Holy Cow by Sarah Macdonald (ISBN:0767915747)

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		Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure
	
				(240 reviews)			
(2219 Readers)

			Sarah Macdonald		
	
In her twenties, journalist Sarah Macdonald backpacked around India and came away with a lasting impression of heat, pollution and poverty.  So when...more
 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.   less

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
The tales of a western woman living in India is not only hilarious but she takes you into the culture of India so well that you learn little snippets about the country that makes anyone with a sense of adventure want to leave right away! I loved it. It felt like a mixture of personal journaling and cultural examination.
Great book. Funny, engaging, interesting. Gives great insight into the India...more
 The tales of a western woman living in India is not only hilarious but she takes you into the culture of India so well that you learn little snippets about the country that makes anyone with a sense of adventure want to leave right away! I loved it. It felt like a mixture of personal journaling and cultural examination.
Great book. Funny, engaging, interesting. Gives great insight into the India beyond what any tourist would see and expereince!   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
A Racey account of India's religious diversity and madness.. While the book is accurate in many parts, I think it is one sided in some areas. India is a country that exists on many levels and dimensions.. The author's experiences are limited to one of these levels.. it's a backpacker's account of India for the most part. She takes trains from Delhi to chennai (crazy).. and travels in the...more
 A Racey account of India's religious diversity and madness.. While the book is accurate in many parts, I think it is one sided in some areas. India is a country that exists on many levels and dimensions.. The author's experiences are limited to one of these levels.. it's a backpacker's account of India for the most part. She takes trains from Delhi to chennai (crazy).. and travels in the blistering heat in non AC transport. While this is the reality for a large number of Indians.. there is more to India than crowds and filth and pollution and crazy rituals. Having said that.. the book is very well written.. I love her description of India as a 'spiritual supermarket'..  And she talks about a harsh reality that many Indians are embarrassed to accept   hide

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							nitin behl
						
							few weeks ago						
I wish I could strangle the author. This book is in your face with each page dripping with typical Aussie attitude. But I have to agree that whatever Sarah has written is true if exaggerated. The reader is left confused about the author's feelings towards India even after the last page is read. The author herself recognizes the fact in the acknowledgements by saying thanks to the people who...more
 I wish I could strangle the author. This book is in your face with each page dripping with typical Aussie attitude. But I have to agree that whatever Sarah has written is true if exaggerated. The reader is left confused about the author's feelings towards India even after the last page is read. The author herself recognizes the fact in the acknowledgements by saying thanks to the people who encouraged her to pen her rantings and ravings about India.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
A fairly well written account of an Australian womans journey through India and the experiences she has about finding herself via the exploration of some of India's different religions. I can relate to some of the images that she has seen in this country of contrasts. A part of you really does get left behind in India no matter how much you want to get away from it all. In the end it was a...more
 A fairly well written account of an Australian womans journey through India and the experiences she has about finding herself via the exploration of some of India's different religions. I can relate to some of the images that she has seen in this country of contrasts. A part of you really does get left behind in India no matter how much you want to get away from it all. In the end it was a fairly enjoyable read that takes my mind back to my experiences in the subcontinent.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Left to me in a big box of treasures from Lindsay when she left for Kuwait. 

A travelogue by an Aussie 30 something who follows her bf to India even though she didn't embrace it when she did the ubiquitous backpacker thing in her 20s. 

Well, she still doesn't embrace it, but even worse, she now thinks she does. Each chapter she discovers a new religion or festival to explore and whines and...more
 Left to me in a big box of treasures from Lindsay when she left for Kuwait. 

A travelogue by an Aussie 30 something who follows her bf to India even though she didn't embrace it when she did the ubiquitous backpacker thing in her 20s. 

Well, she still doesn't embrace it, but even worse, she now thinks she does. Each chapter she discovers a new religion or festival to explore and whines and complains as she superficially and arrogantly writes about her new understandings and even love for the cultures! Her tone is self-righteous and condescending, and although I did enjoy reading about all the different faiths, I could have obtained a more un-basis account from wiki-ing it as she barely skims the surface of the diversity. 

Perhaps I am just jealous, because despite her selfishness and childishness she ends up marrying that bf, and winning my personal award for most annoying conclusion ever (spolier alert): 

Guess what! They move back to perfect Australia with a gift from India; a baby in her belly.   hide

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							Sagar
						
							few weeks ago						
Recently finished reading this hilarious account of all things Indian. A heart warming description of everything that goes with religion in India. From lepers to beggers, from Dalai Lama to Sai Baba, from vultures to cows to monkeys to monks and mosques and amma Amritanandamayi.... where do I stop!
The auther seems to have actually made the effort to visit and see all these phantoms with her own...more
 Recently finished reading this hilarious account of all things Indian. A heart warming description of everything that goes with religion in India. From lepers to beggers, from Dalai Lama to Sai Baba, from vultures to cows to monkeys to monks and mosques and amma Amritanandamayi.... where do I stop!
The auther seems to have actually made the effort to visit and see all these phantoms with her own eyes! Its an India I would not want to probe!   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
This is such an honest look at the paradox that is India.  It's honest, refreshing, is a wake up call to a nation to get its act together.  McDonald weaves a Sutra through the religions she encounters, moving seamlessly from one to the next, trodding one path, then trodding along another.  She comes to the conclusion that the way to defeat hate is through love.  In the context of 9/11,...more
 This is such an honest look at the paradox that is India.  It's honest, refreshing, is a wake up call to a nation to get its act together.  McDonald weaves a Sutra through the religions she encounters, moving seamlessly from one to the next, trodding one path, then trodding along another.  She comes to the conclusion that the way to defeat hate is through love.  In the context of 9/11, retrospectively, she looks back at  how the world may have been had foreign policy used a general principle of love, instead of hate, vengeance, and war in reacting to the events, and believes that it is love that wins the battle of how the world should be and how it should be run.  She also starts local...she acknowledges that love won't change the world until we change ourselves and embody love in our thoughts, words, and actions.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Very relatable if you've been to India....She's described everything to the tee that it brought back memories...both fond and otherwise...With everything said, India definitely leaves some sort of unsaid inner calling of wanting to be back...i have often found myself subconsciously planning another trip despite having experienced what the author did...India is indeed organised chaos and full of...more
 Very relatable if you've been to India....She's described everything to the tee that it brought back memories...both fond and otherwise...With everything said, India definitely leaves some sort of unsaid inner calling of wanting to be back...i have often found myself subconsciously planning another trip despite having experienced what the author did...India is indeed organised chaos and full of determination to lead a simple day to day life.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
It's about an Australian woman, who's come to India b'cos the love of her life works here as a journalist.. So while he travels in search of news, she travels across India, in search of many things (or maybe, just to kill time..!) Some of her experiences seem really absurd, and it's highly possible that she was literally on a 'trip'.. But on the whole, a good book...more
 It's about an Australian woman, who's come to India b'cos the love of her life works here as a journalist.. So while he travels in search of news, she travels across India, in search of many things (or maybe, just to kill time..!) Some of her experiences seem really absurd, and it's highly possible that she was literally on a 'trip'.. But on the whole, a good book that brings to the fore many of India's imperfections.. And lets you fall in love with them! Jai ho!   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
I picked this up initially because I 1.) loved the title 2.) loved the cover design. This book was so much more than an account of the author's living and growing to love life in India. It was an honest, funny and insightful spiritual journey. I felt as though I was experiencing her life with her, seeing the land and people first hand. It both confirmed my reservations about visiting India, but...more
 I picked this up initially because I 1.) loved the title 2.) loved the cover design. This book was so much more than an account of the author's living and growing to love life in India. It was an honest, funny and insightful spiritual journey. I felt as though I was experiencing her life with her, seeing the land and people first hand. It both confirmed my reservations about visiting India, but also stoked the fire of my desire to go and see it first-hand myself someday.   hide

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