Born and raised in the island of paradise known as Bali, Ketut tells the journey of finding community in his new home in England.
Sacrificing your support system and culture at home to settle in unfamiliar land is a shared experience among international migrants in the UK.
When I moved to London for my studies, the rose-tinted lens on life disappeared after a few weeks, as the gloomy weather exacerbated my feelings of homesickness.
This is when I meet Ketut, a friendly Balinese face in the sea of Indonesians. We shared the same surname: Pande, despite our only connection of being part of a long lineage of blacksmiths in Bali, also known as the “Masters of metal”.
He was courteous when greeting me over the phone with Om Swastiastu, a phrase that tourists are no stranger to when on holiday. I warmed to his thick Balinese dialect which was reminiscent of the friendliness I longed to hear.
Based in Bournemouth, I Ketut Artawan Pande, 48, is the fourth child in his family. He was an avid traveler since 2010, having lived between Bali and Thailand, then Australia, before flying over 13 torturous hours to the UK in 2013. When you’ve moved from a tropical region to the chilly UK, one question to expect is: Why move here? Ketut made his decision to settle in Bournemouth for the sake of his wife’s family and his children.
“[My wife] is an only child. When her parents fell ill, we thought it was sensible to move closer to her family so we can care for them.”.
Like many Balinese kids, Ketut grew up surrounded by art, hence his painting and tattooing career that followed him along his travels. In 2015, he opened Bali Karma Tattoo, his own studio in Wimborne. His passion for tattooing seeped into his commentary; he told me how he runs the business on a Facebook page to meeting his clients to discuss tattoo designs, which were a mix of his own creations inspired by Bali or the clients’ original ideas.
He is also the leader of a community in the UK, titled Banjar Bali ring UK, which roughly translates to “the Balinese neighbourhood of the UK”. This community brings 270 Balinese students and citizens from all over the country to celebrate the Hindu holidays we miss out. It had started with a student in 2014, who wanted to stay in touch with his Balinese roots while being oceans away.
Of course, the celebrations can’t be 100% recreated, given the lack of resources here. Ketut elaborated, “We had to prioritise certain holidays to celebrate. We chose major holidays that fall on the weekend.”.
Back in June, they had a gathering in Taunton, southwestern England in a site that acted as a public temple. Even the offerings were made to look as authentic as possible: Most cloth or batik were brought from Bali, and flowers and palm leaves were shipped from Brazil, the main components of the Canang Sari, a common Balinese offering.
I asked Ketut how he overcame the feeling of loneliness from being in foreign environments, and at a time when platforms like Whatsapp or Skype was rarely used back home.
“One of the biggest cures to my homesickness was food,” Ketut answered. “Australia has lots of Asian cuisine because of its large Asian community, and it was easy to find Asian food in Thailand. The UK was the biggest struggle.” Luckily, authentic Indonesian food is easy to come by nowadays, and Ketut tells me Balinese food can be ordered with the click of a button, from online shops like Warung Bali UK and Bali Shop UK.
Out of all the countries he has seen and settled in, I asked Ketut which was his favourite to live. “Of course, Bali doesn’t compare to the other places I’ve lived in. But I am happy to be wherever my kids are.” He smiled.