What is a priceless moment or lesson in life?

I guess meeting Kadek was one for me.

One last photo

with a reflection on the water surface, I wanted to have.

At the end of an already impressive day, we stopped again at a rice field on my last day in Bali. A man was doing his laps with his little tractor in the water. While I was looking for a suitable composition on the edge of the field, he stopped and came up to me. OHO! I thought to myself, because back home where I live that doesn't mean anything good … you’d better run away.

The second born

In Bali I noticed right from the start that every second person was called “Wayan” or “Kadek”.

Not surprising, because in Bali the names are given according to the order in which the children were born. After the fourth child, the name carousel repeats itself from the beginning. Sounds simple, but it's not. In order to understand the numerous possibilities and linguistic differences between men and women, I recommend everyone to travel to Bali … only locals can explain this.

So Kadek came up to me, and it turned out that my prejudices, as I had often before, were completely unfounded. A break for him and a friendly exchange between two people who are just meeting each other. He didn't stop because he was suspicious and wanted to know what I was doing in his field. No, but because he was curious. He devoted his precious time to me because he was simply interested in where I came from, what’s my story and how I liked Bali. I told him my experiences and impressions, and that I didn't want to leave his wonderful island anymore. In return, I learned touching details from his life. In the meantime, people from the surrounding fields kept coming by to say hello too. A lovely moment.

The friendliness and happiness on this island is simply contagious. The work in the rice fields is really hard work, in Kadek’s face and hands I could see that despite his young age. You don't get rich with it, it just ensures the survival of a family. This finding raises the question of who will ultimately lead a happier life. Western Progressive vs. eastern holism. What do we really need to be happy? I think less is more.

A priceless memory

Like every day on the island of the gods, I hoped that this one would never end.

All I could offer in exchange for his time and attention at the moment were my cigarettes. He accepted them gratefully, especially since his were soaked from work in the field. When he told me about the poisonous snakes in the rice fields with a smile, I got a little nervous. But his calm charisma quickly made me forget that… but I will never forget him, his story and these moments. After this short time together and an impressive exchange, we have all moved on again. The next morning, however, I didn’t go on to the next planned destination of my trip, but rather back to the start : home ... with dengue fever in my luggage.

It felt like playing the game "don't get angry". After numerous successful travel experiences, the illness just kicked me out. The initial disappointment was of course huge. But today I see things differently: Every time I see my pictures of this and other moments, I am grateful. For being able to experience them and letting strangers take part in their lives, I was able to learn from their stories. And they keep making me too aware of the responsibility we have in creating such contemporary documents.

Images and Text © Sascha van der Werf