December/January, 1998
No. 032/VI/97
cover story
Christians in
Paradise
How Christianity came
to Bali
Once Upon a
New Years Eve
MC-ing a New Year's
Eve party during a
blackout
bali focus:
nusa dua and
jimbaran
The Origin of
Nusa Dua
A fable
People of a
Fertile Sea
The fishers of
Jimbaran beach
Center Stage
Steve Charles revamps
the Candraloka
Amphitheatre
Nusa Dua Nights
How to survive them
The Sacred
Wilderness
Colonial encounters with
Bali's southern peninsula
arts and
culture
A.A.M. Djelantik's
recently launched
autobiography
Kulkul
new Fiction by Gde
Aryantha Soethama
The Rat Pack
Who are Bali's literati?
beyond
bali
An Eddy in The
Counter of Time
Kayaking off the west
coast of Lombok
Slick and Cool in
Sengigi
Round midnight at the
famed Lombok resort
regular
Fashion
Adventure
Into the blue
Food
Jewel of the southren rim
Jungle Drums
Bali Update
On the Road
Home Grown
Made Adi Putra
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The Birthmark: Memoirs of a Balinese Prince
by A.A.M. Djelantik
Periplus Editions, Singapore, 1997.
In the Ramayana
epic, Rama, the prince, embodies goodness, mercy and dharma. To complement these
qualities, his younger brother, the loyal Laksamana personifies truth, faith, honesty and
chivalry. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given their upbringing as sons of the then still
powerful Raja of Karangasem, Anak Agung Made Djelantik and his elder brother, Gede, the
Crown Prince, adopted the personae and roles of Laksamana and Rama respectively. And
although Rama is indeed the brave if somewhat reckless hero of the epic, the virtues of
Laksamana, the integrity, compassion, bravery tempered with caution - are possibly more
relevant in this century.
From early years as protected and revered princes, living a still almost feudal existence in the Palace of Karangasem. to their gradual exposure to the modern world through their Dutch education in Bali and Java, Dr Djelantik was always his brother's faithful aide and companion. But despite being Crown Prince, Gede appears a rather passive character. His privileged position prevented him from developing an awareness of practical matters, and it was left to his younger brother to develop initiative and resourcefulness.
Throughout his fascinating memoirs, there are countless examples of situations and encounters where those characteristics proved effective. Moreover, Djelantik's endearing modesty tends to make light of some of his most courageous and compassionate actions, such as performing emergency surgery while under threat of ambush or defying the trigger-happy paramilitary laskar of Indonesia's war in independence, who took him prisoner and tried unsuccessfully to occupy his hospital and home.
Born in 1919, Anak Agung Made Djelantik was destined to "meet many dangers... live through many adventures... but always survive unscathed." These were the words of a balian (traditional doctor) who first spotted his unusual birthmark. Readers will not dispute this prediction. His life spans a dynamic if turbulent period in history - he was in Holland during the German occupation, back in Indonesia during the uneasy early years of independence, and in Bali at the time of the eruption of Mt. Agung. Even his later work with the World Health Organisation took him to potentially dangerous situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. On reading his story, one cannot help but admire his adroit and prudent responses.
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