It's my fourth day in Kuching and third day at Rainforest World Music Festival. It's been such an enriching experience thus far. Mingling with the performers - these World Music musicians are so down-to-earth, friendly and approachable! It's such a joy to be able to learn about their music and culture - especially from performers of faraway lands and nations that I've only heard of but never seen. The stories of their struggles in trying to bring some peace, love and unity through the universal language of music in the midst of political and social striving in their countries truly touched my heart. It made me feel grateful for the relatively peaceful country that I live in - ridiculous and dramatic though some of the political circus can be.
You would never hear a Malaysian musician say, "I just want to tell the people to stop fighting and killing each other through my music." But a Palestinian would. Worse, the Palestinian would be detained at the airport and not allowed to proceed to certain countries due to paranoia that he is a terrorist in disguise.
Being in this place where about 37 nationalities congregate for the love of music just brings this world issues a little closer to home. When you encounter people who just want to spread a message of hope and joy in the midst of turmoil in the world that they come from, it changes you somehow. It expands your mind and horizons to break the walls of the small cocoon of the world that you once lived.
You begin to see the many common and spiritual grounds that you share with say, a hunky singer from Trinidad & Tobago, even though your geography was so bad you didn't know where it was located. You begin to build bridges of solidarity with a Punjabi lady with a Kelabit name because you share the same passion that roots and culture should be preserved and carried on from one generation to the next.
I know I'm changed but as to what extent, I have yet to find out. But I sense that the journey to that next level of growth, whatever it is, is just beginning.
Ariel is happy with her life, thank you very much. If she needs good advice, she knows when and where to ask for it. So chill lar.
