Review: Journeys With The Caterpillar-Beautiful Journal
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 3, 2013
This is one of the few books I have read this year that was inspiring not only in its prose but also for its cause. The cause was the reason I initially purchased the book but was pleasantly surprised when I read it. I learned about a people and a culture that until now I was totally unaware of and let me tell you if you read nothing else this year you will also be glad you not only read the book but like me that your dollars are going to a very lofty cause.Journey's With The Caterpillar is a book that captures the daily lives of a humble people. The writer handles even the bleakest of situations with humility and uses humor to show how dramatically simple the lives of the people in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Flores, Sumba and Rinca.  This is an area of majestic beauty, with lakes that change colors underneath the shadow of a dozen volcanoes reaching triumphantly toward the heavens. Where Komodo Dragons rule, and the forests are lush and green.This is place where the people still simply and wealth is measured by the number of livestock you own and how generously you sacrifice these during major events. Sacrifices are expected for births and funerals, wedding and harvests. This is a story of the indomitable spirit of these people in the face of a poverty that would grind most of us to dust.I laughed, I cried but most of all I wanted to know more about this country and its people. Shivaji Das managed to show poverty without making it oppressive, and that is no easy feat. If I could give it more stars I certainly would.