Seven Sacred Rivers

An unorthodox pilgrimage along India's rivers.

Drawn by their irresistible mystique, Bill Aitkin set out to discover the seven river goddesses for himself. Not wholly prepared for the range of moods he found them in, "rivers that boiled over with a furious metallic hum or were maternal and languorous in their flow, rivers that were cold and aloof or were gentle and seductive in their jade loveliness", he nevertheless succumbed to their blandishments.

Along the way he also learned to cling to the footboard of a bus, grappled with Vedantic unconcern, failed to comprehend Krishnamurti, walked through tribal villages with an oleaginous politician in gold-embroidered slippers, toyed with the idea of becoming a sadhu, changed his mind when he fell in love, and questioned the myth of Indian spirituality.

Spanning thirty years of journeying, Seven Sacred Rivers is an absorbing, witty and informative travelogue which also serves as a survival guide to an undiscovered India.