The Ananda Collective

The email heading simply read ‘from the AC’. Simon’s eyes grew wide when he read it. He knew he had to act quickly. He opened the email and was greeted by a single link without a message. It read ‘serendipity’. He clicked on the link without hesitation.

The screen was black. A slow throbbing beat was becoming audible. It grew in volume, picking up a swirl of complex samples in the background. The samples seemed to be a mixture of Indian and Arabic instruments and voices. Suddenly the screen flashed white and then returned to a deep blue background. A single Tibetan chant from an ethereal female voice accompanied an animation of a pinkish white lotus flower opening to reveal twelve petals. He moved the cursor over the animation and as he did so each petal changed colour. He clicked on a petal and both the screen and sound changed. His heart was racing now because he had heard that the site would only be in existence until it reached a certain number of hits.

Each petal revealed information about a rave. This was a rare invitation to the next ‘event’. One petal revealed the co-ordinates, 37S52, 145E50. Another petal revealed the rules; no alcohol, no nasties only goodies, no glass, no recording equipment, no pets, no food, no camping equipment – bring sleeping bag, waterproofs, warm clothes; food and fluid provided. Another said: put your name and address on everything; another petal revealed the time and date; another the fee; another told the story of the three princes of Serendip; and another petal opened up to reveal the sound of ecstatic Arabic music and the following verse in flaming letters.

When we enter the excitement of the night
We’ll amass gifts from the ocean of the night
The night veils the unseen witness from sight
We cannot compare the day to the night.

Rumi

After he had explored all twelve petals and written down all the information the lotus closed and disappeared into black. The soundscape shifted to an augmented heartbeat and the word ‘print’ appeared. He turned his printer on, clicked the words and his printer whirred into action. It printed out a colour picture of man and woman in sexual embrace seated in the middle of a lotus. Below the picture was writing he didn’t recognize, although he thought it might be Sanskrit. The instructions had told him that this was his entrance ticket, without it he would be denied entry.

Once the printing had finished the site closed itself down. Out of curiosity he returned to the email and clicked on the link again. There was no response. Whoever was behind this site were skillful web designers indeed. He guessed that the words on his invitation were different for each person to prevent copying. He also guessed that once a certain number of invitations had been issued the site closed down completely. A clever way to control numbers. If he had hesitated he may have missed out.

****