written over three years, talks liberally of Chandigarh, with references to Sector 17, Tagore Theatre, traffic police in Chandigarh, newspapers in the Tricity, Timber Trail at Parwanoo, Kasauli, Shimla, Jaspal Bhatti, astrologer P Khurrana and his son Ayushmann Khurrana, among others things quintessentially Chandigarh .