AN ARCHAIC FORM OF EXCHANGE.. BUT IN THE NEW WORLD ON VIRTUAL COMMUNICATION

I have a certain fascination with the language that I call my own, even though millions of people speak it, with various adeptness around the world. Some wit had remarked that English is the easiest language to speak badly. And a difficult language to speak properly. Where to gifts in our lives come from ? The conventional wisdom of parents, family etc looks a bit weak on analysis. As my Jewish teacher told me at Brompton Hospital: I cannot give you what G-d has not given you..I think gifts are lying In wait and it is the ability to reject conventional wisdom and free yourself to see the beauty of this world in purity. I had a wonderful conversation with someone in which we could effortlessly discuss: Literature Art Spirituality and our own interpretations of symbolisms of the society. Over the course of time, I have managed to free myself but that in no way diminishes the appreciation of these gifts

A chance to grow up in Australia at a critical time in development of my thinking. Australia is rapidly changing but I am grateful.

When the student is ready, the teacher appears and I am so lucky to have found such good teachers in both Medicine and Anthropology : in Medicine , at London, at Melbourne, at Miami and elsewhere. In Anthropology, in London with a wonderful chance to practice this profession among the Native peoples.

Although I have lived in countries which did not accord women equal status but the great influence as a teenager was from Scandinavia. No society is great if it denies women and the minority among themselves full rights and respect. 

Free yourself of your gender but not your sexuality. Cuba was helpful, where sexuality is not associated with morality and there is no religious interference.

Underlying all these critical thinking is curiosity, without prejudice and open mindedness. I have heard such wonderful stories from girls who are only 8 years old, in Iran and Israel, 12 years old from Belgium and Israel and I feel very comfortable that these growing minds and intellects will protect the earth not only physically but emotionally, ethically and morally  from the damages from men with beards and hats or guns or saffron robes.

I had a lovely conversation with a curious soul. 

The greatest gift my father had given me was a love for Iran, its language, its culture and as I met more and more people with similar thinking, Hafez Shamaneh Mawlana Khayyam all entered and then of course poems as songs in the popular music.

In the Persian tradition, whenever one faces a difficulty or a fork in the road, Or even if one has a general question in mind, one would hold that question in mind, and then ask the Oracle of Shiraz
Hafiz
for guidance.

More often than not,
Hafiz, in his own enigmatic way would sing to the questioner and through the song, would get the questioner to look in the mirror of his/her soul.
Upon reflection in the mirror of Hafiz's Ghazal one would be inspired with an answer, a guidance or a direction.

Traditionally, 
the first line upon which the eyes of the reader fall, would give the answer to the direct question, and the rest of the Ghazal would give further clarification.

                                (my copy of Hafez, only in English, no persian lyrics)

Adivination and self realiazation with the help of Hafez. Certainly I am told Haze is the most widely read book in the Islamic Republic of Iran to the chagrin of the theocrats.

Her question was : have you ever found any culture or system of divination similar to Hafez. I had to think hard. I thought of the divination of the Native Americans where a small proportion is able to enjoy the power of adivination, in Cuba the afro cuban religion allows fora divination but there again the people capable are few but lots of people do gain from it . I have two books that I read at random: yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Zohar 

(this is my copy of The Zohar which I carry with me)

I talked about ZOHAR the book of Jewish mysticism from the 13th century of Rav Shimon bar Zachai.

I made an observation:

Zohar is written in a specific form of Aramaic and the various forms of the Zohar reveals that each line and page is rife with alternate wording. So there is no authorized version of the Zohar.

Kabbalah is popular in the west in the new age groups but Zohar is the cornerstone of Kabbalah and to try and understand Zohar without the knowledge of Kabbalah, even if Zohar is read in French or English.

I have always felt that when we have occasions to chant, some ancient couplets, TO ME, it means more when it is in the Hebrew Language rather in English French or Spanish.

Why ? This curious mind of eaten oblivion asks

In Anthropology we take pride in asking WHY and not explaining it by WHAT..

A little searching revealed that the answer to that question is the inherent tension between what is revealed and what is kept secret. Zohar was written in the 13th Century Spain and nourished in the land of Israel . The mysticism reveals the tension of what is revealed and what is concealed.

To me, when I say Shema in any other language other than Hebew, I feel this tension ..

We talked about Lions and symbolism, like the lion in the pre islamic republic flag of Iran and the Lion of the tribe of Judah whose capital was Jerusalem has very many symbolic similarities.  Lion the king has been associated with power and glory and strength and protection in many cultures.

We ended up the conversation with defining our affection for Art and also the spiritual nature of many things in life (not to be confused with religion)

(these were my words)

Art is universal

I have seen ancient rock art

Pre renaissance European

Moghul and Hindu

The appeal is to aesthetics and rationalty

Not to conquer and negate thinking but enhance the purity of beauty

What we need to free ourselves is those restrictions that hold us down: Nationality, Religion, Dress, Gender, Colour, Profession .

Then concentrate on Purity, Beauty, Morality, Emotions, Gratefulness, Compassion…

Wouldn’t that be nice ..?

Notes:

Nothing of this would have any meaning without offering a candle of gratitude to a friend from Karaj who went hiding into the veil of oblivion.

I am not a teacher of English Language but I am happy to help, if you are willing to put time and effort into it as well as give me glimpses into your culture in exchange.

Was it reading Marcel Mauss (son in law of Emile Durkheim, considered the father of French Sociology, himself descended from a line of Alsatian rabbis)  that gave me the idea of "an archaic form of exchange of ideas". Even in our modern forms of communication, virtual, but not in person, there has to be an archaic form of exchange. I will think about it .

OPEN 24 HOURS A DAY, THREE SHIFTS OF WORKERS, BUT I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYONE HERE

 Perhaps the function of this 24 hour cafeteria is not to serve the public but a place for mourners to sit and wait when their beloveds are bought for interment at the Funeral Parlour above.

I am always intrigued when i go past this cafeteria, almost always it is empty but occasionally i would see a woman with a chef's hat on.. what is she cooking?

I love the surrealism of this country .

The other day, I ventured in, the lady with a chef's hat was sitting idly at a corner looking at the TV (could this be a sports bar, I wondered)

The menu was not elaborate 

Fruit Cocktail

Natural Fruit Juice 

there were two other items which I couldnt make out what they were, as they were penciled into the menu plate.

Who may have sit at these chairs and exchanged stories in the distant past?

while elegant buildings eavesdropped on them ?

TTHE PARADOX OF THE TIMES: ESCAPING FROM THE LAND OF PLENTY TO A POOR QUIET AND TRANQUIL COUNTRY

In Miami, it is not just the cars and other vehicles that clutter the air with the noise but more odious is the noise created by the thinking of the people. Every one who has access to a phone or TV news show seem to have become an expert without a true understanding of what is happening.. to their country but not to their minds and of course what happens in other countries are of no interest to an ordinary Americans.. 

I will never forget what my first Native teacher, Dr Brown of the Meskwakia said to me

You have come across the best of this country, US the natives..

True to her words I have been with the Native population of the USA and also in other parts of the world .

When i was a student, people were all curious to know to satisfy their ego: what is the best thing about USA ? they would ask, expecting a reply to gloat by

Mexico, I would say. It is so close that I can spend more time there.

Yesterday I spent the day with a Native American group and it was thoroughly satisfying day.

It was a good day to leave the United States of America. Not to get away from their cheap glamour and unhealthy food but to get away from the NOISE OF THEM THINKING ..

During the covid, to save money they had fired or laid off many workers who went on to find less oppressive jobs and there is a tremendous shortage of people who do actual work to make our lives comfortable in airports:  people who man the desks, people who load our luggage, flight attendants and of course pilots and then planes (one of them caught fire in the Miami airport, a low cost airlines) If legacy airlines cant keep up , what do you expect low cost and ultra low cost to do ..

I have never seen Miami airport so full of people. and of course amidst of all these, elderly people were looking to check into flights to Dominical Republic (good luck), lines and breaking of lines and 30 minutes for security and even the TSA pre check which is a privilege was longer but moved swiftly. The other side of the airport offered a little calm especially the Lounge of the airline.

10 20 am was the departure time came and went. after multiple delays we left at 11 55 and reached our destination in 45 minutes. The flight was full to the brim and i was able to get out quickly and arrive at the Immigration line early enough to clear it quickly.

Then another interminable wait began for the luggage. You do not travel to Cuba without a LOT of luggage. I can go on a round the world trip with a hand luggage (a RImowa Salsa pull on) and a backpack (Coach) . On this day, i had to check in two suitcases (the Cubans going home had all Bultos which come in all shapes always wrapped in nylon with Jorge, Yanepsy written on them on bold black letters.. hundreds of them) Suitcases such as mine , one weighing 62 lbs and the other a mere 50 lbs come last and today that meant. 2 hours..

People compare this short journey and the gulf of the culture that separates them as the journey from the western Europe to the Communist bloc of the olden days 

On my round the world trips I can manage with the blue RImowa carry on and the Coach backpack but Cuba is not the rest of the world.. To love Cuba is to sacrifice for her 

Once the luggage arrived within two minutes I was out of the customs hall and warmly greeted by my Cuban sister..

who had prepared a nice lunch for me 

A gentle walk along the Malecon 

this is the callejon or alley that leads to the apartment where i live

Not much noise 

occasional cars tearing through making an unduly sound 

i walked back to my house, 100 metres from the sea 

a quietness, so calm, body and mind felt calm 

It was so good to get away from the NOISE OF PEOPLE THINKING...

mostly about themselves 

not about women among their midst 

not about the people who are poor for no fault of their own 

Discreet charm of the bourgeoisie

but those who think to hurt others are not bourgeoisie but petite bourgeoisie .. without substance, like an empty bottle making too much noise 

my body is tired but i have not felt my mind so calm in a very long time 

Keep the noise of your conservative thinking on the other side of the Florida Straits..

HOMELESS BUT UPPER CLASS... AND THE SONG BY FARAMAZ ASLANI AND BABAK AMANI YAR WHEREVER I WENT I WAS HOMELESS

 Many years ago, the astute physician of south Dakota who was also my friend, Dr Jim K, came to visit me in MIami and he made an observation about my life 

You are Upper Class but HOMELESS..

Over the years, trying to slough off the attachments that bound to you to the petite charms of the bourgeoisie, i had tried to wean myself away from 

Nationality.  I am an Australian 

Profession.  I am a Physician in Endocrinology and a Medical                         Anthropologist 

Gender.        Male and Straight but immensely grateful for the                         women in my life, full of respect for them 

Colour of Skin.   My natural parents from Asia through their genes gave me this wonderful brown skin  and my growing up has been in the post-renaissance infused western thought of the European Jews, so the brown skin allows you to be a chimera .. or Zelig if you are a fan of Woody. 

No Ideologies but it is only natural that one shuns ideologies and thought processes that try to maintain the status quo.

1996 French Philosophers entered my life  Gilles de Leuze died that year and Michel Foucault earlier

2008 A good introduction to the Yogic Philosophy by a Chinese Malaysian accountant

Vietnam Burma Cambodia 

Cochin in the State of Kerala has played an important part of my homeless life of mine 

I wrote to my brother Shimon in Haifa 

Upper Class but Homeless 

No, brother, he wrote, you are not homeless, many a rooms are ready for you in the hearts of many people across the world .

Toda Rabah

These days, Iran is in full force in my life, lots of poems, songs and the ancient seers   Rumi. Hafiz  and the greatest poets of all time including Khayyam 

Oh my dear sweet friends of Persia 

So I played this video once again, I had mentioned it in another blog earlier ..

Family chooses you but you choose your friends 

YAR FRIEND 

Faramaz  Aslani and Babak Amani

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAF4_REZU9c

Yar - یار

سفر کردم که یابم بلکه یارم را

نجستم یار و گم کردم دیارم را

نجستم یار و گم کردم دیارم را

از آن روزی که من بار سفر بستم

به هر جایی که رفتم در به در هستم

به هر جایی که رفتم در به در هستم

فراموشم مکن من یار دیرینه ام

بیا خالیست جای تو به بالینم

تو را در خوابهای خویش میبینم

در آغوشم بگیر از خود رهایم کن

گرفتار سکوتم من صدایم کن

میان روزهای خویش جایم کن

Friend

I traveled, maybe I found my friend

I didnt find any friend and lost my land

I didnt find any friend and lost my land

Since that day I prepared for trip

Where ever I went , I am homeless

Where ever I went , I am homeless

Dont forget me, I am an old friend

Come, you are missed beside me

I see you in my dreams

Hug me, and free me from myself

I am the prisoner of silence, call me

Fit me in the good days

You will see a bit of Havana, Cuba in this video. 

It is an ideal city to be metaphorically Homeless..

You are welcome there ..

RUMI COMES IN AGAIN, WANDERS IN AND GOES OUT AND LEAVING FEW PEBBLES OF HIS KNOWLEDGE IN MY HEART

RUMI had entered my life at various stages..the last welcome for Rumi was in Kuala Lumpur when my good friend MYC gave me a copy of the book, The Gift an interpretation of Rumi's poems.

Various friends from Iran came and went but RUMI stayed.

Yesterday a friend talked about the six books of Rumi and a good English translation and sent me the link. 

As many of the serious students of RUMI had warned me, you dont just read RUMI in translation but truly need help from experts how to interpret the writings.

Yesterday I was also able to get Spiritual Verses by Jalal ad-Din Rumi. it is an audible book which i could listen in my long layovers or long flights, perhaps as I fly over Iran one of these days. 

The Little Poet said to me : la petite poete de Côte Sauvage 

No need to raise your voice, All that will happen is that you loose your voice.

This little descendant of Middle East and ancient Europe, how did she acquire the spirit of Rumi?

I remember the Vice-Director of the International School of Kisses of Baracoa, saying one day:

Do not ask him, where he comes from, many countries claim him as his own.

The Indian mystics say

If you think you are very important, your absence will not make the world stop tomorrow, it will go on and in a little while there would be no one left that remembers you.

It is now, the time to LOVE and let us hear what RUMI had to say

Love lives on in our hearts, until it is also silenced.

There are no memories of love that persists. You need a beating heart for Love to flourish.

I am waiting for you , even if I do not know your face

You bring the world to me

As the Kalahari San once said. I will turn my ears backwards to listen 

for the story that is waiting for me ..

To EB who told me about The Forty Rules of Love by Elif Shafak which I immediately downloaded. 

So much to learn ...

EUPHORIA WHAT IS THE SOURCE

A euphoric mood is characterized by feelings of strong happiness, excitement, and well-being. It is an amplified sense of pleasure that can have a number of different causes.  (from American Psychological Association)..

All human beings (and perhaps other animals too) are capable of Euphoria .. this sense of well being beyond description.

It was 6 pm last Thursday. An elder from this group of Indians had come to see me, we chatted and shared some knowledge.

I had already been feeling good, a day of fine interactions with colleagues and a sense of accomplishment of bringing good news to others.

As I got into the car to drive back to my residence in the city, I felt euphoric

a great sense of being alive , a sense of gratitude, happy to be me, gratified by this ability to help, feeling it in the body ..it is as if a string with droplets of love hanging on to it was connecting me to universe.

Today a friend from Iran asked me to explain Euphoria, wondering whether Westerners and others who drink wine experience Euphoria ?

I had to go through the experiences I have had with Europhoria and it was never with WINE

music, people, love, affection, poetry, literature, leaving or arriving in my favourite countries , anticipation of love and affection.. the list goes on and on 

I thought of Mohsen Yeganeh and his song 

each time it brings me happiness .. a lovely sense in my heart 

an euphoria 

Iran itself gives me an euphoria. The other country that gives me an euphoria is definitely CUBA. Towns such as Cochin in Kerala, Siem Reap in Cambodia, Yangon in Myanmar ..all are sources

While I was reading the lyrics in English and enjoying the music, I thought of a person who recently left without many words ..I thought of her 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QqErVIWS5Y

eu só estou ansioso com o amanhã que espera por você

A source of euphoria can also be a source of sadness, especially in romantic love ..

I will never forget this sentence from The Prophet by the Lebanese poet  Kahlil Gibran..

When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

NOTHING IS CHEAP, EVERYTHING IS RELATIVE.. LESSON FROM THE RECEPTIONIST AT HOTEL PALACIO PARAMARIBO

During my short stay in Paramaribo, i had many conversations with this Jawanese Surinamese lady who directed me to deGadri resto by the river for surinamese food and also to GreenStraat for Indonesian food 

I praised the Surinamese food and without thinking I said: the dish i ate was so delicious and it was only 110 SRD (about five dollars USD). Thinking of what such good food would cost in Miami or Paris, I said: it is cheap 

No sir, it is not cheap, she politely scolded me. For people like me who are living on Surinamese salaries, going out to Chinese supermarkets (where you can buy imported goods) or eating out is not an easy option.

In Miami, the caricature of fraud and capitalism, people are concerned about the cost of everything without understanding the value of very few things .. On top of it all, they pay working class people a wage which is not a livable wage ..

I visited CHOI's the biggest of the Chinese owned supermarkets and they had a good selection of foods, vegetables, wines etc all imported from Holland .. so one can imagine the mark up on prices and its effect upon the wage earners of suriname.

One humbling lesson I learned early on my anthropological studies was from the San/bushmen in Tsumkwe! in the Kalahari. While an older man and another younger man was showing me around, i was surprised to see the sparsity of vegetation and the monotony of the landscape. There is nothing here, I said with some exclaim to which the old man, who was name Thœmma said: For us everything is here 

So please do not compare prices and say it is cheap or expensive. After a while you will realize that the price tag on any items at supermarket or amazon.com has a different effect upon you. you will gauge the price and the utility of what you are buying.

YOU SEEM JOLLY, HOW OLD ARE YOU ?

Surinamese are very friendly, and the receptionists at the Hotel Palacio in Paramaribo were no exception.

I have been looking forward to escaping from the narrow-mindedness of the discourse in Miami and the general anxiety of fear and anxiety in Miami where I had been marooned for two years as a Covid Refugee !

So I was more chatty than my usual self and she might have seen me interacting with the owner of the hotel or guests 

So one evening we were talking and she was telling me about her family and life in Paramaribo when she asked me :

You seem so jolly, how old are you ?

I understood the meaning of her question. my exuberant behaviour probably did not fit her image of a doctor and a professor .. 

I had a nice chat with her ..

I will be staying at the same hotel on my next visit, so see you then..

THE SURINAMESE ARE VERY POLITE PEOPLE... ALL RACES ..

 Once you arrive in Suriname, you have to get used to the various languages and various cultures. Each of the cultural groups maintain their individual identity while being proud of being Surinamese, with strong connection to Holland. 

On arrival, the driver who picked me up at the ungodly hour was called Ismaeli of Indian subcontinental origin. The receptionist at the hotel was of Jawanese origin. Within one day of my arrival there i had met so many different nationalities that inhabit this small country including the Jews who had been there before Africans, Hindustani or Jawanese! 

You can see an occasional Amerindian walking by minding their own business.

As I woke up as the strong sunlight even penetrated the thick curtain, this was my view from Hotel Palacio at Heeren Street. The Jawanese receptionist suggested deGadri restaurant for a Surinamese taste 

Walking along the streets of Paramaribo is a sheer delight to gawk at the wooden colonial building, not one or two, but rows and rows of them.

It was just the tail end of the lunch hour still the tables were occupied by mainly Surinamese people with an odd Dutch person (who are the most numerous of the tourists)

The chalkboard menu, boasted of Okra soup, Bami and Nasi I understood by my rudimentary knowledge of jawanese . Kip Pom I was told what it is.. I went into the restaurant where people were waiting for their takeway food and could see the chef toiling away. I approached a lady sitting on a chair waiting for her food.. begged her to explain and asked for a recommendation. She was Afro Surinamese and spoke good english and was glad to do so, and after her reommendation I chose Moksi Alesi 

without doubt it was the tastiest dish i tasted during my short stay in Paramaribo.

You can enjoy the river while you savour the surinamese cuisine. 

There are 

Indonesian restaurants 

Indian Restaurants and also Roti shops 

Chinese restaurants 

Coffee shops and bars galore 

In fact, going out to eat would be considered the prime entertainment in this small city 

On my return, without doubt deGadri would be my first stop ..

A SPECIAL MOON OVER MIAMI. LOVE TO MY FRIENDS EVERY WHERE. MAY THE SPIRITS BIND YOU TO ME

 

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW A TRAVEL SECRET ? IN THIS HEMISPHERE? PARAMARIBO

 As a child I was very keen on Geography and knew about the three GUYANAs.. British, Dutch and the French. The French Guyanne is still part of France and the other two gained their independence from the metropole, Guyanese in Georgetown speaking English and Surinamese in Paramaribo speaking Dutch.  The Guyanese started looking west to Canada and USA but the Surinamese looked north to Holland . In fact currently there may be more citizens of Holland of Surinamese origin than Surinamese living in Suriname.

Who are the Surinamese? The Original inhabitants are the Indigenous people, Amerindians.

The four most numerous Indigenous Peoples are the Kaliña (Carib), Lokono (Arawak), Trio (Tirio, Tareno) and Wayana.

who came next ?

The British, the Dutch, the Portugese, the Spanish but I think Suriname had attracted the Dutch and the English and became Dutch after the Anglo-Dutch war's conclusion.

Africans came as slaves, some ran away to the Interior, Maroons who are the closet genetically to Africa, as much as 98%.

When the Slavery was abolished, Indentured labourers from the State of Bihar in India started arriving, about 63 different ships. Also Jawanese from their other colony, Indonesia . Chinese arrived as traders and there had been much mingling so, we now have 

Creoles

Hindoostanis (of Indian origin)

Jawanese 

Maroons 

Indigenous Indians 

Chinese, old and new migrations

and you could feel the tolerance between the races and the happy acceptance of each other.

Thus amalgam and the colonial power made the inhabitants speak four languages each 

Dutch

English

Sranan Tango which is a mixture of a lot of languages and the lingua franca among people along with Dutch.

and each of the cultural groups have maintained their language but in a very hybridized form 

Hindoostanis speak a form of Hindi called Srinami

Jawanese have their language which will not be understood as Indonesian 

The africans have Saramaccan and other dialects evolved in their isolation 

Chinese dialects 

and one thing i noticed with pride was the acceptance of each other and showing respect for each other . So it is common to hear two chinese speaking chinese in front of others , the othes paying no attention to it. I was greeted by all sorts of people including some homeless ones.

It was a delightful visit ..

and to think that there is a direct flight from Miami ? 4 hours and thirty minutes arriving at the ungodly hour of midnight at an airport built by the Americans 37 km outside the city of Paramaribo. 

Let your pleasant journey begin.

and not to forget the tiny Jewish community which predates Africans and Hindoostanis and Jawanese..