November 27, 2002
A month after the Bali bombings, Eric
Ellis finds life is returning to "normal" on the island
I settled into my usual table at Indus, Janet de Neefe's famous Ubud restaurant
with the gorgeous views over central Bali's rice terraces. After another
difficult week in Kuta, I reckoned I'd deserved a long lunch: a long lime soda
– two in fact – and a Balinese fettuccine, seafood, chilli and lime leaf
sauce.
And then I heard Paul Six of Denver, Colorado – "that's my correct name and provenance" – drawling at an Australian "hippie chick" at least half his age, probably a third, cross-legged and enraptured at his feet on the floor.
Six, an ageing American with a shock of white hair that almost certainly was a rug, sat in a booth spouting astrological waffle, all saccharine sincerity. "You know, I sense that your boyfriend is very angry," he offered. "Oh my God!" the girl shrieked. "How did you know that?"
Six had landed one. "He's punishing you with his superiority. The truth is there is no higher status." She scribbled notes. I sank deeper into the Bali Advertiser, with its ads for Falun Gong exercise classes, Hare Krishna meetings and, to close the cultural circle, the Bali Hash House Harriers.
"In fact, around your birth time, when Pluto's in your moon, you are going into a very different space. Only then will you be able to absorb your message, to realise your true meaning." And then, what Hollywood calls the "money shot": "You know I've never said this to anyone before, you are truly a special person." She handed him 100,000 rupiah, about $20. He handed her his card. "Oh, you've got your own website, paulsix.com."
"Yes, I could do this from home but I came here because there was a calling," he explained in the post-transaction small talk, adding that, if she had any friends, he'd be in Indus all week taking consultations. "I feel that this beautiful island needs me right now."
As Six drawled on, I cancelled the fettuccine and reflected that a month after the Kuta tragedy, perhaps Bali is starting to get back to normal.