November 13, 2002
Bali in Indian sight
Travelling by sun-bird: Bali in Indian sight by Tani Bhargava An Indian’s visit to Bali entailed more than the discovery of another form of Hinduism – it made her see her own homeland with fresh eyes. But after mass tourism and now the terrorist bomb, our South Asia co-columnist asks: what kind of Bali will survive?In modern times, Indians have travelled to England out of choice or habit and only reached other parts of the globe out of compulsion. I had no particular interest in, desire for or curiosity about any place to the east of India – not even China, least of all Japan. Without knowing or suspecting it, like all middle-class Indians, I was shamefully Eurocentric.
All Indian children read about Ayutthaya, Borobodur, Prambanan and Angkor Wat, when they are taught medieval Indian history and the ‘Glories of Greater India’. Of course, I knew them.
As a young girl, while reading Simone de Beauvoir, I remembered my shock at the discovery that she found even Vietnam and Cambodia, in fact the whole of south-east Asia, preferable, more fascinating than India. Her English must be inadequate; I put it down to the French colonial connection.
Posted at November 13, 2002 09:16 AM | Perspective
