i Am

    I - as in me.

    A word meaning I in any language ought to be a basic word. After all, the whole wide world in front of me is simply my point of view. Centered around I.

    The sound of I is equally basic.

    Languages we speak are about sounds we make. A linguist, per say, only deals with spoken words. As opposed to literature dealing with written words only.

    Sound of speech has lineage that transcends human history. The theory suggesting genetic origins of language has merit. The basis of language at large is encoded in the genes. Much like 'fight or flight' is encoded in the genes of all animals. It is no surprise how a child starts speaking on its own needing no school. The same applies to many other animals. They begin making sounds that fellow animals understand. That said, I am inclined to believe that language transmission occurs via a mechanism between genes and culture.

    aei - is how I sounds like in my mother tongue. Pure vowel sound. Vowel as in sound such as - a, e, i, o, u. The english I sounds like - aaie. Vowels as well. Vowels are primitive sounds. We didn't invent them, we inherited them. Animals make vowel sounds to communicate basic emotions. When frightened, animals make loud high pitch vowel sounds. As opposed to softer pitch moans indicating comfort.

    Vowel sounds are simplistic, lacking texture. They are produced by air blowing straight out of the lungs. Requiring no intricate movement of the lips or the tongue. Texture of sound comes from exhaled air being manipulated by the lips and the tongue.

    The sound of consonant L has texture, as opposed to the flat sound of I. Producing the L sound requires the tongue to be folded up touching the upper jaw. Which manipulates the exhaling air to give a more pronounced sound. If L is followed by vowel A, the folded tongue is let loose to sound as - laa. Repeating the pattern produces - laa laa. A more complicated sound, naturally capable of signifying more complex emotion. - laa laa has the feel of a playful emotion. Human speech is an elaborate combination of vowels and consonants capable of expressing a vivid world with elaborate emotions.

    Well, that's the sound bite of I.

    I am Sago. I am made up of desires. To sense the world in every possible way as I traverse this lifetime. Experiences I gain along the way intensify my consciousness and my being.

    I express my consciousness in forms of art. How I perceive the world, how it makes me feel, and the possibille world I imagine. my expression - is the only imprint I'll leave behind as I briefly transit the world.

    My professional life revolves around building software. My academic training is in applied physical sciences. Besides building software, I enjoy buiulding a variety of things. I do it mostly for the joy of discovery. Above all, my heartfelt zing is in writing philosophy. The awe and wonder of inquiry sank into me early on when I was little. Looking back, I hounor the spiritual upbringing I was endowed and its influence on my idiosyncrasies.

    As a kid, I loved water colors and drawing pencils. I also dismantled anything I could in my capacity. Only to be amused by what makes them tick. Music is huge for me. I play the piano, but I have no formal training of music theory. I love chasing songs on the piano as it helps me pour my emotions out. I say - I would rather be blind than be deaf.

    I live life up to the brim. I love meeting people and seeing the things they do. I deeply care for people. If a person comes off to me in a wrong way, I feel there’s something to be understood and possible means to mend. As Plato once said - Be Kind; Everyone You Meet is Fighting a Hard Battle.

    I am emotional, and can be moody at times. For most part I am friendly and easy going. If you come and say hello, you might find me entertaining. I tend to speak my mind out. I don’t easily lie or hide. I think lies are meant for spontaneous life threatening situations. I realized that noticing how chameleons lie or camouflage themselves upon life threatening situations. I believe we should have the courage to confess a lie having past the threat that made us lie to begin with.

    My oldest memory goes back to the very beginning of elementary school. I sat next to this girl I liked, on the last bench. I remember playing with her fingers. She had six of them on one hand which I didn’t. 4th grade onwards, I went to boarding schools far away from home. I guess that's how I find myself as a very independent person. Growing up, home town became a dangerous place torn up by war. War is the ugliest thing to witness, especially as a kid.

    Having graduated college, I migrated to the United States with a work visa sponsored by a software company based in Atlanta, GA. That was summer of 1999. America looked so beautiful with such neat standards. My first meal was at a Burger King. I was so impressed I called my folks in India and told them so. Years later, when folks came to visit me, they took pictures of the Burger King. I lived in Atlanta for 17 years. Today I am in San Marcos, CA.

    I was born in a little town at the northeast corner of India. A valley town at the foothills of the Himalayas. Surrounded by beautiful crimping hills. The valley was once an ancient lake trapped between the wrinkles of the growing mountain. Thousands of years ago, some clever explorers went on to domesticate the lake by draining it through trenches they saw possible. Mythology depicts the draining trenches as - Chingnunghoot. A native term meaning - holing the hill. I admire the foresight of ancestors who endeavored to cultivate a fertile land on a lake bed and establish a culture. Today there exist a culture uniquely rich in art, tradition, and cuisine.

    I can only imagine, how draining a lake of humongous proportion must have dramatically shifted the ecosystem. Threatening what thrived before, also threats faced by the new human settlers.

    Growing up, we heard surreal tales of entanglement between new human settlers and the lake's original archetype that abruptly became endangered. The tales passed down generations via a traditional art of story telling. The fables that remain today are mostly from oral transmission. Almost all literary trace of the culture were destroyed by invasions. Which makes me wonder of the contrast between oral transmission of history versus written ones. As in linguistics versus literature.

    I am inclined to believe that there's spiritual substance in oral transmission of history. As in poignant metaphorical truth versus written opinions. Much like the inheritance of vowels that transcends human existence.

    Today, there still is an exotic lake south-west of the valley. Reminiscence of its ancestral past. Surrounded by human settlement, yet in preserve of characteristics unseen anywhere on it’s footing planet. Although retracted to a fraction, it is the largest fresh water lake in South Asia. Super rich biome. Numerous chunks of islands stay afloat the lake. Some of the floating biomasses are large enough to host habitat to an unique endangered species of Eld’s deer. Known to the locals as Sangai.

    Depictions of amphibious serpents that once existed in the ancient lake brings the mythical dragon to life. Lairens, as they are known to the locals and in folklore, were the original dominant inhabitants of Loktak lake. Supposedly existed in varying forms. Some capable of carying fire stone to start fire elsewhere. Or to spew fire in self-defense by exhaling their methane breath.

    There are fables of lairens triggering landslides in defense of displacement by new human settlers. The serpents are thought to have existed alongside the hills surrounding the lake. Dwelling along arrays of long tunnels facilitating hunting and shelter. Serpents asleep for days on digesting large mammals prey producing large amount of methane filling up the tunnels. If the methane is lit to fire, the suction of air causes collapse. Further cascading a landslide. Such were the the battle between humans and lairens.

    The lairens also attacked humans by burping out their methane breath. A human, upon inhaling methane would bleed inside out.

    Center-north of the valley, an auspicious spot of land named Kangla exist today. The spot considered to be the first piece of land that emerged out of the draining lake. It's a place of worship for the locals. Kangla is part of Kanglapat locality. The suffix ‘pat’ meaning lake. Many other localities at the valley have the same suffix in their names, perhaps signifying their gradually emergence out of the water.

    I remember my last visit of Kangla in 2016, while I was in India for a year. There I met a scholar who mentioned of an underground tunnel supposedly connecting Kangla to the surounding hills at the periphery of the ancient lake. Is it myth or true, I don’t know. Could that mean the ancient settlers had tunnels underneath the lake bed as well. Who knows?

Sago.
July 10th, 2019 CE