Long before cheap flights, people traveled to India through books, and a good book is still one of the best ways to prepare for a trip. A guidebook tells you where to go. The books below help you understand what you are looking at when you get there: the history behind the monuments, the city outside your window and the lives of the families you may meet at your project.
Here are eight to read before you pack, or on the long flight over.
India After Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha
A readable history of India since independence in 1947: how a poor, divided new nation held together as the world’s largest democracy through wars, the Emergency, economic reform and huge social change. Why it helps: much of what puzzles visitors about modern India, from its politics to its many languages, makes more sense afterwards. It is long, so feel free to dip into the chapters that interest you.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo
An American journalist spent more than three years following families in Annawadi, a slum beside Mumbai’s airport, and told their story with the pace of a novel. It won the US National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2012. Why it helps: if you will be working with children or women from low-income communities, it shows the hopes, hard work and hard choices behind daily life there, without pity or sentimentality.
City of Djinns by William Dalrymple
Published in 1993, this is Dalrymple’s account of a year living in Delhi, peeling back the city’s layers from the Mughals to Partition, with a memorable cast that includes his formidable Sikh landlady, Mrs. Puri. Why it helps: when you volunteer in Delhi, you will recognize the streets, the auto-rickshaw drivers and the monuments, and know some of the stories behind them.
The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple
A gripping history of 1857, when the rebellion against the East India Company reached Delhi and Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal emperor and a fine poet, was caught in the middle. Why it helps: walk around the Red Fort and Chandni Chowk after reading it, and you will see them very differently.
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
A famously long novel, at well over 1,300 pages, set in the early 1950s, just after independence. Mrs. Rupa Mehra is determined to find a husband for her daughter Lata, who has ideas of her own. Why it helps: it is a warm, funny way into Indian family life, marriage, class and religion, and much of it still rings true today.
A Princess Remembers by Gayatri Devi and Santha Rama Rau
The memoirs of Gayatri Devi, who married the Maharaja of Jaipur, lived in the City Palace and later became a member of parliament. First published in 1976. Why it helps: if you are volunteering in Jaipur, it brings the palaces and old city you will visit to life, and shows how much Rajasthan changed within one lifetime.
Around India in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh
A British journalist of Indian descent spends four months riding 80 trains around India, covering about 40,000 kilometers, roughly the circumference of the Earth, and meeting a cast of fellow passengers along the way. Published in 2012. Why it helps: you will almost certainly take a train in India, and this is entertaining preparation for the sleeper berths, station food and conversations that come with it.
A Strange Kind of Paradise by Sam Miller
Subtitled India Through Foreign Eyes, this 2014 book by a British writer and former BBC journalist who lived in Delhi for many years looks at how outsiders have imagined India over some 2,500 years, from ancient Greek travelers to the Beatles. Why it helps: as a foreigner yourself, it helps you spot your own assumptions about India, and laugh at a few of them.
Before you go, read our checklist of things to do before your volunteer trip and our tips on dealing with culture shock. Questions about volunteering in Delhi or Jaipur? Email info@volunteeringindia.com.