I Luv My India

I ♥ my India is the story of an Israeli writer, who in the throes of midlife crisis ups and leaves homeland, family and flagging career to travel through fabulous India, fount of Eastern spiritualism and purported cradle of the hippie counterculture values which have governed his life and brought it to this impasse.
Despite familial opposition, damage to reputation, and a narrowly averted airline disaster, our hero reaches Mumbai and sets out to rediscover his supposed roots. The inaction plunges ahead, from rave parties on the beaches of Goa to the magical ambience of Hampi, ancient ruined capital of a great empire; from Cochin, fabled town of the Malabar Coast, to Pondicherry and the nearby hamlet of Auroville, a bold experiment in progressive social engineering. Our hero stumbles into misadventures, makes friends, and is intrigued by his introduction to sadhus—India's mendicant ascetics. He survives unscathed escapades with younger women, unimprisoned some brushes with Indian law enforcement. His most significant lessons are delivered by tots and beggar children. He feels he may have begun to recapture the contentment and tranquility, the legacy of his checkered past and declared objective of his current endeavor.
The inaction continues, from Varanasi, ancient holy city of the Hindus on the Ganges River, to Manali in the Kullu Valley—a legendary cannabis cropland. Yet at the height of his quest, our hero suffers a snag: in a rock 'n' roll-induced epiphany, he realizes that the path to true contentment and tranquility must pass through home.
In a final sally to the Kumbha Mela at Haridwar, the greatest religious gathering in the world, our hero celebrates his birthday in the company of several million sadhus and worshipers. He has a last confrontation with the long arm of the Indian law, but, emerging vindicated and triumphant, heads to New Delhi to wangle a seat on the first flight back to Israel—to reclaim home and family, perhaps even his career.