Dehradun, April 18: Bill Aitken, the celebrated Scottish-born travel writer known for his evocative works on India’s mountains, rivers, and railways, passed away on Wednesday night at a hospital in Dehradun. He was 90.
According to report, Aitken had been brought to Dehradun a few days earlier after suffering a fall at his home in Mussoorie. Despite medical efforts, his condition showed little improvement, and he succumbed to his injuries.
Born in Scotland, Aitken arrived in India in 1959 after completing a Master’s degree in Comparative Religion from the University of Leeds. What began as a journey of curiosity soon transformed into a lifelong relationship with the country. He traveled extensively across India during the late 1950s, capturing its spiritual essence and natural beauty in over two dozen travel books. His writings, rich with insight and poetic observation, offered a foreigner’s deep and abiding love for India’s cultural and geographic tapestry.
A passionate admirer of Indian railways, Aitken served as President of the Friends of the National Rail Museum in New Delhi and was the Honorary Librarian of the Himalayan Club. In the 1960s, he settled permanently in Mussoorie, where he became a close friend and confidant of Prithwi Bir Kaur, the widow Maharani of Jind, a former Sikh princely state. His commitment to his adopted homeland led him to take Indian citizenship in 1972.
Through his body of work, Bill Aitken not only chronicled India’s landscapes but also reflected on its spiritual rhythms, blending an outsider’s perspective with an insider’s affection. His legacy lives on in his books—windows into an India that continues to inspire and transform.
