Lesson from the Balinese

Never in my life I'd seen such beautiful collaboration, brute strength and communal effort that blended together in a peaceful, soothing [and sometimes upbeat] rhytm of gamelan. All 2 kms of walk [back and forth] had paid off and I never regret my decision on insisting to walk with kebaya [bought at pasar ubud with resilient effort of haggling], sarong and belt with an angry sun above my head, stampeded amidst tourists from various nationalities, locals and journalists that were flocked to the narrow streets of Ubud. Even after I finally set foot at Puri Dalam Setra - the cremation location - me and the rest of people who were all colorfully dressed in traditional costume still had to endure the long wait until evening [which actually allowed me to steal 10 - 15 minutes nap in between] before finally able to witness the greatest cremation since 1979. The minute I saw the soaring fire's burning the cute bull effigies and mythical-dragon like Naga Banda , shoot off the ceiling ofthe platform - where those were placed - up to the dark Bali sky and turned them all into ashes, I immediately felt the temperature was rising and my face felt literally hot. Oblivious to the fact that it took firefigthers to calm the fire down, I [and the rest of other people] refused to leave the scene and decided to just step back few steps. I said to myself, oh this is so worth it. I don't mind the long wait.Patience is a virtue!.

Shivering with amazement and touched by the humbleness of Balinese people - even the royal families themselves [based from experience which I will further elaborate on my next postings], I'm glad that I'm part of this unforgettable event, and feel honored to be able to raise awareness of this event as well as the philosophy behind it.

And now, after it's all passed and I'm stuck here in the media center with other tasks before flying back to Jakarta tomorrow, I still feel astonished and kept saying to myself that all of this just feel surreal. Not only that, it's also a bit ironic, knowing that Indonesians are notoriously known of being weak in "discipline department", but today the Balinese just proved otherwise.

It's a great strenght of control and definitely discipline from thousands of people to hold such massive parade without turning it into a mayhem. It's a total tolerance, understanding and patience that drives those people to work together to finally reach their destination.
I think Indonesians should learn from the Balinese who actually have been teaching us moral values through its rich, serene culture and composed gestures, that living in harmony is possible if only we're willing to work things out together.

*from the point-of-view of DS