Enduring Love India Chapter 10 Analysis

The chapter begins with Eric’s reflections about India, the ninth country he visits on his happiness quest. He compares this place to the concept of family, since it annoys him, but he could not live without knowing it. This thought proves Eric’ statement when he affirms that India is a country full of contradictions.

The author experienced a background history with this country. Indeed, he wanted to be a foreign journalist, so when he was offered a job by the NPR in India, he could not resist. As a correspondent, his job was to cover the main political and economic events about modern India, and he did not get to know the other India: the one with gurus, yoga, meditation, and what seemed to lead to a direct path to happiness. However, this time he came to India with a special purpose: to write about Indian’s happiness, and to find answers about the mystery of this country’s attraction of westerners.

According to Eric, India possesses a rich culture and even capitalism cannot alter its roots. For example, he mentioned that McDonalds in India removed Big Macs and all hamburgers with meat from the menu, because Hindus

Every morning, he wakes up early and practice the sudarshan kriya breathing technique, which gives him energy. Then he usually goes on a motorcycle trip to Bangalore’s parks with Suresh, which is followed by meeting with Chandra, sitting and chatting. One day, Chandra introduced his friend Meena to Eric. She says that she thinks gurus have their utility, but not for everyone. She criticizes them as she calls them insta-gurus. Nowadays, no one sacrifices to be able to go to an ashram, which is supposed to be the point of those spiritual experiences. Also, she had stayed in the United States once, but she was not fond of it, since there was too much distance between people, and Americans are always busy. She tells Eric that Americans could learn from the Indians the benefits of the