Adventures in India

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GYPSY ESCAPADES  an epic journey to outfox a terrorist by William J. Jackson

 

Can a ragtag band of newfound friends outwit a terrorist planning a crisis in India?

In our precarious world of old grudges and ruthless high-tech terrorism, bright young Princeton PhD researcher Jill and her three Indian friends zigzag north through India’s landscapes, dodging a terrorist’s attacks, going all out trying to avert a catastrophe.

 

This crisis emerges when Anthropology researcher Jill Roth arrives in India to gather info on the Narikuravas, a tribal people known in Chennai as “gypsies.” Instead, she finds herself deeply entangled in a serious international crisis. Jill’s mentor is Venkie, an old family friend who turns out to be not only a retired literature professor, but also a long-time undercover agent and negotiator for India’s NDIA, “National Defense Intelligence Agency” Research/Analysis Dept. Venkie becomes aware of this serious threat to India because he has received a taunting message from his nemesis Ahmed “Kebab” Jambo. This extremist, whom Venkie befriended when they were schoolboys, has gone from being a radical activist to a violent terrorist leader and then a crackpot in his old age. Now he has the capacity to unleash a stink-bomb in the sky over India which may cause mood disorders including despair. When Kebab throws down this gauntlet, demanding Venkie travel north using ground vehicles only, and daring Venkie to meet him face to face, Venkie, one of the last Gandhians in NDIA, undertakes a final mission to prevent the attack. Jill insists on assisting him. Venkie and Jill enlist the help of Sing, a folk medicine herb collector from the Narikurava tribe, whom Jill has already hired to be her research assistant—and Kinnie, Sing’s 13 year-old niece, who is in his care. They set out for Kebab’s terrorist headquarters between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Once in Pakistan, Taroob a young guide who knows the first part of the route, and then Aziz Zazi a seasoned translator and employee of NDIA, guide Venkie and Jill over rough terrain in the last stages of the long journey. Can they avert the disaster in the 30 days Kebab has allotted? Is Uncle Venkie naïve to undertake this challenge, or a wise man seeking to live up to Gandhi’s idea “No man is a crocodile” all have the potential for change? 

 

Racing through the varied atmospheres and personalities of India in a multitude of disguises and vehicles, these four friends are always skating near the verge of disaster. They improvise, discover inner resources, and ditch Kebab’s thugs again and again, until they finally reach the extremist leader orchestrating a potentially cataclysmic strike against India. Can they stop his plan, an unprecedented assault on the subcontinent? Gypsy Escapades tells the exciting story of this threat, posing the question: is it possible to fight terrorism without becoming like the terrorists?

 

Koehler Books 2024

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https://youtu.be/jaVbgiKWFGM brother