Those who read my blogs will know about Surya and Neema. Recently we have been attending a series of Neema's lectures at their apartment on Bhagwad Gita. Last Thursday we were seeking a topic for a lecture they would be giving to the members of National Museum Volunteers, Bangkok and felt that a talk on 'Karma' appeared right for the group! This choice reminded me of a quote on Karma: 'God does not make one suffer for no reason nor does He make one happy for no reason. God is very fair and gives you exactly what you deserve.' (Wikipedia)
While I had no issues with this quote, I turned to Surya and asked: 'I have heard that two angels (I think I said spies!) keep a watch and maintain a register of all our actions. But my question really is about the process of handling this enormous amount of data, collecting and processing billions of inputs by millions of us humans and administering the right reward or punishment. How is this achieved?’ It was difficult to for me to imagine how this could be done during Vedic times, but we can now talk of a super-duper computer doing this work! Anyway, my tone implied: 'I cannot really believe that this is possible'.
Surya said: 'Yes it is a belief and the scribes are Chitra and Gupta' and Neema added: 'I think it is possible, think of the universe which is billions of years old still working to some order, why think of the creation within this earth itself or just our own birth process, I am sure it is possible'. She calls them non-verifiable beliefs. I let it go at this as we were on our way to a friends' place and had reached our destination.
I had no inkling then that what Neema terms as my skepticism, was going to be overhauled within a few days.
Well here is my story. We had arranged our farewell party last Friday, May the 1st. The Party went very well and we came home happy and spoke to our children whom we had sorely missed. Our daughter Nandini had just returned from a short trip to Hyderabad and was getting back to her routines. Actually, we first spoke to Rohini in Vancouver and as we spoke she mentioned that Nandini while talking about her trip complained of pain in her leg. This jogged Rohini's memory; she had read about travel induced blood clots and urged Nandini to go to ER immediately and get herself checked.
Soon after we spoke to Nandini in Bellevue, she said that she had already been to the ER and yes, there was a clot and she had been given medicine and also an injection and now she was fine. We were relieved and went to bed tired after a very hectic but a wonderful evening of partying!
I do not sleep all through the night and as I woke up, my mind went clicking and I soon realized that the clot must dissolve completely for her to be safe and fervently wished it would be so. I also hoped that there would be no break away clots. True to my nature I did not involve God in any manner at that time. Frankly my understanding about her present ailment was very vague.
Next morning Tara called Nandini to check how she was doing and Nandini said she would call back. But she did not call and we were not too worried as we thought she was just busy. We went out for lunch to Gayathri's place and were happy talking about the last evening’s program, how well it went and how everyone had a good time! While we were at the lunch table Mukund received a call and said 'Just a minute' and handed over the phone to me. That created a little flutter in my heart. We had not carried our phone and some one trying to reach us this way was a bit worrying.
It was Raxit and he spoke very calmly and said that he was speaking from the hospital and that Nandini was fine. He then spoke about how Nandini had some discomfort in the evening and that they rushed to the hospital and she was admitted and that on a scan the doctors found a few clots lodged in her lungs; luckily they were not threatening. She was immediately put on IV medication and that doctors were now happy with her progress but were keeping her in the hospital for a few days to ensure no further complications arose, especially due to the unpredictability of her condition.
He explained to me a little more about DVT and said he would keep in touch. It was lucky for us that we were with Gayathri, Mukund and Vasantha and they were able to calm our minds. Vasantha spoke about divine intervention through Rohini and that Nandini went on time to doctors both the times.
It is only when we returned from lunch and I had a look at the web, I realized the seriousness of what had transpired. Tara had gone totally quiet, I am sure she was offering silent prayers while my mind went into overdrive. I saw more websites on Deep Vein Thrombosis and it was very worrying to learn more about this ailment. I was also greatly relieved that in Nandini's case the break away clots did not cause serious complications.
It was around 9 pm when Tara said let us go to the Erawan (Brahma) shrine and offer prayers. I went along with her and sat contemplating while she did her thing of offering prayers. That is the time I realized that I was hoping and praying. I was in fact wishing that there were no more errant clots breaking loose and even if they did I was mentally urging them to travel and reach safer areas of her lungs. I was also praying that the medicines administered would do their job.
This is what Nandini told me when I spoke to her later. She said 'I just have to wait: for the medicines to do their job and my body to do its job'. I am very happy to say that they are doing their jobs and she is sounding much better now. Nandini and Raxit received and are receiving tremondous support from Ram and Shakku (Tara's sister) and many friends they have made in Seattle. We know that God has always been kind to us but more so now!
As we spoke to friends and relatives, I realized how important it was to talk to them. Vasantha saw the divine intervention in all this and offered prayers on our behalf. So did all of those we had spoken to, they all said that they would include us in their prayers. They gave us enormous support and we were able to compose ourselves and become more objective.
Later I spoke to Rikhi about all this and said I still do not know how to pray, I do not remember any mantras to chant and so on. He said you can talk to God if you do not know how to pray, he will listen! I suppose that is the message I want to pass on.
I also want to urge people to take this advice about moving your limbs often and keeping our body hydrated while on a flight very seriously. I remember EVA airlines screen this advice periodically and show us a set of exercises we should do be doing on board. I am sure all airlines do this. Please watch it and do exactly what it says. I know we hardly watch what they say about our safety while we are on a flight!
It is also worthwhile looking at the websites like the one below.
http://www.preventdvt.org/
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
What is a Honeymoon Suite?
This subject of Honeymoon keeps returning! Remember our Laos trip?
Anyway we returned from Bangalore and as usual made a beeline to Mukund and Gayathri's place for dinner. Sethu and Madhu were also there, so it was a family gathering! The group had gone to Burma border and Kanchanaburi and had a great time relaxing and golfing while we were on a serious trip trying to organize our return to India!
Suddenly Gayathri goes: (did she look demure?) 'We were given a Honeymoon Suite in one of the places we stayed'! That rankled or was it the thought that I missed the golf game the next day? Anyway I imagined as seniors we would have made a claim, or drawn numbers for this room and I could have finally seen a Honeymoon Suite! Before I could ask them more about the suite, the topic was changed by some one!
I am not now talking about Honeymoon, which does not raise an eyebrow now a days. It was not the same while we were young kids! Not all newly weds' went on a honeymoon! In fact, often the groom went back to his native town with his relatives and another muhurth was chosen at a later date for Nuptials! (I wonder whether the word is still current.) There are many stories about this auspicious day, but I am not blogging about them here.
I remember one story though, not sure whether I read about it or heard the story. Here was this senile grandmother who had packed her things join the honeymooning couple, she could not comprehend why she could not go with them! She had not seen the temple in the vicinity of their honeymoon location (Mysore or Ooty those days!) and it was also not right for the newlyweds to miss a pilgrimage opportunity! It was not easy to dissuade her considering she was a very determined person!
I am digressing, a few days later we were at the Mingles watching IPL cricket or more importantly drinking beer and I asked Mukund: 'what really is a honeymoon suite!' Well he said: 'It had three windows looking out at Sea (?) instead of one as in the other rooms and had one double bed instead of two which we see normally in a hotel!' I asked: 'That is it?' He said: 'Yes!' It was not what I had imagined it to be!
The story should end there, but there is one more mention of a Honeymoon suite! Read all about it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeymoon_Suite
Gayathri responded finally!
gayathri said...
ok - since it is all about our acco in Sangklaburi, i think i am justified in making this almost a blog entry rather than a response! So bear with me please. So this place we stayed at had this room that Mukund and I got - only because it was away from the main building and others did not want it!!! - and no one dare comment on THAT!So this room was ALL PINK - bedspread, sheets, walls - everything. And it had 3 sides that were windows opening on to the river (no sea and such). And when we commented on it the next morning at breakfast, it is suddenly the Honeymoon suite. And the 2nd day, we all had to switch rooms, thanks to our "friend" (aka sethu). and now we had this room that was no longer pink, but it continued to be referred to as the Honeymoon suite!I have to grant that it was a wonderful trip and we definitely encourage this "friend" to arrange more of these trips - switching rooms, pink rooms, it just adds to the fun!The Very Young Gayathri
Anyway we returned from Bangalore and as usual made a beeline to Mukund and Gayathri's place for dinner. Sethu and Madhu were also there, so it was a family gathering! The group had gone to Burma border and Kanchanaburi and had a great time relaxing and golfing while we were on a serious trip trying to organize our return to India!
Suddenly Gayathri goes: (did she look demure?) 'We were given a Honeymoon Suite in one of the places we stayed'! That rankled or was it the thought that I missed the golf game the next day? Anyway I imagined as seniors we would have made a claim, or drawn numbers for this room and I could have finally seen a Honeymoon Suite! Before I could ask them more about the suite, the topic was changed by some one!
I am not now talking about Honeymoon, which does not raise an eyebrow now a days. It was not the same while we were young kids! Not all newly weds' went on a honeymoon! In fact, often the groom went back to his native town with his relatives and another muhurth was chosen at a later date for Nuptials! (I wonder whether the word is still current.) There are many stories about this auspicious day, but I am not blogging about them here.
I remember one story though, not sure whether I read about it or heard the story. Here was this senile grandmother who had packed her things join the honeymooning couple, she could not comprehend why she could not go with them! She had not seen the temple in the vicinity of their honeymoon location (Mysore or Ooty those days!) and it was also not right for the newlyweds to miss a pilgrimage opportunity! It was not easy to dissuade her considering she was a very determined person!
I am digressing, a few days later we were at the Mingles watching IPL cricket or more importantly drinking beer and I asked Mukund: 'what really is a honeymoon suite!' Well he said: 'It had three windows looking out at Sea (?) instead of one as in the other rooms and had one double bed instead of two which we see normally in a hotel!' I asked: 'That is it?' He said: 'Yes!' It was not what I had imagined it to be!
The story should end there, but there is one more mention of a Honeymoon suite! Read all about it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeymoon_Suite
Gayathri responded finally!
gayathri said...
ok - since it is all about our acco in Sangklaburi, i think i am justified in making this almost a blog entry rather than a response! So bear with me please. So this place we stayed at had this room that Mukund and I got - only because it was away from the main building and others did not want it!!! - and no one dare comment on THAT!So this room was ALL PINK - bedspread, sheets, walls - everything. And it had 3 sides that were windows opening on to the river (no sea and such). And when we commented on it the next morning at breakfast, it is suddenly the Honeymoon suite. And the 2nd day, we all had to switch rooms, thanks to our "friend" (aka sethu). and now we had this room that was no longer pink, but it continued to be referred to as the Honeymoon suite!I have to grant that it was a wonderful trip and we definitely encourage this "friend" to arrange more of these trips - switching rooms, pink rooms, it just adds to the fun!The Very Young Gayathri
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Home coming or Going homewards: Are we all idiots!
Continuing my stroy:
(I have this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome as I travel towards India. I turn from a calm and accepting person to a VIoP. A Very Irritating or Irritated (old) Person. This trip was no exception.)
Tara and I got separated and I was stuck in between two men on the Jet flt. The young man sitting next to me was one of those software guys. He had a lap top which meant that his elbows were poking me, he also had an iPhone and he was constantly playing with it. To my Freudian mind it was reminiscent of a penile obsession of a little kid.
While he was not rude, he sounded arrogant when he spoke to the air hostess! She offered him a bottle of lemon juice and he used the putting down people tone and asked for water. Of course, she should have known better and should have given him a choice instead of just thrusting a bottle at him. I thought JET airways trained their staff better! Even then there was no justification for his arrogant ways. I realised I was now in the 'Land of snarls, swears and curses'. I think I had by then turned into a VIoP and was actually seething if not frothing from my mouth. (Very Irritated old Person.)
Then it happened! The announcement as the plane started moving for a take off clearly stated that using electronic gadgets and mobile phones was Prohibited! This seemed to have no effect on the chap next to me. I reminded him about the announcement and asked him to stop using the mobile phone. He said 'With due respect sir, enjoy your flight'. I actually admired his tone and style, which I would love to emulate, it was smooth and totally arrogant, would have surely impressed one of the young film directors no end. I replied 'In which case I will ask the air hostess to tell the pilot to stop the plane from taking off'.' Which seemed to have some effect on him and he shut off the phone during take off. I did not look at him to see if he pouted his lip!
But he was at it agan even before the plane reached the required altitude, I was not sure whether it was still OK to use the phone. Anyway, one of the pursers made a face as if he wanted him to stop using the phone, the little boy did not seem to care and continued to play with his toy, and the purser gave up. The air hostesses who were flitting around never seemed to notice. I gave up and decided to hold my peace.
I am still not sure whether I was the Idiot in insisting that the boy next to me should abide by the announcements made by the pilot or whether it was the obsessive boy who did not heed or the Jet airlines itself, whose staff did not bother to implement its own announced policies.
(I have this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome as I travel towards India. I turn from a calm and accepting person to a VIoP. A Very Irritating or Irritated (old) Person. This trip was no exception.)
Tara and I got separated and I was stuck in between two men on the Jet flt. The young man sitting next to me was one of those software guys. He had a lap top which meant that his elbows were poking me, he also had an iPhone and he was constantly playing with it. To my Freudian mind it was reminiscent of a penile obsession of a little kid.
While he was not rude, he sounded arrogant when he spoke to the air hostess! She offered him a bottle of lemon juice and he used the putting down people tone and asked for water. Of course, she should have known better and should have given him a choice instead of just thrusting a bottle at him. I thought JET airways trained their staff better! Even then there was no justification for his arrogant ways. I realised I was now in the 'Land of snarls, swears and curses'. I think I had by then turned into a VIoP and was actually seething if not frothing from my mouth. (Very Irritated old Person.)
Then it happened! The announcement as the plane started moving for a take off clearly stated that using electronic gadgets and mobile phones was Prohibited! This seemed to have no effect on the chap next to me. I reminded him about the announcement and asked him to stop using the mobile phone. He said 'With due respect sir, enjoy your flight'. I actually admired his tone and style, which I would love to emulate, it was smooth and totally arrogant, would have surely impressed one of the young film directors no end. I replied 'In which case I will ask the air hostess to tell the pilot to stop the plane from taking off'.' Which seemed to have some effect on him and he shut off the phone during take off. I did not look at him to see if he pouted his lip!
But he was at it agan even before the plane reached the required altitude, I was not sure whether it was still OK to use the phone. Anyway, one of the pursers made a face as if he wanted him to stop using the phone, the little boy did not seem to care and continued to play with his toy, and the purser gave up. The air hostesses who were flitting around never seemed to notice. I gave up and decided to hold my peace.
I am still not sure whether I was the Idiot in insisting that the boy next to me should abide by the announcements made by the pilot or whether it was the obsessive boy who did not heed or the Jet airlines itself, whose staff did not bother to implement its own announced policies.
Home coming or Going homewards.
We took a short trip to Bengaluru during Songkran holidays. We would have loved to be here in Bangkok and been a part of the Burma border trip near Kanchanaburi with our regular group! Missed playing golf though! Ours was an exploratory trip and we think we accomplished a lot. We will know for sure when we get back, but we did fix up many contractors to do basic repairs to our apartment before we move in June.
I have this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome as I travel towards India. I turn from a calm and accepting person to a VIoP. A Very Irritating or Irritated (old) Person. This trip was no exception.
First things first, our morning flt was cancelled and we were offered a seat in the night flt, which meant a 12 hours wait at the airport. The Thai Airways was kind enought to offer us accommodation at the Novotel Airport hotel. We said yes, then Balaji who was also on the flt, convinced Thai to give us a flt via Mumbai and the leg between Mumbai and Bengaluru was on Jet Airways. While I was inclined to take the offer of a room at the Novotel, we chose to take the long ride via Mumbai. I was also very curious about how this would be managed.
There were many lessons learnt, but the one which is important was that the liquor bottle which was allowed to be carried with us on Thai flt as a cabin baggage was not accepted on Jet airways. Luckily the girl who worked as a ground hostess warned us about it and we were just able to push it into our check in baggage!
I have this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde syndrome as I travel towards India. I turn from a calm and accepting person to a VIoP. A Very Irritating or Irritated (old) Person. This trip was no exception.
First things first, our morning flt was cancelled and we were offered a seat in the night flt, which meant a 12 hours wait at the airport. The Thai Airways was kind enought to offer us accommodation at the Novotel Airport hotel. We said yes, then Balaji who was also on the flt, convinced Thai to give us a flt via Mumbai and the leg between Mumbai and Bengaluru was on Jet Airways. While I was inclined to take the offer of a room at the Novotel, we chose to take the long ride via Mumbai. I was also very curious about how this would be managed.
There were many lessons learnt, but the one which is important was that the liquor bottle which was allowed to be carried with us on Thai flt as a cabin baggage was not accepted on Jet airways. Luckily the girl who worked as a ground hostess warned us about it and we were just able to push it into our check in baggage!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Luang Prabang thru pictures.
Our trip to Luang Prabang felt very peaceful. While there were more tuktuks and motor bikes than I had expected, it was still pollution free. Surprisingly we were stuck in traffic for 20 minutes on our way to the guest house from the airport! Everyone was talking about it at the guest house and it seems about 20 plus cars were stuck in traffic!
LP has many charming streets with nice buildings and old Wats. Lack of high rise buildings makes it very appealing. It surely is an ideal holiday for us oldies who like to walk and for the young who love trekking, kayaking and other adventure sports. I specially liked the offer to teach us how to be a mahout in two days at an elephant camp! The soap dialogue 'Aurathon koh ankush lagana chayiye' had always intrigued me! Well not worth the risk as they did not specify that the class was only for men!
'Laos, one of the world's few remaining communist states, is one of east Asia's poorest countries' (BBC) clarified my observation that interactions between people appeared a bit guarded.
A very charming little airport! Tara said it reminded her of the Lohegoan airport in Pune in the sixties.
.
While the notice at the LP Bakery was not very friendly the waiters were very extremely nice.
The new heritage!
The late king is still revered by some. Our guesthouse manager!
King Sisavang Vong: He was born at Luang Phrabang, on July 14, 1885. His father was Zakarine, King of Luang Phrabang and his mother was Queen Thongsy. He was educated at Lycée Chasseloup-Laubat, Saigon and l'École Coloniale, Paris. He was known as a "playboy" king. He had up to 50 children by as many as 15 wives, two of whom were his half sisters[1]and one of whom was a niece. Fourteen of the children would die in the Mekong after a boating accident. (Wikipedia)
I noticed that there were too many Tuktuks in LP where walking was the best way to go around. I wonder how they manage. State subsidy could be a solution.
The kids had a game going. Throwing chappals the farthest!
Models in the making.
LP has many charming streets with nice buildings and old Wats. Lack of high rise buildings makes it very appealing. It surely is an ideal holiday for us oldies who like to walk and for the young who love trekking, kayaking and other adventure sports. I specially liked the offer to teach us how to be a mahout in two days at an elephant camp! The soap dialogue 'Aurathon koh ankush lagana chayiye' had always intrigued me! Well not worth the risk as they did not specify that the class was only for men!
'Laos, one of the world's few remaining communist states, is one of east Asia's poorest countries' (BBC) clarified my observation that interactions between people appeared a bit guarded.
A very charming little airport! Tara said it reminded her of the Lohegoan airport in Pune in the sixties.
Our favourite haunt, the LP Bakery. Veg soup Lao style highly recommended.
.
While the notice at the LP Bakery was not very friendly the waiters were very extremely nice.
The new heritage!
The late king is still revered by some. Our guesthouse manager!
King Sisavang Vong: He was born at Luang Phrabang, on July 14, 1885. His father was Zakarine, King of Luang Phrabang and his mother was Queen Thongsy. He was educated at Lycée Chasseloup-Laubat, Saigon and l'École Coloniale, Paris. He was known as a "playboy" king. He had up to 50 children by as many as 15 wives, two of whom were his half sisters[1]and one of whom was a niece. Fourteen of the children would die in the Mekong after a boating accident. (Wikipedia)
I noticed that there were too many Tuktuks in LP where walking was the best way to go around. I wonder how they manage. State subsidy could be a solution.
With a 12 pm curfew and no girlie bars, reading a book is the best way to pass time in LP. You can buy books at the LP bakery, and read as you sip a cup of tea or coffee. I noticed that the younger ones were busy with their laptops connecting to people elsewhere while ignoring the people next to them!
The kids had a game going. Throwing chappals the farthest!
Models in the making.
Part of heritage?
Our guesthouse was on this street!
As we straggled in, she did not even look up, obvioulsy she does not sell too many of them.
She had guessed I would not buy but she did make an half hearted effort to sell.
Weird stuff to drink. I am off whisky now!
My first reaction was wow! Then I realised that even Monks need a calendar.
I was missing Rhea and hence took this picture!
Next day the waterfall! Absolutely divine! Lovely landscaping and totally clean!
I had a great time getting into the water a little down hill. A pity that the camera did not work for Tara. She did try to take a picture of me in the water. It was very refreshing to be in there.
View from the hill.
Tara was interviewed by a Lao student.
She also posed for a picture.
The reason why LP is so clean! Admirable practice to catch and teach them young.
She also posed for a picture.
The reason why LP is so clean! Admirable practice to catch and teach them young.
Does heritage means no 'lick of paint'?
Notice the very simple roof.
Notice the very simple roof.
Shop on the fringe, she looks worried that people don't seem to walk in to her shop.
Surely not for the tourists.
The river adds beauty to the place.
Surely not for the tourists.
The river adds beauty to the place.
Not enough land in the foot hills for farming hence it is hard in spite of all the water around.
A village on the way to the cave temple.
We climbed up to see this village on our boat trip.
A village on the way to the cave temple.
We climbed up to see this village on our boat trip.
We call it 'Sthala Purana' (Local myths!)
As we straggled in, she did not even look up, obvioulsy she does not sell too many of them.
She had guessed I would not buy but she did make an half hearted effort to sell.
Weird stuff to drink. I am off whisky now!
My first reaction was wow! Then I realised that even Monks need a calendar.
I was missing Rhea and hence took this picture!
The cave temple approachable only by a boat.
That picture must have came out well!
Next day the waterfall! Absolutely divine! Lovely landscaping and totally clean!
I had a great time getting into the water a little down hill. A pity that the camera did not work for Tara. She did try to take a picture of me in the water. It was very refreshing to be in there.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The night market in Luang Prabhang.
For Bangkok-vasi's like us, the term Night Market has many connotations. In fact, even senior citizens walking in daytime are vulnerable here in Bangkok. I call it peer pressure! I noticed that especially after reading the very suggestive regulations, (Some called it hilarious, others humorous or entertaining, Arun called it subliminal!) the scene on the main street was a little unexpected! We did see tourists on the street, old couples, young couples, back packers and so on. While they were mostly farangs, we hardly saw a mix of races or generations and if there were some, they looked very normal and above board. It appears the director of police was needlessly worried! We now understand now why friends urged us to see LP before it got commercial!
Anyway let me start from the beginning: We walked out of our guest house after checking in and found the Main street quite easily, it was about fifteen minutes walk. We had good reviews of the LP Bakery and Rama had said we could get vegetable soup over there! We were lucky that Tara found a place she enjoyed eating at.
The main street 'Sisavangvong'. We spent many hoours on this street as we ate mostly at the Luang Prabhang Bakery seen next to the red tents!
As I walked out of the Bakery after a cup of tea I was surprised to see a lot of activity right on the main street.
The baby was real and a doll!
Future entrepreneur or youth leader!
Tara was impressed with the speed of setting up the market and the order. Nothing new for us but the fact that the main street was closed for the night market was impressive.
The night market is all set and ready to go!
The patient vendor. Most of them were calm and while some were smiling, they were not animated and hardly a shout was heard!
Finally the night fell
The wares! Tara was not too excited about the goods on display.
Anyway let me start from the beginning: We walked out of our guest house after checking in and found the Main street quite easily, it was about fifteen minutes walk. We had good reviews of the LP Bakery and Rama had said we could get vegetable soup over there! We were lucky that Tara found a place she enjoyed eating at.
The main street 'Sisavangvong'. We spent many hoours on this street as we ate mostly at the Luang Prabhang Bakery seen next to the red tents!
As I walked out of the Bakery after a cup of tea I was surprised to see a lot of activity right on the main street.
The baby was real and a doll!
Future entrepreneur or youth leader!
Tara was impressed with the speed of setting up the market and the order. Nothing new for us but the fact that the main street was closed for the night market was impressive.
The night market is all set and ready to go!
The patient vendor. Most of them were calm and while some were smiling, they were not animated and hardly a shout was heard!
Finally the night fell
The wares! Tara was not too excited about the goods on display.
Not many visitors seen.
A rare sale!
The market spread a little to the side streets.
But it was not too active
Not a very aggressive salesman!
The restaurants' attempt to add color to the main street!
The experience was nice but tame. We did not feel the energy of a market place. The vendors were friendly in a subdued way. They did not push for a sale. Tara did buy a few odd things as a contribution to their economy. We bought a bed cover on our final night at LP and were amazed when the vendor told us that it was her first sale for the day and it was already 10 p.m.!
A day with the monks of Luang Prabhang
We had heard about the tradition of offering alms to the monks early in the morning. Sticky rice, freshly cooked in the morning is offered. Usually the devotees place orders a day earlier and they start congregating at around 6 am and so did we! The operation is pretty well organised and it is like being at the time of suprabhatam in any temple of India.
Tara decided to join and was lucky to get something to offer as the guest house receptionist had forgotten to order, in spite of giving him the money in advance. They were kind enough to offer her a small stool to sit on.
I have a suspicion that the monks were waiting for these VIP's to arrive and get ready.
I saw the monks walking towards us as soon as these women were seated!
Tara was soon done with alms offering.
This young girl was actually collecting alms and
many young monks gave back from their collection.
They are quite busy most of the day.
They do have their outings.
While they are quite smart their dwellings are humble.
A glorious way to end the day.
Tara decided to join and was lucky to get something to offer as the guest house receptionist had forgotten to order, in spite of giving him the money in advance. They were kind enough to offer her a small stool to sit on.
I have a suspicion that the monks were waiting for these VIP's to arrive and get ready.
I saw the monks walking towards us as soon as these women were seated!
Tara was soon done with alms offering.
This young girl was actually collecting alms and
many young monks gave back from their collection.
They are quite busy most of the day.
They do have their outings.
While they are quite smart their dwellings are humble.
A glorious way to end the day.
While I did not really spend time with them or follow them about, I was lucky to get glimpse of their busy life. I could perceive a great sense of purpose in them and they did appear calm. Most importantly there were not many fat monks to be seen!
(Many of our friends were prompt in commenting on my earlier blog and had opined that we should have stayed at the very special room and had relived our honeymoon! While an interesting proposition, I am very sure that with the way the day went, the bath tub would have remained bone dry!)
Monday, February 16, 2009
Forced to go on a Honeymoon to Luang Prabang!
People who know us will understand! We have not gone on a holiday trip by ourselves in years!
Tara had first planned to go to Bangalore during the week long break at school, then she dropped the idea! We thought we should make good use of the break with a trip to Luang Prabhang. This trip has been on the anvil since last year. In fact, Rama and Prasad tired of waiting for us made the trip on their own last year and said they had a good time!
Tara made umpteen phone calls to see if she could tempt others to join us! While many were keen, they finally did not join for one reason or the other. This meant a delay in booking a hotel and some of the recommended hotels were full by the time I spoke to them.
It seemed that we were destined to go on a honeymoon! Imagine this, the first hotel that said they had vacant rooms offered us this room (See below)!
"Water lily rooms: Lotus Villa's largest rooms at a minimum of 24 square meters; feature the decadence of an open style bath in the bedroom, as well as a separate shower, air conditioning and fan, and wi fi access. Waterlily rooms are large enough to accommodate a third person on request.
We immediately had a palaver with our extended family about this room. As you can guess, no one really gave us a sensible advice. They were either aghast at such an arrangement, Gayathri said it was reminiscent of the decadent Louis the XIV days, while Madhu and Sethu were just making inane jokes. Only Aditi made a sensible suggestion! She said 'Aunty can probably hang a towel from somewhere to cover the view of the bathtub'.
I also voiced my concern: 'I may be in trouble in case we have an argument, I would probably be asked to sleep in the bath tub!' Luckily for me Rama and Prasad came to my rescue by giving us the name of the guest house they had stayed at. They said it should work even if the plumbing needed some work! (It still needed work!)
I was very happy to book a room at this guest house and when we reached the guest house we paid up after a cursory inspection of the room. Triple occupancy seems to be the rule in this town as the bed room had a double and a single bed in it. Anyway it was way better than getting sent off to a bathtub to sleep!
Later while we were getting ready to go out for lunch, we had reached around afternoon, I saw this notice stuck prominently on a wall of the room. It was an "Accommodation Regulation" created by the Police department, Luang Prabhang Provincial, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Peace Independent Democracy Prosperity.
(I am totally in love with this publication and will try to quote as much as I can from it. It is authentic as it has a chop of the director of the police department)
"Accommodating in hotels, guesthouses and resorts for domestic and international tourists is to make sure that safety and security procedures in place to response in emergency cases for both domestic and international tourists who have accommodated and promote the Lao PDR tourism policy.
The Tourism police office has issued accommodation regulation for tourists and accommodation provider to implement and follow as below:
1. Tourists have to your own accommodation at 2400 hrs (mid night).
( I had no issues with this mid night curfew, as I am the 'early to bed' type of fellow! You can see me nodding at 2200 hrs!)
2.( Says show passport!)
3. Every time, when you are check in hotels, guesthouses and resorts you must register your belonging. If there are value things you have to give to receptionist to look after for you and both party have to sign for acknowledgement. If not, in case something lost it will be your own responsible.
4. (Something about ammunition's!)
5. Do not any drugs, crambling or bring both women and men which is not your own husband or wife into the room for making love.
6. Do not allow domestic or international tourist bring prostitute and others into your accommodation to make sex movies in our room, it is a restriction.
(and so on)
11. If you do not follow this accommodation regulation, you will be fight based on Lao PDR law.
12. This regulation take effect with official signature and stamp."
The regulation no. 5 had me worried. It is still very fresh in my memory that Thailand consulate in Vancouver could not issue me a dependent visa. One of the reasons was that I did not produce a marriage certificate with my application. My pointing out to them that both our passports mentioned us as husband and wife did not work.
Here again we were in a predicament as we had not carried our marriage certificate with us. I was considering sleeping on the other bed, just in case there was a raid, but was fortunately vetoed!
I was also tremendously relieved that I did not carry a video camera. Luckily mine is an ancient model and I have stopped using it.
( By the way, I did take some pictures and I plan to write another blog highlighting some of the sight seeing trips we made and post a few pictures. Bye for now!)
Tara had first planned to go to Bangalore during the week long break at school, then she dropped the idea! We thought we should make good use of the break with a trip to Luang Prabhang. This trip has been on the anvil since last year. In fact, Rama and Prasad tired of waiting for us made the trip on their own last year and said they had a good time!
Tara made umpteen phone calls to see if she could tempt others to join us! While many were keen, they finally did not join for one reason or the other. This meant a delay in booking a hotel and some of the recommended hotels were full by the time I spoke to them.
It seemed that we were destined to go on a honeymoon! Imagine this, the first hotel that said they had vacant rooms offered us this room (See below)!
"Water lily rooms: Lotus Villa's largest rooms at a minimum of 24 square meters; feature the decadence of an open style bath in the bedroom, as well as a separate shower, air conditioning and fan, and wi fi access. Waterlily rooms are large enough to accommodate a third person on request.
We immediately had a palaver with our extended family about this room. As you can guess, no one really gave us a sensible advice. They were either aghast at such an arrangement, Gayathri said it was reminiscent of the decadent Louis the XIV days, while Madhu and Sethu were just making inane jokes. Only Aditi made a sensible suggestion! She said 'Aunty can probably hang a towel from somewhere to cover the view of the bathtub'.
I also voiced my concern: 'I may be in trouble in case we have an argument, I would probably be asked to sleep in the bath tub!' Luckily for me Rama and Prasad came to my rescue by giving us the name of the guest house they had stayed at. They said it should work even if the plumbing needed some work! (It still needed work!)
I was very happy to book a room at this guest house and when we reached the guest house we paid up after a cursory inspection of the room. Triple occupancy seems to be the rule in this town as the bed room had a double and a single bed in it. Anyway it was way better than getting sent off to a bathtub to sleep!
Later while we were getting ready to go out for lunch, we had reached around afternoon, I saw this notice stuck prominently on a wall of the room. It was an "Accommodation Regulation" created by the Police department, Luang Prabhang Provincial, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Peace Independent Democracy Prosperity.
(I am totally in love with this publication and will try to quote as much as I can from it. It is authentic as it has a chop of the director of the police department)
"Accommodating in hotels, guesthouses and resorts for domestic and international tourists is to make sure that safety and security procedures in place to response in emergency cases for both domestic and international tourists who have accommodated and promote the Lao PDR tourism policy.
The Tourism police office has issued accommodation regulation for tourists and accommodation provider to implement and follow as below:
1. Tourists have to your own accommodation at 2400 hrs (mid night).
( I had no issues with this mid night curfew, as I am the 'early to bed' type of fellow! You can see me nodding at 2200 hrs!)
2.( Says show passport!)
3. Every time, when you are check in hotels, guesthouses and resorts you must register your belonging. If there are value things you have to give to receptionist to look after for you and both party have to sign for acknowledgement. If not, in case something lost it will be your own responsible.
4. (Something about ammunition's!)
5. Do not any drugs, crambling or bring both women and men which is not your own husband or wife into the room for making love.
6. Do not allow domestic or international tourist bring prostitute and others into your accommodation to make sex movies in our room, it is a restriction.
(and so on)
11. If you do not follow this accommodation regulation, you will be fight based on Lao PDR law.
12. This regulation take effect with official signature and stamp."
The regulation no. 5 had me worried. It is still very fresh in my memory that Thailand consulate in Vancouver could not issue me a dependent visa. One of the reasons was that I did not produce a marriage certificate with my application. My pointing out to them that both our passports mentioned us as husband and wife did not work.
Here again we were in a predicament as we had not carried our marriage certificate with us. I was considering sleeping on the other bed, just in case there was a raid, but was fortunately vetoed!
I was also tremendously relieved that I did not carry a video camera. Luckily mine is an ancient model and I have stopped using it.
( By the way, I did take some pictures and I plan to write another blog highlighting some of the sight seeing trips we made and post a few pictures. Bye for now!)
Thursday, January 15, 2009
A sequel -- Toto MY dog
While we were talking about Toto, Seema spoke about children who were disappointed that they missed his burial. They later went to the spot where he was buried and offered prayers and placed flowers on the mound.I had then suggested to Seema that it would be nice to collect thoughts from these children about Toto, including Shreya her daughter. Shreya was also very fond of Toto. Anyway here is one such story by Seema herself!
Hi
I suggested to Shreya that she write about Toto. But she has too much homework, so I will tell my story instead.
I saw this dog when we first moved into Rishi Court. Frankly my first reaction was "What a dirty dog!" When one day Toto and I came face to face finally, we just stood there and looked at each other. His look was like "is she going to acknowledge me?", and my look was like "are you kidding? no way am I going to touch you!" and I just walked past him. I used to ignore him after that first meeting.
Later on, I asked the security guard where he came from. He replied that it was a stray but as he gave him food everyday, he started coming inside Rishicourt to sleep. The guard added that he had named him Toto.
As I was going out one morning, I heard our japanese tenant call out to 'Toto' and saw that he came running to him. Then I saw his daughter giving Toto a big hug and that he was loving the attention. I just stood there stunned and feeling ashamed of my own reservations about him while the girl didn't care that he was dirty. She just hugged him tight and played with him. The next day I bought a dog collar and told my guard to put it on him.
So finally we became friends!! (But he refused to wear the collar). Over the years whenever I saw him, I would call and he would come running with his tail wagging away and I would sit with him and pet him.
The amazing thing about Toto was he never barked at any our tenants or their children. Even when new tenants moved in, somehow he knew they were here to stay and he would guard over all of us. There are many things that I remember and it would take too long to put into words, but one thing I can say is that he is not Toto the dog anymore but is "TOTO MY DOG" and he will always remain in my heart.
Seema
I had written about Rhea breaking into a smile as soon as she saw Toto. He was a tired looking dog who rarely looked up, but would look up at Rhea as soon as we neared him. Rhea saw him last on the evening before she left for Vancouver. Sadly Toto died two days later.
It appears one of the tenants came down with some chicken for Toto on that day and was shocked to learn of his death. There is also a story of his being run over by a car and being taken to the vet just in time to be saved! So it seems our friend did live a charmed life and was loved by many.
The story of Rhea's freind "Toto the dog" thus continues. Earlier stories!http://nidhiramblers.blogspot.com/2009/01/in-memory-of-rheas-friend-toto-dog.html
http://nidhiramblers.blogspot.com/2008/12/something-to-bring-cheer.html
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