I LIKE YOUR MOTORBIKE… HELMET

If I may, I’d like to digress slightly from the philanthropic austerities of recent posts. Yes the Indigenous Mentawai communities face exploitation of their human rights, and yes, raising awareness to help support and address this issue is an extremely important part of the project, sure. However, it’s not that which first captured my imagination and interest in the people here; and neither that which now invokes a smile or laughter with each nostalgic thought of friends and life there; and for that matter, nor is it the primary focus of the film.

So instead, I invite you to view a short video attached below, which, whilst seemingly inappropriate, does in many (odd) ways better reflect the facetious attitude and lighthearted outlook placed upon life by the Mentawai people.

This tune, which, perhaps coined through a secret attraction for the two-wheeled non-pedaler, or a mild obsession concerning the general safety of one’s thought basket, was shared during early interactions (after running desperately low on musical material) with the people of the village. Surprisingly though, and despite the lyrical confusion – which I’m sure they just passed off as incompetent attempts to translate on my behalf, it did spark their interest, and incidentally, went on to become a rather popular sing-along song. Meaning that over and above the pleasant joy of sharing in music, my friends – most excitedly – were able to sing along to a song using words of a foreign language, which arguably… also happens to be the most irrelevant song in the repertoire. A humorously enjoyable experience had by all, nonetheless.

So to truncate and conclude, I later came to stay briefly in one of two (conjoined) villages situated slightly closer to the port town, which interestingly, I was to learn had ascertained the service of a resident motorbike… just the one. Aware of the many difficulties – logistic, financial, and whatnot, pertaining to achieving this, and by this point feeling as though I may actually possess a fondness for this transportation vehicle; I found, inadvertently, I had actually stumbled upon a situation most relevant, and so naturally, felt inspired to express this.