Baby Love

After the eighth month of pregnancy, pregnant women are encouraged to drink loloh don pucuk (a kind of healthy drink made from hibiscus flowers). The purpose is to accelerate the baby’s birth. Besides that, it is also recommended that the mother-to-be drinks young coconut milk, in order to clean the baby. Nearing the time of the birth, the husband is not allowed to travel a long distance so that he can accompany the wife when giving birth. When a wife is giving a birth, it is treated as a struggle between life and death. In Balinese, it is known as megantung bok akatih (like hanging on a thread of hair). At that time, the husband’s presence is needed in giving mental support for his wife.
Before the baby is born, the husband has prepared the bathing place for the baby made from upih (areca nut leaves). Soon after the baby’s birth, the grandfather, grandmother, other relatives and the neighbors come to join in the celebration, preparing a small ceremony that is known as pemagpag rare (bringing home the baby).
According to Balinese beliefs, since in the womb, actually the newborn baby is already taken care of. It is known as kanda pat (the four brothers), which consists of rah (blood), yeh nyom (amniotic fluid), lamas (phlegm), and ari-ari (placenta). These four brothers masemaya (promised) while still in the womb that they will ngerunguang (take care of) each other. Those four-brother rules play an important part of the newborn baby’s growth from the womb until death.
This is the reason why the placenta and the others are buried in front of the house gate, and given special attention just like the baby. For example, before the baby is bottle-fed or given food, the ones who feed first are the baby’s nyama (brothers). Besides that, on a certain day, the baby’s brothers are also given a special offering, that is in the form of segehan kepelan (rice serving), in four colours of white, red, yellow, and black. This offering is usually called segehan kepelan.
When the baby’s umbilical cord is kepus (taken off), again, there will be a ceremony that is called kepus pungsed ceremony. The detached umbilical cord is put into tipat kukur (plaited coconut leaves that looks like large turtledove bird). After it is complete with many Balinese preservative materials, that ketupat will be placed on a plangkiran (kind of veneration place inside the room) and put above the baby’s bed. In this place, it will be an offering everyday that is made from beautiful flowers and perfume, which is dedicated to Sang Hyang Kumara (God in His manifestation as the baby sitter). That’s how the Balinese take care of baby’s, whether in sekala (obvious way) or niskala (unobvious/spiritual way). (Made Suambara )

Balineselife

I Cuit, a Little Spoiled Mouse

There were two mice, the mother and its child, called I Cuit. Ever since his father died after a cat got him, the mother spoiled her son. She didn’t allow I Cuit to go out of their hole so as to avoid danger. He spent his days eating and being lazy. The mother mouse went out every day to find food. She stored some of the food for the rainy season, and the rest I Cuit ate immediately.
Once upon a time, the mother became ill and was unable to supply her son with fresh food. The youngster became very sad knowing what had happened to his mother. Questioned by I Cuit, the mother smiled and promised to look for food again as soon as she recovered. Sadly she became more and more weak as the illness lasted longer and longer. She soon called her son to her to give him some advice:

“My son, Cuit, come here for a while.”
“What’s the matter, Ma?” Cuit asked while sitting by his mother’s side that lay on the bed in a weak condition. “It seems your mother will not live much longer. I feel sadness to leave you alone to struggle for your life in this harsh world.”
“Don’t say it, Ma! I’m getting sad and frightened,” I Cuit interrupted his mother while embracing her. The mother felt sad imagining her son would suffer so much after her death. She was aware this was her fault as a mother for spoiling her son so that he didn’t have any knowledge or experience at all.
“My son, we exist as mice with many enemies. They will always try to do us harm,” his mother told him.
“Enemies? Who are they all, Ma?” I Cuit asked curiously. The mother mouse inhaled deeply, “There are two kinds of very dangerous enemies for mice, cats and men.”
“Cats? I Cuit asked, having no idea about cats because so far he had never been outside his hole.
The mother then made it clear what cats looked like, describing them as wild animals fond of making mice their prey, with extremely pointed ears, long legs and sharp eyes. Listening to his mother’s explanation, I Cuit became extremely pale and fell into a cold sweat. He became a coward just upon listening to the story, not imagining what would happen to him on spotting a cat itself.
“ The second enemy of mice are men,” said his mother.
“ Are they are fond eating our meat, Ma?” I Cuit questioned with a trembling voice.
“Men in Bali have no desire to eat our flesh. Nevertheless, they are a vicious enemy of ours so that they always try to kill us whenever they see us.
I Cuit got more afraid. He imagined men appearing to frighten mice.
“They are eager to put traps with bait in the form of delicious food to catch us. That’s why if you sometimes smell something nice, you need to be vigilant,” the mother said.
“Why, Ma?”
“Because it is probably the men putting traps in that place.”
Hearing about it, I Cuit immediately embraced his mother closely, while praying to God not to take his mother’s life away.
Sadly the mother mouse finally died. Now, I Cuit lived alone, staying in the hole all day long. He consumed the food supply stored by his mother. The longer he stayed in the hole, the emptier the food supply became. I Cuit felt panicky. He was hungry, but had nothing to eat. I Cuit was sad because of his inability to stand on his own two feet. One day, I Cuit became brave enough to go out of his hole due to his great hunger. Arriving outside the hole, I Cuit turned his head in all directions to be certain that there weren’t any cats spying on him. After deciding that the situation was safe, he walked around while sniffing everywhere, but he failed to find any food in the surrounding area of his hole. More over, there was no cat in sight. He thought that his mother had been just trying to frighten him in order not to go far from the hole.
I Cuit went far enough, suddenly he smelt a very pleasant smell. Now, he didn’t care about his mother’s words. He walked around in search of the delicious smell. I Cuit was very happy in finding the source of the delicious smell, a piece of beef in a mousetrap. Because of his extreme hunger, I Cuit directly nibbled into the meat. “Bum...!” A very heavy object fell on his neck causing great pain. I Cuit screamed and died in great pain and humiliation. (Retold by Gung Man)