Bangkok Diaries

Introduction Latin philosopher Augustine of Hippo also known as St. Augustine once said, “The world is a book and those who don’t travel read only one page”. Going by this quote, I would say that I have surely moved on to second chapter and not just the second page. First overseas trip to Thailand: The Land of Smiles. While the name lived up to its mark as one was easily able to find smiling people all around, the fascinating culture and historical riches ensured that it captured your attention from the moment you took your first step in the country. Early hours of Sunday, 08th September’13 we landed at Swarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok. While some members from our group already had at least one visa stamp on their passport, for me or some of my other friends excitement was more about getting the Visa on Arrival and then feeling free to get absorbed in the aura of Bangkok for next 15 days. I pinched myself and reassured that all this was real. The experience of going out on an international trip with 19 other friends, to work on a live project is something one needs to go through to understand and enjoy it. While coming out of the airport, we got free SIM-cards of a mobile network operator. What made us happier was that the Sim was already activated and it had a balance of 7 Bhat (currency of Thailand). Operational Research: The Real Savior After waiting for about half an hour, the vehicles from our hotel had arrived. Drivers greeted us with smile and soon we were on our way to the hotel, Krit Thai Mansion, which was a 45-minute drive from the airport. While I spent these 45minutes catching up on the sleep, the only reason to come out of the vehicle after reaching hotel premises at 3am was the imagination of an air conditioned room and a comfortable bed. Soon this imagination had to be left outside and realization of not having a room until 10am was to be accepted. We saw our plans to explore the city on Sunday being crushed. After some convincing, the lady at the hotel reception gave us one room. Even though we felt relaxed that we now had one room, the task of adjusting 19 people in one small room along with more than 20 bags (luggage) looked impossible. Then we all realized that all of us have studied operational research and this was the time to apply all the techniques to have ‘Most Optimum Space Utilization’. Finally, it worked out well and at least 15-16 of us were able to get some sound sleep while remaining 3-4 people had to adjust and recover their energies when they got more space in morning. Learning: No matter what the situation is, people somehow manage to adjust. Even though that day we were upset about not getting the rooms, when I think about it today or when I will think about it 10-20 years down the line, I will smile and savor the experience. Veggie Delight at its best Communicating with people in Thailand was an issue. People at shops do not understand English and at many places, things are also written in the local language only. While Thailand is considered as land of some amazing seafood and the cuisine is actually a delight for Non-Vegetarians, for a Vegetarian like me, Veggie Delight of Subway was there, whenever I needed food for thought. I had never loved Subway this much in my life. I also realized that ‘When in Rome, do as Romans’. Though I didn’t start eating Nov-Veg food, I tried their local street food including Noodles which did taste weird and also Salad which might not give lot of happiness to taste buds but were definitely very healthy. While in office, I skipped lunch on 5 days out of seven because it was difficult to find Vegetarian food. On one of the two days I had lunch, I tried eating packed noodles from a 7 Eleven, but could not appreciate the taste it offered and thus had to abandon them. While my search was on to try and explore various vegetarian options, in case of unavailability, a fruits, Sub, steamed rice and salad always came to my rescue. In this search, I also tried Lebanese cuisine, Italian (prepared as per Thai taste), and during all such experiments, food did taste good. Learning: One cannot really explore a city or a country until the time he/she has actually explored the local food. Rudyard Kilping once said, “The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” Travel Teaches Toleration These words are of Mr. Benjamin Disraeli (1804- 1881), a British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and dandy who twice served as Prime Minister. After visiting Thailand, I actually agree with these words. My trip to Thailand actually taught me toleration in many ways. I learnt from what I experienced over there. When you are a pedestrian, trying to cross the road in Bangkok, you would suddenly realize that traffic has stopped for you and the driver in car will give you a smile and ask you to cross the road. This is something one would rarely experience in India. This behavior creates a situation in which car driver is tolerant enough to stop and pedestrian is tolerant enough to wait and not run and cross the road. Another thing I observed was that even though Bangkok has lot of traffic on roads and roads are congested, one would still not hear people honking the horns of their vehicles unnecessarily. Everyone drives in lane and follow traffic rules even if that means one might have to spend few minutes extra on the road. This reflects a huge cultural difference between Indian & Thailand. People are lot more patient and tolerant and are ready to give space to others. This is also reflected when you would find even a senior official of an organization holding the door for you while you walk out of a room. My trip also taught me toleration in more ways. While searching for Vegetarian food, at times we had to walk a lot, ask many people and walk again. This all was done while we did not have lunch and were searching for a place to have dinner. In such situation, we had no option other than being tolerant, even when we would try asking a local person about a place and he or she will not be able to understand what we will be speaking. No Job is a small Job This is something we hear in India also and something we experienced a lot in Bangkok. AT our organization i.e. Thai Optical Group, there was an employee at the executive level. He used to be there for us whenever we needed any help. At times, he was the one who used to bring water and coffee for us while we sat in conference room and worked. He never felt this to be a small task. He would leave his work and go down with us to a 7 Eleven store to help us identify Vegetarian food. When we had gone out with the team at TOG for dinner, we saw even the Managing Director of the company wait and hold the gate while everyone else walked out of the restaurant. Apart from this, even the people we met at shops or at massage centres, they felt happy about the work they did. They looked confident and satisfied about their jobs. Language cannot be a Barrier in friendship Just like in India, if you sit beside a cab driver in Bangkok, more often than not you will get into a conversation with the driver. On one of the days, while I was sitting in cab in the front seat, I got into a conversation with the driver, even though he did not understand English and I did not understand Thai. We talked about traffic in the city and various tourist destinations. He even made me speak with his son (who knew English) on the phone, as he came to know that I might want to visit Pattaya and he could be the one to take me there. We showed him One Rupee coin and to our surprise, he had a collection of coins of various currencies, in the cab. He showed us a coin of Turkey and gave us two coins as gift. We also acknowledging his friendship gave him a coin of Indian rupee. Mr. Thawisak also accepted only 100 Bhat, when the meter read 103 Bhat. We had certainly made a friend and it felt good, as it was a different kind of an experience. Culture and more Thailand has a strong culture to work and create wealth. Anywhere we went, we could find women as a part of the workforce. Be it a restaurant, ticket counter at BTS Stations or Bus Stations, even Bus conductors, as street food vendors, operating road side shops etc. women were omnipresent. They held together the spirit of a city like Bangkok. There is strong inclination towards religion and one would find small temples outside office buildings and markets. Visit to Wat Pho, Old Bangkok was very refreshing and the calmness of the temple would soak in within no time. There was a historical city called Ayuthya, named after ‘Ayodhya’ in India. People in Thailand were humble and always ready to help and city in general was very safe. One would not fear to walk alone late at night and working women leaving for their homes could be spotted even late at night. T.I.T (This is Thailand) Term coined by Bernard Trink, former columnist of Bangkok Post Nightlife, it is often used by expats to share various bizarre and unforgettable events that one might encounter in Thailand. You are excited to see some great looking street food at a distance and you run towards it only to find that it is fried scorpions and frogs with some kind of sauce being served. This is Thailand You visit a famous shopping street, buy loads of stuff from it and feel proud of your bargaining power. Your friend meets you in evening and shows you the same T-Shirt you brought for 400 Bhat actually cost him only 200 Bhat and another friend actually got it for 180 Bhat. This is Thailand You visit a club, find a pool table & move on to play. You meet a Russian who is playing against you and you defeat him convincingly. He smiles, shakes hand and says, “You are Indian”. This is Thailand You visit a shop, trying to bargain the price while speaking slowly and making your English sound like Thai. The person replies in Hindi, “Iss sey kam nahi hoga”. You are left surprised. This is Thailand You come across various idles of Lord Vishnu & Lord Ganesha at temples & in shops. This is Thailand Mark Twain once said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” To open up your mind, to discover a culture which would remind you of yours at times but will still look different & to finally kill your narrow mindedness & have charitable views, travel to Thailand. It is a land of smiles, serenity and surprises. It will hook you to itself and make you feel guilty as you prepare to leave the place. Within a matter of days, you will start relating yourself to places and events. This is Thailand…

Papaji

From the day I met you, I always found you loving me. I don't remember a moment when you would have scolded me. You always had a special affection for all your grand children. All five of us were lucky enough to have you by our sides when we made small or big achievements. While during our initial years you would make us sit on your shoulders and would take us to either to have ice cream or buddhi mai (candy floss), when we grew up and passed the final exams of our respective standards, you would take all five of us along with dadi, for a treat. And yes I remember, these treats used to be exclusively for your grand children and parents were never allowed :) During my graduation period, you would ask me if I had a girl friend and would assure me that I could share it with you whenever I wanted to. When I got my first job, you gave me the title of 'Manager Sahab' and always blessed me to become a General Manager one day. You advised me not to take tension in work and do it with conviction. You motivated us by telling your stories and how you never allowed wrong things or corrupt practices come in your way. I remember when i used to sit besides you and you would ask me to lie next to you on bed. I remember when I used to hold your hand in mine and used to fear this day sometimes. I used to curse myself for thinking like this. I also remember all those fun moments you used to create, by complaining about Dadi. You used to ask us to find a new wife for you, preferably a foreigner and we used to enjoy the expressions on dadi's face and laugh about it. I remember when you used to call us 'Ullu da Pattha' or 'saala' and then we would blackmail you saying that we will complain to dadi. I have never seen such a caring man like you. You would say 'beta' to anyone...a rickshaw wala, a sabji wala, a carpenter. You would keep your hand on their head, blessing them. You would ask them to sit and relax and have lunch. You had the purest heart. I love you Papaji. I miss all those moments Papaji and I miss you a lot.

Bowled Over!

"Arey ball pakad thik sey " ( gather ball properly ),"Out ho gaya (that is out)"... These and few more are the lines which my sister used to tell me that i used to shout while sleeping. My subconcious mind followed and fulfiled my dream, in my dream, which i would have loved to make through in reality. I still remember those nights when a cricket match would be scheduled for next day and i would sleep with a hope that I will close my eyes and puff...it will be morning with blink of an eye, as i never liked waiting to watch Sachin Tendulkar bat. Reaching early home for a day night match, waking up early for matches in Australia and its Trans-Tasmania neighbours, burning mid night oil for ODIs in Toronto and West Indies and even leaving home early for Chemistry class with actual motive of watching an hour of Sachin's batting at a mechanic's shop ( my mother had sent television in hibernation as i had my board exams). I have done all these things and much more to see ' God of Cricket' bat. These are few things that each fan of Sachin has done. I remember praying for your century, i remember watching match at neighbour's hous when you had hit Caddick for a six over deep mid wicket, off a sizzling pull shot, i remember crying profusely when you were dismissed twice or thrice in nineties, within a month. I remember all the beautiful moments that you gave to millions of your followers. What I don't remember is whether I had ever imagined you taking retirement from Cricket. Such questions regarding retirement always seemed usless to me. But now it is one reality we all have to accept in 2013. The reality that there will be ODIs but there will be no Sachin Tendulkar. Even after waking up on 25th December, i was hoping that Santa will give me one gift and Sachin would confirm about continuing to play ODIs too. But that was something which didn't happen. Retirements are usually very emotional moments, for players as well as for their fans. Today morning, Mr Cricket a.k.a Mike Hussey retired from international cricket. He was lucky to have such a well scripted end for his career, as him team went on to win 3rd test while he was on crease, thus completing 3-0 white wash over Sri Lankans. However, this is something which Sachin's fans could not witness. He rightly judged that euphoria around his last ODI would have been too huge, which may be he did not want at this moment. Thus deciding to hang his boots without playing any more ODIs. Only hope that keeps all such fans going is that may be he will play lot many Test Matches for India and this decision of his would help prolong his career. Once again, his retirement from Test Cricket is something which cannot even be thought about and god willing, he will not take a decision which would leave all his fans ' bowled over'.

We blinked our eyes and poof,we were in Srinagar. It sounds like some magic, isn't it? I will explain in details. I am talking about our Amarnath yatra. As they say, "darshan unkey hi nasseb mein hotey hain, jinhey bulawa aata hai" and I guess we have had really good naseeb(luck).

Chapter One( And the adventure began): There were six of us(all of different & unique nature) who started this trip from Delhi, on 30th June,2011. On a lazy Thursday afternoon, we landed in Srinagar. As someone has beautiful said about Delhiites and I quote, " Everyone is something in Delhi & no one is alone", one of our friend too had his high profile contacts ready. He made a phone call, though importance of that call be revealed a bit later. We booked a cab for our next stop, that was Pahalgaon. There are two places from where yatra begins. One is Pahalgaon and the other one is called Baal Taal. Holy cave is 50kms from Pahalgaon. We boarded our cab and moved towards our next stop. Excitement could be sensed from our breath as we slowly moved towards some most panoramic views which we would be witnessing over next few days. On our way we crossed huge mountains, farms of world 's best and most expensive saffron, a silent Jhelum river and highly energetic Sindh river, whose water seamed as white as milk. We passed through villages and reached our first stop, Pahalgaon.
Another call was made by our friend and the voice on the other side asked us to reach Chandanwaari, 16kms ahead of Pahalgaon. After some confusion and discussion, we decided to follow that voice and reached Chandanwaari. We reached army base camp at Chandanwaari and met the body of that voice. He was Lieutenant Agnihotri. A young man of almost our age, Lieutenant welcomed us into the camp. Oh! Among all this excitement, I forgot to tell you that how dramatically weather had changed from Srinagar to Chandanwaari. Our jackets and pull overs were out and we were consistently rubbing our hands. We were offered hot coffee by our hosts, which would calm us down. We were shown our rooms( highly comfortable tents) where we could now relax. It was 07:30 in the evening. We were standing outside the camp and were hearing a constant noise(though it sounded sweet). We were told that at a distance of about 100 meters , there was a river flowing and above it was a small glacier.We couldn't control our excitement and immediately moved towards that river. We had seen
glacier for the first time in life and it was just so amazing. We touched the water of the river which was really cold. We enjoyed the view till around 8:15pm (as sun would not set before that time) and then we came back to our camp. We were served with some delicious food and also had conversation with soldiers who had been part of UNO's peace keeping team in Africa. Their description of the area in which they were sent made us realize that we were standing in front of real heroes.