Love thy college!

Recently, I happened to pick up a conversation with my best friend regarding our colleges. Having completed 4 years of engineering, this topic came up sometime before our farewell party. We were discussing our college days & how we enjoyed them in our own way. Then came the statement I have heard a thousand times before. In fact I was expecting it. "I just love my college", was the assertion. I laughed a little over the phone, the laughter sounding a little sarcastic. "Don't you love your college, Mihir?", she asked me. I replied in the negative.

The fact is, I can't relate 'love' to a 'commercial activity'. Love is something very pure & heartfelt. In my weirdest dreams I can't imagine love being related to 'college' - something which is a symbol of nothing but commercialization of education. I don't mean to say commercialization of any activity is bad; even education. But once the money factor comes into play, its just another buyer-seller relation. Introducing a factor so close to the heart as 'love' is just unthinkable on my part. Education is sold & we buy it as consumers. When you say "I love my college", are you really referring to the institutional aspect of college? You like your faculty, you like the infrastructure, your colleagues & friends - and that's what sums up into the word - 'college'. But for me, each of these things is a different entity altogether. I wouldn't equate faculty with college, because that's just not the fact. Faculty includes teachers who are individuals in themselves. That's not what a college is. A college is not even the structure of bricks and cement. A college is, plainly speaking, an institution managed by the administration. It includes policy, working for student welfare, cultivating a bond between the student & the institution. And if you are among those who love their college with this definition at hand, you are one of the very lucky people!!

I wasn't that lucky. Graduating has been a great experience for me. I loved every aspect of it, just leave the isolated word 'college' aside...

The Lost Contact

During one of my study breaks today, I got down to managing my mobile phone's phone book. I knew it stored a substantial number of 'contacts' who are never in contact. Nowadays, exchanging mobile numbers after being introduced to someone is almost like a customary "Nice meeting you". So I got down to deleting some of these 'not-so-contacted' contacts.

Suddenly I scrolled to a name & I felt uneasy. It was the contact number of the brother of my very good friend. Her brother had died in a motorcycle accident early this February. I hadn't met him personally, although I happened to speak with him a couple of times over the phone. Later, I had also taken his mobile number from my friend so that I could keep in touch with him. I don't remember I called him on his mobile phone more than once after that.

And today, my finger hesitated for a second before pressing the delete option in front of his name!

Horn not-OK Please

No, I am not stirring up a No-Honk Day in the least. Thats not on my mind as of now. My mind is thinking about some new-found fundamentals about honking! Actually they may appear quite banal to you if you are from Bom..(oops!) - Mumbai (now..now..I am not in a mood for political fencing. I might give it a thought some time later).

Yup, so back to where it started. Not very long ago, when we were children, we were taught & we observed that honking was meant to alert other drivers on the street or the pedestrians apart from 'other' applications like honking to call someone from their homes. A couple of honks here and there meant casual calling - take your own time. A continuous stream of audio signals from the steering wheel meant a real urgent call, without any luxury of extra time. We grew up with these horns, until we got fed up with them and resorted to a loud, silent cursing on those audio-maniac people at the wheel. Little did we imagine that the show was just getting started!!!

Change has been a constant for everyone & has always been the 'in' thing & no wonder "horns" was one huge domain left to be explored. The fundamentals, the basics of honking soon were to be changed. And while I thank God that a majority are still sane about their "high decibel sound equipment", many of the mavericks have their own say (read 'shout').

HORN TYPE: Scaring the Shit!!!
DESCRIPTION: This type of horn, is not meant to alert or signal, but is meant to scare you in such a way as to give your steadfast heart a little run for its own beats.
CHARACTERISTICS: Short, terse & never fails to scare!

HORN TYPE: Rookie DJs
DESCRIPTION: Here's the one which will give you maximum returns on your ears' hearing investment. All you Metallica, Iron Maiden lovers - this one's a 'treat' right from the amplifier. And for all the budding rockers, rappers and DJs.... ride that sound wave!!
CHARACTERISTICS: Upbeat rhythm, high decibel music stream.

HORN TYPE: Ring tone freaks
DESCRIPTION: Specially introduced for those who are so attached to their mobile phone's ring tones, that its now music to their ears. They just want it all the time, even on the road. These horns specially are a hit with the bikers. For them in a list of biking 'must haves', these horns are on #1 spot. And these horns change faster than fashion.
CHARACTERISTICS: Could be confused with a reverse horn.

HORN TYPE: The Classics
DESCRIPTION: These are the ones which are labelled 'conventional'. They are staunch followers of the purpose for which they are meant to exist. Yes, noise levels are still a downside with these, but they still tread along their ancestral lineage.
CHARACTERISTICS: Predicted to be on the 'endangered' list in the coming decade. The prestigious 'Horn OK Please' title has been conferred on them by GAFT-India (Graffiti Artists For Trucks).

P.S.: Do let me know you own horn types with their description and characteristics. Lets 'hear' it for the horns!!!

On a Suicidal Note...

The scrolling news bars on the news channels nowadays make interesting news. These news scrolls are terse & in most cases - out of context. A couple of days before, my eyes caught such a 'news on the move' on one of the regional channels. It said - Mobile phones for farmers would be made cheaper. Going by the face value, it turns out to be good news. Unwrap the words a little & it spells out a portent.

Farmers in Maharashtra (also read Vidarbha) are already crippling under the heavy financial debt. The 2008 budget promised to turn a new page on the farmers' plight by its announcements of loan waiver. And like all good consumer goodies, this too came with a 'conditions apply' tag tied to its tail. Land reforms which haven't taken place for quite some years now pose a major problem for the much-debated waiver. And for those farmers for whom the package was designed... I doubt (doubt is still an optimistic-sounding word) how much of the total waiver benefited them! The suicide numbers of farmers do not depend on the number of media coverages & there has been no substantial reduction on the suicide front.

So, coming back to this piece of news. Mobile phones cheaper for farmers. Wow! Get a nice handset at lower price, show them lucrative offers like a wolf wrapped in a sheep's cover. Hide the 'conditions apply' tag; after all the farmers can't figure it out themselves! Then, a new phenomena will hit the TV screens in a few months - farmers committing more suicides due to mobile phone bills than financial debt!

Mr. Chidambaram, did I hear you say a bill waiver?

Blood in Stones

The child weeps in a shackled village,
Naked tears fall to the ground,
The cry unheard, not responded & growing frail
The red soil with corpses around.

They were here, the brutal murderers,
Of the war-torn country in the Dark Continent,
They know only guns, blood & diamonds
Making sure the bloody tears remain persistent.

Amputated men, raped women, maimed children
The axed limbs and the scarred mind
The conflict turning households into ghastly abaddon,
Its the diamonds the enslaved hands would find.

The nascent teenagers brandishing Kalashnikovs,
Homicides being their indoctrinated play
Mining the 'roughs' in the bloody river basins
The black-veined hands under the trigger lay.

Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Congo
Nebulae of man's unquenchable thirst for 'the stone'
Uncut they occur but through the country's fabric they cut,
The helpless child's tears harden into love's material epitome...


(In memory of the thousands of innocent people massacred & crippled by the civil wars in Africa during 1990s which gave rise to the infamous trade of 'Blood Diamonds')

The World According to Americans!!

Click on the image to view the enlarged size

Colour Blind!

How can I play with colours,

When Red reminds me of the genocides & the Naxalites?
When Green reminds me of the fundamentalists & the vanishing greens?
When Blue reminds me of the cruel porn industry & Dalit politics?
When Orange reminds me of the flames of power & the saffron mask?
When Yellow reminds me of the Taj Mahal & the endangered tiger?
When Black reminds me of 100 $ a barrel & the dry gunpowder?

How can I not play with colours,

When Red reminds me of unadulterated love?
When Green reminds me of hope & life?
When Blue reminds me of the boundless sky?
When Orange reminds me of the rising sun?
When Yellow reminds me of brightness & energy?
When Black reminds me of the carbon that transforms into a diamond?

How can I, how can I not?

The Sea Inside

Movies - the man-made audio visual phenomena that enthralls, captures & motivates me. Just like books bring out the magic of the human mind & the creativity that goes in hand with its fertility; movies undoubtedly are instrumental in making a deeper impact on the audience. One such masterpiece among such beautiful works is a Spanish film 'Mar Adentro' (The Sea Inside). The 2005 Academy Awards & 2004 Golden Globe Awards winner for Best Foreign Film, this movie is certainly a treat for your heart & mind alike. Based on a real life story of Ramon Sampedro, a quadriplegic who became paralyzed after an unfortunate incident and struggled for 30 years to legally end his life with dignity, the movie deals with the myriad persona of a man requesting for his euthanasia. During his struggle to acquire legal right for euthanasia, he shares a beautiful relationship with two women - Julia and Rosa - whom he inspires.

Adjectives fall short for this movie - inspiring, thought-provoking, subtle, intricate, philosophical, emotional... the list continues. Writing a review for a movie of this calibre is certainly not my cup of tea. I feel like a pauper when it comes to words for this piece of work. I feel, putting down a review of this movie in words would be an injustice done on my part. The least I can do after seeing this movie is to tell more & more people about it & allow them to experience it for themselves.

Do visit this website for more on the movie: http://www.theseainside.com/

Equations & Inequalities

This thought passed my mind last Sunday during my CAT classes. We were solving numericals in the module of 'equations & special equations'. We all have solved numerical equations during our academic years. Some problems are given straightforward; the equation stares you in the eye. Others require you to 'form' equations from given statements. Analyze it properly, get the proper equation & then... solving it is just a skill of the procedure and methodology adopted. And thats the easy part. If we ponder a little upon the essence of equations, we unanimously would deduce that every equation in the world revolves around that simple mathematical sign we call the 'equal to' (=) sign.


The sign is all-encompassing; the crux of every equation. And till both sides of this sign are balanced, we keep trying; solving... sometimes in few seconds. Sometimes with many minutes, hours put together before arriving at the answer. And then? What do we do when we finally get that final answer? Just look at the solution key and tally your answer... and rejoice or introspect where you went wrong. Thats what we do with all maths equations, isn't it?


Now lets divert a little away from the world of numbers & get to the world where we live in. Although it has very little to do with numbers, the fact remains that nevertheless, we still deal with equations. The equations of situations, equations of people around you, of feelings, of decisions. Most of the times, life's equations don't appear as do their mathematical counterparts. You really have to ponder much just to get the equation in front of you. And even if it does, most of the times the 'equality' sign is blurred. It hardly appears & the inequality sign takes away all its glory. On what side of the expression that 'inequality' points to, determines a lot in your life's equations. The challenge before us is to convert that inequality sign to that of equality so that both sides balance. That challenge is daunting & how you tackle the challenge decides what you give to your life & what life gives to you. Success & happiness inevitably comes to those who understand the mathematical subtleties of life. These two abstract nouns eventually become the reference solutions for you to tally whether you got the right answer or not. The beauty of life is about getting 'qualitatively' measured solutions... not 'quantitatively' solved!

The Fading Green

You planted a sapling

Tender & Nascent

All set to gain roots

And eager to send out shoots

You thought it was

A task all complete

And waited for flowers to bloom

Alas! You didn't give it much room

To grip the soil

To anchor the roots

Being the soil, I always tried

To save the plant everytime it sighed

But I couldn't water it myself

For that I needed you

You hardly gave it a thought

And now the green fades away in drought

Save the little green

While some of it remains

Coz if you still can't find water

Maybe the soil won't be there later

Thank God.. He gave us only 2 ears!

Is this going to be the future of mobile phone consumers in India? The government is aiming for more than half a billion mobile phone subscribers by 2010. We are 'all ears' for the future, aren't we? Mr. Branson, are you listening?

The Oil Painting

Two flowers bloom together
In a friendship-filled weather
A stroke of Narcissism in the white bloom
The very sight takes over my gloom

The wooden brown frame bound
Against a canvas of white abound
The two flowers.. two friends
On life's canvas they beautifully blend

The allegory painted in delicate hue
Of the friendship like an everlasting dew
The painting, of all the life's treasures
A symbol of love & bonding beyond any yardstick's measure!

The artwork beautifies my bedroom wall
A sight so pleasing before I fall
On the bed only to wake up to the sunrise
The Narcissi smiling at me bring me to life...


(A thank-you expression for you, my best friend... for your wonderful gift. I couldn't think of a better way to say it.)

9.something!

Winter! The season which habitually went unnoticed to the people of Mumbai all these years. Usually the period of Christmas & New Year was all that comprised the 'winter season' for Mumbai. Winter was considered too lazy to get up & make its presence felt; a lazybone who had no plans to take efforts to grab the centrestage from November to January!

But in 2008, things weren't meant to be the 'history-repeating-itself-once-again' type for dear old Winter. And now, he's back... with a whoosh! He's gonna 'chill out' for some time now & let others take the 'chill-pill' too. Winter met me the other day & told me that he was very influenced by Chetan Bhagat's '5.someone' & hoped in coming days he would release his own book titled '9.something'. Before I could ask him what the title meant, Winter dissapeared into the morning mist & I continued my walk to college with hands tucked inside my pockets with Madonna's 'Frozen' playing in my ears...

It didn't take me many days to decipher that title. Mumbai recorded the lowest temperature in 46 years with mercury dipping below the 2-digit mark, before settling at '9.something'. This dip pleasantly surprised everybody. The woolens that were for many years, kept deep inside the wardrobes suddenly came to 'life' with the chilling winter air, cold as 'death'. Mufflers, sweaters, jackets saw action, braving the fogs (or smogs!) & getting a million hugs from their wearers.

Small, mundane activities suddenly became conspicuous - washing your face in the icy cold waters early in the morning, sipping on a hot cup of tea in the frigid weather & even a warm, mushy hug from your near & dear ones!! Winter for me had never been so pleasant. Hope Winter leaves me with more surprises; perhaps the sequel of his book! May I suggest '8.something'?

Bangkok Post: Day 16

We finished seeing the remaining malls in this side of the city, namely the Central World, Zen and Isetan. This was to be our last visit to the malls before we packed our bags. Some last minute shopping was still pending, so we set out to cover these malls. Everywhere the atmosphere was the same; that of the Chinese New Year. And 'End of Season' sale was a commonplace signboard. Again, it was a trek through a maze of escalators, corridors and shops displaying fashion that we can't ever get to see in Mumbai! You feel like buying everything that is on display... hardly you will come across any piece of garment that you wont like at first glance. And its hard not to reach for your walet!

Bangkok Post: Day 15

Gold was on the 'to-buy' list for Bangkok and today was the day to go and buy it. The gold market in Bangkok is centred around 'Yeorat' (locals pronounce it as Yeolat). The name Yeorat must have been derived from our very own 'Zevraat' (Zevraat means jewelry). Doesn't it sound similar. Similarity to Indian names and derivations from them is a common phenomenon in Thai cultural and social life, as I experienced wherever I travelled.

Yeorat was a busy market today primarily because the Chinese New Year is just about to commence (February 7). The place was all covered in red wherever I saw. Red chinese lanterns, clothes, auspicious accessories, wind chimes, bamboo shoots and red festoons. If you ever heard the phrase 'painting the town red', this sight was befitting those words! Even the jewelry shops we went into had lots of pendants featuring snakes, frogs, pigs, etc.. depictions of the Chinese zodiac. The dragon was smiling all over the place, in happy spirits to welcome the new year!

Bangkok Post: Day 14

Nothing to blog about today, a day spent at home with just a little outing at the local supermarket "MAKRO" in the evening. But I did come across one interesting thing I had never seen before with my eyes. Hearing about it was a different thing but seeing it actually was a new sight for my eyes... (tasting it would be too far-fetched since it would still need some resolve from my taste-buds). In the frozen foods section of the supermarket, all kinds of meat was available. But the signboard that caught my eye was the one indicating 'Frozen Crocodile'! Sharing the signboard with all of you to enjoy. Anyone care for a bite??? (and by the way did I mention frog meat and tortoise meat?)

Bangkok Post: Day 13

After spending the last few days going out and touring the city, it was a much needed rest day for us. I woke up at 1 o'clock in the afternoon after a good tight sleep & spent the afternoon lazing around.

In the evening, we were visited by two Thai ladies, Yooi and Nok, who were mama's colleagues and Pom, mama's secretary. Soon after they made themselves comfortable at home, soda bottles fizzed out and these ladies sat back and started enjoying whiskey. Oh! I forgot to mention; Thai ladies and for that matter men too, start drinking as early as 13-14 years of age. Hardly you will come across any Thai girl who is a non-drinker. Its as common as a green leaf! But even if they drink, they drink responsibly and wont ever get drunk and behave as drunkards. Same applies to Thai men; you hardly come across any drunkard on the streets.

These ladies were surprised after they came to know that I was 22 and I don't drink. Obviously, according to Thai lifestyle, I didn't fit in the drinking scheme of things. After a couple of glasses were drained, we decided to go to a nearby Karaoke Seafood Restaurant. I was about to experience a dinner with Thai people for the first time. And what an experience it was!

The Thai Dinner Experience

Soon after we selected a place at the restaurant, an open air one along the bank of the Chaophraya river, the ladies continued with their whiskey party handing over the bottle they had opened to the waitress. Here I would like to tell something interesting fact about Thai restaurants and joints. They allow you to bring your food if any, other than ordering food there. We had experienced this a couple of times. Also its a common practice here to ask waiters to pack the leftover food after a meal, so that food is not wasted and they could finish it at a later time.

The ladies then placed the order for all of us. One of them was a good singer and she sang many times later that evening, since it was a karaoke restaurant. I took many videos of her singing Thai songs. Soon food was at the table. The menu for the evening consisted of pla kaphong thot (fried kaphong fish in sauce), hoy naang rom sod (raw fresh oysters on ice bed with condiments), kung phat hed (stir fried shrimps with button mushrooms), pla meuk yang (grilled squid with dip), khao paat poo (fried rice with crab meat), tom yam kung (tom yam soup with shrimp), nom mai farang (blanched asparagus in sweet sauce), tofu song kreung (bean curd in Thai spices), salad phonlamai (fruit salad with salad sauce). That was the pool of delicacies we had on the dining table.

Another fact, here seafood and fish is different, as I discovered this evening. Seafood for them consists of squids, lobsters, crabs, prawns, oysters, octopus, etc. Basically the marine food which is not a fish is considered as 'seafood' here and in most parts of south-east Asia. The rest of the evening was spent dining, drinking and singing. It was a good experience for me. In Thai culture, dinner is not just a meal. Dining out for Thai people is no less than an 'event'. Its not just food and people at dining table... it has accompaniments of songs, dance, long talks with it! Our dinner lasted for more than 4 hours (yes...FOUR hours)!!!! Thats quite a time-consuming ordeal compared to Indian standards. But I thoroughly enjoyed every part of the dinner. Here, restaurants don't give a serving spoon with every dish you order, unless you ask for it. Thats because, Thai people use the same spoons, forks and chopsticks with which they eat for serving food from the main dish to their plates. Unlike Indian dinner where we normally don't get up from the table until we finish our course, Thai dining ettiquettes don't include any such customary behaviour. Everyone enjoys dinner in their own way and they don't treat it as something that has to be just finished off and leave. Even the waiters don't disturb you every now and then and even if you just spend time at table, no one looks at you with expecting eyes that have the 'when-will-they-leave' look. I really liked the whole approach of 'enjoying' the dinner in literal sense here.

Bangkok Post: Day 12

I had waited for this sunday for the whole week; the sunday when we had planned a trip to Pattaya, the tourist destination famous for its beaches and night life. Starting the drive from Bangkok at around 7:45 am, we reached Pattaya in about 1.5 hours.

Nong Nooch Tropical Garden & Resort

This was our first destination in Pattaya. Its a huge garden located in the midst of hills on all four sides with acres and acres of plants, flowers, trees, gardens & a variety of vegetation. The greenery around coupled with colourful flowers, birds and buterflies makes it a truly mesmerising experience. The trees are maintained and grown intricately, with careful considerations of their shape, size and expanse. With a mellow breeze for our company, we took a 'skywalk', an elavated walk around the place... enjoying the view from the observation points, a vantage point for shutter-bugs like me!! We enjoyed places there like the Orchid Garden, Palm Garden, the Cactus Garden, etc.

Elephant certified!!

The place also had other attractions for tourists like elephant treks and a Thai Cultural show depicting dances and other cultural performances of Thailand. But the best of them was The Elephant Show!! The show with a variety of performances by the elephants, with all types of tricks up their sleaves...er...trunks! Here you can expect all kinds of performances by the elephants... riding tricycles, playing darts, football, basketball, bowling, dancing and even painting. The show also had performances where volunteers from the audience were called. In one such performance, I jumped in to be the part of the act. The act consisted of people lying in the path of an elephant at certain distances from each other. The elephant then walked over the people, teasing them while he crossed over them. While coming across one such lady lying in the path, the elephant raised his trunk and started thumping it on her chest quite a good number of times! The audience was laughing and clapping. Lying there at the last end with my head turned sideways, I was seeing this act of the elephant & was laughing while awaiting my turn. Laughing because it almost looked like an A-rated movie with hordes of people young and old watching it as a funny act!

Finally it was my turn. The elephant came to me, and raising its trunk, brought it down on my pelvic area and started tapping it (yeah yeah...not thumping it ;-)) After doing a little tapping till it was 'satisfied' with the apparent 'check' there, it raised its front right leg and teasingly brought it over me as if it was going to bring it on me, then circled the leg a few times in the air, with its trunk following the same motion and then crossed me. I dunno whether this was in appreciation or that the elephant was doing this action so that it would ward off evil eyes (in India we have a practice of warding off evil by doing a similar action, called 'nazar utaarna'). Mama, mami and mom were laughing out loud. Mama quipped in saying that I had been thoroughly checked and certified by the elephant and that she made sure to ward of evil eyes from me. I then wondered if the elephant was 'he' or 'she'! I told mama that I didn't notice that aspect, to which he replied that if it was a 'he', he would have tapped you and then put his foot on your pelvic area! Males hate competition, he added! ;-)

Mom shot this whole series of action I just described above, but I can't put the video here for 'obvious' reasons. I will share the video with my friends in person and then again laugh out on the elephant's 'seductive' prank!!! he he he...

The beach!!

After moving out from the Nong Nooch Garden, we came to Jomtien beach, a little away from the main Pattaya beach. The Pattaya beach is a crowded one with tourists flocking it, so mama made a decision to bring us to this beach. We had our lunch at a joint on the opposite side of the beach road & then came to the beach. We booked beach chairs for us and left our belongings with mom and mami. It was time for mama and me to hit the water. It was such a good feeling for me... being in the sea water after so many years. Even though Mumbai has a long stretch of coastline, I never feel like even putting my feet into those waters. Bombayites would know the reason why! We enjoyed an hour's dip in the blues and while we were about to come out, mama felt something under him. Reflexively, he put his hand out there and the next moment his palm surfaced with a starfish on it! We both were thrilled and decided to take it to the beach to show it to mom and mami. Mom took photos of us and the starfish (see picture above) & it was quite an experience for us. We again went back and left it where we found it and returned to take a shower & change for the rest of the evening.

The Pattaya Nightlife

Mama then took us around the Pattaya beach road to show us the town's night life. Pattaya is world famous for sex tourism and the town thrives on it. Here you can find all types of 'entertainment' for yourself. He showed me the street-side pubs and beer joints, acquanting me with what goes around at such places. Girls deck up the chairs at such pubs which are covered in pink light, which would give anyone a spooky feeling. If you go into one such place and order a drink, and happen to talk with the girl next to you, it goes without saying that her drink is on you. And then I need not specify the 'services' you can have from her. Such 'pick-up' places are all over Pattaya's beach road. There are regular sex parties, foam parties and all kind of sexually explicit entertainment. Sex tourism is rampant and even for the blind to see. The food joints here also have names in accordance with the theme of Pattaya's night life. For instance I came across a restaurant named "Cabbages & Condoms"! I later came to know that its one of the best places for food in Pattaya...whew!!

Bangkok Post: Day 11

The weekend market of Chatuchak was on the cards for today. Since its only a weekend market, we had to spare either a Saturday or Sunday out of our 'visiting schedule'. Mami cautioned us that Chatuchak was infamous for pick-pocketting and so we had to be careful. We took the BTS Skytrain (BTS stands for Bangkok Transport System) to Mo Chit, the station where this market is located. Foreigners flock here during weekends to buy cheap goods and souveniers. Its a huge market selling everything from clothes, antiques, porcelain, flowers, food, ornaments, household accessories, decorative material, etc. Its a wholesale as well as a retail market with shops situated at the sides of narrow lanes, where only 2 people can pass simultaneously. Due to this the shops lack ventilation facilities, and covering the entire stretch of the market is a huge task.

But street food is rampant in this flea market. You can try all types of Thai street food here and also some varieties of street icecreams. People also perform on the streets, many play some or the other instrument, some show magic tricks... but they do not beg like beggars back in India. They are just engrossed playing their instruments, but not a voice asking for money at all. People give them money voluntarily, especially the foreigners. It was straining for us covering the market as much as we could.

In the evening, we came to Pantip Plaza from Chatuchak. Pantip Plaza is a huge computer market, with many computer companies selling their PCs, Laptops, accessories, hardware, software solutions and everything in the computer domain. The Plaza also has mobile sections where you could buy mobile accessories. But still, a major portion of the plaza is a heaven for computer geeks.

The front porch of Pantip Plaza had a surprise in store for me. In 1993 when I was in Bangkok, I had seen ice-cream sellers putting ice-creams in bread and selling them. That time I was not at all ready to taste such an odd combination, as I felt it to be. But this time, I wanted to taste this combination for the sake of curiosity of my taste-buds. Ever since the start of this trip, I was on the lookout for these ice-cream sellers (since not all ice-cream sellers offer such a combo). And I found one here, at Pantip Plaza. The ice-cream is sandwiched in the slit of a long bread, a little sweeter than the normal ones. In all, 8 small scoops were put inside it before garnishing it with roasted groundnuts & soaked and roasted moong dal. And it was done! I clicked a photo of this wierd ice-cream combination (see photo above), as we Indians would call it, and eagerly took a bite. The taste was not as wierd as I had expected it to be. It tastes a little like how ice-cream would go with a cream-less cake. For me, it was an okay taste, not too good, not too bad. But at the end of it I had the satisfaction of finally letting my taste-buds have a go at it!

Bangkok Post: Day 10

Today was a day to catch up with some social visits in Bangkok. Before he shifted to the heart of the city, my mama used to live near Samutprakan which is a little on the outskirts of the city. When I first came to Bangkok in 1993, I was a first grader and stayed with mama for 2 months at his earlier residence. I have fond memories of that place; a nice, peaceful place decked with row-houses on either side of the street. It was called (and is still called) Fortune City. Many Indian families used to stay side by side here and there was a whole gang of children of my age group there. We kids had a blast that time and I remember that time very vividly.

Now most of the families have shifted, some have returned to India. One of the families still lives there and we visited them today. Driving through those much aquainted lanes to arrive at their house was itself a nostalgic feeling for me. I could, even after 15 years visualize how we used to play in those lanes, go cycling on the main street with a small river flowing down on one side, the bridges linking the streets at the 'still familiar' locations and the electricity wires overhead still continuing their typical buzzing noise!! Not much has changed there since I had last waved the place a goodbye!

We revived those memories & had a sumptuous north-Indian lunch with them. After lunch, mom & I had planned to go to the "Ancient City", a place almost a few kilometres away from their house. The Ancient city is a huge sprawling area where traditional Thai culture, lifestyle, houses, places of worship and works from the mythological traditions is depicted. We traversed much of the campus on bicycles & I freaked out on photos. Capturing the traditional Thai architecture, their temples (temples are called wats in Thai), art forms like wall-paintings, sculptures through my lens was a marvelous experience. Since Thai mythology has much of the borrowings from Indian mythology, Ramayana, Shiva, Brahma, Vishnu and many gods and goddesses were sculpted or made into statues. Even the names of gods & goddesses bear a great deal of resemblance to their original Hindu names. For example, Saraswati is called Surasawadi in Thai mythology. Many such resemblances can be found. This place is a must visit for all those interested in Thai culture & its manifestations.