When the rice gets ripe (which will be twice a year with organic cropping and three times a year with fertiliser) the grains fill up and become heavy, causing the stalks to lean over.
On our bike ride down the mountain in Northern Bali, our guide -- Ketut (which is the name given to the fourth-born child in a family of the lowest caste) -- told us that "Fill up and bend over" was the translation of a Balinese saying. The saying covered rice, life as a whole and Balinese flags (called umbul umbul and not to be confused with mumbul, which means to rise, take off or bounce -- the Mumbul river runs through Ubud in Bali).
Here they are:
On our bike ride down the mountain in Northern Bali, our guide -- Ketut (which is the name given to the fourth-born child in a family of the lowest caste) -- told us that "Fill up and bend over" was the translation of a Balinese saying. The saying covered rice, life as a whole and Balinese flags (called umbul umbul and not to be confused with mumbul, which means to rise, take off or bounce -- the Mumbul river runs through Ubud in Bali).
Here they are:
| 
|
The last of the four cunningly combines the bike ride, where we learnt of this saying, a row of suitable decorations from the recent festival of the ancestors -- Galungan -- and a woman from Malaysia embodying the whole bending thing. Uncanny really. Actually, the decorations are called penjor and here's how to make them:
"The basic material of a penjor is a curved bamboo pole. The pole is then decorated with yellow coconut leaves, pala bungkah (roots - sweet potato or cassava), pala gantung (fruit - cucumbers, oranges, bananas), pala wija (cereal - rice, corn), plawa (leaves), traditional cakes, 11 Chinese coins, and a small shrine with some offerings.
All materials for a penjor constitute peoples' basic needs, signifying that we should take care of those things. In addition, livestock sacrificed for the ceremony are believed to become better creatures in their next life."
That's a handy belief about the sacrificed livestock.
Anyway, I think that "fill up and bend over" is a fine aphorism. When younger, there was a bench near my home with a plaque dedicating to a man whose name I can't remember. Beneath his name were the words, "He liked to lead walks in the Golden Cap area". At the time I used to scoff at the modesty, even banality, of this statement. Now I think it's rather fine in its ordinariness. But, on the whole, I should prefer my bench to say, "He filled up and bent over".
"The basic material of a penjor is a curved bamboo pole. The pole is then decorated with yellow coconut leaves, pala bungkah (roots - sweet potato or cassava), pala gantung (fruit - cucumbers, oranges, bananas), pala wija (cereal - rice, corn), plawa (leaves), traditional cakes, 11 Chinese coins, and a small shrine with some offerings.
All materials for a penjor constitute peoples' basic needs, signifying that we should take care of those things. In addition, livestock sacrificed for the ceremony are believed to become better creatures in their next life."
That's a handy belief about the sacrificed livestock.
Anyway, I think that "fill up and bend over" is a fine aphorism. When younger, there was a bench near my home with a plaque dedicating to a man whose name I can't remember. Beneath his name were the words, "He liked to lead walks in the Golden Cap area". At the time I used to scoff at the modesty, even banality, of this statement. Now I think it's rather fine in its ordinariness. But, on the whole, I should prefer my bench to say, "He filled up and bent over".
If it were true.
Actually, I did practise it in several places in connection with nuts especially. This coconut in Goa Gajah was rotten and the stink when carrying it around reminded me of Rafflesia Arnoldii - insofar as you can be reminded of something you've never smelt. So the repeated filling up and bending over in this case was intended to wash the foetid aroma of dead fox out of the coconut.
Come to think of it, there may be another metaphor lurking in there. If I see activities like movement, gardening, anything repeated really -- even the leading of walks in the Golden Cap area -- as being designed to purify myself of the foetid aroma of dead fox, it lends some sense of purpose and context.
In which case the obituary could be expanded subtly to say:
"He liked to fill up and bend over in temples"
If it were true.
Actually, I did practise it in several places in connection with nuts especially. This coconut in Goa Gajah was rotten and the stink when carrying it around reminded me of Rafflesia Arnoldii - insofar as you can be reminded of something you've never smelt. So the repeated filling up and bending over in this case was intended to wash the foetid aroma of dead fox out of the coconut.
Come to think of it, there may be another metaphor lurking in there. If I see activities like movement, gardening, anything repeated really -- even the leading of walks in the Golden Cap area -- as being designed to purify myself of the foetid aroma of dead fox, it lends some sense of purpose and context.
In which case the obituary could be expanded subtly to say:
"He liked to fill up and bend over in temples"
If it were true.
RSS Feed
