Niyogi Books, in collaboration with the Embassy of France, French Institute in India, and Oxford Bookstore organized a book discussion with the author Jean-Claude Perrier on his book Like Barbarians in India and academic and writer Aditi Sriram (writer of Beyond the Boulevard), at Oxford Bookstore, Connaught Place, New Delhi.

Aditi Sriram made the observation during the discussion that, as the book examines the works of four French writers who had written about India at various points in the 20th century, it beautifully documents—possibly unintentionally—parts of India that have remained the same throughout the century and other parts that have changed gradually.

According to author Jean-Claude Perrier, he only gets to experience a very little portion of Indian culture on each of his journeys there. He continued by explaining how Henri Michaux, one of the four French authors the book examines, wrote a book titled Barbarians in Asia, which served as the inspiration for the title of the book. M. Perrier also talked about his first encounter with Pandit Ravi Shankar and how his admiration for India developed over time.

The book serves as an homage to India and to four French authors—Pierre Loti, Henri Michaux, André Malraux, and André Gide—who shared a fascination with this land of “old civilization.” The author talks about these authors’ interactions with India and his love of the nation.

The effects or influences that India had on each of these French authors are discussed at length in each chapter. In his book India (without the English), Pierre Loti, whose real name was Julien Viaud, describes India as it would have been if it hadn’t already been colonized. India is the subject of about half of Henri Michaux’s Barbarian in Asia. André Malraux had read Tagore and the holy books of India, and he was acquainted with Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. Andre Gide was familiar with Nehru and translated works of Kabir and Tagore into French.

Another book discussion has been planned around the book in Kolkata at Alliance Française on Wednesday 1 March 2023.

The hardback book is priced at Rs 450.

Priyanka Dutta