19 Sept 2012, Jawadhi Hills, Clowning and Trekking to Village

We woke up around 5am to leave by 6am. People were pretty tired but hauled themselves up for a bucket wash and breakfast. Some dressed in clown I thought to dress when I got there. I was not sure how I would go energetically so took my gear and thought to make the decision when there.

The idea was to go to a school, some of the group would stay at the school and entertain the kids, the other group would trek 10km (round trip) to a village on a hill in a remote area.

We all packed ourselves into the tray that was attached to the back of the tractor. Off we went on a bumpy and difficult drive. The roads are very degraded and uneven due to erosion and flooding. So it is bumpy and lots of crunching of gears by the driver. We were all crushed in yet people kept a good humour and there were random spurts of copious laughter which I enjoyed. I would expect this from a bunch of clowns. Thankfully the weather is not too hot but we do cover our skin as we are likely to get sunburned. We drove up steep hills and watched this mountainous country emerge from all around us. So beautiful to be in the heart of nature. So many butterflies of blues, yellows, whites and bird song all around. We see the occasional cow on the way. I watch Santosh stand up on this bumpy ride and learn to stay centred in himself. He is a yoga teacher and a spiritual seeker who has practiced mindfulness. Obidi tried to surf as he put it, and stayed up for a while but declared it was not easy to do it. Then Santosh just stood there doing pranic breathing and awareness. He said awareness enables him to stay still. I could feel his energy as I sat there. I felt it to be intense. The others chatted in good spirits wriggling to get comfortable from time to time. We finally got to our destination, the school. In that moment Toot asked if I was going I decided to go. I wasn’t sure if I had the energy but thought go for it. I reflect now on Amos wise words of seeing life as a challenge. She has a lot of courage I felt.

So off we walked with Anup as our guide accompanied by Mike, Giri and Lennon (Tamil friends). There were other Tamil guides who led us through the jungle. I had my red backpack with clown gear inside and strided off. A little way into the walk Amo stepped in a funny way and hurt her knee. She was in a lot of pain and I hoped she had not done any real damage. I found out it was her knee. She is certainly tough and wanted to go on but Tim as leader of the group felt it was his responsibility to take her back. He was right, I doubt she would have made it and could have sustained real damage. So just before they went back Anup encouraged them to have a look at the view. It was breathtaking, a vista across a valley with trees and mountains to the horizon. It was just beautiful. I knew I had made the right decision to come on this walk, even if this view was the highlight.

So we walked in single file, sometimes chatting sometimes quiet. I found myself concentrating on the rocks, so it kept me well and truly in the moment. The path could be rocky or loose and sandy so you had to watch your step. We were surrounded by trees that had some likeness to eucalypts but were clearly not. The planet has similarities in ecosystem and adaptation can be geography specific or can be common in other countries. I enjoyed and reminded myself that I was in another ecosystem. I just watched the nature and the huge rocks and just marvelled at the fresh air, the endless trees and magnificent rocks everywhere. They seemed to me to be very old indeed. A place like this must change you as it is peaceful, perhaps this is why the people are so kind in these tribal villages, they are influenced by the natural world. It was a tough walk at times but we got to a place where Anoop indicated it would be a good place to put on clown gear and make up. I laughed to myself on this trip at the willingness to go to remote places to bring joy and felt the theme of clowns without borders. I also thought of Seb’s personnel love of the people to have us walk 10km (round trip) to visit these people. It is highly likely they have never seen clowns. They did know we were coming and Seb’s personnel wondered if we should go house to house or do a show.

When we got there we waved at the people. I felt myself move into clown and when it turns on for me I feel a naturalness in my interactions. I am sure I could connect with anyone when I am a clown. It so is a universal language.

We walked passed some villages they emerged from houses or were using hand made shovels to collect cow dung. We walked into an open area and headed for a large treed area. I saw donkey’s in the paddock that were hobbled. We waved at people and caused some commotion as word got around that we had arrived. We were on top of a mountain and it was truly inspiring.

Under the big trees I juggled for the guys and went to make out I was hugging them, one boy ran away. Others laughed as I played with them. I threw balls, blew bubbles, did some balloons and generally played. The others did their tricks. Both Obidi and Brett are excellent jugglers so I enjoyed watching them juggle together. Puzzle in his quiet way was wonderful doing his double helix balloon with a love heart. He would then give to someone in the crowd. Toot played with the crowd and interacted. The energy was high and the audience was engaged the whole time. We did a lot of hugging of women (not allowed to hug men), I tend to go to shake them pull my hand away and they get it immediately. We are all so similar, this human family, it just amazes me how we can communicate without language. At the end of the show we sang to them in Tamil, thanks to the memory of Obidi. It was a song about ‘I want to be your friend’. It was a lovely show and we said our goodbyes to these shining people.

We ended up outside the village under some trees for a rest. Puzzle realised his mobile had gone missing and he tried to find it. Anup went to the village to let them know. So hopefully one way or another he gets it back. Anup was aware of time and got us started back. It was pretty hot in the sun and I did find the return walk very exhausting. Thanks to Mike he carried my backpack towards the end and helped me up rocks. I was really tired and sweating. It was full on but absolutely beautiful and such a gift. I find nature very grounding.

When we returned to the school the others had a lovely time with the kids doing magic and tattoos and balloons. So there were so happy kids there in the best clothes. The teachers had them playing games and our wonderful Lennon was up there getting them going. They did some animal games. Those of us who had returned from the walk were desperate for water, food and a sleep. So we lay on mats whilst the kids did there thing. I was then asked by Mike to juggle. I just complied as I had some energy left. I did some juggling making up what I was going to do next. I put my hat on the principal, I noticed after a while he put it behind his back and gently got it back. I then went and pulled up a female child. I noticed the girls were sitting at the back. I wanted to get them involved, I felt we female clowns can be role models. for them. I also went to shake their hands and one girl thought I was getting her up but I didn’t, just shook her hand. Then I went to the boys as well. They were lovely kids all of them. I did my bit and bowed then sat down.

After a while the tractor was started up and everyone piled back into the trailer tray. I decided to sit with the tractor driver. It was not easy getting comfortable at the front as I had to wedge one foot behind his bottom and the other below. I was conscious I didn’t want to crush my foot. So was careful. Every now and then I’d move my position. My back got sore from banging against the bar. I watched the terrain in front and again marvelled at how rough it was.

We eventually got back to the first village. We got out some went to sleep, I went and had a bucket shower as I was so sweaty from the walk and have water. We all had to prepare for another show. It was done very quickly. I didn’t find this easy as I was very tired and not trained in performance but went with it and made suggestions.

Toot did some clowning with the group and then suddenly said to me to go in. I hesitatingly said ‘now’. She said ‘yes’. I just was conscious of my feather duster and just jumped in and made it up. I asked Toot to get a snake as I felt to snake charm using my whistle that goes up and down (high pitch to low pitch). We then ended up clowning around together. It was so much fun, we ended up rolling in the dirt and the audience laughed. We got feedback from other clowns saying it was funny, so I felt happy. When you adlib and just make up the routine it can have the magic or not. Toot and I seem to be very similar and we do gel as clowns. We were both laughing and I was certainly puffing a lot. The other magic moment was juggling with Anup and Brett. We tried to adopt the education theme for children. Brett was the teacher and Anup was the good clown. Myself and Toot were the two naughty clowns who were not listening and watching and the one good clown who arrived on time and learned to juggle. The point was to go to school and learn and not muck around and be disrespectful. When you focus you learn and achieve your goals. Then the other clowns came on and did there bit, I loved all the performances and felt it was the best ever. I particularly loved the performance where the little glowing thumbs were pressed on and then thrown between people, it looked so effective at night. Then they all gathered the little red lights together and put them in two poys. Ami then did a show with twirling the poy’s and it looked so spectacular and just watched with awe. All the lights were out and the twirling poy was like a blur of swirls and patterns, really great. Then a really beautiful bit happened when Ami touched Tim’s clubs and they magically turned on. The two of them then juggled and twirled, it was very spectacular.

At the end of the show we all sang ‘if you are happy and you know it shake your … or wiggle your… etc.’ and then waved goodbye to everyone. There were lots of hugs and then afterwards we went and had dinner together. I just looked deeply into the night sky looking at the stars thinking of the future. Where are world will be. I feel a magic in this life and I do trust it.

For me this was a special day, I was amazed at my own energy to keep going, particularly after a 10km walk. I am not that fit and it was truly a miracle. I went to sleep tired but deeply happy. I found my pillow and drifted off to peaceful sleep.