CURRENT MISSION

Me on a mission?, impossible !

ABOUT ME

Its tricky, I realise, sometimes to laugh at myself - thats what a sense of humour is all about. The most important thing in life is finally sitting down in the evening with anybody at all, drink the local brew, eat the local food, sing the local song and laugh the local laugh.I can be obsessive about the way environment and ecology shapes peoples culture, food, music, booze, politics et al.

Whats the food and cuisines of different places? How is local booze brewed? What are different languages all about? Whats the local folklore and music? - Just some of the questions that fascinate me and that I keep an eye on when travelling. Love looking at how things are cooked, on what, what fuel where does it come from locally and all that. Am interested in anything under the sun as long as i can make connections with people's lives of a place. I've done some travel to the most non-descript places (thanks to work) working with "non-descript" people - and boy is there beauty, humour and sadness everywhere!.

Have a look at some of my travel videos on youtube - search for "Earthwormfirefly" on youtube.

PHILOSOPHY

My Philosopy,
how can I explain,
is nothing much to talk about
"To be Free", said the Buddha,
the tied dog said:
"To get out".

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Well so far, been part of meets, travelled a little (a little little little so far) with fellow CSers and have had some fun Film festivals at my couch !!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I am relatively new here - so lets see !!! Did meet a couch surfer in one of my friends place - she was travelling around the world to "spread her message of peace". I rarely meet people doing something like that.

But having the film festivals at my couch was gooood fun.

Interests

Just about anything in the universe except:
shopping (except on a need-basis) and
gadgets(though i dont mind using them).

• dogs
• culture
• singing
• folklore
• beauty
• festivals
• film festivals
• environment
• dining
• drinking
• shopping
• politics
• traveling
• socializing
• music
• ecology
• languages

Music, Movies, and Books

Catch 22 has been one of my favorites for a long time.
Some of the kannada poetry enthralls me.

Music of the 60's, Sufi,Gypsy and some other forms of folk music - then again its not the category that matters.

I have been tripping on Tony Gatlif's films of late. Like some of the Iranian stuff - Majid majidi, Jafar Panahi, Makmalbaf and the lot.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

The one thing that stands out for me - drinking mahua, eating jowari roti with corn-chilli-mash with Shelya Diya (a tribal elder) in the heart of the narmada valley late in the night when its pitch dark. The sky is unbelievable. The narmada milky white. Sheep and cows all around us part of the drinking ritual. And to this day, since i had just met Shelya diya and never met him again in daylight, i dont know what he looks like. A friend with no face. A voice and the smooth kick of mahua.

Teach, Learn, Share

I can share stories, videos, photos of experiences of working with people in many parts of India on various issues of environment, governance, and all and sundry.

I would love to learn a whole load more from anyone at all.

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Netherlands

Countries I’ve Lived In

France, India, United Kingdom

•