Vegetarian

Before I start with, a small request: Kindly use Google translate and Google search for those foreign phrases since I don't want to break my flow, in between, by giving translations.

Once upon a time in an early morning....Someone knocked at my door of my lake view room in Fischerklause- Hamburg. He greeted me Guten Morgan as soon as I opened the door. He made me follow him with his gestures, took me in the boat to the center of the lake , took his fishing bait and in a few minutes he caught a fish and showed it to me. Then I realised what was happening there, and in a quick reflex I showed him the SMS sent by my German Friend for emergency use - "er ist ein vegetarain. er kann nicht Fisch, Huhn, Schaf etc essen aus religiösen Gründen" . The guy kept his hand on his head and gave a frown with a murmur- of-course I am sure he would have uttered something like MC, BC etc.....This was my first hand trouble experience as a vegetarian......

And now the story starts.....

Never knew that Indonesia is just at a 55 minutes distance from Singapore till I boarded the Batam Fast (Ferry) from Singapore Harbor front ..... Only thing which disturbs me -always- when I travel to a new country is the availability of vegetarian food (or better may I call it Satvic food, since I avoid taking Onion and Garlic too).... With the same skepticism I landed at Batam and the Immigration guy with a folded hands said "Selamat Datang". Being a Muslim country I was ready to reciprocate in Mamukoya style when they greet me "Assalaamu alehkum" and by default my sub conscious mind made me say "Walehkum Assalaam". Later I knew that I should say "Sama-sama" which means "Same here or same to you"...Hope you could see the Sanskrit connection in Indonesian Words....

After clearing Immigration formalities I was very hungry and I searched for a good restaurant and I zeroed in on one which looked nice and clean. The waitress asked me "Apa mau"-for I said -Vegetarian..She could not understand (In Indonesia they pronounce Veg as Fegk and Weg as Vegk). I was not smart enough to use my smart phone but I showed her the Timun, Bawang, Wortel and Indo Mie (Noodles). Then she said in a musical tone "Ohhhhh....Saaayuuuuuraan"

In another ten minutes the breakfast was ready and later I proceeded to my destination to take rest....

....Days passed and slowly I started picking up words and phrases and most important how to utter the same in their musical slang. My non-veg eating friends sarcastically told that being vegetarian in Indonesia is like being a handicap. They said that even the food which they say vegetarian will have egg in it. So.... I learnt to say "Tidak pakai telur" which then became "Hanya Sayuran, nggak pakai telur" and later "Jangan pakai telur"

Learning continued alongwith practice and I started liking the vegetarian food of Indo- Nasi Goreng Sayuran, Kentang Goreng,Cap Cai, Mei Goreng Sayur, Kolak and kurma, Dodol Kentang, 'Martabak -tidak pakai telur',Tahu, Tempei with Kecap Manis or Pedas Sambal, Lalapan, Veg Supreme Pizza and so on. How can I forget to mention the Monas (a small replica of the Monument Nasional in Jakarta) Ice cream from A&W.....

This new learning gave me confidence to travel anywhere across the archiplaego 'Nusantara' and visited the beautiful places in the earth (other than my motherland) .

The influence of Sanskrit and Indian culture were clearly visible in Indonesia both in Symbols as well as in their behavior. They greet everyone with a folded hands, after a handshake- they touch their heart, always use right hand to give something, that too with the left hand fingers touching the right hand as done by an Indian Priest while giving Prasadam . I have just mentioned a few, but the point which I want to stress is that these gestures are done by all irrespective of religion. This made me really proud about our age-old culture but unfortunately in India it is being given the color of religion and even politicised....

Whether it was during Scuba Diving in Nusa Dua or while trekking the active volcano "Kawah Domas" my mind was full of the Sanskrit Shloka reproduced below:

समुद्रवसने देवि पर्वतस्तनमण्डले ।
विष्णुपत्नि नमस्तुभ्यं पादस्पर्शं क्षमस्वमे ॥

.....I was taught how to wear the sandal paste in my forehead, how to wear the Sacred Thread, what mantra to recite when I wake up and touch the floor with my feet- all external symbols of being a Hindu, but only after being here in Indonesia, I realised that I have become a Hindu as well as Fegketarian internally juga .

Terima Kasih Banyak, Indonesia!