INDIA and my Persian garden

INDIA and my Persian garden"A must have book for any true traveller" "...I was walking in a labyrinth of extreme beauty: serene interior gardens; shady, covered verandahs; cool, marble loggias. I'd climb up small towers and descend into yet another garden, where I ended up swinging on a sofa. On either side were a pair of marble urns with rose petals floating prettily in the water..." "...At other times we would be walking in the bazaars, going up a slight hill to the palace of the local maharajah, careful not to step on the baskets full of fruit, vegetables and spices being sold by women vendors, sitting cross-legged on the ground. The vibrant colours of the saris of the shoppers surrounding them would form a flower garden that lay on the street..." "...Getting lost in the fields of India is the most one can hope for, and what we saw before us was sheer poetry. A green plain stretched out to our right, in the middle of which stood an Indian farmwoman wrapped in a turquoise sari looking at the wheat. Dancing around her were some little girls in red saris, looking like so many poppies dancing in the wind..." "...There was no moon that night. Instead, thousands of stars could be seen dazzling the night sky like so many diamonds while, on the opposite bank and beautifully lit up, was the City Palace, with all its domes, closed terraces and ledges with ornate windows. As I gazed at it, I saw colours swirling in the water: green; red; yellow..." "...I felt I was breathing an India of another time... an entire symphony of luminous diamonds, sapphires of the deepest blue, rubies the colour of pigeon's blood, pink pearls and sea-green emeralds, most of which were set in gold... like in the tales of A Thousand and One Nights..." The Jewel in the Crown of England in the 19th century, today India spreads its shine on the Globe. A feast of colours, landscapes and works of Art; a mosaic of ideas and people that bear the stamp of its ageless wisdom. Everything in superlatives in the Indian world, seen through the alteration of contrasts: another order, both subversive and charming to the gaze of the traveller. AUTHOR Barbara Athanassiadis is the author of nine novels, including her travel narratives "A Year in Tuscany" (2007) , "Feeling Rome" (2009) , "My Venice" (2014) , "India and my Persian garden" (2016) and "Cruising on the Ocean Majesty" (2016) which have been published in English, Italian, Greek, German and French. She divides her time between Rome and Athens. Author's website: barbaraathanassiadis.com