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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Djelantik begins his autobiography with sections on early life in Bali and secondary education in Java, scenes and stories of palace life are vividly recreated giving a captivating insight into a unique and bygone way of life. There is plenty of humor here too, especially concerning the young princes' early encounters with their Dutch schoolteachers. Why did the Headmaster collect all his mucus from a bad cold in a big white handkerchief, and what did he do with it when he got home? Why did Mrs. Van Hem emanate that strange milky odor? Were these large, pale-skinned people really descendants of mythical giants like Rawana? Did the Dutch ladies wear bamboo rooster cages underneath their voluminous skirts?
Initially a mediocre and uninterested student whose reports were often favorably doctored so that he could continue to accompany Gede through school, the young Djelantik suddenly, during a geometry lesson, develops an interest in learning. As he describes it, "It was as if by a magic wand something dormant was loosed or brought to life in my brains... Knowledge became attractive, exciting and enjoyable." This thirst for knowledge, which continues through his years at university in Holland, transforms him into his school's top student.
Although he started out favoring a career in engineering, Dr. Djelantik's compassion and inquiring mind eventually led him to medicine. He describes the moment his vocation became clear. Mrs. Wechgelaar, his German landlady and substitute mother in Yogyakarta, suffers an acute attack of gallstones. The young Made Djelantik is sent to summon the doctor, and as he waits, filled with frustration at the doctor's disinterested response to his request for help, he ponders "the medical profession, the duties of a doctor, about humanity, human suffering and the loss of (his) mother for the lack of medical attention." There was never any doubt that he made the right choice of profession, despite the difficulties of culture shock on arrival in Holland, he had no difficulties in excelling within the rigorous discipline of the medical faculty.
Education apart, his years spent in Holland were far from uneventful. Embroiled unwittingly in the German occupation of Holland, Djelantik and a number of his fellow students were forced into hiding after the Gestapo began arresting professors and students. Is it his lucky birthmark that protects him through these precarious years? Is it the same birthmark that caused his path the cross with the lovely Sister Astri Zwart whom he marries in 1946? Their courtship is charmingly recounted and provides a welcome contrast to the horror and destruction going on around them. Towards the end of the occupation and the subsequent liberation of Holland, Djelantik begins working in the Catholic hospital in Nijmegan, dealing with war casualties even as the hospital suffered grenade attacks and bombing. He gives all patients the same care, even a Waagen SS. soldier who refuses a vital blood transfusion for fear that it may result in the contamination of his body with Jewish blood.
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