Free ebook on Indonesia released; humourous, mystical. Journeys with the caterpillar by Shivaji Das

April 25, 2013 - PRLog -- Journeys with the caterpillar, is a humble attempt to capture the dramatic simplicity of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) in Indonesia, covering the islands of Flores and Sumba. Here people have chosen to live in small tightly-knit communes, holding on to their ancient cultures. They practice elaborate animist rites for births, weddings, harvests and funerals, and ones’ prestige is still measured by how many buffaloes and pigs he sacrifices.  The uniqueness of their lives is evident in every aspect of their day to day existence: rice fields organized in a spider web pattern by the Manggarai people, decade long tomb building rituals of the Sumbanese, annual mock fight on horseback between villagers in Sumba called the Pasola, distinctive houses with towering thatched roofs, world-renowned textiles or ikat with evocative and earthy motifs like the skull tree, making of which is dictated by elaborate codes for weaving and dying.

The book portrays the overwhelming humanity in these islands that celebrates and greets life with ever-blossoming smiles in the midst of grinding poverty. And humorous moments abound, whether it is a local with broken English introducing his wife as ‘Your wife’ or the day long attempt by the author and locals to search in the forest for herbs to soothe his itchy beard.

Book can be downloaded under a Pay What You Want model at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Journeys-with-the-caterpila...