INDIAN IMPRESSIONS

Even without seeing the fifty drawings which form the raison d'etre of this volume, the reader finds himself caught up in the magic of George Biddle's urbane and sensitive record of his tour of India with his family. He manages to escape that brand of mysticism which permeates the writings of so many Westerners exposed for the first time to the land and the people. In Biddle's pen portraits of the men he sketched- Nehru, Radakrishnan, Vinobaji and others- there is often evident the probings of a responsive and independent mind. Mr. Biddle was on no journey designed to cloud his own identity, but rather a quest of various facets of Indian life and character. He found remarkable kindness, superstition, vast confusion and great hope, traditionalism to a fanatical degree and unprecedented looking toward the future. There is humor in the telling, and evident sympathy and good will. Here is an unprejudiced Westerner, reporting what he sees of India. And his drawings- without question- will capture the spirit.