 A trip to Africa:
Dr. Nazir Brelvi
(Continued from home page)
Some seek the wonderful wilderness where the wildlife is still “wild” and not concocted by a so-called “Reality” mini-series on TV. Others seek spiritual contact with Nature in pristine settings, while still others feel drawn by exotic cultures, dwelling in ‘archaic’ habitats and still eke-in out a meager existence from barren earth.
To me, visiting Africa was the culmination of a childhood dream in which I played Tarzan and experienced a lifestyle far removed from mine. I have long regarded Africa as the birthplace of humans simply because most of the great apes still live there. In my mind, the Homo sapiens lineage is merely the latest offshoot of a simian bush that began to sprout about 35 million years ago. Recent DNA studies have confirmed this opening chapter of our ancestral genealogy many times over in laboratories scattered around the globe.
This fascinating landmass, mind-boggling in its geology and cultural milieu occupy 11.5 million square miles, which essentially translates into an area larger than Europe, China and the continental US combined. Approximately 650 million people call it home.
Sarah and I alighted in Nairobi International airport nursing an eight-hour jetlag. We urgently scanned the sea of smiling faces neatly arranged behind metal barriers for a familiar nametag held by the numerous carrier drivers.
 “There he is!” Sarah cried waving to a grinning Kenyan of mixed ethnicity that waved back eagerly. After motioning us to follow him, he met us in the parking lot teeming with tourists and Safari Jeeps. Introducing himself as Lobo, he steered us towards Francis, our tour guide and companion for the next eight days. We exchanged pleasantries while Lobo and company loaded the van with our bags.
The ride into midtown Nairobi was just a blur as we fought valiantly to stay alert. After a quick check-in and a light dinner at midnight, we rode upto our room and decompressed. Francis picked us up, bright and early at seven the next morning for the first leg of our Jeep safari.
Amboseli National Park, situated 184 miles due south of the Equator is a sprawling savanna of vast open grasslands, dotted with occasional yellow-barked Acacia trees or wooded areas. As is evident from the 200-odd pictures I ended up shooting, (click here to see more pictures from our trip), we encountered Rhino, Eland, Zebra, antelope, Topi, Hartebeest, Wildebeest, Warthog, Reedbuck, Gazelle, Impala, Springbok, Klipspringer, herds of Elephant, Hippo, Giraffe, Cape Buffalo, Bushbuck, Dikdik and carnivore species like the Lion, Hyena, Cheetah, Jackal and Mongoose.
Much of Amboseli was arid, dotted with occasional termite mounds or kopje (rocky outcrops) used by cheetahs to survey the landscape for prey.
 At Lake Nakuru, we saw a vast number of water birds, herons, storks, fish eagles, spoonbills, egrets, cranes, ibis, geese, guinea fowl, kingfishers and flamingoes along with hippos, water buffalo, and elephants. This area, designated a Wetland, consisted of numerous soda lakes and swamps, forming part of a larger savanna or forest habitat.
At Maasai Mara, our next stop, a band of young hunters in full regalia, streamed out from the village entrance and encircled us. Their deep-chested rhythmic chanting and explosive exhalations resonated within our bodies and drew us into their midst. Both Sarah and I tried our hand at their dance, bobbing up and down in time with their chants. Chief Pessi aka Joseph, smiled at our attempts and soon led us into the boma.
Each Maasai settlement contains a cattle enclosure (boma) that helps protect its inhabitants from marauding hyena or other predators. The Maasai depend on cattle for subsistence, consuming their milk, blood and meat ad libitum.
 More than 200,000 Masai, dark-skinned lithe giants of the Rift Valley are among the most easily recognizable people of East Africa. Leading a sporadic pastoral existence, the men don colorful toga-like garments and wield long spears as symbols of manhood.
Many modern Africans actively participate in Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism, apart from the numerous animistic sects scattered throughout this vast continent. This cultural pluralism allows alternative beliefs and practices to coexist peacefully. The largest ethnic group in Kenya, the Kikuyu, number about five million. They recognize a supreme deity, Ngai, an invisible spirit of the sky that periodically manifests himself within the enormous snow-cloud encircling Mt. Kenya.
The vast majority of African societies are well known for their woodworking skills and artistic styles. Most commonly, scarified faces or masks and small figurines used in worship or ritualistic ceremonies are encountered in the sprawling open-air bazaars of Nairobi or at numerous ‘toilet’ stops all along the safari trips.
Our trip to Kenya was truly a life-enhancing experience. The seven-odd years that I spent researching the Great Rift Valley for the Hominid Series, which I am currently exploring, returned with rich vividness as I stood there with Sarah, soaking up its natural beauty. Even though we may not return to this fascinating landscape again due to various time constraints and travel plans, Kenya will always occupy a special niche in our hearts.
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Current Projects
1) Maya Jahl: The Web of Cosmic Reality
(Slated for release in Spring '05) Here, in this book, you are invited to undertake an epic journey with me, in search of an answer to a very simple but profound question:
"Is our Universe, Conscious?"
This journey will comprise of four sections:
Section One will explore the current theories of the actual birth of our Universe. We will discuss the salient features of the Big-bang theory; Zero-point energy; Torsion-field vacuums, the concepts of Multi-cyclic Cosmology, the Space-Time continuum and the meaning of Time in the Quantum realm.
Section Two will navigate the deep waters of Heisenberg's Principle of Uncertainty; David Bohm's, 'Wholeness and the Implicate Order; Josephson's thoughts on True Reality; Classical and Neo-Darwinism; the Gaia hypothesis and the emerging new vision of Life.
Section Three will provide an overview of the ancient wisdom of the Yoga Sutras. This will be contrasted with our present-day 'understanding' of the neural substrates of Human Consciousness. We will dig deep into the altered SOC's (states of consciousness), the Hindu concept of Kundalini power, the various chakras, the bodies of Purusha and the Koshas of Prakriti.
Section Four will strive to summarize the historic genealogy of the eternal search for the Human Soul; the silken thread of Commonality, which binds together the ancient views of the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Old Testament and the Vedas.
In conclusion, we will explore the Hindu concept of Kaivalya or Emancipation, by which sentient beings like us can, through Self-realization, achieve final Enlightenment and release from the endless cycles of birth and rebirth.
(2) Essence of the Bhagavad Gita
(No release date, yet)
According to the ancient wisdom of the Hindus, as revealed to the world in the epic poem called the Bhagavad Gita, Prakriti or Nature manifests the various attributes of Brahma the Creator, but under the guise of cosmic delusion or Maya.
All beings are the product of an invisible God and a visible Nature. Therefore, we are dual entities i.e. a pure spiritual being hidden in a physical body. The myriad functions of this dual existence are governed by the three gunas or attributes (good, bad and neutral) written by Brahma in the Laws of Nature. The four kingdoms of Creation: Man, animals, plants and gross matter, possess fixed and characteristic actions and reactions that differentiate them from each other.
Owing to the action of Maya operating through the active forces of Nature, the human mind flows outward through the senses and the soul becomes identified with the body, its possessions and the numerous distractions of the human environment. Thus begrimed with attachment, the pure nature of the soul is obscured. It becomes the pseudo-soul or Ego, with its individual delusion, which develops likes and dislikes, the ultimate instigators of material entanglements.
Humans dwell on the apparent differences between them and the rest of Creation, little realizing that real activity of all Creation springs from the same fount. The individualized Spirit or Soul, residing in every form of Creation, is the real Doer.
Book 3
The Third Adventure of Zakariah Khan is tentatively set in the Swamps of Lotagipi, located in the Sudd region of Sudan. In this book I will be dealing with our ancestral humans circa 2.2 million years ago, when the primitive Australopithecus species begins to gradually emerge as early or archaic Homo.
We will explore the evolution of stone/bone tools; short digging sticks and long spears with pointed ends. Here Zakariah and his cronies will explore the lava flows of an ancient volcanic eruption, investigate the footprints left behind by a family of bipedal hominids and speculate on Homo habilis, the toolmaker.
The team also encounter the fierce Zimba headhunters in the swamps, meet up with some weird characters, who indulge with impunity in cannibalism and revere the river crocodiles as their gods.
The tale ends with a shopping spree in the tribal village of Kaabong and a lively dance with the local Napore spearmen hunters.
Stay tuned!
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