Bali Today 2: Love and Social Life

Jean Couteau et al

2008, KPG Press, Jakarta

248 pages with cartoon illustrations

To the Balinese the sexual and love meeting is more than just an affair of two people. It is a cosmic encounter. --Jean Couteau, Aug. 23, 1992

For those delighted by Bali Today: Modernity (2005), a quirky collection of witty non-fiction stories and satirical cartoons documenting Bali in transition, Bali Today 2: Love and Social Life, the second book in this trilogy, offers more offbeat views from the island's underbelly.

While the second book, like the first, is full of irony, satire and mirth, there is also a deeper, more sober, undercurrent in its exploration of the clash between traditional and post-modern Balinese values and customs affecting a society that literally moved from Medievalism to Tourist Paradise in a matter of a few decades.

This is brought forcefully home in the first story, "Darmi: a Victim of Beauty", the tale of a beautiful young girl forced into marriage by rape, as told by her husband as she listens in the background. It is thought-provoking to say the least.

The man behind this revealing collection of 51 short stories is the enigmatic French raconteur and longtime Bali resident, Jean Couteau.

One of only a handful of expatriates truly fluent in Balinese (from gutter slang to high-caste honorifics), Couteau attained his mastery of the language literally through the seat of his pants -- in this case the hard wooden benches of Mrs. Somprong's Denpasar coffee dive.

Perched on the dusty edge of the road, these stalls not only serve sweet, black, gritty Balinese coffee, but also generous portions of innuendo and gossip. Not surprisingly, and in the great French tradition of voyeurism, Couteau and friends have a notable penchant for juicy tales of love, sex, seduction and eroticism ala Balinese -- for purely scientific reasons, of course!

Although originally written in the 1990s by Couteau and friends -- Usadi Wiratnaya, Garrett Roberts (both whom have since passed away) and Benito Lopulalan -- for the Bali Post's English Corner, the tales are as relevant and irreverent today as they were then.

Indeed, together with fellow expatriate and enfant terrible Made Wijaya, who wrote an uncharacteristically tame introduction to the book, Couteau is one of the most important chroniclers of Balinese society in the last 30 years.

While both are equally fluent in Balinese and have authored quirky columns over the years, in contrast to Made's flamboyant front-and-center presence, Couteau, like a true voyeur, lingers in the background, venturing out only for the occasional self-effacing remark about being a Frenchman. So whereas Made haunts the palaces and griya of the well-heeled, Couteau is friend to farmer and common laborer.

Enfin, Bali Today 2, just like Bali Today, is perfect bedside (or bathroom) reading for Bali-philes of all colors and shapes.

Although the stories were intended for entertainment purposes and claim no academic pretensions, they stand as an important record of a rapidly changing world. They are also testimony of Bali's unique power to bond Bohemian expatriates and locals in a mutual love affair with the "Island of the Gods".

The book also mirrors Couteau's concern, shared by many members of the Banjar Bule Aga (we expatriates who remember an earlier glorious era when we were young and Bali was a pristine island without electricity and traffic jams), for the preservation of the Balinese way of life. It may be nostalgia of sorts, but lest you forget or have never known this Mythic Kingdom, then buy this book for yourself and your friends and experience its charms.

Priced at a measly Rp 75,000 (US$8.10), you might even learn an anecdote or fact to impress your friends and establish your reputation as a Bali expert during your next $1000 wine tasting or seven-course repast at one of Bali's star-rated restaurants or villas. If you would like to meet Jean, all you need to do is ask for Warung Somprong in Abian Gombal, Denpasar.

He is the sagacious-looking white man dressed in white, with his hair tied back in a ponytail, sitting on the bench. Best of all, once you are finished, you can look forward to the publication of the third and final volume of the trilogy, Bali Today 3; Religion and Belief sometime next year.

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