On A Trip

This was 'a trip'.....physically and metaphorically too. A trip pretty literally born out of a sudden, and not so random bolt of inspiration. The story of the why later, but the trip itself was a three day visit to Mammalapuram....and I'd say, to another world.

Mammalapuram, also known as Mahabalipuram is a historical, artistic, intriguing beach town, around seventy kms off Chennai....known for it's ancient temples, artistic sculptures, artsy cafes and beautiful beaches.

Diksha and Deepak have been at Mahabalipuram for three weeks, painting walls of two local cafes.....and in a sense, their first foray into independent living. Three days with them and I guess I got an insiders peep into a bohemian life.

Their base was (is actually as they're yet on the job) Bob Marley's Cafe, a chilled out cafe and beach house. While I have visited Mahabs (as it's locally called) earlier, that was as tourist, while this was an entirely different experience; in their three weeks there, they've been pretty much accepted into the local stream ....and it gave me a sneak peek in.

                                   

The place has a flow of energy that seems to envelope anybody entering it's fold. When Diksha said, 'we meet so many different kinds of people ma... it's wonderful, interesting and intense space', I now begin to understand. It's such an informal and close knit community.....  guests, owners, owners friends, workers...all belong to this one commune. Any kind of barriers just fall away; cultural, language, class, city, country, education, age.......none are visible.

While mornings are work, evenings are hang out time.... some known, and some new folks each day. If one evening was Shabari, a friend from a neighboring village telling us his experience with the tsunami, one was Robin from Paris and Noor from Tunisia sharing their experiences from across the globe (they are on an eight month backpacking tour of India), another was Manoj's story from Nepal, another a guest from Chennai....it's just this heady mix. 

Robert also plays great music, and I was intrigued to hear him say he wants to go to Belgium to attend a music festival. In fact I'll need to do a whole separate post on Robert (who owns Bob Marleys). There's often also a lot of jamming that goes on into the wee hours of the morning, as so many of them are heavy into music, guests and locals alike (Deepak plays the melodica). 

Two evenings, and my senses were flooded with the experience...all this, and then the beauty of the shack being right on the shore, literally a stones throw away...you can hear the change in the sound of the waves as the tide comes in...and the noise of the sea is always there in the background.

Here's some of the art work from Deepak and Diksha:

        

I just didn't get the lizards bit (i have a phobia), but gecko's are apparently an accepted and loved part of life in Mahabs. There's even a gecko's cafe :)

The two below are at a cafe called Instant Karma. And they are yet working on the third.

Mahabs is also called the Dream of Stones, and you still see a lot of artisans busy at sculpting. Diksha bought me a Buddha (the eighth buddha in the house she said :), even as the sculptor was blowing the dust off the statuette. She said the stone was hot in the hand as she picked it up. And what's more the sculptor has become friend and agreed to give them sculpting lessons :)

Diksha and Deepak....wonderful art work there. Admire your grit and determination in braving the heat, to stay with the art...and what's more, enjoying.... and learning from the whole process. And yes, thanks for letting me into a whole different beautiful world.