History

With Cyclists Around The World: Book Review

With Cyclists Around The World (Roli, Rs 350)

by Adi B. Hakim, Rustom B. Bhumgara and Jal P. Bapasola

It is the fascinating memoir of three young Parsi men of a group of six from the Bombay Weightlifting Club, who set a precedence in globe-trotting by going around the world in bicycles. Starting in October 1923, they journeyed for over four years, going from the Middle East to south Europe, across the British Isles to America, then covering Japan and China to come “rolling home” through Bengal, Madras and Ceylon. While the authors revel in the “gay amusements” of Paris, they have nothing but scorn for the filthy Italian peasants with dirty neckties, and are repulsed by the Japanese meal of live mice dipped in honey. However, they find the biggest surprise of the trip right in their own country, in Calcutta, when only a handful of people turn up to welcome the cyclists, who had become quite famous elsewhere in the world by then. To read the book is to travel not only all over the globe but also to another time preserved in the memory of the adventurers.

Original Review here.

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