Chatting with Ketut Adhi Utama in Kerobokan Bali-part II

We talked about the expense of offerings that a Balinese family must pay for. There are ceremonies all the time. Right now Seminyak is having a ton of them and the decorated bamboo towers, baskets of handmade offerings and bantens (stacks of fruit carried on the ladies heads) cost a lot. Ketut told me that a young guy at the hotel has a special ceremony coming up for his baby, which is 6-months old. The cost will be 8m rp. "Do you know how much this boy earns a month?" said Ketut. "He earns 600,000rp, but he has no choice, he must pay." The selling of land is closely related to the cost of upacara (ceremonies), which is troubling. Bali now has a population of 3 million people. When a father dies his sons will divide his land. The ratio of people to land is getting higher and so is the cost of living.

Balinese people often live close to the tourist areas and must pay inflated prices, trouble is they are not earning tourist wages. Fifty years ago there was no TV, cell phones, motorbikes etc. Now there are and everybody wants one, added of course to his or her already steep financial commitment for ceremonies.

I offered a solution, not the 'use plastic flowers' suggestion I made once in jest, rather to use the traditional dress and group prayer as a sign of respect, not the tremendous amount of offerings. Hinds in India don't have the money for elaborate offerings, but simply use some flowers or pour milk over a statue. "Maybe the head of the procession can carry a banten," I suggested, "but not all 100 of them."

Ketut told me that in the village there is no way to escape the religious duties. If you have a family ceremony like a tooth filing, and don't invite every single person in the village, the people omitted will be mad. Here in the city you can hide a bit as you are not local and are not around as much. I am counting my lucky stars that I didn't become Hindu! The Balinese culture is endlessly fascinating, but one that is extremely demanding on the participants. I think they do a great job at being good natured, optimistic and stress free, us westerners couldn't maintain like that.