In a recent post, I described the various interesting,
pleasing and annoying sounds of Indonesia. Today however the only sound that
can be heard is the soft exhale of the wind as she caresses the rice paddies,
making the rice stalks rustle and hustle.
There are no motorbikes whizzing past, no people gossiping
on the side of the road and no men walking down the street screaming
‘luuummpiaaahhh’ (that ones for you Hannah, Pras and Gopar!).
It is very peaceful as I sit on my veranda in awe of the
kehijauan of my local village of Katiklantang (or ‘Longstick’ as the locals
call it. It is a popular naughty joke amongst my Balinese friends because I
live in ‘Longstick’…).
Today, everywhere in Bali, people are required to stay in
their homes, not allowed to use listrik, nor make any noise as part of the
holiday called Nyepi. I could act like an encyclopedia here and go in to some
sort of detailed description as to what Nyepi is; or, I could put it in the
words of my Balinese friends. I will choose the latter.
Today everyone must stay home and stay quiet so that ‘the
bad spirits don’t get you’.
After last nights celebrations, I expected today to have an
eerie children of the corn – or rice - or that matter, feel to it. But right
now is very peaceful.
For the past few weeks, or for some villages, only for the
last two days, the Balinese people have been constructing Ogoh Ogohs in
preparation for Nyepi.
Ogoh Ogohs come in all different shapes and sizes, from
massive bores bearing large, white foam teeth at the front and a large pink
penis at the back, to small angry-looking monsters riding on top of a Tek Kotak
packet. Some of my favourites are the large breasted Amazon woman and the
dreadlocked wild surfer man.
At about 5pm yesterday, tourists and locals gathered on the
side of the streets all around Bali in anticipation for the Nyepi precession. I
situated myself on Jalan Hanoman in Ubud and it wasn’t until about 6pm that the
excitement began. First came the clanging of the gamelan instruments which were
played by the Balinese as they paraded down the street. The musicians were
followed by hundreds of people shouting and screaming in excitement. Groups of
young kids carried the Ogoh Ogoh structures down Jalan Hanoman, with what
looked like to me, much ease. There were men working on the street corners
directing traffic out of the way. They used walky talkies to communicate with
other traffic directors in the other villages so that they knew when the
precession would begin. I’m sure if they all just started playing the gamelan
in each village at the same time they may not have needed the walky talkies.
Amidst the precession were a couple of men pulling what I
would call carts which were similar to the kaki lima food cart, but without the
soto ayam cabinet. One cart cradled a small sound system and the other, a set
of spotlights.
The precession stopped at one end of Jalan Hanoman and
filled almost the entire street with oversized monsters. A voice filled the
street, filtered through the crackly speakers of the kaki sound system;
‘Selamat Hari Raya Nyepi!’ The sun slowly gave way to the moon creating a blue
twilight atmosphere and the kaki light cart flashed a large red spotlight,
highlighting the eerie Ogoh Ogohs and the crazy costumes and face make up that
the Balinese had so decoratively worn.
The kids were painting each other’s faces in the nooks and
crannies of the closed shop fronts on the side of the street. Teenagers spotted
colourful spikey hair styles and face make up that would make Halloween seem
like a cute, non-rabid puppy and one teen even wore the famous scream mask!
The lights flashed faster, the voiceover rattled with more
intense excitement and the people screamed and clapped as the Ogoh Ogohs were
paraded around in circles to release the bad spirits.
And the bad spirits were released that night.
I joined my friends on Jalan Bisma for a drinking party on
the temple stairs. The nights bad spirit of choice - arak, poured from a
plastic water bottle and shotted from a plastic cup.
Despite the bad spirits making their way on the streets
there was no bad spirit-influenced dancing because the nights party was a
silent party aka. no live music.
After a deliciously satisfying Irish Coffee with the other
two of Chalies Angels (how ironic, being called angels on Nyepi eve!) at Napi
Orti, we went home to our other loungeroom CP Lounge to continue the partying
in silence.
The usual family members were there and then some. We all
sat in the dark together (some tried to play pool in the dark) and indulged in
some more bad spirits before shutting down early so that everyone had enough
time to pulang before the 6am curfew. There was a lot of talk about what people
were planning to do for the day of silence. Most people, including myself said
that we wanted to do it properly and stay home in the dark, not use any
technology, maybe write or read or catch up on sleep or meditate. After being
asked so many times what my Nyepi plans were I decided to cut the conversation
short and say that I was going to stay home, get drunk and high and watch porn
all day. Ha!
I returned home in the early hours of the morning and slept
through most of the day. At 1pm I was awoken by Mawar from downstairs and
handed a smorgasboard of Indian food, a coffee, salad and sandwich to devour
before sleeping again through the afternoon.
I was awoken surprised at approximately 5:30pm, by the sound
of about sixty children walking down the streets of Longstick. They appeared
from all different directions at the same time and continued through the muddy
path that divides the rice paddies towards the river.
Maybe the children are off limits to the bad spirits or
maybe after being inside the house for so long the parents were like ‘whatever,
the bad spirits can have them!’
At about 6pm, Mawar appeared on my veranda again bearing a
plate of delicious nasi goreng and she reminded me that I couldn’t turn the
lights on.
Before Nyepi, I asked my friend Brick what people do all day
on Nyepi? His reply was that lots of couples stay home and have sex all day. On
that note, I wonder what the percentage of Capricorns is in Bali in comparison
to other star signs…
So at this stage it does feel a little bit eerie. There is a
man walking down the street with a flash-light and my paranoid and imaginative
mind replays that scene in ‘Ghost’ when the bad guy dies and all those little
black monster things scurry across the road to take his soul.
Ah well, not to worry. I’ve still got my sandwich sitting on
the table in case I need to sacrifice it as an offering. I hope the bad spirits
aren’t allergic to egg.
