74. SAWADIKA! -The Bangkok Trip

The City:  The city seemed to be quite developed. Roads and public toilets were relatively clean and maintained.  A few beggars could be seen near the MRT stations. 7-11 seemed to be the national shop of Thailand as you can find one or two after every kilometer. The general architectural style of the city seemed to be that of the temple one – most of the buildings, houses and even bridges have roofs with ornamented gabled-ends.  The entangled mess of overhead electric lines would have baffled Mr. Kirchhoff himself :P

Traffic: One word for it –Horrible! The worst experience was that of the 1-hour bus journey for a 2 km distance. So taking MRT wouldn't be a bad idea, for traveling to MRT accessible places during peak hours. 

Public transport: MRT and sky train systems are so poorly integrated, and have poor connectivity to places.  They are not cheap either. Sharing a cab by 3 or 4 would be cheaper and advisable for traveling during off peak hours. Patience bears a metered taxi. Wait for it.  We never tried the public bus. 

Food: Again, one word for it –Awesome! I guess Thai is one of the few cuisines that suites Western, Indian and South-East-Asian taste buds alike. Also it has a lot of options for vegetarians as well.

Weather: it's better to always carry a rain guard with you. Weather is similar to Singapore and Kerala.

Safety: If you take care of yourself and travel in groups and go around at the right places, it's decently safe.

Thai vocab: Sawadika - hello (for females); Kab koon - thank you (for females)

My takeaway: The trip was quite nice and educative. It made me realize that I really really need to travel more. Travelling can really modify your perspective and make you grow. Being in a group, the members of which I wasn't really close with, I learnt that different people have different preferences, concerns and skills. There are foodies, shoppers, explorers, photographers and aimless people. Timely and good food is important to some. Enough rest for others. Leisurely pace for the others. I can't chop chop everyone every time. Planning beforehand saves a lot of time, effort and money. Raincoat makes walking around in rain more comfortable. Shelling out a few bucks for a local sim-card with data is not a bad idea. Travel adaptors are a must. Don't hesitate to speak up your ideas and wants and needs. And don't get disappointed if they are not heeded to. Helping others always helps you. 

Kab Koon! :)

56. I wanna grow up once again...

Give me some sunshine,

Give me some rain,

Give me another chance,

I wanna grow up once again...

Haven’t you ever felt like rewinding your whole life (atleast some part of it), travel back in time, and do it all over once again? Haven’t you ever wondered what would have happened if you had taken the other road? Haven't you wondered what if that sperm had lost its way and hadn't reached that egg? Haven’t you wished that you could have said the right thing at the right time? Haven’t you ever been curious to find out what would have happened if you gave a NO instead of a YES? Haven’t you wished if life had ‘Undo’ options and ‘Backspace’ keys? Haven’t you longed for second chances?........

PS: Yea I watched 3 idiots –all by myself- with no subtitles or a human/google translator![I know I’m growing up! :P]

A must watch for every Indian parents, teachers and students especially, who have been ensnared by this rotten education system, which steals many from a life, which could have been driven by their own dreams and passions, but instead have been snubbed by the stereotype doctor-engineer fawning society!

36. A prayer for 2009

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Dear God, thank you for the year 2008 you gave us,

Wherein we had moments of joy n laughter amidst sorrow n fear.

Thank you for all the good and the seemingly bad

That had transpired during the past one year.

Let the new year be one that will dispel

All feelings of hatred among humanity;

So that, there will be no more attacks

Against the Hindu, Muslim or Christian community.

Let the new year be one which will witness

People rising above petty divisions,

Based on caste, creed and class so that,

There won’t be any more Gujjar agitations.

Let the new year be one in which the political parties

Do for the nation, something utile;

Rather than engage themselves

In petty fights and strikes futile.

Let the new year be such that there won’t be

Any suicide attacks on the Indian embassies;

Or any terrorist-strikes at the Indian heritage hotels,

Which aggravates man’s agonies.

Let the new year be one in which the countries

Cease to fight over a piece of land,

Which leads to nothing but,

Shattering man’s peace of mind.

Let the new year be one in which the players

Stop hitting and slapping each other,

Instead focus more on hitting the ball,

Sending it to a four or a sixer.

Let the new year be one that will bring

Happy tidings to the world economy.

So that people won’t find themselves

Thrown out of their jobs, abruptly.

Instead Lord, give mankind

A new vision and a mission,

That will enable us to broaden our horizon

And use our potential to send more space missions.

Let the year bring forth more Adigas

To enrich our casket of literature,

And more Bindras and Parvathys

On the world stage to venture.

Let the new year behold India –

An emerging super power;

Whom the US takes pride in calling its ‘staunchest ally’,

And the EU states her, its ‘strategic partner.’

Above all dear Lord, help us to stand

Together as one –both men and women;

And enable us to see your glory,

Each moment of the year! Amen.

Author’s note: I wanted to write a new-year post(well that was one week before)…and I started writing a post(prose), however it ended as a 'poem'. This is my second attempt at writing a poem. (Must be inspired by reading too much of CRAZY poems!!!for some reason or the other she never publishes her poems in her blog.sad!)