THE ESSENTIAL FILIPINO

discovering dreams

_-

_{a british journalist breezed}

_{into manila with an}

_{assignment to write about}

_{‘the essential filipino’}

_{he smiled confidently over}

_{his easy assignment}

_{relishing the free tour}

_{as complementary reward}

_-

_{for three days, he ran}

_{around searching he}

_{rejected the business}

_{district of makati which r}

_{eminded him of cold and}

_{calculating london he went}

_{to historical places in}

_{intramuros but saw only a}

_{glimpse of the past}

_{not the present}

_-

_{next he tried the native}

_{cuisine at market market}

_{delicious yes, but nothing}

_{on the essential filipino}

_{he was getting not only}

_{tired but also nervous that}

_{he has not found his ‘easy’}

_{story yet time was running}

_{out, he had to go back in}

_{two days}

_-

_{he wasted the next day on}

_{inconsequential probes into}

_{malls, churches, monuments}

_{on his last day, he wrote his}

_{editor saying that no one}

_{can possibly write about the}

_{essential filipino in so short} 

_{time, he asked for}

_{an extension}

_-

_{he was expecting a week, the}

_{editor  was kind but he was}

_{given only one lousy day}

_{extension in desperation}

_{and panic, on his last day}

_{he took a wild stab at}

_{marketplaces in singalong,}

_{he sat on a curb too tired}

_{to think}

_-

_{then he realized his mistake}

_{he was looking for places}

_{not people, the thought hit him}

_{like a terrorist’s bomb, the}

_{essential filipino was a person}

_{not a place how stupid could}

_{he be, he thought}

_-

_{sitting on the curb in}

_{exasperation he began}

_{looking at faces that passed}

_{by he noticed a boy selling}

_{fishballs from a rolling cart}

_{he had a torn shirt and was}

_{barefoot what attracted him}

_{was not the fishballs}

_-

_{the boy gyrated like}

_{michael jackson}

_{unmindful of the noisy}

_{crowd around him, the}

_{journalist approached}

_{him noticing the earphones}

_{he wore he instantly}

_{realized it was loud music}

_-

_{music that drowned the}

_{noise and transported the}

_{boy into hisinner garden}

_{the journalist had to scream}

_{in order to bring him back}

_{into the real world}

_{the boy removed the}

_earphones

_-

_{*****************}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{Hey, what are you doing?}

_-

_BOY

_{Fishballs, sir, wanna buy?}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{Nice earphones, huh?}

_-

_{THE BOY GIVES THE EARPHONES}

_{TO THE JOURNALIST,  WHO PUTS}

_{THEM ON. HE INSTANTLY REMOVES}

_{IT, ALMOST FALLING FROM THE}

_{DEFEANING ROCK MUSIC. THE BOY}

_{SMILES AND PUTS THEM BACK ON.}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{Hey, wait, we’re talking.}

_-

_{THE BOY REMOVES THE EARPHONES}

_{AND HANDS HIM THE TINY MP3 PLAYER}

_{FROM HIS POCKET. THE JOURNALIST}

_{EXAMINES IT.}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{Where did you get this? This is expensive,}

_{first-class mp3 player with first-class}

_{earphones. They don’t match your}

_{air-conditioned shirt.}

_-

_{HE FLICKS THE HOLE IN HIS SHIRT.}

_-

_BOY

_{I saved income from selling fishballs}

_{for one whole year just to buy that.}

_{Nice huh?}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{Why don’t you buy a new shirt}

_{and shoes?}

_-

_BOY

_{No need. Not important.}

_{Waste of hard earned money.}

_{Clothes don’t make me happy,}

_{only music.}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{You kill yourself selling fishballs}

_{the whole day for a year just to}

_{buy those?}

_-

_BOY

_{Why not? What would you buy?}

_{What is your dream? Me, this}

_{is my dream, but it is no longer}

_{a dream. It’s real now. I don’t}

_{need shirts and shoes, just a}

_{dream of dancing to music.}

_{What is your dream anyway?}

_-

_{AT FIRST, THE JOURNALIST}

_{IS AT A LOSS FOR WORDS}

_{BECAUSE HE REALLY HAS}

_{NO ‘DREAM’ IN MIND, OR}

_{PERHAPS HIS DREAM IS TO}

_{FILE A STORY, THAT IS ALL,}

_{BUT THAT IS NOT REALLY}

_{A ‘DREAM’. A DREAM MUST}

_{BE SPIRITUAL AND FOREVER,}

_{AS IMPLIED IN THE BOY’S WORDS.}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{I guess I have no dream.}

_{Or yes I have a dream but}

_{it is not a good dream.}

_-

_BOY

_{Too bad. You must be very sad.}

_{Buy yourself an mp3.}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{But that is not my dream.}

_-

_BOY

_{So what is your real dream}

_{. There must be something}

_{you really really like.}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{I have been working so}

_{hard to survive that I forget}

_{what I really really like.}

_{My life is work work work.}

_-

_BOY

_{But I also work work work.}

_{You must find your true}

_{dream and go for it.}

_-

_{******************}

_-

_{and so the british journalist}

_{was beginning to discern}

_{the essential filipino}

_{he was amazed how in}

_{his dire poverty}

_{the boy rejected the very}

_materialism

_{that was gradually}

_{destroying affluent society}

_-

_{the essential filipino was a}

_{free spirit}

_{who was poor and happy}

_{all at once}

_{perhaps it came from his}

_{insular environment}

_{or from his distant past,}

_{his austronesian roots}

_{of nomads in tiny boats}

_{roaming the vast seas}

_-

_{the journalist took out a}

_notebook

_{and started writing frantically}

_{the boy peered into his writing,}

_{trying to read}

_{and said aloud ‘essential filipino …}

_{free spirit}

_{spiritual dreams …}

_{nomadic boat people …}

_-

_{*****************}

_-

_BOY

_{(Grabbing the notebook.)}

_{I know this is your dream.}

_{You just don’t know it.}

_{What you write here is your dream.}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{(Stunned at the boy’s perception.)}

_{I … I … I guess so.}

_-

_BOY

_{It is not a guess. You know it.}

_{you know your dream, you}

_{must go for it, or else you}

_{will be very sad and soon}

_{you will die because you}

_{know you have no more}

_{reason to live for. You must}

_{go for a dream or die.}

_{You cannot live just to live,}

_{can you?}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{Guess not. Thank you for}

_{telling me my dream.}

_-

_{ALMOST IN TEARS,}

_{THE JOURNALIST HUGS}

_{THE BOY AND GIVES HIM}

_{A HUNDRED PESO BILL.}

_{THE BOY IS STUNNED.}

_-

_BOY

_{What for?}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{Because you help me}

_{find my dream that was}

_{right in front of my nose}

_{all this while.}

_-

_BOY

_{Yes, you cannot see}

_{things that are too near.}

_{You have}

_{to move back to see.}

_-

_JOURNALIST

_{Go, buy yourself more music.}

_-

_{**********************}

_-

_{it took thirty minutes}

_{for the journalist to}

_{write his story at his}

_{hotel in ten electronic}

_{milliseconds the story}

_{was at the editor’s}

_{desk the editor replied}

_-

_{‘this is the best story}

_{yet for a long time}

_{our staff writers write}

_{about absurd things}

_{what you wrote is an}

_{important wisdom}

_{for the affluent world}

_{from the impoverished}

_world

_{stay there for a month}

_{andwrite me more’}

 _-

_{the journalist had a}

_{field day}

_{his dream, like the boy,}

_{was now a reality}

_{he would hang around}

_{with street vendors}

_{later, he moved to}

_{the countryside}

_{and wrote about the}

_{wisdom of farmers}

_{and fishermen}

_-

_{he immersed himself in}

_{the essential filipino}

_{poor, happy, equipped}

_{with a different kind of}

_{wisdom unknown in the}

_{affluent world}

_{he married a kalinga}

_{native and wrote a book}

_{a best seller entitled}

_{‘discovering dreams’}

_-

_{it was a poorlittlerichboy}

_{selling sticks of fishballs}

_{for six US cents each}

_{which ignited his soul}

_{the essential filipino}

_{whose ancient wisdom}

_{was hard to find in}

_{civilized places he knew}

_-

_eastwind

_-

_{__________________}

_{where goodness}

_abounds

_{there also is evil}

_lurking

_{to sow confusion}

_{and hatred}

_-

_{where evil abounds}

_{there also is virtue}

_lurking

_{to sow harmony and}

_peace

_-

_{the tension between}

_good

_{and evil is everywhere}

_{we perpetrate one or}

_{the other}

_{the destiny of the}

_{world is up to}

_{each of us}

_-

_{______________________}

_{mahatma gandhi’s}

_principle

_{of non-violence}

_{revolves around}

_{the concept that –}

_-

_{peace is a more}

_powerful

_{weapon than war}

_{a smile is more}

_powerful

_{than a sneer}

_{a whisper is louder}

_{than a scream}

_{the calm is in the eye}

_{of the storm}

_{and total darkness}

_{recedes when a single}

_{candlelight glows}

_-

_{_______________}

_{we pedestal great men,}

_{creating semi-gods}

_{like michael jackson}

_{and john lennon}

_{not knowing the fame}

_{and fortune we bestow}

_{would devour their spirits}

_{and consume them totally}

_-

_{of what use is the tall}

_pedestal

_{men tell us to scale}

_{when we would grow into}

_{giants and fall with a}

_{resounding crash}

_-

_{better to be a happy}

_{unknown ant}

_{than a sad noted giant}

_{there is virtue in anonymity}

_{and folly in popularity}