Singapore Trip - Photo Gallery I - Gardens By The Bay - Flower Dome

My recent 12-day visit to Singapore was a packed proggramme. Apart from the 5-day trip to Bali Island (subject of my preceding post, hostess Daughter II arranged a lot of sight-seeing. The sights were feast for eyes and the mind. Here is one out of the chain.

After the Gardens By the Bay was set up, Daughter II had waited for us to visit her so that we would visit it together.

Bali Yatra

In Odisha, Bali Yatra is a ceremonial function held on Kartik Purnima (usually November). It is called Boita Bandana (ceremonially doing on Boita - sea-faring boats- puja) to commemorate the the glorious maritime history of Odisha.. At dawn on that day, people throng river-sides and other water-bodies and float make-shift boats made of banana stems, thormocol and other light materials, colourfully decorated. The day symbolises the period when traders from Kalinga (ancient name of Odisha) used to return from far off South East Asian islands of Bali, Sumatra, Java and Borneo. They used to set sail in the month of Ashadha (rainy season July-August) carrying in huge boats the merchandise including textiles, precious stones, gold ornaments and silver filigree work to these islands. The time of their onward and return journeys was selected according to the direction of wind. They used to return around Kartik Purnima, their boats laden with spices and other goods from these islands. These Sadhabas (traders) were ceremonially welcomed by their wives with lamps and flowers, vermilion and the ladies used to worship the boats on that day. This commemoration is done at Cuttack and now on a grand scale at Paradip Port. At Cuttack on the bank of Mahananadi, the annual week-long modern-day Bali Yatra is a carnival of commerce and cultur. It is a trade fare where traders from many parts of India come to sell their wares. Here, one gets unique items from different places.

Masakapan Ke Tukad festival of Bali is similar to Bali Yatra of Odisha.

The sea on the Eastern coast of India was known as Kalinga Sagar, signifying that traders from ancient Odisha (Kalinga) were taking this sea-route for trade with South-East Asia. When the British came to India, they set up their establishment first at Calcutta (now Kolkata). From there, they spread all over India and Bengal became an important province. Hence Kalinga Sagar, the adjacent sea was re-named as Bay of Bengal. 

Cuttack Bali Yatra entrance gate

Image source: Wikipedia

Odisha has another memorable link with Indonesia. Biju Pattanaik, a 2-term Chief Minister of Odisha and also a former Union Minister of India, helped Indonesia in its struggle for independence from the Dutch. In 1947, Prime Minister, Nehru of India organised the first Inter-Asia Conference. Sukarno asked Prime Minister Sultan Sjahrir, to attend it to arouse international public opinion against the Dutch, who were the colonial rulers. Sjahrir was unable to leave, as the Dutch controlled all sea and air routes. Nehru asked Biju Pattanaik, originally an expert and adventurous pilot, to rescue Sjahrir. Pattanaik flew to Java and brought Sjhrir on a Dakota via Singapore. For this act of bravery, Pattanaik was later given honourary citizenship of Indonesia and the title of 'Bhumi Putra', the highest Indonesian Award, rarely given to a foreigner. During the 50th Independence Celebrations of Indonesia in 1996, Biju Pattanaik was honoured with the Award of 'Bihtang Jasa Utama'.

Recently, we visited Daughter II, who works and lives with her family in Singapore. The wife was with them for a month and i was there for 11 days. They arranged a 5-day trip to Bali island at that time. We stayed in a well-laid out villa in Sanur near the island's capital Denpasar.

Our villa in Sanur

Enjoying a swim in the pool outside the villa

We were struck by the beauty and charm of the lush green fields, the crafts, the temples and the arts and culture of the island.

The wife and i at Tegalallang rice terrace

Bali is far above other tropical island-destinations by virtue of its culture, scenery and people. A religious procession brings streets of to a stop. A busy street suddenly closes and a paradise of extravagantly dressed people go zipping by,with elaborately woven baskets filled with offerings. Balinese are a deeply spiritual people. At every corner, there will be an exquisite little offering sitting serenely, a trail of smoke moving up from the incense. There will always be a ceremony.

"Where do you come from?" "Where do you live?" are two questions you will hear throughout your stay in Bali.

Bali always reminds one of India. Ganesha, Pura, Sari, Saraswati are commonly seen words in the sign boards in Bali. The sign at the ladies' toilet at Denpasar airport said "Wanita'. It reminded me of the Sanskrit word 'Vanita' for women. 'Garuda Indonesia' is national airline. Garuda is the name of the bird-vehicle of Lord Vishnu. 'Namaste' is the name of a store where one can buy a crystal to get one's spiritual house in order. Incense, yoga mats, moody instrumental music all remind an Indian about his/her homeland.

We visited  Pura Luhur Ulu Watu temple, one of the several important temples to the spirit of the sea along the south coast of Bali. It was built in the 11th Century. The temple is perched precariously on tip of the peninsula, on the top of cliffs. To enter it, one has to pass through an unusual arched gateway flanked by statues of Ganesha. Only Hindu worshipers can enter the small inner temple. The area is home to scores of grey greedy monkeys, who, when a visitor is not alert, snatch sunglasses, handbags, hats and anything else within reach.

We watched Kecak (pronounced as 'kechak') Dance at Pura Luhur Ulu Watu. The time was sunset. The gorgeous setting and the view out to the sea was as inspiring as the dance. Kecak dance tells the tale of the Hindu epic Ramayana. The dance depicted the abduction of Sita by Ravana and her rescue. The actors, brilliantly dressed, played the roles of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Maricha in the form of the golden deer, Ravana, Jatayu, Hanuman and Ravana's niece Trijata who gave company to Sitaduring her internment.

 

At the end of the show, the actors posed with members of audience who were eager to take photos with them. The wife and i took photo with Rama and Sita. However, the most in demand was the monkey-god Hanuman dressed in white, with a long tail.

Rama and Sita performing the kecak dance

I had the opportunity to take a photo with the actress who played Rama.

We also took a photo with Sita.

We also visited Pura Tanah Lot temple which is located on a hillock separated from the temple complex and protruding into the sea.

Pura Tanah Lot

We entered a cave at Gajah Goa temple. I found that eggs were a part of the offerings at this temple.

Eggs in the temple offerings

The wife and i at the entrance of the Goa Gajah temple

Pura Jaganatha temple in Denpasar is dedicated to the supreme god, Sanghyang Widi.

One of our lunches was against the backdrop of Mount Batur, an active volcano in Kintamani

Bali has splendid beaches. While having dinner in a beach-restaurant at Sanur, we came across an interesting sign.

A husband day care centre!

Little is known of Bali during the period when Indian traders (Were they from the ancient Odisha?) brought Hinduism to the Indonesian archipelago. At present, 90% of the people of Bali are Hindus.The Balinese know the Gayatri Mantra by heart.

Java began to spread its influence into Bali during the reign of King Airlangga (1019-42), or perhaps even earlier. After Airlangga's death, Bali remained mostly semi-independent.Meanwhile, as several Hindu kingdoms fell and Islam spread across the archipelago, many intelligentsia fled to Bali. Notable among them was the 15th Century priest Nirartha, who introduced many practices of Balinese religion. He established a chain of 'sea temples' including Pura Luhur Ulu Wtu and Pura Tanah Lot.

The first Europeans to set foot in Bali were Dutch seamen in 1597. At that time, Balinese prosperity and artistic activity was at peak. By 1908, Dutch forces had landed in Bali and had taken complete control. The Japanese occupied Bali in 1942 during World War II. Just after the Japanese surrendered in August, 1945, Soekarno, a prominent nationalist, proclaimed independence of Indonesia. There were fierce battles in Bali and elsewhere. In 1949, the Dutch gave up and recognised Indonesia's independence. with President Sukarno as the head.

The Balinese by nature reaches out to other people.This extends to the tourists. To make you feel welcome, Balinese go out of their way to chat with you. A formal introduction with the owner of the villa where we stayed was followed by this rather longish conversation:

"Are you from Singapore?"
Me: "No, I am from India. My daughter and son-in-law live in Singapore."
"Oh, India! Do you know Bollywood?"
"Yes, many Hindi films are made there."
 Are you a Hindu?"
"Yes, I am a Hindu."
His face brightens. "Do you pray?"
"Yes."
"How many times a day?"
"Twice, once in the morning and once in the evening." I lied instantly, concealing a confession that although i do believe that there is some supernatural power like God who has ordained such an orderly world, i cannot bring myself to formally pray.
"Can you recite  mantra?"
Me, defensively: "No, i can't recite any mantra. But many people in India can do that."
Then he proceeds to recite a mantra and i feel a little small.

"Do you know Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu?"
"Yes, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are our gods.There are many temples dedicated to Vishnu and Shiva in India but only one temple to Brahma, the one at Puskar in Rajasthan."
"Only one temple for Brahma?"
"Yes."
"We have temples for Krishna also."
"There are many temples for Krishna in India."
"Do you know Ramayan and Mahabrat?" (Mahabharat)
"Yes.'
"Did these really happen? Or are these stories written by someone?"
Me: "Even now there is a place in called Ayodhya in India. And Lanka is now called Sri Lanka."
"Is the bridge built by Rama still there?'
"Yes, there are still remnants of the bridge under the sea between India and Sri Lanka."
"And Mahabharata?"
"There is a place called Kurukshetra where the battle of Mahabharat was fought."

Foreigners can enter most of the temples in Bali if properly dressed . In most cases, an acceptable show of respect for the gods, is clean, tidy clothing and a selandong (traditional scarf) or sash to tie around one's waist. Wrapping a selandong around the waist is a symbolic gesture of 'containing the appetites' while one prays. Some temples hire out these. We hired selandangs at Pura Luhur Ulu Watu temple.  Menstruating and pregnant women and women who have recently given birth or have recently been bereaved are usually advised not to enter the temples in Bali.

Traditional Balinese society is based on the unique Balinese Hindu religion, based on Majapahit interpretation of Hinduism. It permeates every aspect of Balinese life. There are temples in every village and shrines in every field. Offerings are made at every place, every corner. We saw these at every spot. Balinese worship the trinity of Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu, three aspects of one god, Sanghyang Widi. The basic threesome is always alluded to but never seen. A vacant shrine or empty throne tells all.

Indonesia has the largest population of Muslims in the world but Islam is a minority religion in Bali. Some Muslims are descendants of seafaring people from Sulawesi and some are of Javanese origin.

The richness of Bali's arts and crafts has its origin in the fertility of the land. The purest forms are the depiction of Dewi Sri, the rice goddess, intricately made from dried and folded strips of young palm leaves to ensure that the fertility of rice fields continues. We saw these offerings on the top of intricately built pillar-like structures and also on wooden bases closed on all sides except the front and the top, fixed to trees.

We found such offerings everywhere including the compound of the villa we stayed in.

While traveling, we saw rows and rows of craft shops stocked with intricately designed wooden artefacts. There were many units of sculpted stone statues including those of Lord Ganesha.

A few years ago, the economy of Indonesia had become very slippery. Policy makers of its economy, after a lot of thought, introduced a new currency note of the denomination of Rp. 20,000 with an image of Hindu god Lord Ganesha on it. And the economic condition of the country bounced back to strength! This note is still in circulation.

Tourism is mainstream of Bali's economy. What struck me was that the Indonesian currency Rupiah is always expressed in thousands. There are no decimals in Indonesian Rupiah (Rp). The prices of dishes in the Menu List at restaurants have always 3 zeros at the end. Money Changers are available everywhere. From the display board at one such establishment, I found that one US Dollar is equivalent to Indonesian Rupiah 12,450. One Singapore Dollar is equivalent to Rp. 9,250.

This wooden statue of a dancing Balinese danseuse  cost me Rp. 2,50,000 bargained downed from Rp. 4,00,0000 originally asked for. 

And this wooden statue of dancing Rama and Sita cost Rp. 4,20,000 bargained down from original Rp. 6,00,000 originally asked for. 

This trip was a unique Bali Yatra for me.

Here is a link to the blog post of Daughter II on our Bali trip. 

Eleven Jinping

A few days ago, i came across a news-item saying that Door Darshan, India's public television channel, had dismissed an English newsreader for mispronouncing the name of the Chinese President who was on an official visit to India. The name of the Chinese President is Xi Jinping. She mistook 'Xi' as the Roman number XI, presumably thinking that there was a small mistake in punctuation and read the name as 'Eleven Jinping'. She must have presumed that like King George VI or Queen Elizabeth II, he must be the eleventh ruler with the same name.

Poor lady! News readers are trained to pronounce foreign names correctly but why and how this happened, can be a matter of conjecture. However i feel, the guilt lies not in her but in the English language. Human beings use about 50 sounds to express themselves in words but the English alphabet has only 26 letters to express them. Indian languages are much better in this aspect. The Odia alphabet has 49 letters. The faux pas of the lady might not have happened, were she reading the news in an Indian language. 

This weakness of English language was highlighted by George Bernard Shaw who coined the word 'ghoti' and said that it could be read as 'fish'- 'gh' as in 'rough', 'o' as in 'women' and 'ti' as in 'nation'!

Remember my post 'Ghoti as Fish' dated 14.10.2010?

TAIL PIECE 

The Indian Prime Minister's current visit to the U S of A has brought into circulation a new acronym: ABCDEFGHI - American-Born-Confused-Desi-Emigrated-From-Gujarat-with a House in India.  

Not a Surgeon's Scalpel but a Butcher's Hatchet

It is said that in 1947 India was partitioned and the new State of Pakistan, comprising two wings – West and East – was created by the departing British Rulers by using not a doctor’s scalpel but a butcher’s knife. 

British barrister Sir Cyril Radcliffe, who was given the responsibility of drawing the boundaries between the independent States of India and Pakistan, arrived in British India for the first time on July 8, 1947. He had exactly five weeks to draw the borders. He chaired two boundary commissions, one for Punjab and one for Bengal.

Here is a 1966-poem on Indian Partition of 1947 by the Anglo-American poet W H Auden (1907-1973):

Unbiased at least he was when he arrived on his mission,
Having never set eyes on this land he was called to partition
Between two peoples fanatically at odds,
With their different diets and incompatible gods.

'Time,' they had briefed him in London, 'is short. It's too late
For mutual reconciliation or rational debate:
The only solution now lies in separation.

The Viceroy thinks, as you will see from his letter,
That the less you are seen in his company the better,
So we've arranged to provide you with other accommodation.
We can give you four judges, two Moslem and two Hindu,
To consult with, but the final decision must rest with you.'

Shut up in a lonely mansion, with police night and day
Patrolling the gardens to keep assassins away,
He got down to work, to the task of settling the fate
Of millions. The maps at his disposal were out of date
And the Census Returns almost certainly incorrect,
But there was no time to check them, no time to inspect
Contested areas. The weather was frightfully hot,
And a bout of dysentery kept him constantly on the trot,
But in seven weeks it was done, the frontiers decided,
A continent for better or worse divided.

The last British Viceroy Mountbatten had asked Radcliffe to split the country along Muslim and Hindu lines and not to bother about the military angle – the artificial boundaries were not expected to be indefensible anyway.

There were two Commissions both headed by Mountbatten. Each Commission had two members nominated by Congress Party and 2 nominated by Muslim League. Radcliffe could consult them but the final decision was to be his. The members in the Bengal Boundary Commission were C C Bishwas, B K Mukherjee, S A Rahman and Abu Salem Mohammad. The Punjab Commission had Mehar Chand Mahajan, Teja Singh, Din Mohammad and Mohammad Munir. All of them were Judges of High Courts. There were sharp differences among the members regarding boundaries.

Unlike the Western border whose contour was relatively linear, the Eastern boundary proved to be horribly complex. The Partition carved out 197 so-called enclaves in India and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). It left 123 Indian enclaves inside East Pakistan and 74 Pakistani enclaves inside India. Each enclave became an orphan; neither India nor Pakistan could provide education, water, electricity or any other amenity to their territories inside the other country.   

The Reports were ready by the 9^th and the 12^th August. However, to create a perceptual distance between the independence of India and Pakistan and the riots that preceded and followed – and especially to deflect blame to the British for the riots – Mountbatten postponed publication of the Radcliffe Award to the 17^th August, 1947. Pakistan came to existence on the 14^th August and India became independent on 15^th August. For these 3 and 2 days, India and Pakistan were like conjoined twins. With borders undefined, some towns raised the flags of both India and Pakistan!

These conjoined twins, joined together till then as parts of a single body, were separated as if by using a butcher's knife. As a result, there was a lot of blood-shed. Horrified by the riots in which more that 1 million people died and more than 12 million people moved one way or the other across the border, Radcliffe burned all the related papers with him and refused to accept his remuneration of Rs 40,000 for his labours. He left for Britain on the 15^th August. 

Gandhiji never accepted partition as he was for Hind-Muslim unity. On the 15th August, 1947, he was fasting at Calcutta (now Kolkata) to stop the riots and killings and did not participate in the celebrations for independence. 


Incidentally, a question arises as to why the 15th August was chosen for Indian independence. One version is that Mountbatten considered it as 'Lucky Day' for him because, exactly two years before, on the 15th August, 1945, the Japanese Army had surrendered before him, as the Commander of Allied Forces, during World War II.    

India-China Border

Radcliffe also drew India's border with China. China was in complete turmoil at that time due to the Communist revolution and it was not clear who was in control. The colonial Govt. of India while leaving India, did  not consult China on the border with India. Much earlier, in 1914 at a meeting in Shimla, the British had got China and Tibet agree on their border. The British and Tibetans signed on this agreement but the Chinese representatives said they would consult their Emperor and come back. They never came back. Sir Henry McMahon, British Foreign Secretary, was the chief negotiator from the British side. The line drawn in this agreement is called McMahon Line. In World War II, the world turned upside down;  the British hurried to leave India. The British authorities consulted the old maps (which imperial China had not signed) and drew India-China border. 

The armies of Mao and Chiang Kai Shek were in fierce internal struggle which ended in Mao's army taking control of mainland China and Chiang Kai Shek's forces retreating to Taiwan in 1949. China says that it never accepted the border drawn by the British and claims India's Arunachal Pradesh as its territory. Since 1962, China has been occupying Aksai Chin and some Areas in Kashmir. Pakistan has handed over some areas of Pakistani-occupied Kashmir (POK) to China. So the border dispute between India and China continues.  

Enclaves

To solve the problems of enclaves, the Prime Ministers of India and Bangladesh, Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an agreement in 1974 to exchange them, giving an option to the residents to stay there or to migrate to the other country. Its implementation required amendment to the Constitution. The Opposition Parties in India vehemently opposed it as it meant that India would be a net loser in the area of territories to be exchanged. Hence the implementation hangs in air even now. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which opposed it while in Opposition, is now supporting it after coming to power in May, 2014. It is hoped the Agreement will be finally implemented shortly bringing to end long and vexed problem. 

One Plus One Equals Eleven

All of us know that unity is strength. When two persons join as a team, their combined output exceeds the total output of the two working separately.

 A group need not be a team. In team-work, all the members have to be inspired by one goal. The performance of each member depends on the contribution of each of other members. The faculty of a university is not a team; the group of players in the game of football is a team. Even if the forward players play very well, if the goal-keeper’s contribution is weak, the team will lose.

 In team-work, one plus one makes three or more. Here is a graphic demonstration:

We can learn this by observing ants. I came across a piece by Mukul Sharma in The Economic Times of 28.08.2014 referring to such wonderful acts by ants.  We must have noticed how ants in a group get close to each other on water and float away to safety. Fire ants fashion a raft made of themselves.  This ‘raft’ can, not only float but carry up to a million of other ants are over it!

Army ants can build bridges, made of themselves, to move from one tree to another. At the outset, some of them hold on to each other and hang from a branch like a small curtain. They wait for wind to waft this ‘curtain’ to touch a branch of the other tree. The ants at the loose end grab a branch of the other tree and thus a ‘bridge’ is formed. The other ants walk on this bridge to move to the other tree!

The interesting point here is that no individual ant knows what is happening but jointly, they make it happen!

So let us be a team!