In The Shadow of Crows
Two journeys through India, one remarkable friendship
When Bindra contracts leprosy, she is driven from her home in the Himalayan foothills with her two small sons and embarks upon a seemingly impossible course in search of salvation.
David's first journey to India is driven by devastating loss, and yet he finds unexpected solace in the discovery of an exceptional family legacy, and insights offered by an unorthodox mountain tradition.
As these individual journeys progress their stories are woven together, cultural differences are dissolved, and an extraordinary relationship is formed which forges unanticipated changes in both lives.
Prologue
At the moment of a man's death, all knowledge acquired, all wisdom learned through the living of life is liberated from the confines of his body. With the final, exhaled breath, it passes first to the gathered crows, who, for ten consecutive days, are respectfully fed by the family of the deceased. Only then do the grateful birds share his learning with earth and sky, stone and wind, fire and water.
It is thus that nothing and no one is lost. It is thus that the universe forever changes, learns, grows. Therefore
choose well the knowledge you acquire in life. Seek out and nurture wisdom.
Kushul Magar, jhankri of the Eastern Himalaya
About The Author
David Charles Manners is the co-founder of Sarvashubhamkara, alongside Bernard Davies. He is also a representative for Diversity Role Models, a charity that works with British schools to eradicate homophobic bullying. For over twenty years he has lived between the Sussex Downs in Britain and the foothills of the Bengal and Garhwal Himalayas.
