Thumbakkam

 The sun was beginning to set,
and Kalimbaba was playing one of his favorite rhythms
on two of his djembes

 Viswa listened for a while,
and then he began to chant
a new mantra

 Thumbakkam Thumbakkam They-ey
Thumbakkam Thumbakkam They

  Dom Baba soon joined in,
and after a while Kalimbaba stopped playing
and began to chant the new mantra as well

 ♫ ♫ ♫

 It has no meaning
It’s just sounds,
bijas,
said Viswa
It just appeared

 The three friends then resumed chanting, smiling and laughing
for a while

 ♫ ♫ ♫

 Let’s go to The Chillum Den
and share this mantra
with our friends

 Good idea

 And so they went,
Viswa, Dom Baba and Kalimbaba,
to vist some friends
and chant for them

 ♫ ♫ ♫

 That’s a powerful mantra, man,
said Mandeep
I could feel it strongly

 It took me to the edge
of somwhere and nowhere,
said Oli

 That night when he went to bed,
Kalimbaba could still feel the vibrations
of the mantra

 And the next morning when he woke up,
he felt as if
he were on a mushroom trip
He went to the hot spring for his daily bath
and there he met Viswa and Dom Baba

 Hey, guys
I can still feel that mantra

 Me too

 I can as well

 Let’s chant it some more

 And so they did
They chanted their new mantra
while sitting in the hot spring

 ♫ ♫ ♫

 Over the course
of the next few days
the three friends often chanted the new mantra,
both when they met
and when they were alone

And soon the whole village singing

 Thumbakkam Thumbakkam They-ey
Thumbakkam Thumbakkam They

throughout the day,
and the level of conciousness among the villagers
reached a new high

 Thank you, Viswa,
said some
for sharing your mantra with us

The mantra arrived
on its own,
inspired perhaps
by a bit of drumming

 Thank you, Kalimbaba,
for inspiring the mantra

 I had nothing to do with it
Thank the Africans
for creating and sharing
their wonderful rhythms with me

 Thank you Dom Baba,
they said

For what?
I caught it the same as you
It came flying through the air
and took hold of me,
and it hasn’t let go since

 Let’s chant

Yes, let’s

And then,
as the sun began to set,
everyone in the temple square
began to chant

Thumbakkam Thumbakkam They-ey
Thumbakkam Thumbakkam They

 ♫ ♫ ♫