***
Ketut Yuliarsa föddes 1960 i Denpasar men han bor numera i Ubud.
Yuliarsa har arbetat som författare, skådespelare och musiker, både i Indonesien och Australien. Han har publicerat två volymer poesi, och är för närvarande rådgivare till Bali Provinsional Government Literary-program. År 1986 etablerade han och hans fru Anita den första bokhandeln i Ubud - Ganesha Bookshop. Bokhandeln är den enda i sitt slag på ön och specialiserat sig på böcker om indonesiska studier på engelska, inklusive indonesisk litteratur i översättning, kultur, konst, historia och politik. 2004 grundade Ketut och Anita "The Books For Bali Project", för att främja läskunnighet och lärande i Bali genom donation av böcker till lokala skolor och bibliotek. Källa: Ubud Writers festival
*
Denpasar är en stad på ön Bali i Indonesien och är administrativ huvudort för provinsen Bali sedan 1958. Den hade 788 445 invånare vid folkräkningen 2010, på en yta av 127,78 kvadratkilometer. Källa: Wikipedia
Into the city (extract), by Ketut Yuliarsa
(From Jatuh bisu = Falling in silence. Translated by the author. Ubud, Bali, Indonesia : Ganesha Bookshop, 2006.)
I was born in this city
and I know how to enter
even when it's littered with detours
an official is passing.
When there's a big procession
I can't get home
the road doesn't belong to me
but I know how to dodge
the danger of hating
those in power.
There's a traffic jam
huge kites are borne
by a parade of schoolchildren
and the ceremony spilling onto the street
is a past I must pay for
with patience.
Launching in to the din
of motorbikes and cars for the supermarket
I sip the air, so thick
with diesel smoke and the stench of life.
But it is the true life I seek
it's door is opened at midnight.
Entering the city from the east
a grandmother with a basket on her head
from the middle of the road, waves her hand
for a ride to the city market.
I run over her
because she just might be a ghost
aiming to thwart my entrance to the city
bright lights along the road
no longer is there vacant land
dense scrub and foreboding by the graveyard
mighty trees have turned
into shops, offices, garages
but ghosts, they say
are everywhere.
(...)
***
Men allt är inte frid och fröjd på paradisön. Följande rader är hämtade från en artikel i The Guardian, 2012-08-07.
"In January 2011, the governor of Bali, Made Mangku Pastika, issued a ban on new buildings in heavily developed areas, warning that Bali was in danger of becoming a sterile land bristling with concrete. The ban is far from popular with investors.
"Tourism is partly due to the attraction of our culture: if mass tourism develops in a way that threatens our culture, we will lose our specific attraction," says Ida Bagus Ngurah Wijaya, head of the Bali tourist board and the owner of a hotel at Sanur, a prime destination.
"We have used culture as merchandise," says poet and theatre director Ketut Yuliarsa, a native of Ubud. He is horrified by the turn of events. "The Balinese are deeply attached to their religion and culture: they spend a lot of time in the temples and respect the ritual. But mass tourism has upset such practices ..." (From "Beauty of Bali under threat from pressures of mass tourism", by Bruno Philip.)
 |
| skogstempel nära Ubud |
Titeldikten i Yuliarsas diktsamling beskriver den tidigare "lugna tillvaron" på Bali.
Falling in silence, by Ketut Yuliarsa
(From Jatuh bisu = Falling in silence. Translated by the author. Ubud, Bali, Indonesia : Ganesha Bookshop, 2006.)
a dry leaf falls
a breath of wind
holding its sway
ever so slightly
wait and listen
but do not stumble
into the depths
of serenity.
***
Stranden i Bali spelar en viktig roll i den balinesiska hinduiska ritualen. Innan Nyepi-dagen måste hinduiska tillbedjare utföra Melasti-ritualen, som bör utfärdas i ett balinesiskt tempel som ligger nära havet (Pura Segara eller "Sea Temple"). Detta görs för att rena de heliga föremålen som tillhör templen, samt att förvärva det heliga vattnet från havet. Källa: (Frommer's Bali & Lombok, by Mary Justice Thomasson-Croll)
*
A journey, by Ketut Yuliarsa
(From Jatuh bisu = Falling in silence. Translated by the author. Ubud, Bali, Indonesia : Ganesha Bookshop, 2006.)
the trail of my footsteps
clearly shows on coastal sands
the mountain top at the far end
the horizon, my destination
beckons
until now
desire intertwined with hope
swirls, then, holds me down
into the future
I beat through thorny bushes
with sharp wounds oozing drops
pain and thirst I bear
my skin is caught and peels
dancing on dry winds
No need to look around
for signs and directions,
strangeness whispers close
walk alone until
the end.
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