Baru di Bali

Now, dear readers, let’s take a quick moment playing with biology. If you learnt the lesson well then you might comprehend the simple links between the tree shrubs, animals and us, humans in a food chain. That’s right, some animals eat plants, some animals eat other animals and we eat them all. In a food chain, energy is passed from one link to another so that each link can grow and carry out its life processes. Okay, so you know it all and think this is easy. Err…wrong! Here’s something that we bet you didn’t learn in your biology class.

Before we start the lesson, let us remind you again that this is Bali, the land of mystical practices and home of many, including the unseen beings. Though invisible to human eyes, the latter also takes part in the food chain in Bali. Yet, different from humans, animals and plants, the unseen beings are in the food chain not for the energy transfer whatsoever; they are there only for the sake of ‘entertainment’. Confused? Read on.

It is important for Balinese people to harmonize themselves with all elements in the universe to shape a balanced, harmonious life; this means conserving the nature and maintaining good relationships with not only fellow humans, but also spirits (both good and evil). For the Balinese, sharing what’s being eaten is a courteous way to honor someone – this also applies to the spirits. Therefore, every time a dish is cooked or when a Balinese person is eating something, a little amount of the food (except beef) is spared and left on the floor as a symbol of sharing – the same thing also goes for drinks. This practice is called mejotan.

Mejotan is performed to keep the spirits entertained and ‘happy’ and, most importantly, to maintain the balance in the universe. Yep, ignoring mejotan will result in an unbalanced, unharmonious life. This kind of life would be frequented by horrible occasions such as accidents and even deaths; all is believed as the doing of the unhappy spirits.

Now, if you’re still in Bali and things aren’t really as ‘harmonious’ as you expected them to be, then you might want to try this method. If you happen to be still in school, however, we seriously don’t recommend you to challenge your biology teacher with this food chain theory.