It is natural to make a list of countries one has visited before. Sometimes, that list comes in the form of emoji of flags. Sometimes, it comes in the form of map with the countries visited highlighted.
But is the list truly accurate? Have you really been to Russia if all you have visited was Moscow? The United States but just New York? India but just New Delhi? Japan but just Tokyo? Indonesia but just Jakarta? Malaysia but just the Twin Towers? Singapore but just… (okay maybe not all countries).
Indonesia is a massive country and I can say I have been to more than just Jakarta. Yet most places I have been are on the island of Java. There Batam, Bintan, Bali and other places but these places could hardly tell you about Indonesia in totality. To truly understand a place, one has to read its literature, history, newspapers and maybe, travelogues.
It is in that spirit that I picked up Elizabeth Pisani’s Indonesia Etc. Having worked in the country and travelled extensively still all over the places, she reveals just how diverse the Indonesia is. So much so that one of several threads running through the 400-odd pages is the idea how Jakarta or Java could feel like foreign countries to many living outside of the Javanese sphere, especially in the outer islands such as the Lesser Sunda Islands or places like Maluku.
I suppose any capital of a sufficiently-sized country can feel like a foreign country to those who do not live in the city. It is true even for Kuala Lumpur with its modern cosmopolitan outlook that contrasts sharply with the life on the peninsular East Coast or the interior of Sabah. But Indonesia is truly big that the definition of foreignness gets on to another level.
Just as Jakarta is foreign to the outer islands, so too the outer islands to Jakarta and more so to foreigners like me. Here is where the place description pulls me into the book. Indonesia is just such a place where place-writing can go on and on and you would never get bored out of it.
But the breadth of the travels comes at cost: the book can feel disjointed and sometimes, superficial. As I progressed farther along the book, I got the feeling that the book was written for white tourists, or maybe for white expatriates. As a person with deep roots in the region, by the time I finished reading the book, I found myself dissatisfied. I found myself wanting more details on localized history, politics and society.
To explore this argument further, the depth is uneven as the author attempts to cover as many places as possible. But when there is depth, it is great. I love the details of Sumba’s gifting culture and Pisani’s own thoughts on how it is a form of social insurance and how it has evolved into more of a debt system than gifting. Or how the way people enjoy wayang kulit has changed as the puppet masters shifted from flickering candlelight or flame to much brighter electric bulbs.
The unevenness of the depth is no fault of the author however. Indonesia is a big country and to write with all the breadth and depth, it would probably take a lifetime or at the very least, thicker than the tomb that is David Van Reybrouck’s Revolusi (which is an excellent read).
Still, Pasani’s travelogue is a window to a specific period of history: a post-reformasi era during rapid decentralization and perhaps, a more optimistic Indonesia 10 or 15 years ago. That itself is of value.