The ancient city of Ayuthaya

Some 80 odd kms from Bangkok, is the ancient Siamese kingdom of Ayuthaya. It makes a good day trip to bask in the ruins of Ayuthaya to take a break from the party zone of Bangkok. The name of the city indicates the influence of Hinduism; the name of the city Ayuthaya means Invincible City; taken after Ayodhya. Founded in 1350, it became the second capital of Siam after Sukothai.

By 1700, Ayuthaya had become the largest city in the world with a population of 1 million, having trade contacts with countries all around the world. Dutch and French maps show the richness of the city with grand complexes, gold-laden temples, all this reduced to ruins when Burmese invaded Ayuthaya and burned down the city. All that remains today are the ruins that gives an idea of how grand the city must have been in its heydays.

One morning, we decided to take a day trip to Ayuthaya. The previous night, we paid for the trip and got ready early and waited at the entrance of the hotel for a mini van to pick us up. One system that stumped me was how efficient these pick up and drops were. This is how it works in Thailand. You call up an agency or walk to their shop and agree on a tour plan. 

They promise to pick you up at the hotel at designated time. The mini van arrives on time to your hotel for the pick up. No phone confirmation, no hassles of any kind. Once you reach your destination which can be a park or a theatre or a cruise, you don't even come to know where these mini vans go. Then when you are done with the program, the driver comes looking for you, recognizes you amongst the crowd and takes you to your van among 100s of other vans and dropped off at the hotel. Again no talks, no phones, no hassles. The drivers are so efficient. They don't expect tips, they don't talk to you; language barrier. But everything works so fine. 

Anyway, after about 2 hours or so, we reached Ayuthaya with 10 other tourists. A guide was arranged for the day; who spoke English. He swiftly swung into action taking us from one place to another, explaining the history of the city, the kingdom, the temples and the ruins. Around 2 PM, the tour ended, we were treated to a scrumptious Thai meal. Post meal, we drove back to Bangkok to be dropped off at the hotel at 5 PM. 

Ayuthaya was our first glimpse of historical Thailand and first genuine Thai experience. Though it is so near to Bangkok, many folks are not aware of this city. Even if they are, they simple choose to skip it in favor of crowded and over rated Pattaya. I was glad I chose Ayuthaya over Pattaya. 

Here are few pics. 

The chedis at Wat Yai Chai Mongkol

Reclining Buddha - Wihan Phraphutthasaiyat

Devotees stick gold leaves  on images of Buddha during worshi

Rows of Buddha in mediation gives a calm and serene atmosphere

Wat Phra Mahathat - a shooting going around

The iconic image of Buddha head being outgrown by roots of Fig tree

The chedis in ruins at Wat Mahathat; the temple belongs to 13th century and whats left to see are the ruins.

Phra Bhuddhasaiyart at Wat Lokayasutharam - 37 mts long and 8 mts high. The waters of 2011 flood had covered half the statue is what the guide said. 

Wat Phukhao Thong - Monastery of Golden Mount of 13th century; built to commemorate the victory of King Naresuan over the Burmese. The base is Burmese style, the higher parts in Ayuthaya style. The ascent to the top was tiring but the view was spectacular.

A monk trying to meditate.

Wat Phra Sri Sanpet - largest temple with restored chedis - Wihan Phra Trilokkanat. It was built in 1448 on a site which had served as royal palace.

Wat Phra Sri Sanpet ruins

Large bronze image of Buddha at Wat Phra Mongkhon Bophit. The image is said to be constructed around 1538. By now, I was tired hopping from temples to temples to find larger Buddha than the previous ones. Though each image has an historical importance, it didn't seem any different than the others to a naked eye.

Kids selling locusts, grasshoppers made of palm leaves. 

Trapped in Terror

Gaddafi seems to be hiding underground fearing NATO air strikes against him. For someone who has amassed $120 billion of assets for him and his family, its not tough to build an underground bunker and have his own loyalists for cover.

He remains carefree, playing chess in an undisclosed location. The NATO coalition seem to be losing its momentum. To the rebels and the NATO coalition, Gaddafi's dictatorship is in decline, but for Gaddafi, it seems the coalition isnt going to be any game changer. The NATO allies have been calling other countries to join strike missions. They are close to military exhaustion; with costs running up to $1 billion by the end of this year.

He appears to be hiding in hospitals to avoid NATO air strikes and seems to be under pressure. He appears to be paranoid, believing in his own idea of dying a martyr than surrender. His military forces has not crumbled as quickly as the strategists had expected under NATO's superior military power. However, NATO strikes have crippled his power this deepening his anxiety.

But amidst all this, what is it for the citizens ravaged and torn?

NATO and its allies believe they are the moral authority to save the world and thus they can inflict their judgement on others and thereby police the world. They believe that the people would be grateful for liberating them from the clutches of a monster. Are we seeing another Taliban in the making here? The civilians need protection from the so called military strikes from NATO and pro-Gaddafi group. Does a no-fly zone help the civilians? So many of them are dead through the bombings on universities and hospitals. Many are injured, maimed for their life.What are NATO's ambitions? Clean sweep Gaddafi and liberate Libya - would people feel liberated at all? How can civilians be saved with bombs?

Its insanity in Libya - what is right, what is wrong? Millions displaced, broken societies, corruption, deaths, degraded infrastructure. Do we see an Iraq and Afghanistan in the making?

Athithi Devo Bhava!

I wanted to write a post on guests who visit home without prior intimation. I was thinking about an apt title and got 'inspired' by our Incredible India! campaign; now that Aamir Khan too endorses it. Hence the title.....

Last week sometime, I went home a bit early from work and slept away. I slept like a dead wood. And out of the blue, I sensed as if someone was knocking my head off with a club....Bang...Bang...Bang.....And soon, it was a loud unpleasant music...."Ting Tong..Please open the door". Trust me, I don't like that lady's voice. She is monotonous, the same voice modulation all the time. She was screaming now, literally pulling me out of the bed, towards her; as if I want to hug her! Oh! I am talking about the door bell.

I forced myself out of the bed. Luckily, I wore "acceptable" attire, unlike most times. I struggle my way to the door and opened it. My relatives and my nieces - 6 altogether. They were all smiles that they managed to give me a surprise. Yeah surprised I was! I welcomed them inside while my head was being nailed from all sides. I could visualize scary looking witches nailing my head. I asked them to make themselves comfortable while going into the kitchen to retrieve water for them to drink. As I wobbled, I hit my toe to the adjacent wall of the kitchen....

aaaaawwwwwwwwwwwww aaaahhhhhhh......................I rubbed my eyes...my mistake. I should have splashed some water on my face so that I could well be active; now that my sweet nieces have come. As I rubbed my eyes, I went to the washroom and splashed some water over my face, wiped it off, yet my eyes wouldn't budge. I forced myself and got back to kitchen and served water to my guests. I open the refrigerator door and oops!!.....no milk.

Well....things are going from bad to worse. I run to the neighborhood shop to get a packet of milk. And yes, the witches were still nailing my head. While a couple of naughty goblins playing violin....Awwwwww...my head was spinning.

I got back, prepared coffee for my guests while I burnt my palm as I was still trying to come out of my sleepiness. I was not able to talk to them with much attention. I could not play with my nieces. The moment was not a pleasant one, it was not that I was not happy seeing these folks, it was just that the moment was wrong.

I can tolerate anything but not being interrupted while I sleep!! I sensed they started feeling uncomfortable. But I could not help. My body gave away and I wanted to be left alone!!

What happened to "Athithi Devo Bhava". We have been imbibed with values deeply rooted in our Indian culture to treat guests like GOD. Am I treating my guests as GOD? My inquisitiveness made me think otherwise.

Does ATHITHI mean "guests"? Or is it A-THITHI? Someone who drops in without a THITHI?

If so, am I not supposed to treat them well and make them happy? Make them feel at home?

At that moment, only one question crossed my mind -

WHAT IF NO ONE WERE AT HOME?

In West, guests arrive by prior intimation. People visiting notify well ahead about the time of visit and such details so that hosts can plan and be prepared. This also means hosts get time to choose what outfit to wear, what food and drinks to serve, entertainment options etc. When everything is planned, the hosts are happy and the guests find the experience fulfilling.

Oh, but wait, isn't this sort of orchestrated?

But here I was, sleepy headed, no proper outfit and I was doing my best to entertain them while I was getting my very own piece of entertainment. (Remember the the witches were still nailing my head. While a couple of naughty goblins playing violin)

But again, the same question....What if no one were at home?

The guests would have come all the way with their kids and others with a genuine idea of surprising the hosts, but would instead return back as the hosts were not at home. Or now that someone was at home but was sleepy or sick, they didn't get the expected treatment. Would they complain and take offense? Would they bad mouth about me and accuse me of showing disinterest?

I am confused. But whatever, I lost sleep and it took me considerable time to drive away those witches and goblins!!!

Slumdog Millionaire everywhere and the Great Indian Tamasha!

Tuesday's Times of India was splashed with Oscar brags - Slumdog Millionaire. about 9 pages dedicated to it directly and indirectly. The articles ranged from Pookutty's hometown hoopla, the voice behind "Jai Ho" to who recommended the phrase "Jai Ho!". And yes, not to forget the sad state of affairs of those two poor kids still living in the slums; and the girl's biological mother trying to get custodial rights now that the girl has become a famous person overnight.

Log onto cyber space and there you see the whole nation feeling patriotic about this thing. Read the congratulatory messages; one could sense RELIGION, LANGUAGE bias and patriotism in the posts; each section trying to claim Rahman as their own!!!!

One cannot imagine the hype and hoopla created around it. Chuck the paper, tune in to a TV channel; and there you see the repeated footings played over again and again and again......And I don't get get what the reason Mr Anil Kapoor was exuberant for when he shouted ...India is great, Bollywood is great. Why at all did Bollywood come into picture here? When the other actor mentioned, "We have shown the world what we are in software, service, nuclear energy..and now with movies".....What were they thinking?

And the fact that it was not even an Indian movie! And why are we euphoric about it? AR Rahman has created far more better pieces than "Jai Ho". It has got to do with our mental inability to shun away the thought that acknowledgement from the west is final and God-sent judgement.
That is not the end of the world.

Why do we take credit for others? Was it not embarrassing for the whole of India when Bobby Jindal - the Louisiana Governor openly declared that he was not an Indian but a staunch American! Yet, we never seem to learn a lesson out of it.

The movie is not a success in India? Why? The reason is simple. The whole idea of Indian poverty, the way of life is filmed to showcase it to the West who have never seen it. But with people who walk by the slums day in and day out, accustomed to the way of life, does it matter? Yes, there are poor in India, living wretched life; but that is not all India. It could happen anywhere....Are there no slums in Brazil? in Peru? Are people not struggling in Russia? Are people not living a life of poverty in Sudan, in Zimbabwe..? But at the end of it all, its about the never-say-die spirit that triumphs.

But the ultimate Tamasha was when the UPA government claimed Slumdog's success as its own. A Congress leader claimed that the success of this movie was due to UPA's governance; when quizzed, another leader said that this person was referring to the protagonist in the movie going from rags to riches. The party further stated that the movie was a testimony to “conducive atmosphere created by the UPA government” for the “young achieving India.”

It seemed the UPA government has made "some" contributions whether it were 123 nuclear agreement, Chandrayans success, first Olympic gold, second largest growing economy.....phew!

The positive side...it seems the movie has boosted Mumbai's slum tourism. Foreign tourists are curious about the slum, they want to visit it. One of the tourist was surprised that there was so many positive things happening in the slum; the industries; which was not reflected in the movie; expect for the poverty.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/slumdog-millionaire-boosts-mumbais-slum-tourism/84023-3.html

Well, its time for the India's tourism department to review its advertising campaign. It has been promoting the hills of Chattisgarh , medieval architecture of Delhi and the Western Ghats, the Himalayas, the blue waters of Goa...the deserts of Rajasthan as Incredible India....whereas the hottest destination seems to be Mumbai slums.

Incredible! India