Get Set Go THAILAND!

Ask any adventure enthusiast, avid traveler or a backpacker to list some of their most fun filled adventures and odds are that you will have more than a few of them whose cruises will have had stops in Bankok, Pattaya! From the electrifying streets of Bankok, to the fancy riches of Madame Tussads and the natural beauty that engulfs Thailand's national parks and beaches, Thailand is the dream destination for anyone in pursuit to get off the beaten path. But before you re charge your camera which is lying in the cupboard or dust off the backpack that has been hiding in your store room, here are a few tips to abide by to make sure your experience in Thailand is one for the ages.

Jelly Fish at the Sea Shore at Jomtien Beach, Pattaya

Jomtein Beach, Pattaya

Jomtein Beach again

Pursuit of Happpyyyyness, Madame Tussads, Bankok

An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind - Mahatma Gandhi, Madame Tussads, Bankok

Though not bad, but this could be really better!

Katy Perry

Princess Diana

Walking Street, Guys you must go there single (If you know what I mean!)

Walking Street, Pattaya

TRAVEL LIGHT AND LIGHTER!

Over packing for a trip is a horrible idea, but that especially holds true when visiting Thailand. Odds are that when you are visiting Thailand you are going to be very sweaty. You are not bundling up for Alaskan adventure and the last thing you wanna do is carry a heavy backpack in the scorching heat. In addition to that, you want to save some room in that backpack for all the clothes you are gonna buy from Bankok and trust me, you will be buying a looot of em!

BUY A LOCAL SIM CARD AS SOON AS YOU REACH!

Another wise idea if you are traveling with friends or meeting anyone while you are there is to get a Thai SIM card for your cell phone. SIM cards and refill credit are very cheap there, and you can find them in most 7/11’s all over the country. Also if you are like me and use your smart phone to connect to the web a lot. Most places have Free Wi-Fi.

MAKE SURE YOU TRY THE STREET FOOD!

At a small dingy restaurant at Sukhamvit, Soi 18, At On Nut Station

BBQ Pork at On Nut Night Market

At a small dingy restaurant at Sukhamvit, Soi 18, At On Nut Station

At a small dingy restaurant at Sukhamvit, Soi 18, At On Nut Station

At a small dingy restaurant at Sukhamvit, Soi 18, At On Nut Station

TFC (Thai Fried Chicken) at On Nut

Fries with Beef Keema at On Nut

On Nut Night Market

Of course the street food in Thailand (and Bangkok especially) is another story. In fact your best meals are likely to come from your local street vendor so make sure to stop by or you will end up having missed out on some of the best meals you will ever have. I had the best food while I was in Thailand and the cost of food is unbelievable! For a meal on the street consisting of rice, vegetables, and a little meat on a single plate, the price should be anywhere from 40 - 70 THB. Big entire meals of street food with a selection of dishes and maybe an entire fish: 100 – 200 THB per person. 1.5 L bottle of water is 13-15 THB.
PS: Try "Tiger" or "Singha" beer.

GO TO BANKOK TREE HOUSE!

Inside Bankok Tree House

On way to Bankok Tree House in the Ferry

Hired bikes to go to Bankok Tree House

Inside Bankok Tree House

Singha Beer

The tastiest Water Melon Salad I have ever had! 

Visit Bangkok Tree House on the banks of the Chao Phraya River, just beyond Bangkok’s city limit. It is an amazing property, situated across the river from the main part of the city with greenery all around; a very serene location. Enjoy the walkways on the island and wander around aimlessly on all the paths. Getting there is a hassle but not that difficult. Just alight at Bang Na BTS, grab a taxi to Bang Na Pier from exit 2. From there either take the slow 4 baht ferry or ring up the hotel for a free speedboat ride to the hotel. 

Last but not the least, have fun!

Silver yarns

These cobwebs, still in my room. 

Thick and thin layers leading every facade. 

They extend from one end of the room to the other. 

They have seized my closet and my little clothes. 

They have wrapped the ripped copy of Shakespeare's sister lying on my table. 

They have trapped the alcoves in the walls.

They have draped my windows, my doors, my corners. 

They blotch my face in my reflection in the mirror. 

They lie brashly over my bed…… And me……

Occasionally, they swing from the roof like dead bodies. Their limber, filth coated arms soliciting support, swinging helplessly to the agitated revolving of the ceiling fan, of the fused tube light. And then sometimes, they throw up a twisting design on the white washed walls. 

I have attempted pointlessly to mark out this complex labyrinth, to place my shuddering finger where it begins, where it all began. 

But I, by no means can, I, by no means could. 

Occasionally, in the late afternoons when the sun lastly punctures through the deep green shades of the Peepal  trees, to pierce my room fearfully, it lights up the web that smothers the windows. Then, I feel sheer pleasure just by glancing at its rainbow gleam and its coy shuddering in the afternoon drift. The web dazzles like a thread of pearls.

They always glide from my fingers and drift away in the scented wind of the night, leaving behind a musty memory.  

But they are back all over again the next day and the next day and the next day, for the thin beautiful black spider that weaves them is a hard-working laborer. 

She resides in a particularly crumbling section of my demolishing one windowed room.
She has been weaving several webs of fragile silver threads, plastering the room with her presence, ever since the room was built.

And will carry on whirling thousands of such attractive silver yarns long after I have faded into the cobwebs. 


Occasionally, when one of these silky fibers hangs down sensually over me, I try to embrace them between my fingers and feel their brief existence but I can’t. 

VOICES IN THE HEAD

From the eyes of a Psychotic..... His world, his imagination

There are voices in my head,

which are loud and they bled.

screaming names, places, people unknown,

And I stand here, at the edge all alone.

They say don't react, do not act,

these people wearing white coats will wrack.

And i m afraid, oh, I am so scared,

They keep mocking, calling me impaired.

I'm so fed up, oh, I am so dead,

Am i really sick in the head ??????

*voices in my head: auditory hallucinations

*people wearing white coats: Doctors, Psychiatrists, Psychologists, Nurses

Spectacle of Love.....

Recently, the near by park in sector 35 where i stay witnessed a strange spectacle. A baby monkey, strayed from his family, came hoping from nowhere. Scared of chasing dogs, the monkey used to climb up a tree. This went on for a few days until the dogs left their pursuit in sheer frustration.

One of the dogs, however, kept up his pursuit  he was seen looking "passively", with his tail wagging (a sign of love) towards the monkey sitting on the tree. i was there constant and keen observer. The dog with his proverbial smelling power smelt and realized that the monkey was in dire need of love and had made this park his very abode.

The dog realized his "aura" (force of love) towards the baby monkey on the tree. It caught the forceful "aura", came down the tree and sat beside the dog. It was a moment of revelation. Their comradeship began like between two humans. one day, I saw the monkey scratching the back of the dog and then the dog taking his turn. and they were always seen playing and frolicking.

The dog, used to his life with the baby monkey, would wait eagerly in the morning for the monkey to appear. And they had a good time for a quite a long time. then one day came the anticlimax. The monkey suddenly disappeared. The dog waited anxiously but all in vain. He became depressed and crestfallen.

One day, as I was walking in the park, I saw the dog lying in a pit near the pathway with closed eyes. As I passed near him he sensed my presence and hardly opened his eyes and said to me, as if, with the meek and half opened eyes, "You very well know how much I loved the baby monkey. I wish him good luck wherever he is. Yet, I want him to come back and sit on my back and scratch it softly or even harshly, as he used to do earlier.

The dog comes to our home quite often. And I try to share his sadness by means that I know. But now, I miss the dog............For I do not see him any more. 

BPO: Bada Pakau Office!

Harleen Kaur, the BPO executive, get a “shrink”

lecture – and, guess whaaaat ??????

IT WORKS!!!

Santa ji is a happy man these days. He can’t believe somebody is actually willing to pay money to his daughter for doing something that she only earned scolding till now for – talk endlessly on the phone. Yes yes…!! Santa ji’s daughter got a BPO or a “call center” job recently. Even though I suspect he does not have a clue about how call centers work, he can’t stop telling people that she’s so busy that international clients don’t let her get “off the hook”.

Whatever the excitement, it did not seem to last long and Santa ji looked visibly stressed when I passed him by the other day.

So, I met up with Harleen and man, did she look tired. “what struck you”, I asked, adding that I expected her to transfer overnight into the “COOL BPO – TYPES WITH FIRANGI ACCENT”.

“Arrey baba, don’t ask. I love the job and all, you know. But the timings are so weird. They have changed my shift thrice by now, swapping between day and night timings. I think my body has got so confused that it has stopped responding”, she sighed. Looking into her sleep deprived eyes, I instantly knew what she meant.

So often does one see these friends, sleepy like hell in the backseat of their Qualis and Gypsies in the wee hours of the morning – and just not communicating with each other. It’s not rocket science to understand that they are paying a heavy price – that of their physical health and calmness, for that hip lifestyle and cool salary that the BPO job brings, I know one can’t dispute the importance of call centers as a sought after workplace and can’t wish away the unavoidable timings.

So, here is my peacefulness mantra for all my call center friends like Harleen Kaur.

I know you all would counter that by saying that will all the fun things in the cool corporate environment BPO’s offer, you already have access to fun things – a pool table, a gymnasium, a grrreeat café. But, there’s a difference in having access and actually using them to unwind.

Moreover, infrastructure can hardly make up for the stress caused by lack of human communication. Be sociable in whatever time you get – make a rule to crack a joke with colleagues after every 4 calls you take, spend weekends in family outings (basically let them know you exist and are not just a noise they hear when you sneak in at 3am), work out (and not just feel happy that your office has a well-equipped gym), listen to soothing music, go out – break the monotony, travel (like two of my dear friends, married for 4 years and dating since a decade – Aarti and Gaurav – you are an amazing couple <3 )  and most importantly learn to talk while on your way back from office. You are anyway going to hit the sack as soon as you reach home, why lose the precious little chance of interaction you get.

Harleen went “humming” after I shared my pearls of wisdom. (Well, ok, let’s call it a lecture). And Santa Ji is a happy man once again!!

PS: I tell everyone that I am very lucky to have

a “day job thing”. 

But after watching movies and chatting on text

messages, I look as tired as Harleen does after

the night shift. And Harleen gets to sleep during 

the day. WHAT LUCK !!

IF ONLY YOU COULD BE MINE!!

It’s not abnormal to fall for someone unattainable; it is to think that you need to do something about it.

I am going to write on a sensitive subject. I don’t think Santa Singh could give any advice on this one. In fact I don’t think even I can. But the problem is so pervasive, particularly among the adolescents and young adults that this stress can’t be ignored. Pick up any agony aunt column in a magazine or newspaper-what’s the most common question? ok, all those whose mind went straight to “I masturbate 400 times a day, will it make it weak.”-please kick yourself twice for having a one-track mind and the rest stay on with me. The most common question is, “I am in love with someone who I can’t be with (either he/she is super-hot celebrity, or already married, or in a relationship with someone, or simply not interested). How do I try to deal with this stress.”

Well my answer is ……don’t. Yes…….as a first step, don’t try to deal with it. Accept that it’s not abnormal to fall in love with someone who’s totally out of your league-he/she could be a film star, your boss, your teacher or even your best friend’s caring wife (who, by the way, seems caring only as long as they are someone else’s). What’s abnormal, or rather a cause of concern, however, is when you start to think that you need to do anything about it. Or when you begin to develop a complex because of not being able to attain the object of your desire.

Santa Singh’s teenaged daughter Harleen Kaur, who has plastered the walls of her room with the posters of Brad Pitt, having neatly cut out Angelina Jolie from all of them, was fine till she started scribbling “Mrs Harleen Kaur Pitt” 100 times on the back page of her school notebooks and began a ‘sixteen Monday’ fast (solah somvaar) to ensure that Lord Shiva somehow gets Brad on the next flight to Faridabad sector – 37. Now that’s where she, and millions like her need to be told that the “feeling of feeling for someone special” is borne out of your own thoughts and not binding on you somehow getting that person in your life. In most cases, what we are in love with is not the person, but the perception of him/her in our minds. The one who seems an epitome of perfection to us from every angle may be an annoying monster to those who actually have him/her in their lives. If those film stars were like the best gifts God could give to their partners, why would there be divorces or separations in their relationships?

The calmness trick, if you are also hopelessly in love-in your thoughts-with someone who cannot be yours, is to positively enjoy that feeling and not go on an overdrive to take it to a level where it ceases to be a ‘healthy’ crush. You have to set your own boundaries. Writing fan mail every day or waiting for hours to get an autograph is okay-slitting your wrists to write a letter in blood, or not appreciating your own partner for not being ‘as good’ is so not done. Fantasizing is great, getting obsessive is crazy!! Take your pick.

P.S: I’m getting a treat today. I called up Santa ji’s residence and asked for Harleen Kaur Pitt !

 

EMBRACE THE MOMENT !

Life never gives a second chance fr anything whether its bout mourning over ruins or gratitude for something good done by someone. life just knocks at the door once; either u act upon it or let it go forever....

 

i remember there have been several times when i wanted to apologise but i didn't due to my stupid arrogance. there have been times when i wanted to show gratitude; again i didn't, delaying it fr some other time. and i forgot the worldly wisdom: my child, live this moment and relish the day......

 

but nw i have realised the value of doing the right thing at the right time and at the right moment. i have been able to give direction to all my thoughts. i am thankful fr even the minutest happening in my life, and show gratitude to whatever someone does fr me. if it's my mistake, then its my sincere apology, fr sure.....

 

we always have the tendency of leaving things fr the future even if they r confessions to ur loved ones. why don't people confess when the time is right and they r definite about their feeelings, whether its feeling of love, happiness or apology. we r here fr this moment and we are sure just about this moment....

 

life gives us many signals showning that the time is right and we  may proceed in our task but we r so busy thinking bout oue future or the next moment that we don't respect this very moment. we ruin the time given and when the time is gone, we mourn....

 

one must learn to respect this moment, live it fully and cash it coz this moment will  ot be coming again. respect time and u will earn respect frm the world. there is a saying "past is history, future is mystery and this moment is a gift and thats why its called present".....

 

sieze the present given by life with joy and happiness, so that the essence of gift is doubled by our acceptance, not ignored by our apprehensive nature. one has to be sensitive to all this, and it is a long learning process.....