A man by himself.. Christmas Eve 2009

Today I went to Mudamalie Wildlife Sanctuary in Ooty, India. I came across a man, by the name of Mark Flanders. A very simple man, and a very simple place...yet, in the middle of absolutely nowhere! Really! This man, has a cottage like house in the middle of the jungle...and all he does, all day, is gaze out into the wilderness, looking for tigers, bears, cats, etc. etc. 8 hours a day , 7 days a week. That's it! Oh of course, other guests will come and stay as well, but that too, he is VERY selective about those he decides to allow to come visit, its not just another jungle lodge tourist resort. And in the few hours I went there with a few friends who were his family, I sat on the porch, by him...and gazed out into the yonder, looking through the wide eyed bonoculars for anything I could see....unfortunately or fortunately, I did end up seeing at least one animal, a bear and his cub playing in the fields..quite cute actually.

Finally close to the time we were leaving, Mark invited us upstairs to his room which had a single lightbult. There was a little XMAS tree there, decorated a bit, which added some life to his otherwise bleak and lonely place! And we (along with a few others) sat down and Mark, drinkin his beer and smokin a cigarette, was doing most of the talking...on and on about all the "buggers" that were opening resorts for commercial purposes and the "money-sucking" bastards...

But during all these complaints that he made, and observing his frail state (he doesn't even have dinners at night), all alone far from civilization, living "in nature" with a single lightbulb lighting his room, and his simple home, I saw something..

I saw a brutally simple yet brutally honest man..someone who wouldn't be willing to "sell out" to society, and followed his heart, his convictions....and for that moment, I realized, these are the types of eccentric folks, that even though they might never see financial success, they know how to live out their heart's desires..

Too bad most ppl aren't like that..but then again, if everyone was like that, who knows how much progress we would make...