paradise beach really is a paradise, spoilt by the remains of the man-made edifices and garbage left after the destruction by the forestry department. swami and others had got the permission from the police authorities in kumta and ankola for the gathering. at the time they made the decision to hold it there, the beach was deserted. however, things changed very fast. there were lots of ordinary tourists coming by boat all the time, some long and short term travellers also camping there, and we were soon to be joined by the ‘walkabout love’ crew. a crowded little beach for a normally far from everybody rainbow gathering.
yanti, maike and i found a place on a terrace below where swami was camped, and we soon rigged up the tarp to make our camp. i found a place at the end of the terrace to put up my tent. swami had gathered a group of young campers there to help in the seed camp, and although they had cleaned up a lot, they spent most of their energy perfecting their own camps. thus when we got there, nothing had been set-up for a gathering. no main-circle, no kitchen, no shit-pits. these were young first-time india/first-time rainbow travellers on a very steep learning curve, and some not very enthusiastic about the rainbow ways.
so it was left to me, swami, yanti and maike, the only 4 with the experience, to set it all up. we found a ‘secluded’ and unused place near the main beach for the main fire and food circles, and a place beside it for the kitchen. we cleaned it all up of the garbage bought in by the monsoon tides... sandals, bottles, broken glass, plastic, etc. and we started making the food for the circles. it was hard work with just the 4 of us and some others putting in some help from time to time.
at the same time, the ‘walkabout love’ crew arrived. they were friendly young people doing a walk from north goa to paradise beach and beyond, mainly israelis but some others too. the walkabout started some years ago when a group of rainbow brothers and sisters walked across israel to spread the message of peace and love. we had imagined the present walkers would be the same but were shocked to discover that walkabout love had ‘sold out’ and had gone commercial: 500 – 800 euros for the adventure! not really rainbow spirit. but we joined them around their fire and made them welcome... but later, yanti had a run-in with the alpha male leader, describing him as arrogant in the way he spoke to her and general attitude. i had the foreboding he would bring trouble to the happy bunch of campers.
so whilst we were making the preparations to make our rainbow camp, the walkabout crew got on with theirs... and soon the message got out that the walkabout leader was planning something for xmas day... a techno party complete with generator, sound system and dj. one of the long-term campers who had agreed to the party came to see us when we were having our breakfast circle that morning to tell us that this beach didn’t belong to us or anyone, that they were going to have a party, that it would cost 250 rupees if we wanted to ‘enter’... all in a very arrogant and rude way. i told her that it would just bring problems, and asked if she had permission for the party, to which she responded: “are you police?”. “no”, i replied, “but the police will come and make problems for you, and then they will be problems for everybody.” she had cast a dark cloud over our circle and the whole beach. the party idea didn’t go down too well with us nor with the indians running the chai shop/ restaurant. the long-term campers and the other really shanti israelis camped on the far side also took a dim view of the idea.
the night before, they young ones had organised a xmas eve party by the ruins of the old main restaurant where some of them were camping out. they had all decided to make a dish each and share it, and we were invited to come and bring and share our food with them. so we cooked a kedgeree dish in the big pot and took it over. once the meal was over, we went back to our fire and sang our songs as we weren’t too keen to join in the alcohol/drug ambience!
i woke next morning to hear raised voices coming from the palm tree area of the main beach, and went down to investigate. i found kevin arguing with the israeli leader of the walkabout love group, telling him that what he was doing was wrong and he should stop. i saw that the whole beach area under the palm trees had been cordoned off with plastic rope. i went to hear the argument, the israeli guy saying that this was shiva’s place and he was free to do what he liked, and we were free to do what we liked... totally arrogant argument. we all got the impression that he was on some big ego trip, leading his merry gang of disciples to the ‘holy land’ of paradise beach where he had holidayed before. one very dangerous ego trip! he had taken a unilateral decision without discussing it with anyone. and now kevin was there, remonstrating with him. he saw me standing there listening and pleaded, “make him stop please!”. even maike joined in, saying that this was not palestine, we don’t want another israeli wall here!! so i decided to take action. i went to the where the rope had been tied to the tree and began to unknot it. as i continued to gather it, little hitler came up to me and told me not to touch his ‘property’. “you said i was free to do what i want... i just heard you say that. so i am just acting on your words, brother”, i told him. “i am free to take this down”, i said, and carried on. his friend came over and said the same. “if you don’t like it, you can leave”, he said. that pissed me off. “you telling me to leave my own country!?”, i asked, repeating it so that he got the message. i resisted the urge to tell them to fuck off back to their own. after all, we must be hospitable to our guests. however, when the guests try to take over and become the masters, then that’s too much. i carried on collecting the rope, but suddenly, he took hold of my wrist and told me again not to touch his property. i could feel the aggression in his voice, and the tension suddenly ratcheted up a couple of notches. i looked him in his eye and told not to touch me. i didn’t feel any fear, i knew that what he was doing was wrong. india didn’t need another techno party, india didn’t need another foreigner thinking that they could do whatever they wanted without any respect for the local people and others. he backed down as his friend led him away.
but then i also left the scene and joined our crew in the rainbow ‘kitchen’. i wasn’t here for a confrontation. i just came to paradise beach to enjoy the beauty of the place with like-minded people. i decided that the best thing to do would be the communal shopping with swami and bee in belekan, the nearby village. let what will be, be. fate has a way of dealing with arrogant people who impose their will on others.
belekan is a sleepy little village by the banks of a river flowing into the sea. we found a place to eat, and then went for a trip to the mandir. there was also a mosque in the village. swami even showed us the holy shrine in the rocks by the beach, complete with a stone sculpture of the local god who protects the village. swami was an initiated sannyasin, originally from panama but looking very much like an indian sadhu with his long dreads to his knees, and he knew his way around hindu temples. we followed his instructions. and then the bus to gokarna showed up and we took it, reasoning that it was market day there and more choice for fruits and vegetables.
when we returned, the rope was back in place and the techno music was playing loud. i avoided the place because i knew that to go anywhere near would be to risk trouble. i didn’t need it. i joined the others to make the meal for the second food circle, and in the evening, after the meal, we heard the music stop. maike reasoned that the police must have arrived. he was right: we saw them landing their boat, and heard the news that they were telling all the indian tourists to leave the beach. we carried on, we were not with the techno/drug freaks. suddenly, out of nowhere, i see three policemen come up to one guy sat around the fire. he had taken the boat with us, and he was also the one who had made us wait the longest. he was just about to roll a spliff, and they came out of the shadows and caught him. while they were with him, another two came around the rest of us sitting by the fire. after they searched maike’s bag, they looked in mine. when they found nothing, the cop who was kneeling next to me looked me in the eye and asked: “do you smoke charas?”. i could see his angry expression by the light of the fire. i replied: “i don’t smoke and i don’t drink alcohol”. “do you know him?”, he shouted, pointing to the guy with the ganga. “i’m just sitting here by the fire, brother”, i said calmly. his intimidation hadn’t worked and they left with our unfortunate brother, who we later learnt had managed to slip away into the shadows and hide in the ‘jungle’ for the night!
there was a big fire and party going on at the main beach, with guitar and drums. the police eventually left, but our little rainbow crew returned to our camp. and next morning, ‘walkabout trouble’ left with all their stuff, and good riddance. most of the ‘party-people’ left too, and paradise beach was calm again.
but the police came around a couple more times in the next days, and i had my bag searched again. i kept thinking about the time 15 years ago when i doing all this shit on om beach... on new year’s eve when 8 cops came strolling along the beach towards our restaurant/guest house... this was not enjoyable. i wasn’t doing any of this shit anymore and the pigs are hassling me! so when swami said he was leaving, i decided to go with him. i had in any case decided to leave the same day, so it was good that there was someone feeling the same way. and for swami, he had been there a long time, so it was good that he would leave and let the others take over. the rainbow was up and running, 2 communal meals a day, magic hat working well, workshops being done... our job was done. of course, yanti and maike were sad that we were leaving, the onus of carrying the rainbow now fell squarely on their shoulders and i felt bad because of that. but not for a second did i feel that we were deserting them... it was mission impossible and we had done the best we could. time to move on. we packed our things the night before and only told yanti and maike of our plans. early next morning, we stole away from that beautiful place, taking the bus to gokarna, and then another to kumta, and finally one to udupi. with us was a french couple we met at the bus station in gokarna, gregory and blondin, and along the way, we all decided to end the day’s travel at udupi.
in the evening, we waited for the procession to start. it began with the holy statues of the deities being brought out of the temple and placed in the two chariots. the smaller of the two chariots was pulled along by the people, whilst the bigger one was pulled by an elephant. lots of drummers around providing the musical accompaniment as we made our way to make a kora (one complete round) of the square. and then, as we watched the deities being unloaded from the processional chariots and placed in the ‘carriage’ held aloft on shoulders and swiftly taken back into the temple, we were invited by one of the brahmins to enter inside the temple. swami and i quickly removed our sandals and followed the group inside.
it was an amazing spectacle. amidst the din of the drumming, the deities were placed back on their shrines in the centre of the mutt. this was made of stone, and the mutt itself was made of a dark wood, or wood made black from the smoke of the oil lamps and candles used to light up that place over the thousands of years! it was dark and stuffy as people crowded around the shrine where the head priest and bramacharya was blessing the lucky pilgrims gathered nearest the shrine. we watched for a time and then made a couple of koras around the shrine and left. on our way out, we were invited by another brahmin to take prasadam, but looking at the queue, we declined. instead, we walked around the outer temple complex, and found a puppet-theatre. we didn’t understand a word, but the action spoke for itself. truly amazing puppet fire-show.
