Bagi umat Hindu di Bali, tradisi mebanten atau memberikan sesaji merupakan aktivitas orang Bali hampir setiap harinya. Setiap selesai memasak, orang Bali yang beragama Hindu pasti mempersembahkan sebagian hasil masakannya kepada Tuhan. Persembahan ini dikenal sebagai banten saiban atau jotan . Bagi Oka Rusmini, banten saiban pada hakikatnya bukan sesaji dalam bentuk materi, melainkan sesaji dalam arti rasa syukur yang harus dimiliki oleh setiap orang karena hari ini telah tersedia sepiring nasi untuk melanjutkan hidup. Ditulis pada kurun 2008-2014, buku puisi Saiban berbicara banyak hal tentang cinta. Tentang hidup yang berdenyut. Hidup yang menawarkan banyak hal. Buku puisi ini adalah semacam upacara tersendiri bagi Oka Rusmini. Suatu ungkapan rasa syukur yang tidak ada habisnya yang ia haturkan kepada Kosmis.
Author
Oka Rusmini was born in Jakarta, July 11, 1967. She lives in Denpasar, Bali. She writes poetry, novel, and short story. Her published works are Monolog Pohon (1997), Tarian Bumi (2000), Sagra (2001), Kenanga (2003), Patiwangi (2003), Warna Kita (2007), Pandora (2008), Tempurung (2010), Akar Pule (2012), Saiban (2014). Her novel Tarian Bumi has been translated into foreign languages: Erdentanz (Deutsch edition, 2007), Jordens Dans (Svenska edition, 2009), Earth Dance (English edition, 2011), and La danza della terra (Italian edition, 2015). In the year 2002, she received the Best Poetry Award from Poetry Journal. In 2003, The Language Centre, Ministry of Education of the Republic of Indonesia, gave her the Literary Appreciation Award of Literary Works for her novel Tarian Bumi. In 2012, she received the Literary Appreciation Award from the Agency of Language Development and Cultivation, Ministry of Education of the Republic of Indonesia, and the South East Asian Write Award, Bangkok, Thailand, for her novel Tempurung. Her book of poems Saiban (2014) won the national literary award, “Kusala Sastra Khatulistiwa 2013-2014”. She was invited to national and international events, such as Literary Festival Winternachten in Den Haag, Amsterdam, Netherland (2003), Singapore Writer Festival (2011), and OZ Festival, Adelaide, Australia (2013). She was also invited as guest writer in Hamburg University Germany (2003). Oka Rusmini can be contacted at Twitter: @okarus Email : tarianbumi@yahoo.com. Facebook Page: oka rusmini
