In Arambol

Green and red seem to me to be the predominant colours here within the natural world. Green vegetation and red earth (there must be a lot of iron in the soil), which gives rise to a fair bit of red dust. But when it comes to human-made things, they use the entire spectrum, whether it's for clothing or houses. Visually, this place is Disney on drugs. As if they’ve ripped the rainbow from the sky and used it for a paintbrush.

I'm in a seaside village called Arambol, in the state of Goa on the west coast of India. It's a tourist place because of the great beaches here, so it reminds me a little of Bodrum in Turkey. Sure, it's part of India, but just like Bodrum it's different as well: a bit unreal, a bit more comfortable, a bit more expensive, with most things oriented towards the tourist trade.

I'm hanging out with the Goa hippies, the local dopers. They're all into living literally what Timothy Leary espoused in the 1960s: tune in, turn on, drop out. As much as possible they live a life that rejects the standard Western, Protestant mentality and work ethic that keeps the responsible nose close to the grindstone. And not all of them are Western and/or Protestant, either. While the majority that I’ve met are European - primarily British or German - there are plenty of Israelis, a Japanese artist and a Brazilian.

They prefer to hang out in India for as long as their money permits, get stoned and live more in harmony with immediate desires than with long-term plans that involve pensions and retirement. As a non-smoker and non-doper, I'm not exactly in tune with their mindset nor their way of living. But what they do is up to them. They accept my presence as they would that of anyone else who neither judges nor threatens them. But everything isn't harmony and free love, either. Everyone has their tastes and preferences for companions and likes and dislikes exist here just as they do anywhere. Disagreements and quarrels exist, as does exclusion and ostracization. The basic aspects of human life don't change much between one approach to living and another. So what must count, at least for the Goa hippies, is to what degree they are happy doing it their way. They seem a fairly happy lot to me, for the most part.

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