Sunday 16th of September, 2012.
Location – Sadavali village, (somewhere in the middle of the North Western Ghats), India.
Time - 5:10am
Dark and quiet; you are the only person staying in the guest house.
You are sleeping deeply, dreaming with little angels running around, sheep jumping fences in meadows with rainbows and butterflies, 'care bears' and 'smurfs' or something like that; when all of a sudden your 'sweet dream' is interrupted by a big noise of something hitting the ground, back in the room that stands 3 meters away from you.
Half asleep you just think: "ZzZzz..Something fell down to the ground. Good for 'it'. Now, back to sleep."
About 10 seconds later, you REthink what you just though, and say: "SH#T. Something fell down to the ground!".
Third though which automatically comes to mind: "SNAKE!" (heart starts beating).
[I know I can't seem to basically shut up with the whole snakes paranoia topic; but if you're in King Cobra, Crate and Viper territory you got more than one fair reason to keep your 'antennas' up and alert!]
You grab the flashlight next to you and stand up (heart keeps beating). You walk a few steps, stand in front of the door (heart is coming up your throat). You extend your arm to open the door and push it; the door swings open (heart has reached your mouth).
You see the "bucket-like" kind of thing that fell down to the ground in front of you.. you see a 'not so small creature' next to it (maybe no need to say, that by this time: Heart has been nearly expelled out of your system). You take a close look at it and...
Miau!.. A cat (not exactly the kind of alarm clock you would want while in the middle of the wild!).
I must say, that this little guy or girl scared the hell out of me. But it turned out his heart was also about to be expelled out of his system; he was also very scared. It was after 20 minutes of attempting to be a 'cat-whisperer', that I managed to get him or her out of the house.
RULE # 1: Do not be afraid of the dark
Tool: Flashlight
RULE # 2: 'Enlighten' up
There are those 'dark' times when even a flashlight will prove to be useless..
"Be your own lamp", is what Buddha said, "seek no other refuge but yourself".
But in a country with 330 million gods, you are more than free to chose where you get your source of 'enlightment' from.
It is, EVERYWHERE.
RULE # 3: Be barefooted
Many gods means many temples; and here in India, many temples means many barefooted individuals.
Go ahead and get 'off your shoes' or 'get your shoes off'.. whatever pleases you more!
RULE # 4: Be 'medical'
Barefooted, as well as non-barefooted people tend to get sick. Lucky us, various of these temples are also surrounded by other types of 'sacred lands'.
From migraine to leprosy. From snake bites and colds to cancer.. The world has found its own way for giving us 2nd (3rd, 4th, sometimes countless) chances.
In these forests, you'll find yourself surrounded with hundreds of medicinal plants.
Of course, once you're in 'medi-plant land'; why not try one?
RULE # 5: Be waterproof
Wherever there's life we find water. Wherever there's water we find life.
So, with abundant numbers of 'medi-plants', there comes abundant numbers of drops; raindrops.
June and July welcome the heavy 'Monsoon' rains here at the Western Ghats. Climatic shifts have made this years' rains to start and end a bit late.
2,500mm of water 'rained on you'.
Tool: Raincoat
RULE # 6: Be buffalo-'beveraged'
Water for us humans is not the only 'drinkable' thing, there are many other drinks which satisfy the need for 'calming the thirst'.
There are those such as: Coca-Cola, Sprite, Pepsi, buffalo milk, Fanta, Dr. Pepp.. Did somebody say 'buffalo milk'?
Yes, buffalo milk!
No brand. No, nothing. Just pure, fresh, natural buffalo milk. And, oh it tastes good (at least along with tea, it is simply irresistible)!
RULE # 7: Be a ‘spice dragon’
If you have somehow managed to have access to pure, fresh, natural buffalo milk; chances are that you'll find pure, fresh, natural food.
I know I had already said in a previous post: "Spicy breakfasts = GAME OVER".
But I guess it is not possible to leave out the word "spicy" off your daily life when you are in India.
Now I switch to: "100% vegetarian spicy breakfasts, lunches, dinners = MY GAME'S OVER, NOT YOURS". Say hello to a 'veggie-dragons' mouth' every morning, afternoon and evening. There's no exit.
RULE # 8: Bring with you a 'thirst for knowledge'
Culture-rich rural communities, millions of gods and century-long traditions, hundreds of plants and animal species, multiple points of view and different sides of the same story..
Field work, interviews, PDFs, books..
Filtering these extensive information and connecting it with a world that, at this moment, seems to be so 'distant'; proves to be a challenge.
But one 'NERDay' ("Nerd"-"day"), seems to be the answer to have more of a 'clear view' of the 'horizon'. Specially when you have such a beautiful one right in front of you.
In case you get really 'brain tired' and need to have a drink of water,
Tool: Drinking water disinfectant.
RULE # 9: Listen
Everyone has a voice; the key is - listening.
Tool : Notebook & pen.
RULE # 10: Explore
“NERDays” and listening does not even get you started with what being a "marketist" is all about.
If you have managed to read up to this 10th rule, congratulations! You'll now about to take with you what's the best part of it:
When in one of the visited forests, a local villager who’s fishing says that in the past 15 days there has been 2 cases of leopards hunting part of the village's livestock, and that a tiger has been spotted near by; there is a one and only answer: To explore!
The romantic moment (..had to come): I must say that by far, one of the best, most incredible, incredible times I've ever had.
The feeling you have inside by knowing, that at that exact moment, there is a leopard or a tiger in that same place.. THERE, somewhere. Maybe one of them is even watching you, and you are completely unaware of it.
Just standing there in their territory, their natural habitat, their home; and knowing that there are still some out there in the wild is inexplicable.
It gives you this thing inside of happiness, fear, fullness all at the same time. It is just amazing.
I know it may seem ridiculous, but at that moment I really felt like the luckiest, most 'successful' person that set foot on earth! It was an honor; more than I could ever ask. It’s funny, I really have no idea of how to explain.
(I've been having so many romantic moments lately, that I have decided to even dedicate these parts their own 'subtitle' with a different/'romantic' looking color!)
Tool: Mosquito repellent
RULE # 11: Wash
Mud, wet, soil, sand, little rocks in your shoes comes along with such an adventure.
Here in 'paradise' you've got not to only accept and learn to like cold showers, but also take some minutes of extensive 'arm workout' for hand washing your clothes!
RULE # 12: Enjoy
We have almost reached the end of this blog post. The last rule I wrote is 'Enjoy'.
When you think about it, life is like the moments in between the blinks of an eye. You blink, and this blink is already in the past. The next one, is the future.
All we've got left is that 'space' in the middle, the transition. These 'speed-of-light' moments. The present. Then, in some way everything has already changed.
Therefore, enjoy your 'speed-of-light moments'. Make them longer and even if they are not what you expected, maybe try changing your perception; they are all yours after all..
Enjoy looking at a family of macaques running away from you to hide on the top of their trees! Enjoy watching a languor sitting at an abandoned house in the middle of a rice field. Enjoy letting a 'camera-friendly' bull frog model for you and watching a couple of hornbills plan their next flight’s destination.
Enjoy nocturnal frog/fish/snail/toad pond exploration adventures!
The crabs, the termite's architectural abilities, a sunbird's nest.. a lost cow.
And because in nature, you do not need to have legs, arms, eyes or wings to 'show off'- Enjoy the coolest plant ever, that with one touch finds its own way of 'vanishing'.
I know I told you before that my photographic skills are not at all 'professional'; well my camera isn't 'professional' at all neither.
My -3.25 eye sight zooms much more effectively than my camera's lens. Therefore, most of my pictures are not so 'good enough' and clear; which is a pity.
One of the persons who I'm working with here though, gave me a very bright solution: Binoculars!
I took The hornbill’s and languor’s pictures (above) using this 'method'. It has its tricks and shooting wild animals has proven to be a bit complicated, they get scared away pretty easily; but hopefully I get to improve and upload better ‘long distance’ pictures in future posts.
I guess there's no need to say that in reality there are no rules for being or becoming this "marketist" thing I made up.
Live with no rules; live with the existing ones; make your own, follow them, break them, do whatever you want, whatever you feel is the correct thing to do. Just make sure that whatever you decide to do, is worth it in the end.
Today, it is about time I stop writing. Hopefully you liked this post. I leave.. 'till next time
PEACE
Your “marketist” writer,
Maria
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