And
we set off for the Banyan Tree that day morning …
I
have heard about the serenity of Arambol beach before and also about
the wondrous Banyan Tree of Arambol. Somehow I was of the impression
that the Banyan tree is somewhere by the littoral or near to a lake
along the beach stretch, beside and beneath of which people of
different color, gender and nationalities, who come to Arambol to
awe, to admire and to love the tranquility assembles and does
whatever their heart wants. Some in search of peace and happiness,
some to fall in love with nature and to revive their spirits and for
some others it is a place to take their conscious mind for a
psychedelic adventure. The other day when we were in one of those
beach shacks with wi-fi facility (the
password of that wifi internet connection was pretty interesting - it
was "freehugs"),
Alex was reading out an internet article about the Arambol Beach and
also about the Big Banyan tree. Even though I was listening, I lost
the important parts of her narration, I was lost somewhere in my
thoughts quaffing a chilled beer, definitely not because of anything
hallucinatory in nature. One thing is for sure, Arambol is the most
pristine and cloistered beach that I have ever been to in Goa or may
be in my life.
We
were supposed to wake up before dawn to watch the Arambol sunrise,
but the fenny shots and beer we had the previous night made us loose
the sunrise. It should be close to 8:30 am when we left our
accommodation to see the Banyan tree, after having a cup of tea.
Leaving behind us the main long stretch of Arambol beach, we walked
in the north direction to reach the short beach, close to the Sweet
Lake. We walked around the cliff on the north side of the main
Arambol beach separating the long beach from the short one, crossing
through the stretch of beach huts, restaurants and shops. The short
beach was absolutely awesome, literally pristine and cloistered. On
the left hand side it was boundless, rolling and mysteriously vast
Arabian Sea. The morning sea was making slow moves of her dance and
breeze flew across kept the tempo matching. Again at the north side
of the beach stretch I could see a huge cliff, as far as I could
remember the peak of the cliff was right vertical to the point where
the wrack line and the berm part of the beach joined the cliff, it
maintained the same height for some extend to the east direction and
then came down gradually, hugging another cliff. The west side of the
cliff was stretched into the sea, then it gradually came down in
terms of height and kissed the Arabian sea. On the other side, it was
the "Sweet Lake". I should say, so called "Sweet
Lake". But the lake didn't appear as sweet as the name. I could
see garbage being dumped here and there, also near to the shoreline
of the lake. The water appeared contaminated to some extend of
length, mostly in the area close to the banks of the lake. People
running restaurants and beach-shacks close to the area were using the
same water for different purposes. There is small cluster of tender
coconut trees beside the lake, under those coconut trees beach
benches, chairs and beds of small size were arranged for people to
relax. That side of the lake was more clear and could be said as in
an "OK" condition. This copse of coconut trees should be
one of the prime watering hole and a smoking spot when it is the
actual season in winter.
Alex,
she is so obsessed and in love with the seas. Right from the moment
she messaged about her Indian trip, she was all excited about sea
swimming. She is a confident swimmer, possessing good level of skills
& techniques. Promise was given to her that she will be taken to
dance with the dolphins and to feed breakfast for the whales. And in
Arambol, finally it was the day for her to embrace the great Arabian
sea. Unfortunately for her, I am the worst cohort she could ever get
to swim with. I am not at all a confident swimmer and to be honest,
my swimming distance is restricted to few meters, a skill which I
have gained after tedious swimming pool sessions. I am uncomfortable
in the sea after a certain length of stretch from the shore. But I
enjoyed it up-to the point where I could stand on my feet touching
the ground, playing the waves and bit of amateur swimming which I
could do. Alex just went into the sea like a mermaid of some kind,
swam over and beneath the waves. I sat on the beach-bench, watching
the beautiful sea and Alex the mermaid. On the far right of the beach
near to the cliff, I could sea a couple doing yoga, they were
practicing different postures of yoga, right under the morning sun
and by the beach. Two other men also joined them after sometime. Alex
took a break from her tango with the waves, and then we together
observed those yogis close to the cliff and their different postures.
The female yogi was trying to do a handstand, she was not successful
for initial few attempts and then she made it. Later I also made it
to the sea, she said the waves are really OK and those are the right
kind of waves for an amateur like me. I made it to the point till I
could stand, but still some of the waves lifted me off from the sea
floor and rolled over me for few seconds till I had my feet back on
the ground. Hearing my problems with swimming, Alex was trying to
give me lessons which I should be practicing to be a good
swimmer,basically about how to overcome the fear of swimming in the
sea, how to keep buoyancy, building strength and stamina, also about
different floating techniques. She also pulled some tricks out of her
bag to entertain, I call the first one "evil-dead face".
She ducked down into the water, after a few seconds when she emerged
above the water, she managed to have line of big wave crossing over
her head. She had her wet and soaked locks covering her face, she
made a zombie like pose accompanied by a creepy voice. Her looks
reminded me the "evil-dead" movie poster and that was a
lighter moment to laugh. Next trick she showed was bit more
complicated, it was quite impressive stuff though. She did a
handstand on the sea floor, with only her legs above the water. She
held herself in the same position for few seconds, one or two
repetitions followed. We turned suspicious over a lady who got
dressed up like she was one among the extra artists of the movie "the
pirates of Caribbean", walking round the beach bench where we
have kept our bag and other properties, we decided to put an end to
our swimming episode. Then we had our breakfast, she tried to order
North Indian breakfast which she always preferred but as it was end
of the season none of the dishes which she ordered were available
(the shop was about to close next day) and she had to be contented
with an "English Breakfast" (It is so strange, you are in
India and you will not get an Indian dish you order for but an
"English Breakfast"). I made myself happy with "Bread
& Omelet". Later we added, a Bloody Mary cocktail and also
beer to our breakfast.
The
way to Big Banyan
It
was almost noon when we resumed our stride for the Big Banyan Tree.
Arambol was fuming under the blistering mid-day sun. We went beside
the cluster of coconut trees and reached the cliff bottom. After few
initial small steps of climbing, right there in front of us lays the
trail which will take us to the Banyan tree. According to my
knowledge and belief, the vegetation which I could see around the
cliff was of tropical evergreen or semi-evergreen category. On both
sides of the narrow trail, there were mangrove trees, plants and
bushes of different kind which are basically the common ones which
could be seen in a tropical evergreen or semi-evergreen forest and
there were also so many indigenous species of plants which composed
to make a beautiful green vegetation. The narrow trail has got all
the characteristics of rocky and craggy condition, the elongated and
drown out roots crossed the trail at some of the spots. When you walk
down the trail, for most of the length it was covered with branches
of trees and leaves crossing above your head. Within initial few
minutes itself, I realized that this trek is different and we all are
living in a beautiful globe. To the Banyan tree it is almost 30
minutes walk and on the right hand side still we could see the sweet
lake. We both stood for a minute to watch the lake from that angle
and to have a close look at one of those mangrove trees, which has
got extended branches. I still had a bottle of beer in my hand, it
always helped me to keep the cadence. I had my last sip of beer from
the bottle, I usually makes it a point that I don't litter these
bottles around. But then because of some reason, I placed the empty
bottle by the bottom of the tree. And then I could hear an "Ahhh...."
sound from behind. Alex was disappointed with my act of placing or in
a way littering the beer bottle there. I said "sorry" and
tried to justify my unconscious act with different reasons. She
opened up her "mysterious" black leather handbag and
offered a space for my empty beer bottle in that. She carried the
black bag all the times and all the while, it was like part of her
body, all her essentials from money to mobile phone, from camera to
makeup pack, boarding passes to ferry tickets were there inside the
"mysterious" black leather handbag and I liked the way she
carried it, it appeared to me as a perfect match for her stature,
walk and style.
The
walk towards the Big Banyan Tree took me by surprise, as I mentioned
I was expecting a Big Banyan tree by the beach with loads of people
beside and beneath it. I was enjoying the walk, the nature, the
wilderness and the good company of Alex. She said me, when she made
her first expedition to the Big Banyan she was with her two other
American friends, they made the trip in the late afternoon, after
spending sometime by and around the tree it was almost dusk when they
returned back. She said it was complete darkness and they couldn't
see anything, they didn't had a torch even. They got connected to
each other by holding hands and slowly made their descend, she said
it was a scary experience to take a walk like that through the small
jungle. There is a rivulet, coming down from some point in the
mountain, flowing through the cliff bordered by rock banks and it met
the sweet lake down the line. We made a small deviation from our path
and moved forward towards the banks of the stream to have a close
look. In the area where there was water, it was stagnant in state,
rest of the part of the rivulet was dry and we could see the rocks in
the the stream path, which usually should be lying beneath if the
rivulet was flowing full. Some part of my mind was imagining, how
beautiful and splendid the stream would be when there is water,
gushing through the rivulet veins, splashing across those rocks lying
and being a babbling brook.
We
resumed our journey towards the direction of the Banyan tree, the
trail was visible and its state said that it is often used. But in
the time we decided to go, when the summer is at its peak, the number
of people taking an expedition for the Banyan Tree should be limited,
In the actual winter season the state of the trail will be definitely
different with more people flowing up in the opposite direction of
water in the rivulet. At some of the parts, the trail gives out
itself some branches in different directions, but it is unlikely for
you to loose the route unless you are that drunk or high on something
which could impair proper functioning of your senses. We pushed
ourselves further through the route and at one point, we could smell
burning weed in the air. The notoriously familiar and kind of skunk
smell, which you cannot escape from if your in beaches of Goa, caught
both of our attention immediately. Somebody is burning some good weed
and taking their soul for a swing. Right in the middle of the
rivulet, on one of those dry rocks, we saw two guys sitting and
enjoying the marijuana smoke. Us and them exchanged our looks for
some seconds and then we continued the walking. She said me, "right
there is the mud-pond". It was few meters behind where the two
guys were sitting and enjoying weed. For rivulet in that part, there
was an upper stratum wherein the water has got some movement and the
running water came down through and between pile of really small
rocks which you see in these types of rivulets or streams. And water
at the base layer again appeared stagnant to me. Near to the banks of
the stream, as like an extension to the rocks, we could see clay or
mud in light yellowish or brown color, and it says this sulphurous
mud is really good for the skin. People come to the mud-pond, get
themselves covered with this mud all over their body and soon when
the clay gets dried off it will form a shell or layer over the body
and it is a kind of natural spa or natural skin treatment. It should
be kooky when people go naked (or
may be half-naked)
and get themselves covered with the mud, walking and running all
around in the jungle, smoking weed or hash, drag-in coke, GHB, Big H,
Big O, Elvis (LSD), Meth, Ecstasy, Steroids or any dirty stuff which
can get them down or high and excited or animated. Drinking hell lot
of beer and obviously fenny. We decided to step down and check the
mud-pool on the way back, she wanted to try her hands on the magic
clay of the mud pool.
The
Snake Syndrome
We
continued our stroll towards the Big Banyan, I was walking in the
front and she was behind, we were talking about different topics and
was going easy. Around my shoulder I was carrying her big towel and
was free. She was carrying her "mysterious black leather bag"
in one hand and a bottle of drinking water on the other. I was
keeping my eyes on the trail, and few meters ahead I saw something
moving from one edge of the trail to the opposite. I could see
something slithering across the trail and it went into the bushes. I
was numb and all my senses got terminated for few seconds, and then
when my brain regained its functional capability it said " You
f*****g idiot, what you just saw was a f*****g snake. Turn back, grab
her hand and f*****g run for your lives". The scene got rewinded
and played for few times somewhere in my mind. It should be some like
between 3 to 4 feet long and the in the middle the diameter of its
body could be like 3/4 inch or 1 inch. As far as I could remember, it
was green in color and it was shining when the sun-light hit its
back. I didn't get a clear view of its head but its body was there
imprinted right on my pounding heart and the same image can gift me
sleepless nights. I don't know whether it is venomous or not, but I
saw a stupid f*****g snake. I am sure that she didn't see the snake,
she was still saying something. I don't want to die inside a small
Goan jungle, bitten by a stupid snake with green lines on its back,
suffering for long in the painful psychedelic trip of its venom and
at last succumbing to death, later turning myself into a stinking
carcass. Anything which is psychedelic is not good for my brain and
my body, those once in a blue moon psychedelic experiences I had
never gave me a great feeling, in fact it always pulled me down from
the emotional line I was holding onto. I am keeping my body, brain
and all my system out from anything of psychedelic in nature for
quite a good long period of time and I want to keep the same status
forever, I never want to break it. And I seriously I don't want a
stupid serpent to break it. I better die in a road accident in Cochin
while speeding to office, death should be instant and beautiful. Or
else if I take it to the extreme and wildest of my imagination, I
should die in such a way which my friends could remember while
boozing and can boast off about my death, a parachute failure while
sky-diving. Even though it is highly unlikely to happen and there is
a delay factor involved of few minutes from the sky to the ground,
this one could be the proudest, colorful and most exciting end.
People could say "WOW" - "such an awesome death".
But surely not because of stupid green snake or getting drowned.
I
literally had my heart in my mouth, I turned back to her and said,
"Alex.....
I saw a snake".
Oh...Really!!!
Where??
Ahead on the trail, it was crossing the trail and I really
saw
it. "F**k"
Are your sure it was a snake?
Yes, I am
sure. It was a snake, big and long enough and was green in color.
Ahh...
I
looked at her eyes and paused for some seconds. Looking back at the
trail ahead again I asked the most weird question that someone could
ever ask his female travel companion. But I did not wanted to die, so
I asked.
“Do
you really want to continue???”
Within
split of a second,came her answer.
“Yes,
we could go ahead. It's OK, it's alright”.
“Ahhh...
I
don't want to hide and be dopey, I am petrified of snakes and there
is nothing much we could do if I gets bit by one...” I said.
“Come
On, it is really OK. We will watch our steps and go forward, snakes
will never bite you unless and until you tread on one or else you do
something which could make the snake feel that its life is in
danger”.
At
last I made up my mind and decided to walk. She was like more eager
to see a snake than the Banyan Tree. For the moment I was
concentrating only on the trail, no where else or the nature around.
She then gave me a Herpetology session, about snakes and snake
behavior from her knowledge. According to her, all other species of
snakes are OK and could not be dangerous unless and until, you tread
on one or try to harm its life, except for a "King Cobra"
and "Sea Snake". If you ever gets kissed by these two
species of snakes, its like you getting your "death warrant -
signed, sealed and delivered". According to her theory, King
Cobra is the only snake in the land which we should be afraid of as
it is so aggressive and when it comes to water it is the Sea-Snake.
"Pythons
are not that dangerous, but they can coil around and squeeze you to
death".
Alex made her statement.
We
had several other topics to discuss, including our plan for Anjuna
that night. But somehow everything ended up with snakes. She
continued, back in UK one of her friend has a pet snake, her friend
plays with it, poses for pictures with it and it was so casual inside
the room. Alex had handled the same snake on few occasions. (Pets
are for fun, happiness and recreation, how could someone make a snake
her pet and what kind of happiness could cruel and arrogant looking
face of a snake could give to someone's mind,
I was thinking). In Cochin we found a snake under the cooking gas
cylinder at my friend's home and I ran miles at the first sight. My
another friend was so cool and calm with snakes, he moved the
cylinder aside and beat the snake right on the head with a small
piece of log he found there around. I came forward to have a close
look of the snake after ensuring that it was dead when my friend held
the snake upside down after killing it. It's skin was beautiful, it
had silver lines and diamond shapes on its back and my friend said,
"if
you gets bitten by this one, better to call your girl friend (if you
have one) or family
and
hold-up a metalhead sign to bid adieu rather than making efforts to
reach hospital".
I remember, that night I was thinking about umpteen number of
cigarettes we all smoked sitting on top of and beside the cylinder,
cricket and football matches we have watched inside the same house,
booze parties we had in there. Ahh..... we all better die of that gas
cylinder exploding while lighting a cigarette, than getting bitten by
a small Marilyn Monroe or Lady Gaga with sliver lines and diamonds on
its skin. And according to Alex the snakes, should not be killed, its
not right to kill them.
After-all,
What these species of snakes are for??
I asked her.
She said, they
are nice and beautiful,they play an
important
role in the ecological-chain. The eat rodents and other pests.
My
fear was conspicuous to her and she asked, Should
I walk ahead of you??
And
my ego overcoming and pushing behind fear of my rational mind said,
"No,
its OK. I will go first".
(Let
me take the first bite)
For
me snakes are always superfluous creatures, a kind of strange life
which can kill people or even elephants with its venom. They don't do
anything great other than hiding around in different places, hanging
on trees and do the killing on the basis of some crazy stimulus
triggered from some part of their small lunatic brain. I am
conditioned in such a way that, snakes are something which I should
be always afraid off and when I see a snake, I should turn around and
run, unless and until I am seeing any species of them inside a cage
in the zoo or in a glass tank. I have curiously watched some of those
snake shows in the Discovery & NGC channels but none of these
shows have helped me to overcome the fear marked by those ludicrous
and senseless snake films I have seen. I have seen snakes before on
different occasions and on all those occasions I was going through
the same feel. They are terrible and obviously stupid.
The
Big Banyan
We
walked again for next 10 to 15 minutes or so and Yes, I was nervous
and I did not want to see any of those slithering creatures again.
Walking down the trail, we took a turn to the right and the spot was
bit rocky. There is a small gap between the cluster of small
indigenous rocks. I guess, when the rivulet is full,there should be
water flowing through the narrow gully. We had to make a casual jump
to land on the other side and we had to walk up a small steep to
reach the plain ground and then I heard she saying...
"There
is it, the Big Banyan"
I
looked up and tried to see what is around and the Big Banyan. I could
see trees around and initially I was not able to recognize which one
among those trees is the famous Big Banyan. When I looked at her, she
was looking up at one to our left and it is a Banyan tree. For
initial few minutes, I was wondering why it is called as the Big
Banyan. The trunk of the tree appeared as in normal size to me
compared with Banyan trees of similar species or family and age, I
have definitely seen Banyan trees with trunks much big in diameter
size than this. Carried away by the name Big Banyan, I was expecting
the main trunk to be so huge in diameter size that it require minimum
of 6 to 8 people holding hands around to circle it. Then I tilted my
head bit more up and then I realized which it was called as the Big
Banyan, the matter was not with the roots or the trunk, it is with
the head of the tree. It has spread about laterally and was covering
a vast area, the aerial prop outs, the branches, the leaves,
everything together was like a big umbrella and it was so nice to be
under it. Calm, Refreshing and Rejuvenating. Considering the age of
the tree, the aerial prop out has grown in the dimension of length
and was dangling down from most of the parts of the tree. Some of the
aerial prop outs have touched the ground dangling down and roots have
gone into the ground. Close to the central trunk aerial prop outs has
grown into kind of thick trunks and in the first sight these thick
trunks are indistinguishable from the main central trunk. These
trunks were connected with the central main trunk in one way or the
other. Right next to the central trunk, there were two other trunks
smaller in diameter when compared with the big one, these trunks too
had strong roots and several aerial prop outs. The branches and the
aerial prop outs twined together and had grown out in every possible
direction, when your look the formation it was like a labyrinth or
maze and I was convinced, indeed it is a Big Banyan.
The
Arambol Soul
Near
to the tree, up on the small boundary wall which is cut out off from
the cliff itself we could see one or two big traveling backpacks, a
portable tent used by travelers and a can of water and few other
stuffs. We were wondering whether there is anyone around. And then we
saw him...
She
said, "Hello"
When
I turned in the same direction, I saw an old man, definitely looking
like an Indian but has a kind of white skin, with long white beard
and hair, wearing a white dhoti and he said back "Hello"
Can
we come in ? She asked.
He
said, "Yes, Sure".
We
went around and reached him. The ground was even and almost in the
form of a circle. He was sitting on his bed laid right under the
reviving shade of the Big Banyan tree. He has his traveler bed and a
pillow, behind and beside him there were bottles of different size
and shape - some of them had water and some of them were empty, there
were also a bag of wheat or rice flavor, one or two packets of chilly
or turmeric powder, half cut onion, pictures and idols of different
Hindu Gods behind him - some of these pictures and idols were placed
on the roots and aerial prop outs of the Banyan tree and there were
artificial flowers of green, white and red color placed on the tree.
There was another plastic fiber mat beneath the two small trunks of
the Banyan tree of his left and there was an other mat on the
opposite side close to the small cliff wall surrounding half the
circle below the Banyan tree. Up and above, between the second and
third trunk of the Banyan tree someone has tied a cloth banner with
picture of Siva or some Goddess on it (I
cant really remember which picture was it, I believe I am developing
Alzheimer's),
he later said to us that it was tied by some Russians. On his bed I
could see a flute, a cigarette lighter and his few other stuffs which
I couldn't figure out. He allowed us to sit down and we started to
talk.
Right
at the center of the ground beneath the Banyan tree there is fire pit
in circle shape. It was not smoking but it was partly filled with the
ash. The old man said that, he fire the pit every night. I was
imagining the happening time when there are people around, all of
them sitting around the fire pit, smoking hell lot of marijuana or
hash, or whatever the crazy drugs they could administer for the
psychedelic feel. Playing music, singing loud, dancing crazy, having
fun, may be fighting and obviously some into sex. Definitely this
place could be a "Hippie Paradise".
(I
have got a strong feeling that I am developing Alzheimer's, It's been
close to a month since I made my the Goa trip and I trying to
recollect things while I am writing this and I hope I am right in
what I am putting down here).
The old man in white dhoti, with white long beard and hair introduced
himself as "Bolenath" to us. He said, he is living in
Leicester - UK. He was born to Indian parents and they later
settled-down in the UK. He was wearing a long traditional Indian
necklace. His appearance, his talk and his gestures told to me that
he could be a pothead and definitely one among those genuine Goa
loving hippies. He continued his story, he said he is so crazy for
Arambol and he is doing this Goan expedition (or
may be pilgrimage in his terms)
for the last 42 years (Overwhelming
!!!).
He asked us whether we had cigarettes to share, and we had to
disappoint him. He continued and said, right under the Banyan tree is
the only place in this whole wide world where he could be happy. He
comes in every winter and he goes back to UK during the start of the
summer. He said, he feels really sad and depressed when he is back at
his home and he eagerly waits for next winter to come to push off for
Arambol and to be under the Banyan tree. He said he is not interested
to go to any other place in Goa than being under the Banyan tree.
Even though we were settled under the Banyan tree, I was still in
jitters, the image of snake slithering was coming to my mind
again and again. To make myself easy, I shared the story of snake
with Bolenath, expecting an answer from him like....
We
saw a snake on the way to here, one with green lines on its back.
"Oh,
you saw a snake?? Unbelievable, I have been here for these many years
and people run naked around here, none of them have seen a single one
yet. You must have mistaken".
But
I was frozen hearing his reply.
"Yeah,
snakes are all around here. It is very casual, you could see it
anywhere. There are venomous and non-venomous species, at times they
used to slither right into the center, I take them on a stick and
place them back into the forest. You see that small holes back there
(he was pointing to the holes between small rocks which made the
cliff wall of the circle), the snakes used to be in there when it is
raining and moves around here quite often".
I didn't know what to say and how to respond. I was almost done. I
have heard that snakes will escape when they sense human movement but
I was not sure about it and still there is "King - Cobra"
which could kill an elephant with a kiss. I was trying to regain my
composure and was searching for topics to chat on.
But
he suddenly said, "there
are Anacondas and Pythons too in this forest"
F**K
ME.... I was getting myself prepared for my own funeral.
Anacondas
& Pythons....... This guy should be insane after all the umpteen
lunatic-psychedelic swings he had in Goa for days and nights for all
these years. Does
the species of Anaconda exist after all?
I was thinking. But Pythons could be there, even if they don't kill
you with venom, they could give you piercing and painful bite and
squeeze you like lemon halves. I prefer to get raped by a Python,
than kissed by a Viper or King Cobra
According
to Alex, the people from the UK are like a virus infestation. Her
hypothesis says, they could be anywhere you go and they are the
easily found species in this world. I was bit skeptic about her
theory, but when I found an UK citizen (even
though he was of Indian origin)
with an Indian visa for 10 years right in the middle of a forest in
Goa under a Banyan tree, I thought may be her hypothesis is right to
an extend. Then it was the British people talking and me the Indian
listening. They talked about their native places, the distance
between the native places and some other UK stuffs which I did not
understand. Then he continued his story and said he lives with his
mother, he does some work at times and gets helped by his siblings to
make the money for Indian trip each year. This year to make the
money, he had to sell off his car. He said the penultimate night, he
was beaten down and robbed by a group of thugs at dead of the night.
They beat him and pushed him down, they looted all his valuables and
his money. I had my own doubts with his story, but later he showed us
his bruises and wounds and I had to believe it. He said he was
outnumbered by them, they were drunk and all high, and to save his
life he didn't resist. He said, he was supposed to go back by the
beginning of April. But his friends planned to join him for a North
India trip, so he decided to stay back. He said he regret the
decision now and he is waiting for his friends to come. He said
someone used to bring him food by around 3 p.m in the evening
everyday, that was his breakfast, lunch and dinner, only one meal for
the day. In between the conversation, he was repeating the incident
of he getting looted few times.
The
old man then came back to the Arambol story and the Banyan tree. He
happened to say that, he and his two other friends, one a French man
and other one from Israel I believe (i don't exactly remember,
Alzheimer's is killing me) were the ones to discover the Banyan tree.
And that was a shock to me, because the other day when Alex was
reading about the Banyan from an article in the internet, it was
given like the Banyan tree was first found by an Israeli tourist when
he did a lone trekking into the forest. The old man said, they did an
adventurous hike across the cliff and reached the spot. Adding to my
suspicion, it skipped out of his tongue that when they reached the
place, there were hippies around in the area, under the tree and
close the rivulet. Living the real hippie like life, with or without
cloths, but definitely on drugs and music, with hell lot of kids
around. (You
are caught old man if you guys were here first, then how come you
guys spotted the hippies !!!),
we had that question at the back of our mind but we didn't ask. He
said that, the French man later got married to a filthy rich Japanese
woman and he is living a rich and spoiled life now. The Israeli guy
passed away some years back. He said he still has many friends, whom
he met right under the Banyan tree. Alex is a natural skeptic, I have
watched her face changing many times in suspicion, with her forehead
shrinking, eye-brows raised and blue iris vivid and dilated when she
is been told something which she cannot believe or understand
according to her logic and thinking. She was even skeptic about the
Indian medicine which I suggested to buy when she was sick because of
food upset the first day, she said she was wary about the medicine
[Still
I don't know whether she was actually wary about the medicine, or she
don't trust the Indian medicines or myself ;)
] She had once told me during our trip to Munnar Hill Station,
"traveling to these many countries and these many places,
sometimes alone, you have to be skeptic to some extend and it is very
important. You cannot take people for granted and believe all things
they say. It could lead to exploitation and you could end up in
trouble". She gave the intro to old man, "Sorry, I am being
a natural skeptic, I have few questions...." Honestly I cannot
recollect the rest of the conversation for the moment
(Alzheimer's!!!).
The old man was narrating about the ages where there was only bullock
carts for transportation from Anjuna and Tivim. He said, those days
were golden and awesome, it was the real Goa and real Arambol. Now it
is just all business and mafia...
Somehow
for sometime, I got the snake part out of my mind. Alex, then decided
to be a white monkey and she wanted to climb the tree. The white old
man said, "Go Ahead". She then, pulled herself up between
the thick aerial prop out roots of the Banayan tree and climbed a
bit, she was only able to make a bit of progress and was not able to
go beyond some point, she found herself a seat there and was speaking
from heaven with both of us below. I decided to let her do the crazy
act and continue the conversation with Bolenath, may be I will join
her after sometime climbing the tree, if at all my mind wants to do
it. He said, so many people climb the Banyan tree, especially ladies
and kids, they are good climbers. He said he could remember a Mexican
woman and later an Israeli lady climbing and covering most part of
the tree, those two were the ones who have gone the furthest and
successful. He also added that, there was an incident of one man
dieing on the ground falling from the Banyan tree years back. He said
people use the young aerial prop outs to climb and then swing from
one branch to the other."Crazy People" - He added. In
between the conversation he was saying about an other man, who lives
at some point down and close to the rivulet, in a tent. The white
monkey made her way down struggling a bit and joined us back. We
again came back to the part of he getting looted and loosing his
valuables including his mobile phone and money.
Hopefully
you have not lost your passport, I guess?
She said.
No,
I has it.
He replied.
Oh,
Good. Otherwise it would have been a big disaster!!!
He
said, "I
have a friend, who has lost his passport and everything. He
accidentally killed an other guy in the midst of a fight. I gave him
room to hide in here for some period of time and later he was also
given another place in the mountain to live his absconding life. No
one could find that place in the mountain, its all safe there".
As per words of Bolenath, later somehow his friend arranged an other
passport and fled the country ( I hope that's how that story ended,
Ahh.... Alzheimer's).
We
spend some more time in there. I was sitting right at the center,
beneath the Banyan tree close to the fire-pit circle, surrounded by
snakes and in the company of a white mermaid with black leather bag
and an old man with white beard. My mind was fully occupied with
different thoughts, not necessarily of snakes but of different
topics, I was wondering about what had happened to me? why am I
turning so boring and keeping myself deprived of fun? why am I not
completely into my present part of my life? why I am pulling myself
back from some adventure during sea swimming and being an Indian
monkey climbing the tree? (In
my past I have done all these in all the stupid ways and have enjoyed
it to the core).
I was confused about different thoughts of different kinds coming
into my mind. Am I giving happiness and good time to the people
around me? my family? my friends? Why I always get confused about it?
Alex had taken the trouble to get a few days off from her Mumbai
schedule, leaving behind her friends and fun to come to Goa as per
our plan. I sometimes say to Alex, "I hope I am not spoiling
your holidays !!!". My mind is slowly getting meta-morphed to
some kind of vapid stuff with all these thoughts boiling and spoiling
the happy state it should be in. Why it is so vulnerable? May be I
should be opening up and speaking my mind to get relieved.... I
miss my father, he was all my courage and happiness. The calmness
beneath the Banyan tree, I had always felt that when I was with him.
I miss him and my Banyan tree is gone.
It
was time for us to leave, saying good-bye to Bolenath and The Big
Banayan Tree. Bolenath told us that he will be also leaving the place
in few days. Saying adieu we left the Banyan tree and Arombol Soul
behind walked down the trail, on the way back we were sharing our
skeptic thoughts about Bolenath and the stories he narrated to us,
especially about his claim that he and his friends were the first one
to discover the place and also about he getting beaten and looted,
the penultimate night. We discussed our analysis and findings, about
he himself admitting that there were hippies around when they reached
the place, so his claim for he and his friends to discover the Banyan
tree will not stand. We were not able to take a final call on his
claim of being manhandled and looted. Yes, we didn't believe the same
story to the full but his wounds and bruises said us that it could be
true. Both of us had thoughts about helping him with some amount of
money, but somehow for some reason we both didn't do it. There could
be other reasons for his wounds and bruises, no one on earth wants
ever to get exploited with a lie or a false reason and after-all we
are sparing some money we saved through hard-work. We could spend it
for some good reason in Goa but not for a lie of an old man with
white beard. Definitely
there was a feeling inside my mind saying he could be true...
Dilemma.
I
walking first and bit cool this time, may be because of the Big
Banyan Effect. Again I saw something ahead, slithering to bushes.
F**k... its a snake again. This one is bit smaller than the first one
I saw, definitely of the same species and it also had green color and
lines on its back. It's back was gleaming against sunshine. I said,
"Alex....
snake, look snake".
I was so sure that she didn't see the first one and this one she saw
it for sure. She was excited and animated, she was watching the
slithering snake closely. My thoughts were running, about the
psychedelic snake venom getting injected through my flesh and gushing
through all my veins, reaching all parts of my body, heart and brain.
Showing me way to the blue-heavens, cutting out my senses one by one,
making me paralyzed and frozen, pulling me down to death, when I
didn't even know that I am dieing.
I
was saying....F*****g
Snake.....
Then
I heard Alex saying, "Wow,
beautiful creature!!!"
Again
I was pushed to an uncomfortable feeling seeing the stupid green
snake. Every piece of movement and sound in side the forest, appeared
and sounded to me like a slithering snake. Somehow I regained my
composure and placed my each step carefully, our conversations again
came back to the topic of snakes. Walking down the trail we reached
the mud-pool, Alex wanted check it out and try some clay on. I was
not excited about the mud part, I already have a dark-brown skin and
I did not wanted to make it more dark with the mud on. She crossed
the rivulet and reached the other side, right beside and above those
rocks at the banks of rivulet, there is mud. She swiped some clay
with her hand from rock surface and started applying it on her
forearms. She just wanted to test it, so she tried it only on the
forearms. The clay was wet and when it gets dried off, it will make a
shell or layer above the skin. We had to push off for Anjuna that
afternoon, so we decided not to spend too much of time by the
mud-pool. She washed the clay off with the running water and she
jumped back to the other side where I am standing, she made a slip
and fortunately was not hurt.
Walking
down the trail we at-last reached the mangrove tree which we saw on
the way up and below we could see the sweet lake. I could hear people
talking and I saw a couple down at that part of the sweet lake,
hugging themselves close, skin to skin, face to face, enjoying the
time and privacy. Their state and emotions said, they will definitely
go further driven by their passion and desire right there in the
sweet lake water. It was much of a relief for me to see human beings
again (though in about to mate condition), than the green snakes. I
don't know whether these couples have noticed the garbage dumped by
the shore and contamination of the lake before they plunged in. Love
makes peoplen blind. We continued our walk and reached the base of
the cliff.
I
said, "Alex,
thanks for showing me the Banyan Tree and the green snakes. It was
hell of a trip..."
She
smiled and said, "You
are welcome".
What
if I got bit by one, what would you do? I
asked her.
She
said, "I
will tear off some cloth or find a twine, will tie a knot few inches
above your wound. Will try to squeeze out some blood to get much of
the poison out. And then I will run and find some help to carry you
down for treatment".
(And
I would be frozen and dead when you are back; I might be watching a
Manchester United game from the heavens).
I was thinking at the back of my mind.....
Share This
Email
Facebook
Twitter
Read Request
My Library
Subscribe
Flag Writing
