Holy Stoners

A holy man of the Temple of Pashupatinath, Kathmandu

Those who are looking for an Intro to the 60s, might like to take a look at my earlier Post,
1967 - A Snapshot.

In that Post I mentioned that "In the 60s, the vast new consumerism produced some good stuff, including the Weekly Color Magazine.  All the major newspapers had them, and they actually included some fine journalism - as well as fascinating portraits of the times.

"... one example - "The Daily Telegraph" - had sent a reporter and photographer out on the Hippie Trail to Kathmandu, or at least India. (Yes, Virginia, in those days people could travel on a shoestring, with a pretty good chance of being attacked by nothing worse than gippy tummy.)

"They had dozens of photographs of individual travellers, with amazing tales of how they travelled, smoked dope, lived rough, communicated with the locals - in a word, lived!"

The reason why the Hippies travelled East, to Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan (at that time a peaceful agrarian society whose Muslim tradition of hospitality meant that Western travellers were welcomed and invited into people's homes) and India (apart from fun and frolics), was to look for something more meaningful in life than "a steady job with a pension".

In India in particular, with Hinduism, more than twice as old as Christianity, and Tibet, with Buddhism, they often found what they sought - and lots of thoughtful people are still finding it.

Along the way they found many ancient and exotic traditions - 

Saddhus, holy men who take a vow of poverty...

... and commune deeply with the natural world

As I report in my Book Proposal, "The War On The 60s", somewhere in the mid-60s, "one of my teenage-philosopher friends crossed paths with an old soldier who had served in Egypt before World War 2. `You young lads, you think you’re on to something new,' he chortled. He had discovered the joys of hashish while serving in the British Army on scorching desert patrols and backstreet shakedowns, and had received regular supplies through the mail ever since. His Majesty never had a more devoted servant."

1967 - A Snapshot

In the 60s, the vast new consumerism produced some good stuff, including the Weekly Color Magazine.  All the major newspapers had them, and they actually included some fine journalism - as well as fascinating portraits of the times.

I remember one example - pretty sure it was from "The Daily Telegraph" - which graced our quasi-hippie shared 6th-Form study at school for quite a while. (Don't worry if you don't talk BritSchoolSpeak - it doesn't matter.)

The "Torygraph", as we called it, had sent a reporter and photographer out on the Hippie Trail to Kathmandu, or at least India. (Yes, Virginia, in those days people could travel on a shoestring, with a pretty good chance of being attacked by nothing worse than gippy tummy.)

They had dozens of photographs of individual travellers, with amazing tales of how they travelled, smoked dope, lived rough, communicated with the locals - in a word, lived!

(One couple, when they ran short of money, would rent out the wife's services for a night - it fed them, and they both seemed quite happy with the arrangement - don't do this at home, kids.)

Now the fabulous Sweet Jane has come up with an article from 1967 about something the "Observer" called "the Scene", looking at the London movers and shakers of that year.

(Sweet Jane, you haven't e-mailed me, and I haven't found a way to communicate with you - it would be great to start a dialogue.)

The article has a patronising introduction by a journalist who's afraid the middle-agers might think he was actually in favor of the Underground Hippie shenanigans - "the pop scene with it's (sic) mixture of Beatles and Beardsley seems to be a show of decadence" - but then it gives a fascinating listing of some of the most interesting (brillinat, even) characters on the said "Scene".  (Small print, but well worth a look.)

Richard Neville, whose "International Times" was prosecuted for obscenity - Yayyyyyyy! - and John Peel*, who introduced many of us to Chicago Blues, were heroes of my teens. (I remember walking my dog round the neighborhood streets at midnight, barefoot and in bellbottoms (Pants, that is), carrying a radio on my shoulder, to treat the neighbors to the joys of Peel's eclectic musical choices).

Sweet Jane's Blog also has excellent links, for those looking to dig deep into the 60s!

*Take another look at the trailer for "Pirate Radio":