By CLAUDE ARPI
PUBLISHED: 00:35 BST, 28 May 2017 | UPDATED: 01:17 BST, 28 May 2017
Since my teenage years, Bali was a dream. I remember turning again and again the pages of tiny photo book by Henri Cartier-Bresson, the famed French photographer and founder of Magnum Agency.
The book, Les Danses à Bali ('Dances in Bali') was published soon after the photographer's visit to the island in 1949.
With his exquisite art of catching expressions, Cartier-Bresson depicted the dancing schools of the island which enact some of the powerful scenes of the Ramayana, mostly portrayed by young tiny Balinese girls.
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The Photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson, pictured in 1981, captured the peaceful and spiritual atmosphere of Bali after visiting the island
More than 65 years later, many things have changed on the island, but the peaceful spiritual atmosphere caught by the lens of Cartier-Bresson's Leica remains — with a difference, the hundreds of thousands of tourists.
I could myself witness these changes during a recent visit to the 'paradise' island of Indonesia.
The first 'incredible' experience is the arrival at Denpasar International Airport. Walking towards the immigration's counters, I could see hundreds of visitors of different nationalities — Westerners, Chinese, Malaysian, Japanese, and a few Indians — queuing for a visa.
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Rice terraces in Bali. Just one of many features to attract more and more visitors to the island
I thought to myself, 'Oh no, it may take at least two hours before we get out of the airport.'
We were in for a surprise — in less than 20 minutes, we were through. Being used to the Indian system (which has improved in recent years), I could not believe the speed with which the immigration officers were issuing visa-on arrival.
They just scan your passport, which is then stamped and that is it. I recalled the cumbersome Inner Line Permit still in force in many states of India's Northeast.
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Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, or Pura Bratan, is a major Shivaite and water temple on Bali, Indonesia. The temple complex is located on the shores of Lake Bratan in the mountains near Bedugul. Water temples serve the entire region in the outflow area.
Why can't the Government of India introduce such a system in India when visitors want to enter Arunachal Pradesh or Nagaland?
The babus of India are unfortunately unable to understand simplicity and efficiency; their system has to be complicated so that they are able to keep some 'control'.
It is not that Bali has not faced security issues. On October 12, 2002, 202 people (including 88 Australians and 38 Indonesians) were killed in a suicide bomb attack.
Another attack occurred three years later, killing four foreigners. But while 'security' is taken care of, the visitors are welcomed with a smile and a thunderous 'How are you, Sir/Ma'am'.
India certainly has a lot to learn. A comparison with the northeast is interesting. Like the Balinese, its inhabitants are fun-loving and always smiling; they speak good English and are rather 'relaxed', furthermore, they are great hosts.
The Seven (or Eight) Sisters could become the hub of domestic tourism if Delhi could understand the potential of tourism for the economy and the integration of the northeast.
One evening, watching the Ramayana enacted by a large group of Balinese dancers and a choir 'in trance', I noticed how the island has become cosmopolitan while still being anchored deeply in its Hindu tradition.
Was the way the main characters of the epic perform their roles now different from the one witnessed by Cartier-Bresson in 1949? Probably not.
Sitting there, I was fascinated by the haunting chants of the choir, the battle between Good and Evil, with Sita prisoner of the evil Ravana and Hanuman jumping through and interacting with the crowd, to the amusement of all.
Perhaps even more interesting, I happened to be surrounded by vociferous Muslim ladies from Malaysia, fully participating in the high drama on the stage.
It was probably the magic of Hinduism to bring together such a motley crowd, vibrating in unison.
Another interesting aspect linked with the island's present situation is the arrival of waves of Chinese visitors, linked with the much-talked about the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative of President Xi Jinping.
Indonesia would like to participate in the ambitious dream by attracting 10 million tourists from China by 2019.
The latest data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) show that 1.43 million Chinese tourists visited Bali in 2016, representing a 25 per cent annual increase over the previous year.
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Sunset at Uluwatu temple in southern Bali. For Indonesia, tourism is a major source of revenue
The 10-million benchmark may be difficult to achieve for the Indonesian tourist industry.
Moreover, a survey recently revealed that the typical Chinese tourist visiting Bali spends only one quarter of what is spent by their European and Australian counterpart.
While for Indonesia, tourism is a source of hefty revenue, for China, it means a presence in South-East Asia.
Agence France Press recently spoke of China's new weapon in the economic war, i.e. tourism, explaining: 'Slapping import bans on products like mangoes, coal and salmon has long been China's way of punishing countries that refuse to toe its political line. But Beijing has shown that it can also hurt others by cutting a lucrative Chinese export, tourism.'
The article quotes the example of South Korea over a US anti-missile shield and the ban on Chinese tour groups from visiting Korea.
Similarly, tourism to Taiwan has also fallen sharply as relations across the strait worsened.
Countries submitting to China's demands are rewarded and those who do not 'behave' are punished. Closer to us, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn published earlier this month the 'hidden' report on CPEC.
One of the chapters speaks about the development of a 'coastal tourism' industry; a long belt of coastal enjoyment industry that includes yacht wharfs, cruise homeports, nightlife, city parks, public squares, theatres, golf courses and spas, hot spring hotels and water sports.
The report adds: 'for the development of coastal vacation products, Islamic culture, historical culture, folk culture and marine culture shall all be integrated.'
Many see this as a new form of colonisation, though this is far from being the case in Bali as yet. The point remains that India has still a lot to learn from the island in terms of hospitality and cleanliness.
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