Part 7
Ravnos was one of Andalusia’s Gypsies that Ida had met the previous week, and on that occasion, the young Gitano kept constant eye contact with her.
“He is really handsome,” she thought “It would be fun to meet him again.”
Ravnos had been in the past a professional Flamingo dancer. He also was a good guitarist and masterly made his instrument vibrate with melodious notes, in the way only an Andalusia Gitano can do.
In was his mother’s gypsy blood surfacing in him and this inheritance possessed him with the passion of wandering with his wagon around the country. Most of the time he was alone, but was never lonely; he was absorbing what nature offered and learned those simple lessons of surviving he had learned from his people to give thanks to what the environment was generously gifting him, and in the gypsy fashion he never abused or took advantage of what nature offered, always thinking that someone after him would need the same resources to survive.
When Ravnos’ mother was young she had an affair with a famous toreador and became pregnant, but her affair was well over before she realized she was expecting.
That was the reason why Ravnos had never met his father. His mother never liked to speak to him of her past or her quick passion for the bullfighter, therefore he had grown with no love for a father who had never been part of his life.
The toreador, as most of them, liked the limelight offered by the success of his career, surrounded by the glamorous life of the fiestas, the many aficionados, and patrons who offered him never-ending parties, and in this easy life women shared the pleasures of their beautiful bodies, attracted to him, like moths to the candlelight, in the frivolity of the life, to spend a night with an acclaimed matador.
His motto was, ‘To fight toros in the arenas by day and to enjoy wine and lovers outside the arenas by night.’
He disliked the primitive gypsy life which he found tasteless. He was attracted to Ravnos’s mother by the innate sensuality and eroticism that irradiated from her and in those days, he admitted that she was the most sensual lover in Andalusia.
Ravnos was one of the few gypsies who had achieved a school education. It had been possible because many of the Spanish Gitanos chose to give away their nomadic life with their folkloristic wagons, to share with the Gaujo (non-Gypsy) the more monotonous life in brick homes scattered in a suburban area.
Ravnos graduated as a veterinarian. What better profession could there be for someone having Gypsy blood? Gypsies had always shared life with domesticated animals. Horses, goats, and dogs had always been part of their lives and in their mythology, these animals possess equally spiritual powers that humans have.
Ravnos had completed his education in the western world and decided initially to share his abilities servicing the Guajo’s world. But the call of his nomadic blood was too strong in him and he invested his saving to buy his own wagon and return to the atavistic nomadic life, that he had shared when he was a boy with his grandfather. He used to travel in a solitary way, meditating and observing what nature had to offer and learn what Mother Nature gave to survive. He found this was the lifestyle that better suited him. Now at the age of thirty-two, he was still single, quite an unusual thing for a gypsy. He was aware of that but never suffered to be alone. He knew that first, he had to prepare himself, physically and mentally for days to come. He knew that the reason he existed was to be one day a leader of the Gitanos.
At night he wondered, “Would one day a gypsy woman comes into my life and I’ll fall in love with her? If I marry a gypsy woman, I would have more reason to dedicate my talents to the Gypsies’ welfare and be part of their free lifestyle.”
During the many months of solitary traveling, Ravnos became aware that many restrictions were imposed by the laws of the modern Western Civilization on the nomadic people. Gypsies today need permits to camp in public facilities or National Parks and are forbidden to choose a camping area too close to the city or suburbs.
Ravnos was aware that in the 21st century the gypsy’s life was declining rapidly and the nomadic people were being assimilated into the industrialized world. Therefore, their folklore would disappear. The time had come for someone to speak up strongly and be their champion in the grueling work of saving the Gypsy’s traditions or else this romantic Époque would be gone forever.
Ravnos was critical and bitter against the gaujos.
He thought, ‘True, I should be thankful to them for the doctorate I received in their world, but that cost me. In exchange they want me to use my abilities to serve in their world and greedily help to accumulate material possessions. But they are not aware that gypsies don’t need the wealth that comes with possessing gold or petrol. Gypsies are contented with what nature gives freely and they know how to preserve it intact for future generations.
‘Greediness and material possession are only good rules for the gaujo, and in contrast with the credo of my people. At the time I was a child I learned that Gitanos are free to move around this wonderful world, sharing what nature abundantly offers them.’
Part of Ravnos’ learning was about how the cycle of Nature, through time, maintained the continuity of life. He learned to love the simple rules imposed in nomadic life, the joy to sleep under a sky crowded with stars, on the warmer summer nights and it was a great joy to him to admire the nocturnal sky above him. In that way, he felt he was part of the creation, with the many luminescent stars representing other worlds, perhaps as beautiful as Earth and populated with magnificent creatures, in the immensity of the Universe.
Ravnos had traveled alone for the past two years, living simply with what nature had offered him, spending his time in meditation, considering the essential necessary laws of life as he had learned from his grandfather as the elder of his people.
Ravnos thought, “We don’t have a choice, we belong to Earth, which is the provider of the basic necessities and our duty is to preserve them. The gaujo disregard the simple principle of survival. We have to teach them these rules. The gaujos are blind and are creating irreversible catastrophic consequences that will soon destroy the environment and life on this planet on which we live.
The gaujo have to learn to properly dispose of the many chemical poisons they have created. Life will be at risk. We, gypsies, have to learn to cohabit peacefully with the gaujo and to convey to them these simple rules of survival.”
During the nights he spent in meditation, he was aware of the imperious commanding voice of the Forest’s Spirit Mother asking him to be the peacemaker and raise awareness in the Gaujo’s and make them understand the need to save the environment to preserve the life in the world.
. It was after this long period of meditation that he finally came to the conclusion that he would live the gypsy’s life, but not in an archaic way. He would talk to the gaujos and make them love more what nature offered and discover the necessity to preserve it for future generations, in the way that he had learned from the wisdom of his people.
That has been the Gypsy’s credo for a millennium. It was time for all to learn how to love and preserve Earth and receive those magnificent gifts that nature donates to us every day of our life.
~*~
End Part 7
CarloGabbiWriter 