A travel book after historical accounts such as The White and The Last Mughal. Why the shift from the history to the contemporary?
After ten years of living in archives in Delhi, Lahore, Rangoon, and London, frankly I thought I needed to get out for a bit. Plus, I have been, for most of my life, a travel writer. My first book, In Xanadu, was a travel book, and then I wrote two more, From the Holy Mountain and The City of Djinns. So I really was returning to a form I have always loved. So travelling through Bengal, a modern Kerala, visiting holy places, getting to see the gorgeous countryside, meeting weird and wonderful people – I had the loveliest year.
The Dancer Of Kannur 
New Words To Keep 
