It's exactly a month I have written here and that was due to my journey abroad as well as around Pune and Mumbai. Last week of January I was in Bangkok for business purpose and had decided to write about the experience on the first available opportunity. The developments starting from Bangkok visit took such a fast track and I was on the roller-coaster so much so that I cannot say that even this is the opportunity I can exploit to write everything I wanted to about Bangkok or Thailand. But today I must write something before I forget everything…!
Well, though it was my first ever journey out of India and on a plane for that matter, I was neither excited nor feeling any high level of enthusiasm. It could be the purpose (business) of the visit or the circumstances and proceedings that led to this expedition or having to go alone (without family I mean) or may be the A-G-E…! Whatever the reason, the flight bored me to hell than indulging me. Again the reasons for this could be the tiring and irritating, even disgusting at some points, processes that are prefixed and suffixed to the actual travel through air and consume much more time (purely unproductive) than the commute. It could be the absolute exorbitant priced, tasteless and fashionable but hardly nutritious foods and beverages you are forced to buy on the airports. Lastly it also could be the cosmetic service you receive from the talking and moving dolls on the plane that never seems to move an inch, except during takeoff and landing, although the Captain claims the altitude of 50,000 feet and 500 km per hour…!
That’s it about the journey but once you set your eyes on the aerial view of Bangkok, the first thing you recognize and intrinsically appreciate is the impeccable planning and thoughtful maintenance of the landscape. And that proves to be just the tip of iceberg when you realize following things, I am listing them only for the constraint of time as each one deserves a separate post otherwise…
1. The infrastructure – roads are meant for travel and rules are not hoarded on roads but engraved in the hearts. No horns, no overtaking, no lane cutting, no jumping over signals. Simple. I know it seems like Alice in wonderland while writing and reading it in India (Particularly in Pune) but that’s the truth I witnessed for almost 5 days.
2. People respect and worship their King, despite of the democracy, as he is the one who always think THAILAND first. His highness not only appears on every crossroad, circle and airport hoardings but also on the currency notes and most importantly, in his people’s hearts. This is a kind of leadership, commitment and selflessness that makes a country great.
3. It’s almost a rare if not nonexistent scene to find anybody speaking in a loud voice, let alone a quarrel in the middle of the road with an audience of say 100 readily available people making uninvited judgments and seeming to provide the fuel in the fire instead of water. These people really understand Buddha, no wonder he is their primary inspiration and deity.
4. Although tourism is their major revenue source and hospitality comes naturally to them, these are most industrious species in the South-east Asia, a tough competition to Chinese and Japanese. The vehicles they use stands as a proof of their rationale and national thinking.
5. Finally, a grave concern that remained unanswered and unattended throughout was their inability to communicate in English. I never regretted so much of not learning any foreign language and had I known this opportunity, I would have definitely learned THAI.
This is it for now… may be will write again soon about Thailand and Bangkok because this land of Buddha had left me speechless, which even Vippasana failed to do…!
Stay tuned and Be A-W-A-R-E…!
There once was a farmer who discovered that he had lost his watch in the barn. It was no ordinary watch because it had sentimental value for him. After searching high and low among the hay for a long while; he gave up and enlisted the help of a group of children playing outside the barn.
