Bila Mila Series
1/3
A few years back I ignorantly mingled with some cult enthusiasts, they quickly reeled me in with their wonderful music, folk tales, conspiracies, and wholesome living. I was hooked! Thus began my journey into the dark side of culture, a very slippery slope I should say. One moment you're on firm ground, the next; you're in the pits… deep, deep down in the subterranean caves — under the sea bed if you will.
Hi my name is Maumbae and I'm a conspiracy enthusiast. I enjoy history, myths and all other fabulous stories.
How did I end up in a cult you might ask?
It all seemed so innocent as at first, I got a research assignment to study pre-banditry kingdoms and it was wild. The stories of old kingdoms, empires, mighty warriors and their works. Truly a thrilling experience and I got hooked!
I kept digging and digging and digging.... then dug some more when I should have just stopped and breathed a bit. Every time I dug deeper I encountered very interesting people and stories. I revelled in these experiences and lost myself in the stories! The digging was both online and offline, surprisingly both were equally vibrant experiences. It didn't matter if I was meeting the people virtually or physically, both were exciting experiences.
The more I learned, the more I wanted others to learn with me. In fact I just didn't want them to experience what I was experiencing — I needed them to experience what I was experiencing! Now what better way to share the experience than to have a series of events where people would come and experience with me and the others who I found were already having a similar experience.
So we got together with a few like minds and organised a little public meet up. This is where my troubles began to bare their claws! Till this exact moment it had not occurred to me that I was in real danger!
Anyway, in blind excitement I put together our "Trad Fest" and honestly enjoyed learning about how things used to be like in the past. It was a sort of cultural cosplay festival which was supposed to be fun till a random lady walked up to me and asked how much the membership fee to join my group was!
"What are the requirements to join your community?"
Of course I was bewildered by the question and just assumed she meant the entry fee to the event! To which I warmly encouraged her to enjoy the party, food, shows and learning.
It was only days afterwards in my quiet reflections that I realised what she truly meant! In the Hill Country there are different cultural communities each with their particular doctrine but the one thing they seem to agree on is that we must "Restore the River" which basically means go back to our traditional ways.
The only problem — in my opinion — is that they aren't restoring the river, they cannot restore the river even if they tried. The same river doesn't even cross a bridge twice... so it seems like an effort in futility.
Mind you, the more you learn about their operations the more it becomes evident the the River Restorers are more River Rerouters than Restorers. Once again this is my opinion as an outsider looking inside... some of the insiders still believe in their river restoration efforts.
At this point it dawned on me that simply enjoying my cultural heritage openly for a moment seemed like an outward statement of my desire to "Restore the River"!
It obviously was not. It was simply a fun event where we could experience our culture safely.
I often question the River Restoration (Rerouting) efforts because of the results they bring forth. They bear fruits of discord and blood shed. They seem to hate individual free will and prefer manipulating their followers. It would be better to simply learn from our past and swiftly move forward with the knowledge gained. But darkness hates the light.
Better to let the river flow freely, let it meander and rush along as it was meant to. No need to instigate a back flow or rerouting in the name of restoration.
