The Pankaj Prescription

On the eve of the launch of his Temptations of the West, a collection of travel writings spanning Afghanistan, Tibet, Nepal, Kashmir and, er, Bollywood, Pankaj Mishra says, "I do hope Indian writers will write more travel books about not just India, but also about other parts of Asia—particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, countries with which we have had long cultural links. These places seem strangely absent from our consciousness. But this is part of our unhealthy obsession with the West. "

And in reply to an earlier question, he says: "When I write a long piece, I hope that it will have a well-read, politically liberal and intellectual curious reader. This reader can exist anywhere in the world, in America and India as well as Zambia. As it happens, I publish in American and British magazines that can afford to pay for extensive research-trips and publish long articles. Why don’t I write more often for Indian magazines? Because no one has space for the kind of detailed reportage I like doing. It is as simple as that."