The party secrets.

[Text and photos by Mayank Austen Soofi]

Most dresses were flowery, and since white people love Bali, most complexions were decidedly pale.

One evening The Delhi Walla attended the opening of Ubud Writers & Readers Festival on the lawns of the Bianco Renaissance Museum. An over-flowing number of writers from across continents strutted around in their beautiful grey hair–one man was an exact replica of Gabriel García Márquez (see photo 8 below). The prime stunner, of course, was columnist Jennifer Lindsay–she looked like Meryl Streep’s improved edition (see photos 6 and 7). Like so many successful people in this part of the world, Ms Lindsay divides her time between Indonesia and Australia.

The most important face was Ms Janet DeNeefe’s, the town’s famous restaurant owner. Dressed in a gorgeous native costume with a white rose provocatively tucked on her chignon (photo 4), Ms DeNeefe becomes the toast of Ubud society each year during the festival—she is its founder and director.

Also spotted: Githa Hariharan from India (photo 11). The author was in the same brown sari, same black blouse and same black bindi that she had worn last year for a book launch at The Park Hotel in Delhi. (Fortunately nobody knew that at Bianco.)

Ms Hariharan, who speaks English in an intimidating upper-class accent, was overheard mentioning the “kinds of hate mails I get.” Brave woman.

Also spotted: The lovely Eileen Walder of Queensland in Australia.

The evening’s most mysterious guest was a loner who would stare suspiciously—and very openly–at everyone in the lawn (photo 10). Could she be Putin’s spy in the Asia-Pacific? Alas, this was no Tatiana Romanova. She turned out to be Judith Moon from the embassy of the United States.

Reading, writing, drinking, Bali style

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