This may sound clichéd but the Indonesian island of Bali is indeed a mystical destination; mystical in its elements and entirety. And key to its mystique and enchantment is a factor that’s obvious but often overlooked - its inhabitants!
Volumes have been written about Balinese architecture, dance, painting, music, the sun soaked beaches and the emerald waters (which I swear are not very different from popular beaches in India) but very little has been said about those who make the place the paradise it truly is. I am thus urged to pen a few words about this wondrous tribe of people, shrouded from our vision and tucked away in the easternmost corner of the globe.
I have been fortunate enough to visit the world’s top holiday spot, but ironically and even more painfully, on an official assignment. I was mostly bounded within claustrophobic conference rooms, with the swaying palms and blue waves beckoning within eyeshot, but surrounded by a dozen morose gentlemen who were driven more by figures on the PowerPoint slide than those on the beach.
Nevertheless, I found time to venture out and explore places way beyond the popular beaches and temples. I travelled into the heartland, deep inside the countryside, to see, smell and feel the true Bali. At first sight, what struck me was the striking similarity of the place to my home state Kerala, in landscape and architecture. But the similarity ends there!