Retalls de l'Índia

Vent de monzó
perfum d'una cançó

Pell de seda
Jazmí de diadema

Cuines picants
Es renten sovint les mans

Llavis que s'obren
Ocells que volen

Trens fumejants
Perdre't entre mans

Vent i pluja a terra
Olor serena

Crits de matí
Adins, està el jardí

Temples d'aire
Plors de captaire

Ànima nua
Cos que sua

Tela rogent
Cop calent

Aturar el temps
No obrir les dents

Immortalitat de deus
Si hi creus...

Vides passades
Fosses cremades

Muntanyes sagrades
alquímies amagades

So estrident
Sala plena de gent

Pau de cor
Perdre la por...

Women´s vulnerability

Suddenly, somebody was pulling a gun to our heads. We couldn´t see who it was. We were so afraid that we just closed the eyes and prayed for our lives. When we eventually dared to look around we saw a man, dressed in military clothes, holding a Kalavnikov and playing with it were a toy.

He was joking with us, asking for our husbands, why we were driving with no male companion. When two white women travel by themselves around some African areas this is the kind of risk they must take. Although before making the decision on visiting Equatorial Guinea we were aware of it, we really didn´t know that we would get involved in such an awful situation.

“I need to get to Leleyand and I want you to drop me off” said the soldier staring at us. We barely could react. I was not picturing myself letting that men enter our car. He was armed to the teeth, drunk and eager to flirt with two “exotic” women. Suddenly, an inspiration came to mind and I could finally answer: “We cannot let you go with us because our husbands are jealous. They don´t let us to stay with other men”. Unfortunately, female travellers in such countries only can deal with this kind of situations lying about her marital status. And even if this is the only option for them it might not work.

After our answer, the solider bit his tongue. He hesitated for a while and decided to let us go. However, deep inside us we knew that from that moment on, our trip will be different. We knew that at any point he was going to get revenge.

We finally left, trying to release the pressure we had been under over those last minutes. We looked at each other and without speaking any word, we breathe relieved. We drove for 30 minutes more, being more and more aware of how lucky we had been for having escaped that situation. But shortly after this thought came to mine mind, I saw the soldier´s figure again. He was standing up on the road, waiting for us. He stopped our car and made us go out. He had caught up with us because once we left, he asked somebody else to give him a ride.

“Say sorry. Don´t you see what consequences has had the fact you didn´t want to let me go with you? I serve this country. I´m a solider and nobody else can better protect you. You should have trust me.” We didn´t know how to say. He was really angry and his ego had been buried.

“Say sorry, you must say sorry to me”. He kept insisting. I didn´t want to kneel down and be humiliated in such a way. He was about to pull his gun on us again when an unforeseen event happened.

The guy fell down, completely drunk, unconsciously. It was our salvation. If this unexpected incident hadn´t happened, we would have died. We would have disappeared in the middle of nowhere, without the opportunity to fighting for our lives.

This happening reminded us how fragile our lives are, and above all, how vulnerable are African women. At least, we could replay to the soldier´s statement, but many of our African peer couldn´t have done it. How many of them die every day for not being able to stand up for themselves? How many others are invisible because they cannot speak their mind? It is not always a gun involved in such a situations. There might be another harmful weapon: An intimidation, a discrimination, an insult, a sexual harassment… Words and its consequences might be as damaging as a gun.

Under construction

The Matrix world is no longer fiction. The new technology era and its impact on society has changed the ways we perceive reality and its domains. Like Neo, the main character, we suddenly see ourselves living between two dimensions whose border is as thin as our imagination and its limits.

Nowadays one can switch from one dimension to another by clicking and navigating through a never-ending world of data and stimuli. This situation raises the question: ¿Can we really choose when we want to join this digital interface? It occurs to me that we don´t have any other alternative. This virtual bubble is completely wrapping us into its reality while the walls between what is virtual and what is real are collapsing. Our society has embraced both worlds making us “digital constructions”.

Historically, our identity was built in schools, the family, religion, the economic system and media (from commercial to mainstream). We were taught how to communicate with each other, the roles we were to play in our societies and the relationships we were to develop along with their barriers. However, the Internet has modified all this.

We are no longer only readers, viewers or users with a passive role. We can publish contents, edit them and target our messages and their impact. As attractive as it sounds, its success depends on the reliability of the information and on a critical-thinking perspective.

In this scenario the content we publish is as important as the image we choose to represent ourselves there. We must be able to present a set of skills, background and expertise. Only then, we will be ready to operate in this miscellaneous supermarket and leave something as a legacy.

In addition, in this new era communication is no longer the key. Connectedness is what really matters. The on-line world offers plenty of information but also the opportunity to exchange and be linked with like-minded people.

Social media has the power to bring people together and create communities across gender, age, status and so on. The differences that usually label us in the off-line world can be set aside since people have the opportunity to make up their identities. One can choose how which features enhance and which do not. The Internet embraces a non-hierarchical structure which allows us to pass on information and take advantage of it more easily. Would the recent events in the Arabian world have been possible without these new technologies? This connectedness allowed people to move past all kinds of discriminations.

The role that Internet plays in our society has given us a different identity as human beings and as citizens. New technologies have changed the way we interact and, above all, the expectations that others have about us. A world without networks and on-line exchange of information is unimaginable today. We wouldn´t be able to step back in time and live without these tools. Recalling Plato´s myth, we have already found out all the possibilities that they have to offer us. Therefore, we cannot turn a blind eye to those possibilities. We are meant to be part of this community.

Unlike Neo, I would not disconnect from this reality since allow us to be part of a new order which broadens our horizons and breaks barriers. But, as with everything, it is up to us to better contribute to it and to tap into its knowledge for the sake of the world community. And we mustn´t forget that the digital world is still under construction, being fed by our values and our capability to enhance dialogue and connectedness.

We are powerful

The same ideas come to my mind every time I think about “power”: government, country, militaries, leaders… Since we were children, media and all the structures that shape our identity have been building the power´s image as something outside us that implies a hierarchy. There´s always some people on top of this structure and a majority at the bottom. We’re also told that power means corruption and conflict and It´s not trustworthy.

The recent events in the Arabian world are changing this perception. These happenings are switching the word’s meaning by showing us another perspective, maybe forgotten, of this term: every one of us has the capacity to change, create something new, influence in positive terms. We’re powerful.

This word has started changing its meaning because of an special story. A young man in Tunis committed suicide because he thought that he had no future in his country. After getting his degree, he tried to get a good job but he couldn´t. At the end, he took up selling vegetables and make a living from it. One day, the police took all his belongings away because, according to them, he had no work permit. The situation discouraged him and he became hopeless, gave up struggling and put an end to his life. People who witnessed it started realizing how rotten their government was and they became aware of the social and economic situation.

It was the starting point of the story. From that moment on, they became organized through Facebook calling for a change. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in demonstrations that were spread across other countries. This situation has sparked the awareness of social inequalities and corruption in the Arabian world. This makes me think about the importance of another concept: community. People coming together are more powerful that an individual. So not only we must be aware of our capabilities as beings but also about our sense of membership. It seems to me that we´ve got used to not being responsable for our society. We believe that we don´t have strength and even commitment.

I’m eager to see what’s going on in our societies. The world is changing very quickly and for the first time in many years individuals instead of government or other powerful institutions are leading this switch. Have you ever think about what would happen if every single personal around the world was committed to changing, to improving his or her society?

We have tools to make it possible. Facebook and other social media are changing the individual´s communications and relationships. We have no excuses for procrastination, for not believing in ourselves. It´s time to realize that we´re part of a society and we shouldn´t leave this responsibility in others´s hands.

Sol

Dilluns, 30 de setembre. L’Efrain torna a jugar sol al pati del barri. Ja no sap què fer: ha trucat a totes les seves amistats perquè baixin a passar la tarda amb ell, però li han tornat a girar la cara. Una negativa contundent; estan farts de les seves mentides i jocs maniqueus. El curs passat tota la classe se’n mofava. Li deien que feia pudor. “Ets un trolero”, li etzibaven. No en sabia més: deia mentides perquè en el seu entorn, la veritat no existeix. Només es menteix.

Està neguitós perquè no vol tornar a l’escola. Falta una setmana i evita comptar els dies. Té por. Se sent insegur. Petit. Sol. Sap què significa sentir-se marginat, fora del sistema.

És un peix que es mossega la cua: ell no sap superar-se i els altres no li donen marge. És lògic. Estan farts de veure’l incomplir promeses, pactes. Ell no en sap. Son pare també és un mentider. El Nadal passat li va prometre que el portaria al Parc Infantil i, finalment, no ho va fer. En comptes d’això, se’l va endur al bar, a menjar patates i a jugar a les màquines. És el que fa sempre. S’hi va passar tot el dia.

A casa, amb la mare, tampoc se li ensenya a dir la veritat. Cada dia menteix quan ella li pregunta pels deures: diu que no en té, que els ha fet a classe. Ella no li rebat i així s’estalvia dedicar-li temps del seu dia. Tampoc li pregunta si s’ha canviat els mitjons, si li toca gimnàstica. La classe és demà i no té roba neta. Es tornarà a posar la mateixa de la setmana passada, que encara guarda a la motxilla.

La canalla se n’enfot i ell no sap com defensar-se’n. Segueix mentint, amagant-se darrera de les seves fantasies. És com ha après a parlar. És una defensa camaleònica, perversa, però és l’única que li funciona.

Els mestres també l’aparten, l’escombren, més aviat. “Té de tot, és un tema de conducta. No hi posa de la seva part”. Així se’l mira. D’aquí una setmana comença el curs i l’Efrain tornarà a asseure’s a l’última fila, castigat, perquè és l’única manera de mantenir-lo tranquil, sense causar cap problema.

El sistema també menteix. No en sap més. És el que ha aprés. El seu tutor se’l mira, resignat, i prefereix no mullar-se. No li surt a compte, batallar-hi.

Paraula agitada: cohesió social.

Llibertat

El mateix dia en què els dos cooperants catalans han recuperat la seva llibertat, una de les figures més emblemàtiques i entranyables de la Història d’Europa, l’Anna Frank, ha perdut part de la seva identitat. El castanyer que durant anys l’havia vist créixer en el seu captiveri ha caigut avui, derrotat pel temps i per fragilitat de la seva salut.

L’arbre era l’únic contacte amb l’exterior que l’Anna havia tingut durant molts anys. Un miratge entre les quatre parets i el silenci estrident de la dominació nazi. El veia estendre’s, enrobustir-se, madurar des de la finestra del seu amagatall. Molt temps després, el mite s’estronca, com ho fa, per l'oblit, el seu personatge.

A l’altra banda del món, dos persones tornen a respirar la llibertat i creuen escapolir-se d’una altra dictadura: la que empresona milers de víctimes de la pobresa i de les desigualtats socials, la que estanca pensaments i la que perverteix un sistema maquillat de benestar.

L’Anna, al igual que els cooperants, miraven cada dia per la seva particular finestra a un món de veritats fràgils, manipulables. L’una, amb vistes a un arbre, testimoni de la depravació, els altres, cap a un horitzó completament desèrtic.

L’amplitud de la finestra és el menys important. El que compta és l’espai de l’habitació des de la qual es mira. La llibertat.

Paraula agitada: Llibertat.

Desmuntant tortugues

Pèls de gat

Arribar al fons de les coses és intentar netejar un jersei negre ple de pèls de gat. Mai aconsegueixes treure'ls tots, sempre ens resta un raconet inexplorat o inexplorable. És com pretendre posar paraules a totes les coses que ens succeeixen. Hi ha buits lingüístics, gaps. El llenguatge ha estat mutilat per la raó i això fa que molts sentiments quedin al marge del pla Simbòlic. Com un diu un vell conte indi que ens recorda Geertz: “Un anglès, que havent-se dit que el món descansava sobre una plataforma, la qual es recolzava sobre el llom d'un elefant, el qual, a la vegada, se sostenia sobre el llom d'una tortuga, va preguntar: I sobre què es recolza la tortuga? Li van respondre que sobre una altra tortuga. I ell va insistir: I aquesta tortuga? -Ah, Sahib, després d'aquesta són totes tortugues".