Escaping the Concrete Jungle

Paddy fields

The hectic schedule of our city life, the need to have it all, the latest outfit paired with matching aviators, the late night parties and loud clubs all add to the glamour quotient of what most of us perceive as the Big City dream.  Having been born and raised in Mumbai, India’s busiest city, I am very much a city person myself.  Nevertheless, once in a while I like to escape into a different more peaceful place to give a rest to both my brain and body. So when I planned a vacation to Bali, I was ready.

Bali – the land of thousand Gods and ancient temples, beautiful pristine beaches of Nusa Dua, quiet valleys of Mount Batur, tropical forests and rice terraces of Ubud, seafood barbecues at Jimbaran and the happening night life at Kuta and Legian- is a perfect holiday destination catering to everyone’s interests.  That’s what I had in mind too when I made that trip. The plan was simple, to explore the place in the day and to laze around by the beach in the evenings.

All I wanted was a good tour guide to show us around Bali from the eyes of a local. That’s when I ran into Kayan, the person who would show us around Bali for the next 3 days and change my perspective about the Big City Dream.

Born in one of the traditional villages surrounding Bali, Kayan proved to be more than a competent guide knowing the island like the back of his hand. He did what any normal tour guide would do – took us to all the must see attractions of Bali. While these sights were definitely impressive, what I retained from all the journeys was the steady flow of conversation we had with him, rich in knowledge, culture, beliefs and ideologies.

Kayan has lived all of his 32 years in Bali, never leaving the island for even a day. Now, for many of us, this existence may sound slightly forlorn. And so it seemed to me, until he opened up about the experiences he has had living here. Living in Bali, one of the first things he accomplished was scaling Mount Batur, the active volcanic mountain. He has spent days living alone in the forest and hunting. He recalls hunting down bats, goose, duck and pigeons all of which eventually found place on the dinner table (imagine experimenting with bat meat! And Kayan advises not to wash the meat with water, it might dilute the taste). He laughed when we told him about the 50 dollars we pay for a cup of Indonesian Luwak coffee, adding that we might enjoy an even better blend in his village brewed in the house of locals. He is an excellent swimmer and surfer, learning how to do so in the rough seas and river currents around his village. With the development in tourism and diving, he has also dived into the great depths of the Indian Ocean. He has woken up early to swim with dolphins at Lovina, before it became commercialized. Adding to his tales, he has rafted across the rivers of Ubud and driven motorcycles around the hilly regions of Bali both for work and entertainment.

Kayan and his wife in traditional Bali costume.

In spite of his adventurous ways, his life is governed by the basic principles of Bali lifestyle. He is a devout Hindu and doesn’t begin his day without prayers to Lord Ganesh and his house and the car he drives. Though he fears no storm or height, he is afraid of ‘leyaks’, the term used for demons and witches, against which he is on guard all the time. Any phenomenon or happening that cannot be explained with logic comes under being ‘majik’ aka magic and is very much a part of his daily life. If he feels unwell, he prefers going to a local doctor as opposed to a city physician. He takes the social ceremonies of weddings, birth and cremation solemnly and has even begun to save for his own cremation!

Despite the many dilemmas both social and otherwise surrounding his life, Kayan is a man of the now. He delicately balances his beliefs and culture while adapting to modern ways of life. We might assume that outside of his work as a tour guide, he might not have much knowledge about the world.  However, he has an opinion about everything – from the caste system and corruption in the local government to the missing MH Flight 370, the bombings in Syria to the growing political unrest in the Middle East, the latest Hollywood movie to the most recent happenings in the life of Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bacchan. Familiarizing himself with the benefit of the internet, Kayan picks up information about the world which he is yet to explore. Not only that, he maintains a social media page about his work to boost to his business and uses YouTube to learn languages like English and Mandarin so he can better communicate with his clients.

What I take from my interaction with Kayan is that a good life need not necessarily be a fancy one. While most of us define a good meal as the one we have in Michelin star restaurants, the best meal for him is the one that the men in his village get together to cook. While cities across the world witness protests about women rights and employment, Kayan has encouraged his wife to start their own food shack. While most of us sleep thinking about that promotion or that investment, he only thinks about reaching home soon so that the ‘leyaks’ don’t get to him!

Undoubtedly, most of us may not have had half as much the experiences that he has and yet we take a special pride in being the ‘urban’ population. In this race for success we often forget to catch up with life. So take a break, explore the bounty of nature that surrounds us. Take time out for your hobbies, even if you gain nothing from it. Stop finding a reason in everything; let some things be ‘majik.’ Let life run its course without a 24/7 itinerary and wonderful things may happen right in middle of this concrete jungle!

Indian ocean from Uluwatu temple.

Tanah Lot temple.

Article and photographs by Nafisa Dahodwala