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A FAREWELL TO KL AND POINTS BEYOND…
It is a strange sensation going to a country, knowing that the flame of desire for that country had vanished, the eagerness with which you embraced the same country just a few months ago… will soon vanish into oblivion.
It all started with a dream
I have a sister who belongs to the Kikapu Tribe of Indians (Mexique). She called me soon after my return from my trip to Malaysia earlier this year, Feb 2010.
Dear Brother, do not travel to Malaysia, until I call and tell you. I can bet you that she wouldn't be able to place Malaysia on a map but she has heard about it from my travels, except that it is in Asia.
“I had a dream, it repeated itself three times the same night, it showed a round face of a woman in great distress, her face dropping into murky waters”
“Please don't go, don't fly in that direction until I tell you.”
I had flights booked on april 29th and then again I was supposed to give a presentation at the International Conference on Zheng He in Malacca in July 2010. Two trips had been planned! And a third to celebrate the birthday of my closest friend in Asia. This friend of mine, had been a good and generous friend of mine since a chance meeting at the Siem Reap Airport in January 2008.
I called MC and told her that I am cancelling my next trip to Malaysia because my Kikapu sister has had a bad dream. She had some conflicts at work, a responsible job as a section finance chief..” I am making up my mind, what to do next”,she replied.
Since our meeting in 2/2008, through some serendipitous connections with some excellent Indian Nationals had been made. Erudite, worldly, intellectual and well educated, these Indians were much different from the Malaysian Indians, most of whom were descended from the Coolies brought over for Labour a century earlier. Very rapidly, MC, a Chinese, became steeped in the Indian culture of the Northern India (Malaysian Indians are mostly of Tamoul ancestry).. Music, Dance and stage by stage into the deep culture.. Yoga, Meditation and Philosophy.
In February of this year, VY, a young Yoga instructor arrived for a few days of intense Yoga sessions for me, MC and her sister ML.
Back to my Kikapu sister.
“the face on that dream and the swirling dirty waters, meant that you shall keep away from your friend and Malaysia”
How did I make the connection of the face in the dream and MC?
Soon after the conversation with my sister, in fact within days, MC quit her well paying job and made plans for a Yoga Retreat, went to India for an indeterminate duration. She had dropped in to an Ashram near Trivandrum in South India.
She kept me informed faithfully, her companions, exceptional tales of adventures and mishaps and her increasing love for India. India is not an usual destination for me, nor it is a country that I have travelled much in ( I do have a good understanding of its history since the Vedic Times). I am sure many people have this conflict whether it is India or Lithuania, if you had ancestors who migrated out of them.
This magnetic attachment MC had for India was the beginning of a divergence in our paths. I had one more duty as a friend – a homage to the friendship we had enjoyed for two years. To be present, soon after her arrival back in KL, to make sure that this de-tribalization in India has not affected her adversely and finish her spiritual search with a trip to Burma, which will soothe any disturbances in her soul.
That is where I am headed today. Leaving BLR, just 36 hours after arriving , filling my stomach with excellent coastal seafood at The Coastal Junction Restaurant at IndiraNagar, shopping for little things India is famous for, Rajasthani delights for my friends in Cuba, coffee from Coorg, Tea from Munnar, Incense of multitudes of fragrances, books on Bhutan, Veda and The torah… stuffed to the gills, the handluggage I carried on my flight from Paris , now has to be checked in ( the Himalaya hair products would arouse curiosity at the Security screening?)
Hardly half full, Air Asia A320 speeds towards KL, as it does nightly, that village by the creek founded by itinerant Chinese merchants.
My heart races back to my home.
Where is that? Ah… that is the secret!
