William McKay Aitken (1934-2025): The Scotsman and Literary Wanderer Who Made India Home

William McKay “Bill” Aitken, a Scottish-born writer who became an Indian citizen and dedicated chronicler of the subcontinent’s spiritual landscape, railways, and rivers, died on April 16, 2025, at a hospital in Dehradun, India. He was 90 years old. His death resulted from injuries sustained in a fall at his home near the Himalayas, as confirmed by Karan Madhok, editor of the Indian arts journal Chakkar.

Born on May 31, 1934, in Tullibody, Scotland—a village approximately 30 miles from Edinburgh—Aitken would later note the cosmic coincidence that on his very birth date, the mountaineer Eric Shipton was part of a team making history as the first to traverse the peaks surrounding Nanda Devi, India’s second-tallest mountain. This mountain would later become central to Aitken’s life story.

Early Years and Spiritual Quest

Raised initially in Scotland, Aitken’s family relocated to Birmingham, England after World War II when his father, a coppersmith, moved there for work. Aitken pursued higher education at the University of Leeds, where he studied comparative religion and embarked on what he called “faith shopping,” sampling various Christian denominations including Quakers, Mormons, and different Anglican traditions. Dissatisfied with conventional religious paths, he sought broader spiritual horizons.

In 1959, at age 25, Aitken stood at the Dover port wearing a kilt, having just ended a relationship and left his teaching position. With questions of faith and purpose weighing on his mind, he embarked on what he intended to be a worldwide hitchhiking journey—predating by nearly a decade what would become known as the “Hippie Trail” between Europe and South Asia.

The Journey That Changed Everything

Traveling through Europe and the Middle East on what he described as “an astounding assortment of transport” including rides from “a Danish scooterist, an Austrian TV salesman, a Greek melon transporter, [and] an American oil rig team in Turkey,” Aitken eventually reached Kolkata (then Calcutta). Nearly penniless, he took a teaching job while planning to continue his journey to Malaysia.

His life changed irrevocably when he discovered Eric Shipton’s 1934 book “Nanda Devi” at the Asiatic Society Library. Captivated, Aitken traveled to view the mountain in 1961. The moment when clouds parted to reveal the 25,640-foot peak—what he called a “spiritual striptease”—proved transformative. “The peaks and particularly Nanda Devi spoke so directly and emphatically that there and then I made the decision to leave Calcutta and come and live among them,” he wrote in his 1994 book “The Nanda Devi Affair.”

Life in India

The 1960s found Aitken working at Himalayan ashrams, first with Sarla Behn (formerly Catherine Heilman), one of the “British daughters” of Mahatma Gandhi, and later with Krishna Prem (born Ronald Nixon), a former British WWI pilot. During his seven years at the latter ashram, he became known locally for his baking skills.

In 1969, Aitken’s life took another significant turn when he was asked to help Prithwi Bir Kaur, a London-educated member of the former ruling family of the Sikh principality of Jind, with legal paperwork. He became her secretary and moved into her antique-filled home called Oakless. Their companionship lasted until her death in 2010, during which time they extensively traveled India’s railways together.

Literary Legacy

Aitken, who described himself as a “founding father of the hippies,” authored more than a dozen books that blended travelogue, history, spirituality, and his characteristic dry wit. His works became essential reading for Westerners drawn to Indian adventures, yet he was equally celebrated in Indian literary circles for his poetic perspective on everything from obscure rail lines to majestic mountain vistas.

His bibliography includes:

• “The Nanda Devi Affair” (1994)
• “Seven Sacred Rivers” (1992)
• “Travels by a Lesser Line” (1993)
• “Branch Line to Eternity” (2001)
• “Footloose in the Himalaya” (2003)
• “Divining the Deccan” (1999)
• “Sri Sathya Sai Baba: A Life” (2006)

Best-selling Indian novelist Anuradha Roy praised Aitken’s ability to connect everyday experiences like slow train journeys to profound questions of existence, writing that his work evoked “a profound air of beatitude” that conveyed “exactly what eternity feels like.”

Environmental Advocacy and Later Years

After becoming an Indian citizen in 1972, Aitken remained an outspoken voice for environmental conservation, particularly criticizing plastics pollution and military development in the Himalayan region. In 1999, he co-founded the Steam Railway Society with Mark Tully, then BBC’s New Delhi bureau chief, saving several steam locomotives from being scrapped.

In his later years, Aitken settled in Mussoorie, a hill station with a long history of attracting European writers. His home became a cultural hub, though he admitted to the Hindustan Times that he cherished the solitude of monsoon season when “not many people knock on the door and one can sit quietly and write.”

Aitken, who had no immediate survivors, left behind a literary legacy that continues to inspire travelers, spiritual seekers, and railway enthusiasts. His life embodied his own quip: “I came to India to study comparative religion, but I found comparative railways much more interesting.”

Sources: This obituary is primarily based on information from The Washington Post’s obituary of Bill Aitken. Additional quotes and details come from Aitken’s own writings, particularly “The Nanda Devi Affair” (1994), and interviews he gave to various publications including the Yorkshire Post, Firstpost, and the Hindustan Times as referenced in the Post’s article. His literary significance was assessed by Indian novelist Anuradha Roy in a 2001 essay in India’s Hindu newspaper, also cited by The Washington Post.