A vagabond hops from one ashram to another, crisscrossing the country, falling in love with Guru after Guru till she finds her ultimate lover, a mountain in a small south Indian town. She happens to be a young and trained filmmaker. And her love makes her roll chapattis and paint paintings in a remote place-bound to a mountain. A Grasshopper’s Pilgrimage is an intense story of a spiritual journey of a young seeker, who is told by one of her Gurus that she is a screw in the whole machinery. And she believes it for the rest of her life.
What I like about the protagonist is her inane ability to fall in love with the same intensity every time. Be it with humans or be it with a mountain. She is a classic young seeker, who is yet to figure out what she is seeking. A rebel at home, a liar by choice and always running to the next step in life. When she is into something, she would go to any extent to do what she wants, would take any amount of risk or shall I say just discard risk as a possibility.
But it is as easy for her to move on and find a new passion on the next corner of the street. It does not take her much time and effort to find her beloved. She enjoys singing and painting and runs to silent meditation when confronted.
Still rooted in her family, she discovers the bond with her granny only when she is on her deathbed. Parents and siblings are taken for granted like most free-spirited people. Men come and go, but are unable to bind her. She lives for herself and by herself. It is a journey and not a story.
Interesting and intense reading… A Grasshopper’s Pilgrimage is one of those few books that I finished reading in few hours.
lets hope i too will read in few hour, if i come across with Grosshopper