Emerald Route

‘The term occurred to me when we started out on a tour of Karnataka, from Mysore, through Hunsur and Hassan, and returning to Mysore nearly one week later, having continuously journeyed up and down the ghats, the Konkan coast and Coorg, and never seeing a dry patch anywhere. Green of several shades we saw, mountainsides lightly coated with verdure and fern, the dark foliage of trees rising hundreds of feet from the valley, light green, dark green, pale green, evergreen, and every kind of green shade, were offered for our delectation all through our circular tour of approximately a thousand kilometres.’

The Emerald Route is R.K. Narayan’s account of his travels across his homeland of Karnataka, from Belur and Halebid to Gulbarga and Hampi, from the hilly prospects of Mangalore to the gold mines of Kolar, from the legendary battlefield of Seringapanam—home of Tippu Sultan—to the rock formations of Bellary—supposed to be gigantic pellets thrown by Bhima at Bakasura. As he makes his way through the shopping complexes of Bangalore and the elephant khedda at Karapur, samples the local delicacies like Nanjangud bananas and Avaraikalu beans and enjoys the sunsets and mallige (jasmine) at Mysore, the master storyteller tells us about the history and mythology that make Karnataka the fascinating state it is. Published in paperback for the first time, this previously unavailable volume from India’s greatest living writer will be a delight to every fan of R.K. Narayan.