Jewels of Serendipity

When I look at the whole picture of my life, I have no doubt that I am on the right side of the luck line.

But in every segment of life, there have been as many clouds as rainbows. So I am probably as unlucky / lucky as the next person.

And I have never won a single lottery or found a bag of a million dollars that no one came to claim!!   [sad but true]

So when serendipity smiles on me for no reason at all … I am incredulous and overwhelmed.

And on this trip to Indonesia, I was so favored by the Goddess of Luck that I almost began singing ‘Somewhere in my youth or childhood I must have done something good’ [from the film ‘Sound of Music’] right in the middle of the Bali village street!

So all this happened over 3 days

1. Saw a wedding procession in Lombok and saw a ceremonial ritual in Bali. For a culture-junkie this is an extraordinary jewel – and not one that can be arranged artificially.
2.  Went to Kamasan village not quite knowing what to look for… and just by chance walked into the house of the greatest living Kamasan artist. The 75+ year old master welcomed me in and we spent a whole afternoon chatting through the translator. More about this in a separate note. All the art-masters I have met earlier and this old Balinese man are so similar that it felt like I knew him forever! And to think that I cluelessly went to the village without any directed effort to meet him and then was blessed with the chance to meet him by chance and chance alone….!! Could kick myself because I know now what it is that I would have missed had serendipity not arranged this meeting.
3. On the day before arriving into Bali, I booked the hotel from an online site. My primary criteria of being ‘close to the city’ was met, the pictures of the room looked decent, it was affordable  and so without deeper analysis I clicked & booked. AND it turned out to be a part of the palace complex … with its own Balinese dance show, its own major temple etc etc etc. The experience of the entire time on the island of Bali was fantastic but the stay at this place was sublime. This was once again a gift of chance.

And so – I bow in gratitude at these fantastic jewels received

Such gifts are the treasures of life!

An exhibit at the Mataram Museum, Lombok

What a great way to end the year!

Back to Indonesian Archipelago Diaries

jm

Dec 2015