Procrastination

I admit that I am posting tonight in an effort to procrastinate; I am giving a talk for my non-fiction book club at the library tomorrow evening on Roy Moxham’s The Great Hedge of India and I have yet to finish writing it.

Initially a recommendation from my friend A, a Toronto librarian (hereafter TOA), I read it a few years ago and thought it was fascinating. The author stumbles upon a footnote that leads to a three-year quest and obsession to find any remnant of the 2,504-mile barrier that divided India in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Interspersed with his own narrative is a history of the Customs Hedge and Salt Tax.

This book is so attractive because it is unfathomable that such a massive and oppressive project could slip through the cracks of history, especially given that it wasn’t that long ago. Before its publication, nobody ever heard of this giant prickly hedge; now, the history books on the British Empire need to be re-written.

I enjoyed reading about Moxham’s research because he approaches his task as a librarian would. Lovely too are the descriptions of the warm and hospitable Indian villagers he meets. The best thing about this book, however, is the author’s burning desire to KNOW. I deeply appreciate projects fueled by intellectual curiosity, especially to that degree.

It’s all very much worth the effort in the end—for him because he finds a piece of the Old Line and for us, because we get to hear about it.