Read about The Beatle's journey to India in Ajoy Bose's new book

Ajoy Bose's book on the Beatles' journey to Rishikesh gives you a comprehensive look not just at their stay, but at everything that got them there, discovers Dyuti Basu

For all that its title is Across the Universe: The Beatles in India, the book does not begin with the Fab Four's 1968 visit to Rishikesh to learn Transcendental Meditation from Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It takes you back several years to 1965, to their spoof film Help! and their first brush with Indian culture – extras on a set playing the sitar, tabla and other Indian instruments. At the end of the book, the story has turned full circle, with John Lennon and George Harrison running away from the Maharishi's ashram, much like they ran away from a fictitious Hindu cult in Help!.

Bose traces the path that brought the Beatles to India in amazing detail. From Harrison's interest in the sitar and how a torn sitar string led to his meeting Ravi Shankar, to John's frequent LSD trips in a quest to shed the drudgery of life for a higher plane of consciousness, every nuance can be found in the book. It was the sudden and violent death of Brian Epstein, the band's manager who discovered them and turned them into stars, that acted as the final push. Without Epstein to guide them, they looked to the Maharishi, whom they had met around the same time.

The account of the band's stay in Rishikesh not only outlines their day-to-day interactions with their guru and fellow ashram-mates (including several celebrities from the West) but also the socio-political implications of their visit. For instance, the Maharishi wanted to create an airstrip near his ashram to fly his guests in directly, which would deprive nearby farmers of land. The Beatles' silence after they entered the ashram created a slew of rumours including one that they were sent to spy on India.

The book reads like a novel, thanks to Bose's rambling narrative style. Bose has an obvious affection for the Fab Four, whose characters he brings out with sensitivity - impulsive John, always looking for the next big thing; sensible Paul (McCartney), trying to fit in with his crazy band mates; sensitive George, quietly influencing the direction of the band; and, resilient Ringo (Starr), up for anything life and his fellow Beatles throw at him. In Bose's telling, the Beatles stop being larger-than-life heroes and become flawed characters that you can connect with.

Despite his obvious adulation of the Beatles, Bose manages to remain objective. He is openly critical of Lennon's dependence on drugs, McCartney's bossiness and Harrison's negative comments about his bandmates after they disbanded. Starr is the only Beatle about whom he has nothing negative to say, but he also remains the least detailed character in the book.

It's not just the Beatles one gets to know better through the book but also a slew of characters they came across on their journey — from Epstein and the Maharishi to Ashish Singh, a music teacher in Doon School who met the Beatles at the ashram, and Magic Alex, a maverick trouble-making technician who acted as the impetus for the Beatles to leave Rishikesh.

There's music, too, with the author taking readers through the Beatles' music – from Rubber Soul (1965), the album in which one finds the first traces of sitar in Lennon's ballad, Norweigian Wood, to White Album (1968), which they created after returning from Rishikesh.

While Bose's book mostly compiles information available in the public domain, it is the way he presents them that makes his book something any Beatles fan would be happy to pursue. Full of quotes from biographies, TV shows, newspaper clippings, etc, the book is a comprehensive look at all the factors that led the Beatles to India, as well as the ways in which their stay in Rishikesh impacted their careers and ultimately led to the band's end.

While the author laments the end of the Beatles as the end an era, he leaves the reader with a positive image — the restored ashram in Rishikesh, which is now a gathering place for Beatles fans. As a teenager Bose interviews at the ashram tells him: "Their music speaks to my heart."

Across the Universe: The Beatles in India
Ajoy Bose
India Viking, 2018
320 Pages; Rs 384