Thirty Percent Chance of Enlightenment Author:Tim Brookes Often hilarious, ultimately profound, Thirty Percent Chance of Enlightenment begins when Tim Brookes receives a phone call from his editor at National Geographic asking if he'd like to write an article on weather forecasting-an assignment that doesn't go as forecast. He embarks on an adventure that starts in a hurricane on an icy mountaintop in... more » New Hampshire and takes him to India to watch the monsoon come ashore and write about the elaborate, almost mystical art of monsoon forecasting. When the rain begins, however, a series of misunderstandings finds him banned from every single office of the India Meteorological Department. Before long, his journey turns into a cross-country road trip in search of the true meaning of the monsoon-a trip that takes him through the spice villages high in the Western Ghats, to a Hindu wedding at which all the main participants end up drenched, and leaves him ankle-deep in a holy river where the temple elephants bathe. He discovers the history of the umbrella, the bizarre ritual of rain-inducing donkey weddings, and for his erratic and dusty labors, he ends up being rewarded with a glimpse into the spiritual nature of water.« less