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Holy Cow! An Indian Adventure by [Sarah MacDonald]

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Sarah Macdonald

Holy Cow! An Indian Adventure Kindle Edition

by Sarah MacDonald (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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A rollercoaster ride through a land of chaos and contradiction with a woman on a mission to save her soul, her love life - and her sanity.

After backpacking her way around India Sarah Macdonald decides she hates the country with a passion. When a beggar reads her palm and insists she will one day return - and for love - she screams 'Never!'

But twelve years later the prophecy comes true. When the love of her life is posted to India, Sarah follows him to the most polluted city on earth, New Delhi. It seems like the ultimate sacrifice for love and it almost kills her - literally. After being cursed by a naked sadhu smeared in human ashes Sarah almost dies from double pneumonia, but not before facing some serious questions about her fragile mortality and inner spiritual void - not to mention some unsightly hair loss.

It's enough to send a rapidly balding atheist on a wild rollercoaster ride through India in search of the meaning of life and death. With the help of the Dalai Lama, a goddess of healing hugs and a couple of Bollywood stars - among many, many others - Sarah discovers a hell of a lot more.

Length: 295 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled	Audible Narration: Audible Narration Switch back and forth between reading the Kindle book and listening to the Audible narration. Add narration for a reduced price of $3.99 after you buy the Kindle book. Ready	Language: English

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Review

"Funny, touching and addictive" (More)

"British images of India are invariably filtered through the apologetic hangover of the Raj or the ganja whiff of the hippy trail. In this refreshingly cliche-free and highly readable memoir, we are given a blunter, Australian view... frequently wry and thoughtful" (Daily Telegraph)

"Refreshingly ambivilent about the country's so-called charms. Part travelogue, part life-changing odyssey, part love story" (The Scotsman)

"Kathy Lette meets Tom Robbins on a slow train to Varanasi with Bill Bryson supplying the onion bhajis... Very, very funny. Sarah MacDonald captures everything that is frustrating, infuriating and exhilarating about India and presents it in an irresistible package. Will make even the most die-hard atheist want to don a sari and go on a spiritual journey" (Peter Moore)

"Sarah Macdonald pays up in the spiritual mega-market... Raunchy religion with redemption on the side" (Justine Hardy, author of Bollywood Boy) --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

"Hilarious and incredible." (B Magazine)

"Kathy Lette meets Tom Robbins on a slow train to Varanasi with Bill Bryson supplying the onion bhajis ... very, very funny." (Peter Moore)

"Prepare for the fast-moving and masterful narration by Kate Hosking. Her characterization of the Indian characters is nuanced and fun. The contrast with the distinctive Australian accents of MacDonald and other ex-pats adds to the sense of adventure and excitement and provides a backdrop for spiritual understanding." (AudioFile Magazine) --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

In her twenties, journalist Sarah Macdonald backpacked around India and came away with a lasting impression of heat, pollution and poverty. So when an airport beggar read her palm and told her she would return to India--and for love--she screamed, "Never!" and gave the country, and him, the finger.
But eleven years later, the prophecy comes true. When the love of Sarah's life is posted to India, she quits her dream job to move to the most polluted city on earth, New Delhi. For Sarah this seems like the ultimate sacrifice for love, and it almost kills her, literally. Just settled, she falls dangerously ill with double pneumonia, an experience that compels her to face some serious questions about her own fragile mortality and inner spiritual void. "I must find peace in the only place possible in India," she concludes. "Within." Thus begins her journey of discovery through India in search of the meaning of life and death.
"Holy Cow is Macdonald's often hilarious chronicle of her adventures in a land of chaos and contradiction, of encounters with Hinduism, Islam and Jainism, Sufis, Sikhs, Parsis and Christians and a kaleidoscope of yogis, swamis and Bollywood stars. From spiritual retreats and crumbling nirvanas to war zones and New Delhi nightclubs, it is a journey that only a woman on a mission to save her soul, her love life--and her sanity--can survive. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Book Description

"A rollercoaster ride through a land of chaos and contradiction with a woman on a mission to save her soul, her love life - and her sanity." --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Back Cover

'Well, madam, I will tell you one thing. You are back in India for a good shaking. Here you will dance with death and be reborn. You will be a chameleon of karma...'

After backpacking her way around India, twenty-one-year-old Sarah Macdonald decides she hates the country with a passion. And when a beggar at the airport reads her palm and insists that she will one day return - and for love - she screams 'Never!' and gives India, and him, the finger.

But eleven years later, his prophecy comes true. When the love of her life is posted to India, she leaves her dream job as a radio DJ in Sydney to follow her fiancé to New Delhi, the most polluted city on earth. It seems like the ultimate sacrifice and it almost kills her - literally. One smoggy night, a sadhu smeared in human ashes curses her and she falls dangerously ill with double pneumonia. She survives, but not before she has faced some serious questions about her own mortality and inner spiritual void, not to mention unsightly hair loss.

It's enough to send a rapidly balding atheist on a wild journey through India in search of the meaning of life and death. From spiritual retreats to crumbling nirvanas, war zones and nightclubs, and with the help of the Dalai Lama, a real-life goddess and a couple of Bollywood stars - among many others - Sarah Macdonald discovers a hell of a lot more. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

"Sarah MacDonald is a journalist and radio broadcaster who lives in Sydney with her husband, ABC journalist Jonathan Harley, and their daughter Georgina." --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN : B004T6E2OG
Publisher : Random House Australia (1 October 2010)
Language : English
File size : 1134 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 295 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 75,866 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 129 in Travel Essays & Travelogues
- 193 in Marriage (Kindle Store)
- 209 in Travel Writing

Customer Reviews:
252 ratings

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2 star		5%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from Australia

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Karen

Fascinating ....

Reviewed in Australia on 31 July 2018

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Really loved this book ,learning about the everyday life of an expat in India through her humerous rendition.
I am going to travel through India this year for the first time and found this book a very useful tool. Thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the read.

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Amazon Customer

Relatability

Reviewed in Australia on 1 July 2019

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Fantastic made me laugh gasp and cry very honest and real account of what you may encounter (I’m guessing) will let you know when I go😊
Just love the different sides and perspectives presented in this book

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Amazon Customer

Really enjoyed

Reviewed in Australia on 7 March 2018

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Really enjoyed the book. In India at present, so very relatable! Incredible India, from many perspectives - a land of extremes

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Sue Gosling smith

For anyone travelling to India a must read

Reviewed in Australia on 12 April 2014

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Love the Aussie humour of the author Sarah Macdonald.
This book is a brief summary of all the religions of this great sub-continent.
Have read it several times and still pick up new anecdotes.
Highly recommend.

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katkaren

Interesting & Fun

Reviewed in Australia on 15 May 2014

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I'm travelling to India so I was interested in reading anything about India. I liked Ms MacDonalds candid views story telling. Of her adventures.

One person found this helpful

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Karl Wiggins

A patchwork goulash of India’s religions

Reviewed in Australia on 19 December 2016

Having visited India this year, and travelling non-stop for ten days, I was excited about reading Holy Cow. I read Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts before going, during and after coming back from India. The book goes on forever, and although it’s an excellent book I was looking for something a little lighter in Sarah MacDonald’s Holy Cow.

And true to form that’s how it started. My own son is currently backpacking around Central America and I was looking forward to reading Sarah’s adventures backpacking through India. Unfortunately I’d misread the book description, as the backpacking part briefly describes a conversation at the airport before jumping on a plane home and takes about a minute to read. That’s it.

Slightly disappointed I read on and to be fair enjoyed what I was reading. I like the Indian people and I’ve written a lot about them myself. I enjoyed Sarah’s new friends and found myself amused at the variety of myths and superstitions that make up their everyday lives. I bought a copy for my wife, imagining it was just the type of thing she’d enjoy, and I realise now that I’d jumped the gun. She’ll hate it. It will bore her silly.

I’m currently 60% through the book, which I think is equivalent to about 183 pages of a print copy, and the story is doing my head in. I don’t honestly know if I’ll be able to finish it. This is one of those books that you find yourself reading and after a page or two realise your mind has wandered and you’ve no idea what you’ve been reading.

I can’t believe that a book that started off so well can get so repetitive. MacDonald likes to write, and to be fair she’s good at it, but she’s hopeless at stringing it all together. At one stage we find her on the banks of the Ganges (which is actually a beautiful Goddess who crashed to earth from heaven with only Shiva’s dreadlocks to break her fall) for the mass bathing known as Maha Kumbh Mela and then next thing we know she’s at a Buddhist retreat and we’re not quite sure how she got there.

This is the general theme of the book. It would possibly take a lifetime to explore all of India’s religions, Gods and Goddesses, but there’s no denying MacDonald gives it a darn good try. She aims herself at a variety of meditation retreats, yoga studies, Hindu festivals. Buddhist teachings and in fairness to her she gets involved as opposed to just reading about them all. But for the reader it comes across as a bit of a mish-mash, a patchwork goulash of India’s religions, and as one dovetails into another the reader is left a bit flummoxed.

And for that reason, with regret, I can only allocate this a 3 Star rating. It deserves higher, simply because of the effort in living it and writing about it, but for readership content it doesn’t deserve a 4 Star.

I’m feeling a stab of conscience now for the low rating. Perhaps if it was a shorter book, or it flowed better, but it’s not and it doesn’t, and in all honesty I really can’t grant this a 4 Star. 3½ Stars would possibly be a better rating, but there isn’t that option.

One person found this helpful

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Karl Wiggins

A patchwork goulash of India’s religions

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 December 2016

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5 people found this helpful

Rukiya Williams

After the first chapter it become excruciatingly boring...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 March 2020

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After reading Eat, Pray, Love by Liz Gilbert, I became hooked upon reading about the adventures of sole female travellers, as I would love to do the same one day. Unfortunately, with this book I don't find her rudeness about India funny at all - I actually cringed throughout. I couldn't read past 70 pages because it is very mismatched and lacks a strong story line or meaning.

One person found this helpful

Pratibha

Lacks depth and real accuracy

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 April 2019

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Shallow read
Did not draw me in at all
Knowing india well - I felt the book gave little real true insight and was simply catering for an audience who perhaps don’t particularly care for authenticity
No love lost for India!

Amazon Customer

Second time reading this book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 May 2018

Verified Purchase

I first read this book before I had been to India. On reading it now that I have been to India five or six times has given me so much more and has put into words how I feel about this amazing country.

Steve Foster

Ideal companion for those going to India or looking to find themselves

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 May 2019

Verified Purchase

Read this book after a month in India visiting most of the places of religious significance in the north. I could really relate to the experiences and the people met on her travels. I found it informative but with a light touch and really brought the chaotic, fascinating, frustration and vibrancy of India to life.

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