Alternate Vision

It started off as a mundane Monday morning; the usual at work. As the afternoon progessed, however, with the outdoor weather being as seductive as ever, I found myself sitting at Campbell's hole with book in hand and negro modello in the other; I couldn't have asked for more. At some stage I realized that attempting to comprehend the essence of Tibetan Buddhism while sitting around half naked hippies wasn't going to happen. That, and it was probably immoral. Having resigned to this truth, I decided to seek out something else to preoccupy my time with. This is when my attention was grabbed by the quaint sound of the didgeridoo and what turned out to be the highlight of my afternoon.

What happened to me this afternoon, I like to believe, was preordained. Omid Laridjani, clad in what I presumed was the traditional garb of the aborogines, was seated crosslegged beside this rock with didgeridoo in hand. In a state of utmost attention, he went on to sound his instrument and put on this super-human display of circular breathing (technique used to play it) that left me nothing short of stupified. The first chance I had, obviously I introduced myself and within minutes we were knee deep in converstaion; mostly him sharing his 'infinite wisdom.' His presence puts you in what I can only describe as a heightened state of awareness. He talked about the discipline of learning and playing the didgeridoo and his dedication towards this over the last few years. He is Iranian, has lived in the US for a while and happens to be a fellow nomad. To add to this exotism, he is fluent in Portuguese. Having discovered this, a fundamental connection was formed, instantaneously. It was like we shared a common purpose in life, part of which involved communicating our thoughts, feelings and knowledge through song and dance.

Omid is an authority on aboriginal culture, the didgeridoo and happens to be adopted into a certain tribe in Australia. It is there that he mastered the art of playing the didgeridoo and dedicated himself to studying their culture. Enough said, I urge you to read more about this inspirational being here.

Traditionally, an Aborigine would go into nature and listen intensely to animal sounds, not just voices but also the flapping of wings or the thump of feet on the ground. The Aborigine would also listen to the sounds of wind, thunder, trees creaking, and water running. The essences of all these sounds were played with as much accuracy as possible within the droning sound of the didjereedoo. For the Aborigine, the observation of nature immediately requires a state of empathy, which leads to am imitative expression.

My only regret about the afternoon was that I didn't have my drum on me.