A while ago, I had written about the narratives of our lives, a look at various narratives across time – from religions and nations to popular culture and brands to the internet – that have (arguably) tried to fulfill our sense of belonging. All the narratives I had considered were external in nature, though they might be dictated by our choices and preferences.
An excellent comment on the post by The Lit Room made me consider ‘the narrative of individual imagination’. As I answered, it is probably the most important one, as it takes all sorts of external stimuli, and converts it into a unique stream of consciousness. Just when I began thinking of writing a follow up post by including that aspect, I was reintroduced, thanks to Devdutt Pattanaik’s Sita, to the concept of ‘aham brahmasmi‘ – “every human creates his own imagined version of the world, and of himself. Every human is therefore Brahma, creator of his own aham“. I think it is impossible to crack everything that goes into the making of one’s own consciousness, which is probably what led to
But there are at least a couple of perspectives that the book provides in terms of how one can create an ideal ‘world’ for oneself. It says, “stay true to the idea of dharma. Be the best you can be, in the worst of circumstances, even when no one is watching.” I thought a bit about what actually drives our actions, and realised that at the bottom of it is fear. (debatable) Not just one fear, but many, many fears driven by our contexts – some we acknowledge, some we don’t. George Lucas probably figured it out earlier, (see) though we might travel paths different from what Yoda has suggested. The book also states that – Fear is a constant, and faith is a choice. Fear comes from karma, from faith arises dharma. Faith in what, was the next thing I pondered over. In oneself, and a moral code that one adheres to? Or a higher power/cosmic law that governs all that happens? Or is it just a mechanical process with the fittest surviving? There are more options as well, probably, but I like to go with the first, because in the world that I create, my actions can ensure I do not have to fear.
Meanwhile, also from the book – Shiva chooses the path of asceticism and self control to control the aham, and the world it creates. Vishnu chose to live amidst materialism and yet find a way to break free – a middle path. (now I can see why Buddha is assumed to be a form of Vishnu) I think there are several degrees to choose from, and there lies the challenge. I also realise that it if each of us are creating our own worlds, we cannot really answer the questions of the world at large – a universal answer – because it is an aggregate of each of our worlds, which are different from each other and have unique rules. We can only find the answers to our own world, and through our individual paths, find our own version of the answer to the purpose of life.
until next time, muddled path
The next destination was Ubud, which is quite a popular base for many tourists who are more inclined towards art. But we had a simian pursuit in mind and were dropped at the Monkey Forest, with oral and written warnings on taking care of hats, cameras etc and what to do if a monkey decided you were a tree. This was a photo treat as we walked around clicking monkeys in various poses – contemplation, saying no to paparazzi, relaxation, family moments, spa treatments, junk and natural food consumption etc.
Lunch had been arranged at the famous Bebek Bengil Diner (Dirty Duck restaurant) Awesome crispy duck in which we could easily crunch through bones if we so liked and with excellent sambal and other side dishes that just added flavour after flavour. My only faux pas happened when I slurped the water melon right at the end without realising that the spicy sambal had seeped in during the meal! I almost choked to death. D tried to get me killed another way by pointing me to the ladies rest room, but i saw the symbol just in time!
By this time, we had conveyed to our tour operator that we would take care of all dinners save one. We had discovered a Bali cuisine restaurant on Karthika Plaza and were dropped off there. Kunyit Bali had very friendly and helpful staff, excellent ambiance but the experience was killed by food that was an oilfield in disguise. We had ordered a 3 course set meal called Bali Megibung with chicken, fish, pork and veg appetisers, a clear soup, a main course with chicken, pork, fish, prawns and sausage. There were 4 kinds of desserts including sweets, but either we were too stuffed to enjoy it, or it was the oil, it just didn’t work. We were left Rp 341946 poorer.
We had discovered a tonga ride the previous day and decided to test it out. A small distance cost us a steep Rp 100000. This was the figure our driver had asked us to expect too, after negotiation, so we got the horse to take us back to Tanaya. We also discovered a new route, though the last part was a series of humps that almost knocked us off the cart! Most of this was thanks to Jalan Legian being a one way. The place is a mini Bangalore in that respect!
The next day, after breakfast at Tanaya, (part of the tariff) we set off for Turtle Island to see yep, turtles. We were wearing a ready-to-get-wet set of clothes and had a spare set ready. But despite the boat trip, we didn’t get wet at all. On the island, it wasn’t just turtles at various stages of the life cycle we found but iguanas, bats, a python, various kinds of birds, all of whom kindly posed with us in pics! For the umpteenth time, we heard (from the guide for the island tour this time) that he was also a Hindu. In fact, the boat operator even had the Gayatri Mantra as his ringtone!
Lunch was at what seemed a branch of Ayam Betutu Khas Gilimanuk and consisted of the increasingly boring duck and side dishes combo. Immediately after that, thanks to some good advice from our guide, we visited one of the Krisna Oleh Oleh outlets which, apparently, was a regular haunt of locals, but was also the best place for souvenirs which wouldn’t force you to mortgage your house. We ended up doing a fair amount of shopping there. Later we realised that it was open 24 hours!
Dreamland beach, now known as new Kuta beach, was supposed to be next, but we ended up at Padang Padang, famous for its appearance in Eat, Pray, Love. 🙂 I did none of these, and snoozed off again to get rid of the headache, while D walked around and took some wonderful snaps! The entrance to this place is worth a mention, a tunnel like thing made of limestone that comes down from the road. It’s not a big beach and was pretty crowded, but that couldn’t take away its inherent beauty.
