Start with high-confidence india & south asia travel books, then narrow by subgenre or adjacent topics.
On the Grand Trunk Road
Steve Coll
Nine Lives
William Dalrymple
India
Diana L Eck
Bird Milk & Mosquito Bones
Priyanka Mattoo
A Geek in Thailand
Jody Houton
On the Hippie Trail
Rick Steves
Indonesia - Culture Smart!
Culture Smart!, Jessica Jemalem Ginting
India - Culture Smart!
Culture Smart!, Becky Stephen
Lonely Planet India 20 20th Ed.
Joe Bindloss, Margot Bigg
The Holy Cow and Other Indian Stories
Tarun Chopra
A Passage to India
E. M. Foster, E.M. Forster