Hermes House Press releases free digital book with hope of finding youth who contributed to a puzzle that has been evolving since 1990

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA, USA, September 6, 2017 /EINPresswire.com/ -- After nearly three decades, Hermes House Press has compiled and released India Self Portrait: An Artful Anthology of Indian Life in Past and Present. A work in progress since 1990, this rare, un-orchestrated and often prophetic collection creates a unique visual rendering of a country rooted in simplicity yet crowded with complexities and absurdities. Representing a fusion of humanity bound by borders and separated by more than 20 major languages with hundreds of different dialects, India Self Portrait features paintings and illuminating passages from young artists who have come from hidden villages in the Himalayas, from the backwaters of the jungles, across the sands of the desert and from the heart of the booming metropolises. Of all creeds and classes, they paint scenes with images and words that reflect a tessellation of life, from gods and demons to city streets and monsoons. With honesty and clarity, they candidly create a secular portrait of the place they call home.

The result of a yearlong journey through India by Hermes House Press founder Jules Hermes, the project first captured the attention of the late Ted Tanen, who was executive director of the Indo-U.S. Sub-commission on Education and Culture overseeing exchanges between India and the United States, as well as the late Jackie Onassis, who was a close friend of Tanen and an editor at Doubleday. Yet, it would take some 27 years to evolve before seeing the light of day.

"When I left India in 1990, she seemed so steadfast and determined to hold the Western world at bay, conjuring up her own rendition of Coca Cola and Marlboro cigarettes," say Hermes, who recalls drinking Old Monk Rum mixed with Campa Cola—and smoking Gold Flake cigarettes—to ease her discomfort while taking overnight journeys in third-class train cars and rusted-out buses. "The India of the new millennium, however, was drastically reinventing itself in all outward appearances, at least in the large metropolises like Delhi, which had a spanking new underground subway system by the time I returned in 2006."

Now, with the inclusion of recent updates from some of the young artists and writers who are presently in their 30s and 40s, Hermes hopes India Self Portrait will contribute to a long lineage of historic accounts documenting the evolution of our planet's largest democracy.

For more information and to view a PDF of India Self Portrait, visit www.hermeshousepress.com, or contact Jules Hermes at 949-289-0837 / juleshermes@hermeshousepress.com.

Jules Hermes
Hermes House Press
949-289-0837
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