AFVOA Newsletter May 2020

Section 3 - Memoirs Newsletter No. 1 / 2020 P a g e 42 | 101 5 Indonesian Interlude Mrs Premilla Rajan Genre: Travelogue he twin joys of ushering in the New decade 2020, while ringing off the old 2019, at Bali, Indonesia was indeed a jubilation for it meant I could spend time with loved ones, more specifically my two older granddaughters! It is indeed amazing where Life takes the young ones these days. I could have never imagined that little Urvashi as a Fine Dining Restaurant Manager at the Potato Beach Head Resort! With 10 managers under her and each with 10 executives under them, Rushi is the head for a 100 strong work force!! Aishwarya, the older girl working at Cambridge with a Ph.D under her belt was able to come over with husband Sameer. My cup of joy runs over. Bali is a secular island one of the 2400 islands that make up Indonesia, (a Moslem country), which is predominantly Hindu, with over 80 % of its population practising Hinduism! It is said the ancestors of the modern Balinese were subjects of the Hindu empire Majapahit who had to flee under the onslaught of the Moslem invasion. Today Bali is bustling with special localities, like up market Renon, Sea front properties at Legian and Seminiyak, Exotic resorts Menjangyan far away from the bustle! Traffic is chaotic quite like our Bengaluru! The number of Mopeds Scooters and Cars is simply mind boggling! All directions are in terms of proximity to the Mountains (kaja)or the sea (Kelou); so, the more affluent move up from the sea towards greater heights/ distances inland! An agrarian economy is the main stay with an amazing sense for farming which the beautiful acres of terraced fields, where the verdant lush paddy fields stand mute testimony! Each field has an irrigation system, the ‘Subak’ system harking back to the 9th century! The UN attempt at offering them special irrigation computer models, fell flat, as the system has been in operation well before Computers were discovered!! Farmers venerate Sri devi and Bhu devi as we Hindus do and first T