Bazaar to Mandi

An engaging travel story successfully encapsulates the historical, geographical, and cultural essence of a territory, additionally exposing the political and economic structures of a nation. This book holds almost all the features of a ideal travelogue.

A diligent traveller is also a discerning historian as he is accountable to the truth. That is why Ibn Batuta, Marco Polo or Hiuen Tsang are still so relevant today. The author of this book Shawkat Osman is also a sensitive traveller.

Bazaar to Mandi tells stories in 63 small sections about the life long passage of a bon viveur. Each part, often with the opinions from his friends and well-wishers navigates through different spaces his village, his query about his existence, his basketball team, favourite cities and his identity. Candidly he speaks about his teachers, friends and those sub-continental legends whose life and works largely impacted him. He sketches not only the features of his country Bangladesh, but puts a subtle and extensive note on the sub-continent and other regions of the world where he visited. His art of story telling is charming and heartwarming.