| |
was recently reading about an incident. An American lady journalist went to many hippie communes to conduct a study of their way of life. She visited a commune where the hippies were busy taking their meal. They had no spoons. What would they do in India? If the hippies come here, they may feel embarrassed, because if eating with hands constitutes revolt in America, in India, using spoons for eating may be deemed as rebellious.
She found that they were eating with their hands, without being accustomed to eating that way, and their hands got soiled. And because they were taking their food from the common tray, the food also became dirty. They were eating just like that. The lady journalist lifted her spoon, upon which someone from there snatched away the same and put her hand into the food. She became greatly perturbed, but there the rule was like that. If she agreed, I would say that she had become conformist. She should have refused. But there to refuse to behave like them might have become extremely difficult.
She saw that a hippie had torn the blouse of a lady there, had poured all the food upon her and was licking from her body. All this constitutes reactions, a sort of madness. No doubt, in a moment of love the taste of a woman's body can also be meaningful. That is not necessarily something undesirable. But it has significance in that moment. However, to pour soup on the body of some woman and to lick the same only smacks of making faces at the established society and to demonstrate indignation against it.
Ginsberg is a hippie poet. In a small poet's gathering he was once reciting a poem on courage in which he had used obscene words. One man stood up and said that where lay the courage in that -- in using such abusive language. Ginsberg replied, "So you want to see the real courage, will you?" The man said, "Of course!" So Ginsberg took off his pants, and stood naked and asked that fellow to do so if he had the courage. But I fail to understand what courage is necessary for standing naked. A man who says that courage is required to stand naked should in the first instance be afraid of standing naked. Otherwise, there is no question of
|
|
|