Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder …

By Barrie | July 23rd, 2007 | No Comments

Picture this: two gentlemen in city-slicker sports-wear walking down a hill in rural Bali. They amble past rice fields and groves of coconut trees interspersed by traditional compounds, the odd “land for sale” sign, farmers planting rice and artists at work.

The two happen to be this columnist and a Malaysian friend on holiday in Ubud.

We’ve been up since 6.30 a.m. to walk the hills from Campuhan to Bangkiang Sidem. We’ve had our fresh coconut drink by the rice fields and are now returning to Canderi’s Homestay on Monkey Forest Road.

“Luwung sajan body-ne” (Such a nice body) gushed a female laborer in Balinese as I walk past a cliff-edge construction site. Best not take the compliment personally: She’s probably referring to the muscle-man to my right.

I must say it’s nice to get compliments thrown at you — even though they’re random comments in a language you’re not supposed to understand.

“Nawang apa nyi ken body luwung?” (What do you know about nice bodies) retorted a male construction worker, bursting my bubble.

“Ae, nawang lian muan luwung teken body luwung?” (Yeah, do you know the difference between a nice face and a nice body?) emphasized another male worker.

It’s getting rather uncomfortable being under such detailed scrutiny. Thankfully our pace will soon get us out of earshot.

Not quite.

In the distance, I hear my heroine say “Men muan luwung kan patuh teken body luwung?” (Isn’t a nice face the same as a nice body?)

It seems the English word “body” has made its way into daily Balinese conversation. But something has been lost (or is it gained?) in assimilation.

*****
I haven’t seen many, if any, female construction workers outside this isle. But it seems that construction workers the world over talk of the same things.

I worked as a hammer-hand for a few builders when I lived in New Zealand and found it to be a pleasant summer break from desk-bound jobs and computers. On those hot sweltering days, I must admit the conversation would tend to drift around the utility belt.

Fixing her attention on facial attributes, the female laborer at the construction site may not have seemed to care as much about certain bulges in the vicinity of men’s waists as the men themselves.

Once growth spurts are over, excess food and drink do tend to turn six-pack abs into barrels. While enjoying a hearty feast, mine can fluctuate from “two-months pregnant” (barely noticeable) to the more pronounced “six months pregnant”.

*****
We’re huffing and puffing up the steep sidewalk coming out of the Campuhan river confluence when I pass a friend of my father’s dressed in full ceremonial garb. I ask him what’s up.

“Odalan,” he says, gesturing to the Pura Dalem with his head.

There is a ceremony at the temple of the dead.

He shakes my hand and without hesitation pats me on the stomach by way of saying, “You’re looking well. Life must be good.”

I smile, colluding silently with an appreciative pat on his middle-age spread, “Yes, life is indeed good.”

*****
Girth is a source of mirth and a sign of affluence in Bali. It’s as if we’ve all joined a Paunch Mutual Admiration Club. There is absolutely no malice intended in greeting long-lost friends or relatives with “Wow, you’re fat!” or “Gee you’ve grown … sideways!”

It’s a cultural bone to chew for visitors facing a people who have the collective memory of famine, drought and pestilence.

As recently as the 1960s we had an island-wide crop failure that had families surviving on rice mixed with dried banana or sweet potato with one chicken as a month’s flavor.

The bird would be fried and re-fried regularly with coconut oil, the oil itself used for daily seasoning while the meat reserved for special occasions.

That’s what my teacher told me at primary school when reminiscing on the old days to remind us how lucky we are.

I like to think that this was the necessity that mothered our wild-food menu of ferns, palm-heart, banana-husk, star-fruit leaf, larvae, bees and even dragonfly, to name a few.

Today, high-protein, high-carbohydrate urban lifestyles are creating more Balinese that bulge, although not quite on a par with the pandemic hitting our distant cousins, the Maoris of New Zealand.

My claim to fame from living with a Maori family for one semester of university was reintroducing fruit and vegetables to their diet.

Something had to give, though. In exchange, I embraced their meat-and-potato ways, abandoning my six-year stretch of vegetarianism.

We got along well, but I really had to watch my tongue with the rounded comments. It was like walking on eggshells, never being able to call the kettle fat — whoops — black. The feelings of those not blessed with the hips of Adonis would really get hurt.

Now I’m suffering the consequences of my karma by bulging and bearing the brunt of fat jokes daily.

I try to face it the Balinese way: Smile and take it as a reminder to exercise.

Beauty, as the construction workers reminded us, is in the eye of the beholder.

Kadek Krishna Adidharma is a Bali-based environmental engineer who works as a cultural liaison officer and is an interpreter.