RAS WEEKENDER
MISHI SARAN
Chasing The Monk’s Shadow: A Journey in the Footsteps of Xuanzang
"In the seventh century AD, the Chinese monk Xuanzang set off on an epic journey to India to study Buddhist philosophy from the Indian masters. Traveling along the Silk Road, braving brigands and blizzards, Xuanzang finally reached India, where his spiritual quest took him to Buddhist holy places and monasteries throughout the subcontinent. Fourteen hundred years later, Mishi Saran follows in Xuanzang's footsteps to the fabled oasis cities of China and Central Asia, and the Buddhist sites and now-vanished kingdoms in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan that Xuanzang wrote about. Traveling seamlessly back and forth in time between the seventh century and the twenty-first, Saran uncovers the past with consummate skill even as she brings alive the present through her vivid and engaging descriptions of people and places. A riveting mix of lively reportage, high adventure, historical inquiry and personal memoir, this delightfully written book is a path-breaking travelogue."
Mishi Saran was born in India in 1968 and spent the first ten years of her life in New Delhi. Since then, she has lived in Switzerland, Indonesia, the United States, China, Hong Kong and Korea. She moved to Shanghai in 2006 with her husband. She is fluent in Mandarin, French and Hindi. Following an undergraduate degree in Chinese Studies from Wellesley College (USA) in 1990, she worked in Hong Kong as a news reporter and then as a freelance writer. Her articles have appeared in a variety of international publications including the Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune, the South China Morning Post, the Asian Wall Street Journal, and the Far Eastern Economic Review. Her short stories have won awards and been broadcast on the BBC. She is currently working on a novel.
DONATION: RMB 80.00 for members and RMB 150.00 for non members including one drink. (tea/coffee/sparkling water/glass of wine/standard cocktail). Those unable to make the donation but wishing to attend, may contact us for exemption, prior to the ‘Weekender’ Membership applications and membership renewals will be available this afternoon.
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