Passages from India: Letters, Essays, and Poems 1944-1946

Passages from India contains the wartime letters of Norman C. Bansen who was stationed in India during World War II. The book which also includes a number of essays and poems relating to his experiences in an exotic foreign land informs the reader about the China-Burma-India Theater which even today is the "Forgotten Theater" for most Americans. The letters provide insight into the daily life and activity of a young officer who not only performs his military responsibilities but who is unusually sensitive to and interested in the land of India and its people and culture. Adding a special dimension to the work is the fact that the author, the son of Danish immigrant parents, is keenly aware of Denmark's historical associations with India. His accounts of the Santal Mission and of the Danish settlement at Serampore are especially vivid. Traces of his Danish heritage occur repeatedly throughout the letters in his references to food, hymns, worship and customs.