Enjoying India: The Essential Handbook Paperback - 2010

J.D. Viharini is a single woman who has lived and traveled alone extensively in India. With the help of fellow travelers that she has met over the years, she has learned that it's essential to travel smart and to function in harmony with the local culture. For her, living and traveling in India is a great delight. She was born in California, but has spent more than two-thirds of her life in other states and other countries. Having earned an MS in Vedic Studies in Europe, she came to India in 1980 and loved it immediately, though she had to wait a few years for her next visit. She has been living in India for several years, and has traveled extensively throughout the country. Although she has an apartment in the foothills of the Himalayas that's her home base, she tends to move around India with the seasons. At one time or another, she's spent time in nearly every part of India except the Northeast. Over the years, she has traveled around India first class, sardine class, and everything in between. From the Ritz to the pits, so to speak, she has stayed and dined in some of the most exclusive places in India and some of the least. She has stayed with families and attended their celebrations. She has rented apartments and learned how to contend with all that living here entails. She has experienced the intense, seething crowds of the Kumbha Mela and the serenity of the sparsely populated, high Himalayas. She has gone on pilgrimages and done business. She has been sick and learned how to stay well. She has made many friends (and perhaps a few enemies).