What do you think?
Rate this book
Hippie Dharma
All the colour, romance, tragedy and adventure of the long-haired White sadhus and their bizzare subculture recaptured in this first-hand report.
''The hippies are pouring into India - in proliferating thousands - living on the road, meditating, painting, singing, prostituting, pimping, begging, dropping, and passing drugs, drifting rootlessly from place to place.''
''The hippies are pouring into India - in proliferating thousands - living on the road, meditating, painting, singing, prostituting, pimping, begging, dropping, and passing drugs, drifting rootlessly from place to place.''
Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
4 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 19, 2017
This book is written by an indian who interviewed hippies in the 60's. I found it interesting to get an indian perspective on the hippie movement but I couldn't be bothered to finish the book as it lacks variation.
April 4, 2016
I picked this up back in 1999 at Pilgrims' bookstore in Kathmandu and loved it. An Indian general trying to explain hippies to intellectual Indians! So good.
December 3, 2018
A sexually frustrated Indian mans perspective on Hippy subculture and drugs. Interesting and a good read but a lot of misinformation
November 10, 2013
This book was written in 1974 by a retired Indian general and was meant, I think, to explain the whole hippy thing to curious Indians.
And explain it does. In less than 150 pages you get some amazing insights and a really unique window into an absolutely unique time. His writing is surprisingly good too: "dreams in their heads, hope in their hearts, backpacks on their backs" or describing some withered junkies. "She was a rag, a bone, and a hank of hairs. He was a groan, a drip and headache."
Some other highlights:
"Sleepy Kathmandu," newly open to the west, invaded by freaks and hippies.
Captain Colaabavala defines new words for us, including "bummer" and "psychedelic."
One woman he meets compares and contrasts the sexual styles of Turks/Arabs/Indians/Pakistanis /Afghans/Isrealis/Nepalis.
He talks to a couple that had adopted a full-grown panther.
He describes most women by their breasts, which maybe was slightly more okay at the time. But bafflingly he often refers to women as "double-breasted." I don't know what this means. Don't they usually come in pairs?
He tried most of the drugs before deciding that "drugs are bad, mmmkay?"
He crashes with hippies in Goa for several weeks.
Shows how even the kindest hippies freaked out when the drugs ran out. Often, if not always, this required the hippy women to sell their bodies for more drug money for everyone.
And my favorite: A Moroccan-French hippy priestess starts coming onto him. When he demures, she makes a voodoo doll of him. That doesn't work and she claws his face. At this point, he "gave her a right royal spanking." The book ends with him waking with her doing naked yoga above him and he contemplates kissing her breasts before running into the sea and away from hippies forever.
And explain it does. In less than 150 pages you get some amazing insights and a really unique window into an absolutely unique time. His writing is surprisingly good too: "dreams in their heads, hope in their hearts, backpacks on their backs" or describing some withered junkies. "She was a rag, a bone, and a hank of hairs. He was a groan, a drip and headache."
Some other highlights:
"Sleepy Kathmandu," newly open to the west, invaded by freaks and hippies.
Captain Colaabavala defines new words for us, including "bummer" and "psychedelic."
One woman he meets compares and contrasts the sexual styles of Turks/Arabs/Indians/Pakistanis /Afghans/Isrealis/Nepalis.
He talks to a couple that had adopted a full-grown panther.
He describes most women by their breasts, which maybe was slightly more okay at the time. But bafflingly he often refers to women as "double-breasted." I don't know what this means. Don't they usually come in pairs?
He tried most of the drugs before deciding that "drugs are bad, mmmkay?"
He crashes with hippies in Goa for several weeks.
Shows how even the kindest hippies freaked out when the drugs ran out. Often, if not always, this required the hippy women to sell their bodies for more drug money for everyone.
And my favorite: A Moroccan-French hippy priestess starts coming onto him. When he demures, she makes a voodoo doll of him. That doesn't work and she claws his face. At this point, he "gave her a right royal spanking." The book ends with him waking with her doing naked yoga above him and he contemplates kissing her breasts before running into the sea and away from hippies forever.
December 9, 2017
A biased and sometimes factually inaccurate - but still interesting - look at hippie culture in 1960's Kathmandu and India.
February 21, 2019
This book is intense more for people who do not believe in hippie way of life. I picked up this book thinking that there is some deeper philosophy highlighted in the book which is deviant from the usual crass ideologies known to the world. Unfortunately, the book does not give any. It keeps on harping on careless an dangerous way of life hippie follows, many a times sensationalising nudity and drugs.That's a cliche about hippies everyone knows. Reading about how self-destructing hiippie way of life got a bit monotonous after a while. The style of writing is also very cliched where everything seemed so predictable. I found narration a bit misogynistic in the sense that the author seems to be more judgemental towards nude hippie woman than a hippie man. As a female reader I did not like it. However, I will give benifit of doubt considering that the book was written in 70s. My two stars go to the author for his courage and decision to live a lifestyle of hippies as observer and yet not get consumed by it. Kuudos to him!
December 13, 2022
I have finally finished this abomination. The only immoral person in this is the person who wrote it. While it offers a view of the flower children that I’ve never seen before, it is written so terribly and with such small-minded views and language that it was almost impossible to get through. This is supposedly a journalist that’s written this. It is with certainty the least journalistic piece of work I’ve ever read. Terrible. Honestly don’t bother if you’re thinking of reading it. It’s not worth it.
December 12, 2022
Interesting "anthropological" research by very repetitive and not well structured.
July 21, 2016
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is easily taken in by the pseudo-intellectualism and spirituality of the hippie movement of the 1960s and 70s. It shows the often ugly truth of reality of hippie life and how it was, in large part, following the false prophets of drugs, some harder than others.
The author sums it up well, and says many times that the hippies basically just wanted instant enlightenment, instant peace, instant god, instant everything and this largely explained their heavy reliance on drugs as a "consciousness expansion" tool. At the end of the day, drugs wear off and one is still facing reality and must do so or face the same fate as those before them.
A very entertaining and, at times, heart breaking and frustrating read. Definitely recommended.
The author sums it up well, and says many times that the hippies basically just wanted instant enlightenment, instant peace, instant god, instant everything and this largely explained their heavy reliance on drugs as a "consciousness expansion" tool. At the end of the day, drugs wear off and one is still facing reality and must do so or face the same fate as those before them.
A very entertaining and, at times, heart breaking and frustrating read. Definitely recommended.
October 13, 2017
2017 Reading Challenge: 16/52 Read an unknown book, with no more than 100 ratings on any one website
I was just as annoyed by the hippies by the end of the book as the author was.
I was just as annoyed by the hippies by the end of the book as the author was.
October 11, 2018
Enthralled to read about Nepal in such a light. Honesty at its best (but how could I tell).
The author discusses very intricate emotions and events attached to it with such simplicity and humor that it makes you sad. For two days, I lived in a distant time and place. It wont take that long...but I watched some documentary films alongside just so my imagination is on point and not 'Across the Universe'. A combination of all that humankind has ever built and destroyed. A potential source of enlightenment for any wannabe junkie like myself and, everybody else.
The author discusses very intricate emotions and events attached to it with such simplicity and humor that it makes you sad. For two days, I lived in a distant time and place. It wont take that long...but I watched some documentary films alongside just so my imagination is on point and not 'Across the Universe'. A combination of all that humankind has ever built and destroyed. A potential source of enlightenment for any wannabe junkie like myself and, everybody else.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews