Indonesia

Recently, I spent about a fortnight in Indonesia. It was an auvsome experience!

Here are some of my notes /observations from the travel:

Number of Islands- The places you usually recall when you think of Indonesia are Jakarta and Bali. So you will understand my surprise when I realized that Indonesia consists of 1700+ islands. Java is largest and most heavily populated island amongst these. In fact, Java is island with highest population density in the world. I experienced some of results while traveling by road in Java- even inter city roads are choc-a-bloc with traffic. I was also fairly surprised when I realized there are 3 different tome zones within Indonesia.

Population- Indonesia has 240 million people, making it 4th most populous country in the world. Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Confucianism, and Buddhism are amongst its officially recognized religions. Bali (most touristry island of Indonesia) has around 20 million people (97% of then Hindus). Hindus in Bali believe in a supreme diety- Shiva.

Transport within the country - Java seems to be only island with a train network in place. Interestingly even Jakarta didn't have a metro train network. Number of regional aircraft carriers is mind bogglingly high- I counted till some 10-15. Flight prices are fairly cheap. That makes sense - if not for flights citizens will find it fairly difficult to travel across the country quickly.

Tourists – Indonesia is the first country I have come across where maximum number of tourists are from Australia. Bali is 3.5 hours by flight from Australia- that's lesser travel time than to some tourist locations within Australia. At airports in Bali and Java I found full service Virgin Australia flights. Bali supposedly has a number of auvsome surfing spots. Lombok and Nusa Tengarra (islands in South Indonesia) have good diving spots, Australian tourists -with their love for sports supposedly flock to these places.

India and Indonesia - I had read there are historical linkages between India and Indonesia. I didn’t find mentions of something’s I had expected while I found other linkages that surprised me.

I found no mention within Indonesia of Biju Patnaik's dare devilry (on instructions of Nehru) in flying into Indonesia and evacuating a key leader of their pro-independence struggle. I did find a few mentions of the fact that India and Indonesia along with a handful of other countries were creators of Non-aligned movement (NAM).

Everyone seemed to know Shahrukh Khan. Whenever people realized we were Indians, they started singing ‘Kuch Kuch Hota Hain’. He seems to enjoy celebrity status there.

At an airport terminal, I found an Indonesian channel running a documentary on Bollywood. It showed a number of images from Mumbai-including a wall painting of Amitabh Bacchan in film Deewar. You can see this wall painting on a wall your left when you are driving down from Mehboob Studio to Bandstand in Bandra.

I met someone else who could not stop talking about Priety Zinta. He also shared how on Indonesian TV they show some bollywood movie everyday.

At Jakarta airport -we heard criminal (Shahrukh Khan number) being played somewhere.

Bollywood certainly seems to be a hit in Indonesia. I hear their local pop music is also influenced by Bollywood numbers.

Language - I have heard that Bahasa is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. I realized a few interesting things.

Bahasa Indonesian is supposedly derived from Bahasa Malaysian. Hence native Malay and native Indonesian speakers can usually understand each other. Bahasa Indonesian is not the only widely spoken language in Indonesia. Actually it is most widely spoken in Java.

Bali has a local Balinese language.  Java has a local Javanese language. There supposedly are more than 700 languages/dialects spoken in the country.

Indonesian Script is Greek (English script) - so it is fairly simple for Indians to read.

Indonesia was first occupied by Portuguese, then by Dutch, and then by Japanese (during WW II). I found a few words in Indonesian language which seem to have been influenced by Portuguese at least e.g - gratis means free both in Indonesian and Portuguese (and even in Spanish J).

Most of the times when I tried to say a few words in Indonesian, I was greeted with friendly smiles. Terima Kasih (thank you) and Sama Sama (welcome) are 2 handy terms for any tourist.

Sotos, Goreng, Teh, and Kopi- Nasi Goreng (Fried rice) seems to be a popular dish in Indonesia. Nasi Goreng actually is quite fried- a little bit too much for my appetite. You can have different kinds of goreng (fry) in Indonesia. Some of other more popular ones are ayam goreng (fried chicken) and ikan goreng (fried fish).

I must make a mention of Soto Ayam -Chicken Soup with noodles and egg. It's perfect for lunch/dinner especially if you are feeling drained out by the heat. You can find different kind of Sotos (Soups) in Indonesia.

At many places, you will come across Masakan Padang – these are eating joints which run on a Indian Thali kind of system. The term Masakan Padang itself comes from Sulawesi.

 

I liked coffee plantations in Bali. They grow 5-6 different flavors of coffee- I especially liked coconut flavored coffee.  You can also try Luwak coffee (supposedly costliest coffee in the world) though it was a bit too strong for my liking. You must read up on how it is produced – pretty different is all I can say ( J).

I had heard a lot about Java coffee-it lived up to its tag. Really tasty though I am not sure whether you could have more than 2 cups a day of ‘strong’ Java coffee. By the way, Indonesians call coffee as kopi and tea as teh.

Volcanoes and craft villages - All 3 islands I visited (Bali, Flores, and Java), seemed to have dormant/active volcano and villages organized around trades/crafts. In Bali i found entire villages of wood workers (Mas Village), silver workers, painters, etc. Interestingly, wood work is done on 3/ 4 different kinds of woods- sandal wood, crocodile wood (whatever that means), mahogany, etc.

Flores and Australasians - i must mention about island of Flores and surrounding Indian Ocean. Some of views are stunning and will stay etched in my mind.

Indian Ocean looks wild and beautiful. Komodo dragons in Rinca island are awe inspiring. Different colored corals around Rinca island are eye catching.

Interestingly people in Flores seem to have more Australasian than Oriental features. It seems there is some natural line that runs somewhere between Bali and Lombok beneath the ocean - and that causes stark differences in vegetation across two sides of the line.

I saw some strange and unique trees and flowers in Labuanbajo (a fishing village in Flores island). It seems a scientist of Darwin's stature had during Darwin's era investigated in Indonesia and independently found out about principal of survival of the fittest.

You must also try out the Flores Bananas (they have a special name that means Maharaj of Bananas) – they are really big and are very tasty.

This island was supposedly named Flores by Portuguese who had discovered this island, and had named it ‘Flower’ (in Portuguese) due to the varied colored corals surrounding this island.

Literature- Indonesia seems to have a rich tradition of short stories and local fables. If you see a Periplus bookshop somewhere, do go and check out Indonesian books section. I especially found some of the books based on Bali's past very interesting.

Tradition – Yogyakarta (city of Ayodha) is a cultural hub in Indonesia. Try out the Wayang Kulit (shadow performance) shows in Yogyakarta.  When in Bali, visit Ubud (a cultural hub again) and try out the traditional dance performances every night (don’t miss Kecak performance for sure).

Misses – I could not visit some of the places. I just didn’t have enough time. These included Tanjung Puting National Park in Kalimantan (for jungle safari to see oranggutans) and Papua (to visit various tribes there). There also are islands of Sulawesi and Maluku.

 

Well! That’s some of the experiences and memories that I have brought back from Indonesia.

 

 

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Sourav

 

Wayang Kulit, Calling Forth the Earth, and Yogi posture

I travelled through Indonesia recently. I came across a few things that possibly have answered some dilemmas I face.

 

Indonesia has this concept of specialized/trade villages. You see this markedly in Bali – where there are specialized villages for painters, wood workers, and silver smiths (not sure if I got the term right).

I visited Mas (a village of wood workers in Ubud). I came across a wood work depicting Yogi. Yogi is a posture where a human is shown folded into himself. It feels like the entire person is merged into one. Muscles of the person seem taught and strong. Person seems calm and connected.

Image stayed with me!

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Over last few months i have looked forward to contemporary class on Saturday evenings. There's something about place or dance which made me feel I was 're-grounding’ or 're-anchoring' and ‘re-leasing’ myself. I often wondered why could I not feel that way, and what could do I to feel that way through the remainder of the week!

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At Buddha temple in Borubudur, you can see Buddha in 6 different poses.

One of the pose was something akin to 'calling forth the earth'. In this pose Buddha seems to be connected to earth.

In another pose, Buddha is seen 'meditating'. His face looks calm and full of energy.

Both the images stayed with me.

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Sometimes I find myself short of energy. I wonder how can I ensure I have energy continuously. Maybe it is about using and regenerating energy at a sustainable pace. But then you could also increase your capacity for being energetic!

 

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In later half of Indonesia trip, I was in Yogakarya (a cultural city). Amongst other things, Jogja (as it is called) is famous for its Wayang Kulit (Shadow puppet) shows. There is a science behind the shape of these puppets. Male puppets have a large bottom, a streamlined and agile center, a large heart/chest, and a large head.

Large head signifies proficiency in thought. Large chest signifies a large hearted person. Streamlined and agile center signifies flow of energy. Large bottom signifies being grounded/connected to earth.

All these 4 elements are inter-connected. A large head and a large chest need continuous and strong flow of energy.  Energy is generated when one is grounded/connected to earth.

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Being grounded/connected to earth – aah! That may be a solution to increasing your capacity for energy (remember taut muscles of Yogi?).

 

Buddha’s meditation posture – that may be one of the ways to staying connected to the earth. But is that the only way to stay connected to the earth? I have a few other ideas.

Let me try some of these out first. Will write more in one of upcoming posts.

 

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Sourav

Childhood and Images

What are your earliest childhood images? How far back can you visualize your childhood?

I can go back as far as when I was 4-5 years old. I see some images – thought sometimes I am not sure whether these are true images or are figments of my imagination.

Which of these images stay with you?

When I close my eyes, I see a red background with some black dots in it. There's one particular dot I feel particularly intrigued about. It sometimes catches my attention and hints to me that there's more to it than meets the eye. But I can't dig beneath. I remember closing my eyes and following that dot even when I was a kid.

There are some people who catch your eye/attention. You seem to feel intrigued when you meet them. I have come across a number of them. I realized the other day when looking at someone who left me intrigued that I actually was smiling at a part of myself- probably lost and obscured in mist of time. An interesting realization J

We must pay heed to images in our mind and to feelings our senses leave us with. Through that we might learn something about ourselves.

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Sourav

 

Weaving my Persian Rug!

Some months back I heard a colleague say 'In log run all………we all will be fossils!'  J

The term stayed with me.  So much for what we attempt to do in the long run!

 

 

What we do today is most probably irrelevant in long run. So what should our response be? Should we give up all pursuits and just exist?

 

 

The other day I read about Persian Rug.

 

Cronshaw had given Persian Rug to Philip (Read 'Of Human Bondage' by W Somerset Maugham) when Philip had asked him about meaning of life. Cronshaw had told Philip that rug contain answer to meaning of life.

 

Philip realized years later that meaning of life was that there is no meaning in it. He realizes -we  are born, we suffer, and we die. The Persian Rug essentially was meaningless and there lay answer to it’s meaning.

 

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I can conceptually appreciate that in the long run whatever we do today might be irrelevant. But I do think that inspite of the fact that our end is inevitable we choose to weave our Persian rug the way we want it.

 

 

So the question is 'Are we weaving our Persian rug or are we allowing it to be weaved?'.

 

 

But maybe that's the wrong question. We may choose that we don't want to play an active role in weaving our Persian rug. I am no one to comment on correctness/incorrectness of such a choice someone else makes.

 

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But here's my choice!

 

Inspite of the inevitability of my end (it’s only a question of when and not whether – though I surely hope that when is decades if not atleast a century away J) I want to live a life full of creating stuff, experiencing what gives me meaning, and living life with family.  These are contours I will build my Persian rug around.

 

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How will you weave your Persian rug?

 

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Sourav

Music and Singing!

Hearing is my preferred way of taking in and interpreting information. That's something I have been aware of from a long time.

During college days, I learnt by hearing professors in classes. I preferred discussing my doubts out.  I found group study more powerful.  I loved music and my taste has increased and become varied over time.

Sometime back, I learnt something new about myself.

I realized that breathing deep and slow, singing, listening to right kind of music, and dancing are my stress busters. I also realized that bad food is a stress increaser.

I found piece about singing strange. I used to learn singing when I was a kid but then I had given it up.

But then over last few months, whenever I have sung (albeit in a croaked voice) i've felt powered and re-aligned.

Interesting!

What are your stress busters?

-
Sourav

Keep Walking!

She held my hand and said 'Thank you son!'

I felt touched. We didn't know each other. We had chanced across each other a few minutes earlier.

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I was about to cross road when I had noticed her standing beside me.

She was thin and frail. She had a bent posture and looked weak. There were creases on her face and I could discern her veins through her crumpled skin.

But still there was something captivating about her. A silent but perceptible determination emanated from every inch of her demeanor. I looked at her rapt in attention.

Suddenly I heard sound of screeching brakes. A car zoomed past me and almost ran her over. She didn't have time to react. The tyres of car missed her feet by inches. The car sped away.

She was shaken. Her stuff had been run over. She was trembling.

Instinctively I stopped the cars behind me and ran over to help her. I picked up her stuff, waved down a rickshaw, led her to rickshaw, gave rickshawwallah some money, and asked him to drop her wherever she wanted to.

That's when she held my hands and said 'thank you son'.

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I could not get her off my mind that evening and even next day. Her determination and genuineness of her thank you stayed with me. Probably I contrasted it with the other interactions I usually had in a day.

The next day wore by. I was sipping on my evening cup of tea. I looked out on street. I saw her. She was walking again – with a slightly bent posture, gingery steps, and a steely determination.  She was carrying a bag of food that seemed too heavy for her.

I was tempted to rush and help her but I desisted. She seemed to manage on her own. Did she even want my help?

I wondered ´What alis her? She must be 80/90 years old.´

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Over last year I have seen her walking in neighborhood a number of times. I chance upon her walking sometimes at 7 am and other times at 11 p.m too. Everytime I find her frailer, her posture more bent, but her spirit more determined.

I often wonder ' Doesn´t she need rest? Why does she keep on walking? '

Maybe I have answered my own question. She walks because there is no alternative.

She knows it and is determined to walk her path.

Everytime I see her I wonder why I sometimes lack courage/energy to choose and walk my path.

We must walk. Only choice is 'which path do we walk on?'

I am reminded of two of my favorite quotes

·         'The more I sweat the more I shine',

·         'Walk firmly and placidly amidst noise and haste'.

 

-
Sourav

What do you want today?

Choices, choices, and more choices!

With so many choices around, what do we finally choose?

But Hey! Hold on! That's not the question I want to explore today.

I want to explore 'What kind of choices do we choose -  experience, consumption, or creation?'

I find world anchored around money. That's what makes us bury our differences and attempt to come together; that's also what makes us move far and away (in most cases away from near and dear ones) in search of money - aka livelihood.

I'm not saying money is bad! Money is a fact of life!

What we do with our money and what money does to us - those are things we can control!

Let me ask you a question. Will you want to be remembered even when you are not there? 

Maybe you want to be remembered by a large group of people, or just by friends, or just by your family members. But this want of being ´remembered through something/someone´ usually seems to be there in some form or the other.

What will you be remembered for? For what you consumed/experienced/created?

Chances are you will be remembered for what you created. That´s what resonates with me too!
 

The same holds true for the differences we make in our relationships. A son will probably remember his mother fondly because she would have created so many happy memories for him.

I want to live a fulfilled life.

Sustained fulfillment comes from creation!

-
Sourav