Amazing Story of the Man Who Cycled from India to Europe for Love

January 16, 2017
Andersson, a cofounder of the Swedish travel magazine Vagabond, chronicles the life of an Indian man known as PK, an “untouchable” whose ambitions and accomplishments soar far beyond the confines set by the strict caste system into which he is born. At PK’s birth, a village astrologer predicts that he “will marry a girl from far, far away.” Andersson paints an intimate, authoritative picture of PK’s quest to fulfill this prophecy, often filled with sumptuous prose: on a hot day in New Delhi, “the asphalt” is “English toffee” under “lead-colored clouds.” When PK does encounter Lotta, who has left her native Sweden to travel the world, readers immediately recognize the woman from the prophecy. This is not a work of suspense, though PK’s poverty, occasional homelessness, and suicide attempts provide moments of tension; rather, it is a romance, a travelogue, and a cultural critique. PK’s determination fuels the tale: he leaves his boyhood in the jungle to become a “famous painter” who undertakes a bicycle trip to Sweden after he meets Lotta. As Andersson writes, PK begins his journey “on two wheels, powered by grit, tenacity, and... love.” This determination is more than enough to keep readers enthralled.

February 15, 2017

Positive thinking is a power that Pradyumna Kumar harnesses at an early age. Born into the Harijan (untouchable) caste in a small town in eastern India, Kumar faces discrimination yet rises above the harassment. He receives an art scholarship to a prestigious school in Delhi, but his money is siphoned off by a corrupt bureaucrat, leaving him hungry and homeless. Kumar supports himself during art school by drawing portraits of people in a public square. Befriending everyone he meets, including the police, a Russian cosmonaut, and Western hippies, Kumar develops an extensive network of friends. Eventually, he paints Lotta, a serious young woman from Sweden, and falls instantly in love. They have a monthlong romance before Lotta returns to Sweden on a VW bus. A few months later, Kumar embarks on a bicycle journey from India to Sweden to rejoin Lotta. Journalist Andersson (cofounder of Swedish travel magazine Vagabond) and translator Holmwood explain how Kumar relies on his connections and his art to find his one true love. VERDICT Part biography, part travelog, and part love story, this book will appeal to the optimistic, the romantic, and the armchair traveler. This is a story of human connection that spans continents, class, and race.--Beth Dalton, Littleton, CO

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2017
Swedish travel-journalist Andersson tells a story of adventure, transcendence, and, best of all, uncompromising love. Born under a rainbow, Pradyumna Kumar, known as PK, grew up poor but was prophesied for greatness in spite of the limitations of his caste. An astrologer foretold that PK would study, work with color, marry a girl not from the village, not even from India; that she would also be an artist, and would, improbably, own a jungle. Before beginning school, PK had no understanding of the caste system that both defined and excluded him. He and his family were Dalit, the so-called untouchables. After surviving many years of prejudice, PK attends art school in the 1970s, always pushed along by the prophecy. He earns acclaim drawing portraits in a park, which is where he meets a Swedish woman, Charlotte von Schendin. Love blooms quickly, but Lotta must return home. With nothing but his meager art supplies and his secondhand bicycle, PK sets out across Asia, bound for Sweden and the woman he loves. A beautiful, epic tale of love and perseverance.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)