Missing Malaysia

Digging through the pictures from my past life, this photo stood out as a classic reminder of the good times I had in Malaysia, the numerous trips down to the Twin Tower area, multiple customer offices and our own office on the 55th Floor. Malaysia is not just vibrant, but also has a distinct level of energy associated with it.

I sure will miss my frequent trips to KL, operating there and working there. All in the game!

Nodding Donkey

If anyone were to ask what the next big thing in life was, I would say Brunei. That’s the next challenge, and I hope that the competition isn’t reading this. A trip to this Sultanate was quite an experience. And the more I hear from colleagues who have operated in this market before, the more interesting it becomes.

About Brunei – not many of my friends knew where it was and what was it known for. It’s a sultanate with a very rich and old history, dating back to many centuries. The kingdom is ruled by the same dynasty since fifteenth century and to me looks like a good example of how a non-elected form of governance can still do good and in fact better than a democracy. Plus, if you have gas at only 50cents per liter, I will never complain for sure.

Anyway, I started off with my trip to Brunei and ended up talking politics. It was quite a feeling to stay up on the highest floor of the tallest building in this town of Seria in Brunei. You could see the offshore oil-plaforms from the balcony of the room. That was quite an experience. By the way, I only stayed on the seventh floor! And I finally got to see a real nodding donkey (other than the human version;-) ) in life.

(Nodding Donkey - Courtesy Wikepedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumpjack)

A Bridge to Oblivion

A department retreat to Langkawi in Malaysia – a perfect way to ease out of the Singapore life and get back connected to your self – it’s a place where one sees the elements of nature at their pristine best. I was obviously lucky to get two trips to this place – one to make arrangements for the trip, and the other when the whole party traveled together. And amazing it was both the times.

What struck me most was how blue the water was, how azure the skies were, how inspiring the cool breeze was, and above all how beautiful the song of the rain was! These are all strong experiences in life, and also the basic determinants to the quality of life one lives. I have always believed that experiences, however weird, should be strong, because one's life can not be enriched enough if he hasn’t tread the path of living through strong experiences, picking the good memories out of them and never forgetting the lessons from the bad experiences. That’s also perhaps the reason why I am in love with where I am and what I do. Asia offers, or at least has offered me some very strong experiences - diverse, weird, at times driving me crazy, but it is only these emotions – certain vibrations that stimulate the brain to release some chemicals which make us feel the way we do – which I now treasure the most among all the other things I have done living in Singapore for the last three years. It would be wrong to say that I could not have experienced these strong experiences had I lived elsewhere, but Singapore is very important in life because it is here that I actually learned to look at things the way I do today. Had I lived elsewhere, may be, I perhaps would never have developed this attitude towards the manifestations of the external world.

Anyway, other than the beauty of the Berjaya resort, I was also amazed by the cable car which goes from the sea level all the way to 700+ meters – more of a giant escalator than anything else. And underneath you can gaze at the virgin forests which have been left untouched for ages – that is what is nature in its purest form – not very common to find today, other than perhaps in Brunei where I went two weeks back, but that’s for a future update. Up at the highest point, there is a suspension bridge between two hills. Though I am a civil engineer, I never felt any bridge other than the Golden Gate to be fascinating. But this feeling was to change here – this bridge was no engineering marvel, but I somehow felt fathoming the philosophy of bridging, and how fundamental civil engineering was to the needs of mankind.

Standing at the bridge, I could see a lone ship in the distant horizon, almost still, as if it too were awed by the depth and immense of the ocean whose surface it was kissing. Then arose the wind from the ocean and as it gained height the water vapour condensed out, turning into mist and then clouds (Thanks to Prof. Lynn Hlidemann, and her Atmospheric Chemistry class at the university on these concepts). And then the it was clouds everywhere, if I ever got to the heaven, this is how it would feel, when you can not see the ground beneath your feet, but only feel puffs of cotton flowing through you and stirring up even your most dormant senses. It was poetic, it was beautiful, and it stayed this way for about twenty minutes. Then the sun came out and the dream was snapped, and I could see that ship again. I realize that this event, in a way, summed up the story of our lives – when we are young, we have a ship that we see on the horizon – this is the dream, the destiny, the personal legend that we want to walk towards and achieve. But as we grow older, the haze comes in and we, in some way or the other, tend to lose sight of what we sought when we started the journey. It happens to everyone, at least at certain moments of time, if not eternally. There tends to be a realization, somewhere deep within, that that ship was just a dream, a mirage that never existed, and we tend to get complacent with whatever we have achieved, and lead a “regular” life, until the sun comes out again and along with it sinks in the realization that had we persisted, just a bit, just one more time before giving it all up, we could still have seen the ship and worked towards getting on to it. But most of the times, the ship does not remain there any more. At the horizon, it doesn’t take much for the ship to tilt over to the other side of the earth, going under our line of sight. Standing on the bridge, when the clouds disappeared, I still got a glimpse of my ship, but in the real life…

(Pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/ashishmishi/LangkawiMalaysiaTripBerjayaBeachResort)

Bang Bang Bang...Bangkok

It's been more than two years since I left the shores of India on 27th May 2004. Since then, I have had to stay in these cities, for periods varying from 2 days to 3 months - San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, Dubuque, Taipei, Seoul and not to forget my second home Singapore. But, I had to travel to Bangkok – in the land of smiles, to have the experience of my lifetime. And amazing it was!

Well, I was to go to Bangkok to see someone, I mean to meet my distributor for two days. I left on a Saturday morning, thinking I could have the entire Saturday and Sunday to go around Bangkok. The deep Buddhist culture and ancient temples were of particular interest to me, though there is a lot more 'interesting' stuff you can do in Bangkok. Temples of Wat Po and Wat Arun were on my list. So, there I was standing in the long immigration queue at the Bangkok airport after a short flight from Singapore. Visiting new places has always been of interest to me and that's something I love about my job – visiting new people, new places, different culture and food, yet same business ethics.

Anyway, after spending a memorable time at Wat Po, when I took the cab to go to my hotel - the Royal River Hotel on the banks of the Bangkok River, I was robbed! The cab driver sped away with my bag inside the cab and my banging his car or chasing him in another cab were of no use. I had to pay 100Baht to the cab driver who took me on a 3minute chasing stint across the river and back!
After much deliberation and yelling my throat the hotel security I was directed to the Tourist Police Station in the city. Upon getting my complaint registered, the policeman put forth a plastic box on the table which read --"Your donations would help the tourists in need!". That was the craziest thing I had ever come across. I did not mince words with him and made some bold comments about this culture of theirs. He coldly replied that that's how things were and asked me to leave the spot immediately, adding that no further action would be taken on my complaint.

From a soldier to a martyr

The battle continued, the bullets rained,
We charged the enemy with the same.
The war was over; we looked for who fell,
Some were aggressors, some were our friends.
Our friends had given what they had to give,
Indeed, they died so that we may live.

These are borrowed lines I read many years ago, sometime during the Kargil invasion in the year 1999. For one, it shows the sacrifice which the bold, young men make for the country in the face of any threat to the country. They give their lives, making the biggest sacrifice, in line with their duty. I remember reading about the Indian Express donating money to construct a war memorial in Chandigarh. It was inaugurated by our President last week. The memorial has the names of the martyrs written in golden words, and there is still unfilled space for the future brave men who would stand the line of fire, putting country before their own lives. India has the bravest army. Yes. But it is not easy for the near and dear ones of these men, spending the rest of their lives warming their hearts with their son’s, husband’s or brother’s courage. One has to know what is it to lose any member of the family in war, just to feel the pinch of it. The Government pins medals on the chests of those who survive and for others who didn’t live to bask in the glory of their courage, it’s their wives who do the formalities. And what happens next? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The cover-stories on war heroes give way to the political debacles and we are back to our business – our office, our work, our career, our family, our friends, and everything that to do with ‘us’.

Searching for her husband’s name on the glory list of martyrs, the wife of one of the soldiers said – “haan, wo hain” (yes, he’s there). That’s her only consolation. And there are many more, who don’t make it to the glory list, don’t get award the Param Veer Chakras….and there are some who don’t even live to see live missiles chasing their planes – for they die in the MiG crashes. Even death does not come in the glory of the battlefield for many.

Office of Profit

India is a complex country, not just in terms of being a melting pot of ordinary people of different cultures and languages, but also in terms of the different type of people who run the show. The latter are usually referred to as the politicians. They are a diverse lot – someone is conferred a doctorate from Oxford and Harvard, while others have earned PhD’s from Tihar jail - criminal backgrounds, mafia connections, impending corruption cases, all add weight to their CV’s. Yes, they are a diverse lot, but one issue saw them stand united – the office of Profit Bill. I can’t recollect the last time I saw Lok Sabha pass a bill with this acuity and speed. They passed the bill within 7 hours of debate – on a score of 230-for and 71-againsts. Impeccable! What is this about? What can it do to the country, if implemented? – Well parliamentarians are not supposed to hold office-of-profit, and only a few offices are exempted. This is a quote from the Indian Express -

Article 102(1)(a) of the Constitution says that a person shall be
disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a Member of either House of
Parliament:
• If he holds any office of profit under the Govt (Centre or
state) other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its
holder.
• An office of profit need not necessarily confer pecuniary benefit;
it is sufficient if it bestows administrative and executive powers.

The Election Commission listing the list of defaulters -including Sonia Gandhi and Somnath Chatterjee – and nearly 56 Members of Parliament in total has prompted the government to swiftly change the law. The government brought in a bill in the previous session, exempting “selective” positions from Office of Profit – intended to shield its MP’s from the Left front, and remain in power with their support. There is no reasoning from government to support this list of selective offices in selective states. Anyway, everybody knows this.

What has added steam to the debate is the President rejecting the bill and suggesting changes, and the parliament again passing the bill in its unchanged form to the President.
So, what can the President do now? A billion dollar question! Well, he has to sign it, no other go – that’s what the constitution says. But then in this tussle between the Executive and the Legislature, how can the latter have the upper hand. If Kalam doesn’t have any other option, he should leave the office of President of India with grace and dignity that he as stood by in the last 75 years. I can never forget my undergraduate days when he was teaching and living in our university campus. Every day he would go for morning walk and he would acknowledge my “good morning” in the traditional muslim way, waving his hand in front of his face. Never before had my greeting ever been recognized this way. And these “goodmornings” happened pretty regularly between us.

I can never forget the day he first came to Anna University and spoke to a packed house at Vivek Auditorium – the doors closed to keep the media out. I sat in one of the first few rows – mesmerized and captivated–by this simple man, of inexplicable aura. I have seen God in him and can revere him more. Just hope that he doesn’t succumb to the political pressure and lose his credibility, like Dr Singh has been of late.

As I am going to upload this bit, comes in the news that Kalam has signed the bill. I am pained, say no more.

Kimchee-ed in Korea

Date :15th May 2006
Place: Seoul City

Ashi, would you like to have a live octopus for dinner tonight? I think you should try it.
A live what?
Octopus. Or you can try a raw fish. We know you can not take beef and pork.
Urr…ummm…uhh……well Mr. Hong, I would…I would like to excuse myself, I don’t think I can take anything live. Isn’t the octopus gonna be running all over the plate?
No, we will help you. Would you like to try. You are a young man, I think you should try.
Well…lets keep that for my next visit, I’ll take anything light, you guys can go ahead, I don’t mind giving you company.

Something moved in my stomach when I heard about the live octopus. Instead of running down the spine, it was the stomach the chill ran down to. It was not easy to imagine eating something that’s live. Probably such delicacies are available in Singapore as well, but I had never got so close to eating anything raw before.

I had travelled to the Daejon province in the morning and we stopped by a vegetarian restaurant for lunch. It was a buffet and I was told that there are more than 100 different food items were available. Though I don’t know to describe what I ate, it truly was a heavenly experience. I had one more strong reason to be deeply impressed by the Korean lifestyle and culture. I immediately thought about how USA is finding ways to fight child obesity and here was what the oriental culture was to offer – a healthy lifestyle with such a food. Aping the west isn’t always a sign of progress, is it? Anyway, the dinner was going to be an experience of a life time. I had once had a raw salmon in a Sushi restaurant. I was told that it was cucumber and only after eating did I realise that I had eaten a piece of raw Salmon. Anyway, that was in Denver 2 years back. I knew I wasn’t gonna eat one tonight. We stopped by a restaurant buzzing with a lot of life ( It doesn’t get this lively in Singapore, dunno why!). The menu was in Korean, and I was clueless to what was coming. We were about eight of us, and only three others spoke English. Slowly the food started to arrive, it was a salad first and then many other dishes which I don’t quite know to describe. I was guided through the items and my chop-sticks picked only the vegetarian stuff. The food was delicious, no doubt, and I was enjoying every bit of my time. Slowly I took a few pieces of fish – many varitiey placed over shiny silvery noodle-like sea weed. It was tasty, to say the least.
Then arrived some chicken nuggets from a different restaurant, especially ordered for me, just in case I found it difficult to eat the traditional stuff.
....anyway, i gave up trying non-veg after this trip, esp after Taiwan...this post ends quite abruptly, cos i dont have time to recollect what else happened, this bit above was written on my flight back home to Singapore. Sorry if you feel you wasted ur time...