Fire.
Like onion and garlic
Will be sold someday
From pushcarts.
– Parmananda Shrivastava in Aag
Malaysia has recently been spending a small fortune on multimedia campaigns to project itself as 'Truly Asia', but such a distinction belongs most naturally to Indonesia. People from all over the continent feel instantly at home in the mixed culture that has evolved in this country over the past several centuries. For Muslims from Bahrain or Bangladesh, Indonesia is a fascinating land. It has more Muslims than anywhere in the world, but is not an Islamic state. Most professionals respond to azaan, the ritual call to Muslim prayer, with a brief pause, and then get on with the business at hand. Some working women wear headscarves, but burqas attract curious glances. But despite marked differences, Indonesia is a country where Muslims from Arabia and Southasia can find a mosque whenever it is time to pray, and halal food is easily available on any street corner.
The classical period of Indonesian history, between the fifth and 15th century, was Hindu and Buddhist. Bali and Borobudur survive today to tell the tale of the day when sailboats were faster than bullock carts, and thus the Indonesian islands across the bay (which came to be named after Bengal) were closer to Madras than were the great cities of the Indo-Gangetic plains. Hindus from Southasia are instantly charmed by the visible influence of Sanskrit, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata on seemingly every aspect of mainstream Indonesian bhasa (language) and artha (economy).
Indeed, the major religion of Indonesia traces its origin to West Asia; its classical culture is rooted in the legends of Southasia; and its people are quintessentially tropical, albeit with Pacific predilection. Yet at the same time, there is something perceptibly Confucian in the mannerisms of the common Indonesian. Austerity, obeisance, obsequiousness and industry – which supposedly define the 'Asian Way', as theorised by Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore – are the values to which the Indonesian bourgeoisie also aspires. Since Indonesia has always been the nucleus of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), its affinity with the people of the region is affirmed through multiple engagements.