So different that it's the same?

We've had some major tropical storms recently. The winds blew down some huge coconut palm leaves in the storms and Nuadi, one of the two people who works at the house we've rented, was weaving oneof the coconut palm leaves into a rectangular wall-like barrier. Nuadi is a man whose age is probably between 40 and 50 (a rough guess based on him having children ages 18 and 23). As he was showing me how he weaves a pattern into the leaves he was telling me about how traditionally in Bali they have used natural materials for everything. Houses were made out of these woven coconut palm leaves, plates were pieces of banana leaves, and bowls were made from ripe coconuts. Nuadi commented on how much plastic has replaced the traditional materials which he sees as a loss.

Coconut palm leaf weaving

Nuadi talked about his childhood growing up with 11 sisters and brothers raised by his mother and grandmother. His father had been recruited to teach music, Balinese Gamelan, in another village so he came for much anticipated monthly visits. Nuadi's grandmother would line the coconut bowls up and divide the rice and vegetables amongst the many bowls. He said that they had little food and the amounts were more like an offering than a meal so they were always hungry. It was difficult to get food and involved cultivating vegetables, long walks to market to sell some produce so they could buy other essentials. But Nuadi didn't lament the poverty, with a pained look he said “not so much food, but always happy.” He can't understand why today when it's so easy to get food no one is happy anymore. 

It hit me that our Canadian family is in Bali having pared down our “essentials” to a single suitcase each. We're enamoured by what appears to be the simplicity of Balinese life and the ongoing connectedness to their religious life (offerings, prayers, and ceremonies are a regular part of life for which all else at times stops) and, in spite of what appears to be a rich and traditional existence, here is a man who is saddened by what he sees as his culture's over concern with materialism and under appreciation of religion; what we see as respite is the source of sadness for Nuadi... Perspective is so fascinating.

To quote a bad pop song from a few years back, “Isn't it ironic?”

Riah