I spent a day with the author, being given a tour of New Delhi. His obvious expertise and knowledge of all things Indian transfers directly into his volume which is an entertaining and authoritative read. I am constantly dipping into it, even after five + years, and using it as a reference resource but it is also a volume which makes for leisurely reading. If you enjoy words just for the heck of it, then this is a book you will appreciate. Especially given a surprising number of words have come into our idiom from the sub continent.