Where nothing is lost...

Apologies. I got sidelined for a few days because of deadlines I had to meet. Yes, I'm trying to get back into the 'normal' work life. (Note: Normal is supremely over rated.) Also I got distracted by Calvin & Hobbes, who as usual, tickled my imagination far too much to not share!

Before I get distracted again, I'll finish what I started with. 

I wish the world would understand what we look like the way the stars see us. A blimp in the blackness of the universe. A sole blazing sun supporting this delicately balanced eco-system. Perhaps we would then stop rampaging through this world & her resources without a care. We as a race completely fail to see the significance of anything beyond ourselves.

What if we stopped buying love, as sold to us by these community wrecking companies which seek to train our minds in to thinking the way they want us to - to be singular individuals with the sole purpose of owning far too many commodities.What if we instead focussed on building communities which live in communally owned land, consume only what they grow & need, and built a support system comprised of like-minded, free spirited families with visions of a greater good? (Thank you, Aunty for our hill-top healing session over sunset yesterday.)

What if we ceased to be lost in our warped fantasies of 'superior intelligence' and instead created a system where information, knowledge & awareness was freely shared? It's easier said than done, to smile & to forgive, to attempt to change or understand a world where mediocrity & extreme inefficiency is not only accepted but encouraged. But it needs to be dealt with. And understood. Unfortunately, we cannot always hide in our homes or with Hobbes. It's been simpler to seek out similar people instead. People who believe, like me, that nothing is lost.

We seek & find people who complete us. And when their contribution to our daily epiphanies are done, the universe dictates they move on. I've learnt that mum was right as usual. Auras & Vibes. The scruffy Goan boys fascinated by our piddly recognition of Konkani words, or the cheeky Kashmiris constantly poking fun of the inability to remember unimportant 'work' stuff. Pahadi boys who string together random English with the most serious intent of rhyming. 'Paneer Pakora, Chalo to Chapora.' Their big toothy smiles are like rays of sunshine in our humdrum, humid days without electricity in the office. Gorgeous Goan boys, humma-humma hippie mamas, (Seriously, these Mamas are so hot. Like really.) Rib-crushing restaurateurs or the shady sexy silhouette I spot at every Psy gig I go to. So we get to drive by the caravan with the bed looking out to sea or sunbath in eye popping sunshine, acquiring wrinkles that come with the wind & the waves. Auras & Vibes. We attract auras we give off I guess. So my Wyrd Witch who chanted 'My bumps,...' in unison with me to describe multiple mosquito bites peppering our bums, and strange, kind Germans are equally welcome to clamber some hills & listen for the peacocks with me.


The 'Normal' world (yeah, the same one that commercialized love & compassion) is the one which paints large, old, weathered rocks on beautiful (now-deforested) hills. Goa pays the price for rich people wanting to cavort in cocaine fuelled ecstasy, staking their filthy claim on free sunshine & forests. This 'normal' world doesn't understand the fascination of owl-spotting in mango trees on moonlit nights. I can't even disclose these locations, because every beautiful spot discovered in our lost rambles across Goa have had to be hidden. From you. Yes, you. You, who logs onto that infernal watsupgoa website to find pseudo 'parties', where you grind up against girls, labouring in your assumption that you are most attractive when your pelvis is uncomfortably thrusting against women who only, and just only, want to trip in shanti. Yes, it's the damned network, and connectivity that allows these creeps into our paradise. And corruption, but that again, is a different story.

Aunty was telling me about how the prophesies warn of the end of the world - as the human race has pretended to know it. The message is ultimately about how our chaotic lives need to calm down & understand the ways of the world better to be able to survive. Bittu Sahgal said the same.


This world needs to get Psy-High. It needs to learn to indulge in psychedelic experiences and understand that dogs are solar powered for a reason. It needs to learn to love the hot afternoon sunlight. The way it sparkles on the river. It needs to learn to discard money as the primary method to measure success, and needs to learn instead to map life in terms of health and happiness. And no, your pelvic pumps to make 'friendsheeps' really don't count - it's easier to be friends only with those who are sheep no more. We need to re-engage with art for protest, and guerilla re-forestation. Not 100 days of happiness which perhaps is a well-meaning idea barring that it limits documentation of 'happiness' to techno-geek city-slickers. How am I supposed to photograph that rippling tanned fisherman's back yanking the boat on to the beach? Social norms only allow me to look down upon him & dismiss him as an illiterate fool. Social norms restrain me from engaging with him or learning about his life & home. How am I supposed to document that oh-so-sexy jaw-line spotted in the thrash of people thumpling around at the speakers? Social norms dictate I must not be out of my home post 8 p.m. And especially not at the beach banging my feet on the floor boards with loose, immoral abandon. Somehow I'm not yet convinced I need to scramble towards the nearest tourist infested spot to find 'free hi-speed wi fi' to be able to post/tag every time I pose pouting against the sun/mirror/bathroom/whatever-catches-my-fancy. It's just an indicator of every single time I've denied myself imaginative, intelligent conversation with another individual.

There's much to be done, and too few people doing it. Systematic disposal of garbage & curbing useless generation of junk synthetic inorganic goods are unfortunate grim realities we must engage with. This constant need to be connected should be channelized into building alternate channels of information exchange. We live in the age of the World Wide Web. So whether you re-post articles from your work desk, or you draw up a contrived plan to teach your mum how to segregate garbage, share, for there is much to be done.

There exists an alternate world where freedom of spirit & love are openly celebrated, respected and encouraged. I smiled at a stranger. He tucked a flower behind my ear and walked away. 

It is a possibility because you manifest love enough that a 12 year old has the freedom to retort, 'You two need to grow up!' when you're having a giggle fit with her mom over an over-flushing loo story. Dogs live free & safe, and cattle roam wild, deftly picking out tourist trash from plastic bags strewn around after a 'trance party'. Night time spooks include my own shadow which sends me sprinting down the beach. Far away thumps of bass vibrate the moon's slender shadow over Chapora River. Our toenails are silver in the lightwash of the moon. The dog flopped out at my feet quivers in his dreams and rolls over. A gang of Europeans whiz by, not noticing the shadows by the road. This life has taught me to look beyond a world caught up with what they're being told on TV.


So here's what I think. I think we ought to look towards a life full of love. For every moment we can enjoy sunshine & fresh air. To find fresh juice in a world obsessed with tetra-packs. Give, give without a thought to getting back. Because you shall. Always. Two-fold. Nay, manifold. And yes, you will be battered by the bad ones which over-populate this planet. And you will be cheated, and lied to, and lied about. But never let forget to live free, without negativity to narrow your vision, and live with love. 

For when you're low, looking mournfully at your computer, thoughts of looming deadlines and unpaid bills messing with your mind, Fat-White climbs into your lap, suddenly needy after months of completely ignoring you. And love is scattered around in the hearts of all the lives we matter to. Our loved ones come & go, and live & die, but remain in our memories for ever, like little bubbles of colourful love. With rainbow explosions in our horizons every time they see the same stars we do, or wish us well. For a world with love is full of free sunshine. It's a world where nothing is ever lost.

note: Thank you for the music & memories of 'Nothing Lasts...But Nothing is lost'.