Book Review: Transit Lounge

Book Blurb:

"Transit Lounge" is a contemporary book consisting of short incidents, observations and reflections while travelling to 30 countries across six different continents during the last 15 years. The book is a personal account of travels to places in Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and Mauritius), South America (Venezuela and Argentina), Asia (China, Iran, Kuwait, UAE, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Thailand), Europe (UK, France, Italy, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Georgia, Turkey, Croatia and Romania), USA, Australia and New Zealand. It was interesting to observe all these different cultures and people from an Indian perspective. The book is a compilation of small incidents and events during such travels; it includes losing an air ticket, dealing with difficult custom officials or getting mugged in a prime location in a foreign country."

About the Author:

Sunil is a software professional with over two decades of experience in the field of banking technology. Currently he is working with Infosys in India. He has earlier worked with McKinsey, Accenture and I-flex solutions. His work required extensive travelling to different parts of the world and this constituted the basis of his current book. He travelled to more than 30 countries across six continents and engaged with senior managements in different client organizations. He believes that there has been a remarkable change in perception about india over last 15 years. Sunil is an MBA from IIM-Lucknow and holds a B.Tech from IIT(ISM), Dhanbad. He completed his schooling in Bokaro Steel City, a relatively small town in Jharkhand, India. Sunil has avid interest in writing and has actively blogged on various platforms in the area of banking technology, consulting, leadership and changing role of media in the digital world. Twitter - @mishraksunil LinkedIn- /in/sunilkrmishra Facebook - @authorsunil.

The Review:

This one has been long overdue. I started reading this during the time I was working the Bookstall at the Kolkata Literature Festival earlier this year. While I had started the book keenly interested in what the author had to say, it failed to hold my interest for too long. I discarded the book to one side and continued my reading journey, going through a plethora of young adult books. 

Let me point out first that it is hardly the author's fault for failing to capture my interest in his wonderful tales of travel. I blame my own disinterest in the genre. Coupled with the fact that the chapter outline at the beginning of the book already gives you an idea of what will happen. It satiated my curiousity in a way that the poor well-written book suffered. 

It's like if you find out who the killer is at the start, you barely want to continue reading the whole mystery. Isn't it? Even if it is a compelling read. 

I finally managed to read the book when a kind reminder from the book's provider promoted me to pick it up again. As a book blogger, it is my duty to read the books I am sent in exchange for an honest review, and report on the same. It is a really good book if you are looking to read about one person's adventures across six continents. Every place the author has been to, he has some interesting observation to share. 

He declares in the beginning that this isn't going to be a tourist guide. So forget it if you're thinking about getting this book to help you in the complicated calculations of your own journeys. It's more about reminiscing his own adventures. And adventures they are. My favourite bit comes towards the end when he says he learned more about India when he traveled abroad. It reminds me of my mother's claim that she wants to see this country first before she ventures off into the unknown foreign lands. 

This wasn't my cup of tea but bookstagram has taken kindly to this book. I would urge you not to base your judgement about the book solely on this review. Do your research and then invest in your copy of the book. 

I wish Sunil Mishra all the best. And I hope he doesn't publish the chapter outlines in the subsequent books. I like my books with a bit of thrill and mystery in them.

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This review copy was provided to me by Author's Channel in exchange for an honest review.