Guru Irshad

Irshad looked set to follow in the footsteps of his two elder sisters, who, seconds earlier, had jumped into the river from that same wooden plank. His knees were slightly bent. Like springs, ready to uncoil his whole being into the river. With his right thumb and forefinger, he squeezed his nose tight, an action just like his two sister before him, and no doubt enforced by his own experience of jumping numerous times into swimming pools.

As I looked on, I could mentally see him counting to three, take a deep breath and start his launch. His two sisters jumped vertically, landing feet first in the water. It would be nice to see him, at 4 years old the youngest of my brother's four little kids, have fun and at the same time gain confidence and perhaps even a bit of bravado.

Boy was I wrong. At the moment of launch, his right hand left his nose and instead of curling into a ball, ready to drop into the water, his stretched his arms straight up above his head. And his jump, instead of vertical, went horizontal. Of he shot, like superman, flying for a split second in the skies of Kuala Gandah Elephant Sanctuary before crashing with an almighty splash, face down, in the river.

And this he did, over and over again. Today, I was thankful to be in the presence of such a gregarious guru. Irshad, my lovely 4 year old teacher, is teaching me to live life in the moment. To learn from others but to also follow my heart.

Barracudas

It's awe inspiring to see a shoal of barracudas going round and round in circles, even juvenile ones in this case. Only, on the second circle, it gradually dawns that the object of their circling is me, and that hundreds of eyes are using me at their pivot point. That tinge of fear, real or imagined, makes the moment just that slightly more alive.

The Circle

We learn and learn, from the moment we are born. Expressing our unbridled emotions first, then recognising faces, then language and its intricate complexities, all the way to maths, chemistry and physics with its complex equations. Only to try, at our zenith, to unlearn decades of conditioning and behaviour. To learn how to unlearn. To live in the moment. To think no thought. To do without thinking. We then complete the circle, going back to where we were, where we started from.

Ray Charles

Do you think that, when recording "georgia on my mind", the late Ray Charles would think that one day he would be heard full blast in a dive centre in the South China Sea, in a sleepy beach called Juaran (Champion), on the tropical island paradise of Tioman?

you're a bad dancer

you kinda get the drift that perhaps dancing is not your purpose in life when you can't follow the steps in the latin dance class.... during the warmup and stretching session...

World Refugee Day yesterday

yes it was. time, perhaps, to reflect on the concept of nation states. it is really an improvement over the concept of empires that it had succeeded? 192 separate countries in this world. 192 different governments. 192 different borders to cross.

to one Myanmarese refugee in Malaysia, crossing 2 borders was harrowing enough. 2 weeks, it took her to arrive in Kuala Lumpur. crossing into Thailand in a fishing boat, hidden with many others under fishing nets, half submerged in seawater. crammed in an room with 50 others in Bangkok. running blindy at night, barefoot in the jungles of the Thai-Malaysia border...

if only people took humanity as a nation.

Too Many Days in Paradise

Less than 2 days in paradise, and I am already missing my friends. Perhaps I am still too uncentred to be happy alone and on my own. Now, even the idea of karaokeing with a bunch of strangers singing cantonese songs seems appealing! Or maybe not! :)

Zen of the Toy Boat

It was a small toy boat, bobbing ever so slightly in the low tide. Like its full size cousins less than 20 yards away, it too sported its own anchor made out of a piece of dead coral, with a plastic mineral water bottle as its buoy. The hull was made out of coconut husk, and someone had meticulously shaped its cabin out of small pieces of driftwood, cut to order with small square openings on the side for windows. A red flag fashioned out of either cardboard paper or stiff cloth proudly flew on its mast. A rusty nail protuded on the bow, serving as an anchor point. It was perfect, but I had to make it more than that. Damn I wish I had a camera. I should go closer still, so that I could take it all in, every single little detail. I have to touch that red flag, because I had to find out what it was made of. In the distance, mudskippers distracted me. Then, squirrels crashing in the tree caught my attention and imagination. That perfect moment was lost, forever.

But in actual fact, it was perfect to start with, and perfect still. The frustration, the distraction, the preconceptions and values, the mind wandering and wanting more, as it always does. That too, is perfection. We have only to open our eyes... And take it all in, as it comes, moment, by perfect moment...