My Family & Other Saints

‘Kirin Narayan’s memoir is a delightful account of the clash of cultures and centuries, as manifested in an Indian-American family rich in character and eccentricity.’ – Ramachandra Guha, author of India after Gandhi.In 1969, Kirin Narayan’s older brother Rahoul announced that he was dropping out of school and leaving home to seek enlightenment with a guru. Young Kirin adored her high-spirited, charismatic brother and looked on bewildered at the events that his dramatic departure set in motion. A funny, poignant, and always affectionate memoir, My Family and Other Saints follows the ways that Rahoul’s spiritual journey reverberates through the entire family. As the family’s beachside Bombay home becomes a crossroads for Westerners seeking Eastern enlightenment, Kirin’s sari-wearing American mother Didi enthusiastically embraces ashrams and gurus, adopting her son’s spiritual quest as her own. Her urbane Indian father Narayan, however, coins the term ‘urug’ – guru spelled backward – to mock these seekers. Meeting radiant holy men, sensing her parents drifting apart, and observing waves of young Westerners turning to meditation, Kirin is left to find her own answers. ‘My Family and Other Saints echoes Gerald Durrell’s classic memoir, My Family and Other Animals, not only in its title, but in its wonderful humour and lyrical prose.’ – Judith Barrington