A trip to Indonesia proves to be a harrowing episode for Devanshi Mody who enjoys the country despite misadventures galore….
Bali is a resort bazaar. “It’s where people spend lots of money to do little,” someone says at the St. Regis which Saudi Arabia’s king famously booked to leave half-empty, stashing his retinue at lesser resorts commensurate with their hierarchy. But there’s more to Indonesia than Bali. And more to the destination than sybaritic profligacies I discover when inopportune occurrences catapult me out of luxury, into misadventure, tossing me about some of Indonesia’s scatter of 17,500 emerald-forested islands. In beleaguerment, I call my editor Adrian Bridge at The Telegraph (UK). “Devanshi, I thought you’d be writing great literature by now. Why are you doing this?” he asks. “Adrian, clearly, I’m a masochist,” I say. But there’s pleasure in masochism and if not ‘great literature’ then a good story in misadventure. And if not that even, then at least I can say with Shakespeare that what follows is a ‘….tale…. Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury signifying nothing’.
Bali. A relentless throb of jagged-edged temples of architectural monotony. Balinese Hinduism is ritualistic and simplistic. Yet, the Balinese grasp the recondite monotheistic quintessence underlying Hinduism, ‘Many manifestations, one Divinity’, from which the mighty pantheon of Hindu gods has proliferated. Moreover, it is about the caste-transcending equality of beings that our butler and chauffeur from Alila Villas Uluwatu converse about while escorting us to the 11th-century Uluwatu Temple. The monument is no architectural marvel, but is enchantingly hill-perched amidst dramatic blue seas. “Nature is the temple,” Mum remarks, admiring the discipline of Balinese pilgrims as we descend the temple’s steps lined by trees whose tops merge like praying hands.
This story is from the March 2018 edition of Verve.
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This story is from the March 2018 edition of Verve.
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