My travel article on the great temples of Java in the Free Press Journal

http://www.freepressjournal.in/news/16515-GREAT--TEMPLES--OF-JAVA.html

My travel article on Jakarta in the Free Press Journal

http://www.freepressjournal.in/news/14097-Jakarta-Glimpses-of-Indonesias-Past--Present-and-Future.html

Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Troops)

Two decades before the East Asian financial crisis, the Indonesian island of Belitong was booming. The island, which is blessed with minerals and natural resources, is the setting for Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Troops), a film based on a book by Andrea Hirata.

Hirata's childhood memories take us back to Belitong, where his teachers Muslimah and Pak Arfan struggle to keep an Islamic school open. The well-heeled on the island send their children to a modern private school, while the labourers feel education is a waste of time for theirs. The movie follows the joys, trials an tribulations of the teachers and the 10 children.

Set in picturesque surroundings of rural Indonesia, the film captures the beautiful friendship between the children as they share their dreams. Pak Arfan plays the role of the simple and dignified principal, who works his heart out to keep the school open and imbibes the non-Wahabi qualities of Islam. He passes on the torch to Muslimah, a beautiful young teacher who inspires the students to perform well in academics and extra-curricular activities.

Laskar Pelangi captures both the innocence of childhood as well as the struggles of the poor to live a dignified life in rural Indonesia. The storyline is filled with surprises and shows how superstitions and traditions from the animistic and pre-Islamic culture of the country is still alive.

A heart-warming comedy and touching story like this can't leave any viewer untouched. I can see why the film is the biggest box office hit in Indonesian history