Summer of 2008

It has been more than a month since I came back from my summer internship, and life has returned to its usual hectic self. When I was in first year, I was shown this beautiful picture of totally-jobless-enjoying-the-best-of-life tuchchadom (second year), which most of us were so eagerly looking forward to. But with a few small tweaks in the academic programme, the IIM A powers to be have managed to make me wish I was back in first year! It not that things are as bad as first year, but the expectations from tuchchadom were so high that this is a big let-down. I guess my ranting will never end.

During one of the extremely dull discussions that were happening in the class sometime last week, my mind wandered to those wonderful days I spent in Thailand. Here are some things I was reminiscing about my “Summer of 2008”:

1) Food: As I had already mentioned in my earlier post, Bangkok has no dearth of places dishing out delicacies. And with vegetarian food being available only at a premium, I indulged myself in some of the best Thai cuisine had to offer. The office junta was more than willing to chip in with recommendations, and soon the list of things I digested included the likes I dare not mention here, lest mom comes across it and freaks out. Fruit bhajjis (Banana, sweet potato and pumpkin) were just one of the many weird tastes I came across. One thing I dared not try, look below.

2) Activities: Ocean floor walking near an island off Pattaya was one of the most memorable experiences (Imagine hundreds of varied coloured fishes eating out of your hand while you walk 40ft under water). Parasailing, snorkelling and sea canoeing also deserve a mention. And of course, I got myself a few sessions of the world famous Thai massage: D. They come cheap and they really rejuvenate you for the week ahead after the weekend travel.

3) Modes of transport: Bus, cabs, tuk tuks, sky train, subway, motor bike taxis, ferry, water skis, canoes, speed boats, golf carts, pick up vans – each one serves a purpose of its own, and is an experience in itself.

4) Ice ice baby: Go to a restaurant, and the first thing they serve on your table is a glass full of crushed/cubes of ice. You can then pour in water or coke in it, and sip it with a straw. Standard practice every time you eat out, no drink is cold enough once I came back. And I almost forgot how to drink stuff without straw, even milk! The omnipresent air-conditioning makes you feel Thailand was once near the poles, and recently drifted across the Indian Ocean and hit Burma.

5) Thai language has a nice musical connotation to it, and coupled with their extremely pleasant demeanour, you constantly feel you are a part of a musical. The sweet sound of “sawatdee kha” greets you in every restaurant, shop and hotels.

6) The Bangkok sky train is equipped with television screens inside, which serve the purpose of both informing the entertaining. And believe me, even you don’t understand a single word in Thai, they can really keep you entertained during your journey. The ridiculously stupid ads (where one doesn’t even understand what the product is) ensures you begin every day on a cheerful note J.

The trip was not all hunky dory. There were occasions I wondered, “Why the hell am I here?!”. Here are a few things I DO NOT look back at fondly:

1) Ladyboys! (Am not going to write more on it, kindly refer to wiki)

2) The where-the-hell-are-all-the-vegetables phase, that one is subjected to when the only form of potato you consume are McD’s French fries and the only other vegetables known to mankind are tomato and basil.

3) Durian! The most disgusting taste known to mankind, it’s a total disgrace to the fruit family. The horrible taste lingered in my mouth for more than two days, and I took considerable amount of mint and Colgate mouthwash to get rid of it.

4) Absolutely no cricket for two months – this was the longest I had gone without any contact with the sport. Cricinfo was my bread and butter, but there is only so much you can read. And on top of everything, I missed the whole of IPL extravaganza. L

5) All live sporting events had commentary in Thai, and only repeat telecasts provide some relief. Half the fun in watching formula 1 lies in the amazing commentary by Steve Slater, and the boring Thai commentary made me realise watching a formula 1 race can be really boring at times.

P.S.: Most of this was composed long ago on my return trip to India waiting at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport, Bangkok sipping a ridiculously overpriced cold coffee (Dark Chocolate Macchiato) while waiting for my flight announcement. The fact the it took me so long to post it just goes to show my rants are not unreasonable.

The tale of 3 Holis and 3 New Years

Yes its a real tiger. And yes thats me. But lets get back to it later.

It has been about a month since I reached Bangkok, and I have already had 5 days of holidays, apart from the weekends. Thailand celebrates lots of festivals just like India, and whats even better is that they have a concept of compensation holiday. If a festival/holiday happends to fall on a Saturday or a Sunday, the subsequent Monday is a holiday. How wonderful! In short, I have had a lot of free time, and there is no dearth of options. Thailand is an exotic tourist destination and is wildly popular among world's travelers. And for good reason too, as I continue to find out.

I celebrated New year with the rest of the world on 1st of Jan ( New Year # 1) this year, nothing special about it. Then came the Holi at IIM A(Holi #1). Holi in any college is always fun, and this place was no different. Dripping colours, over-head sprinklers, tanks full of coloured water, keechad, gujiya, torn clothes hanging on tree tops, music and rain dance - how can it not be fun when 200 people come together for a celebration. I went home after completion of my first year, since I had 3 days gap before I had to reach Bangkok. Now 6th April is a Thai national holiday (some Chakri Day), so I was duly informed that 7th will be a holiday, and I got to spend one more day home. 7th April also happened to be Ugadi, the Telugu New Year (New Year #2), and so I got to enjoy yet another of mom's delicious festival special meals.

I reach Bangkok, 4 days in office and suddenly, we have 4 days of holidays. Thais celebrate "Songkran" during this time of the year, which is their biggest festival and it lasts for 4 days. The festival commemorates the ushering of a New Year (New Year #3), and the whole country brightens up during this time of the year. It also incorporates a Thai version of Holi, where people splash each other with water and apply chalk on each other. The only difference is they use only water, and chalk is only white. Kids, teenagers, adults all armed with latest water guns are found on the roads, ready to splash water on any by passer. And its all taken in the right spirit, as it is supposed to cool u down in the summer heat. One fine evening, we dumped all our mobiles and wallets in hotel room, took little money in a plastic bag and reached Silom area of Bangkok. What a sight! Close to 10000 people, mostly youngsters, gathered on one stretch of road splashing water and putting chalk on each other. Not an inch for the vehicles to move, with people crawling like ants in straight lines. It didnt take us 5 mins to get totally drenched (Holi #2), and we saw how a real community festival is celebrated. With two fire engines stationed on either end of the road with their hoses open to the full, it was an unforgettable day.

We went to Pattaya the following weekend, one of the most famous beach resorts of the world. On reaching there, we found out that there is a slight difference in the days when Songkran is celebrated in different provinces of Thailand. To our dismay, Pattaya was celebrating it that very weekend. Again, we ended up totally drenched (Holi #3). Thus, within the first 4 months of 2008, I have already celebrated 3 New Years and 3 Holis.

After having explored most of Bangkok, we started going to other places in the country. So last weekend, we decided to explore the Kanchanaburi Province. Their in lies the famous World War 2 site "The bridge over River Kwai", which also happens to be the backdrop for one of the best hollywood movies ever. This is how the bridge actually looks today.

While the story of the bridge itself is fascinating, the province makes for a wonderful tour. We later travelled on the Thailand-Burma railway line, considered the most dangerous railway line in the world (I know every place tends to exaggerate about itself), christened The Death Railway.

And that brings us to the story of sher khan above. The last stop of our trip was at the Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua, better known as the Tiger Temple. The uniqueness of this place is that it is a temple cum tiger sanctuary, where tigers are allowed to roam free. These tigers have been raised by the temple monks since the time they were cubs, and thus they are tame and more free around humans. For a small fee, they allow visitors like me to get close to these magnificent beasts. I wont lie, I had my heart in my mouth all the time, such was the enormous size of this animal. But as Gabbar said, Jo dar gaya, Samjho mar gaya.

I am still alive, and have this photo as a proof of my daredevilry.

Sa-wat Dee Bangkok

The much spoken about, much feared and much hated fachchadom (first year) at IIM A is finally over. Oh yeah, its definitely a moment to celebrate. No more surprise-quizzes-at-1430 hrs, no WAC-runs-at-1625 hrs, no 0845-classes and no more hearing "Muggo-fachcho-muggo" shouts. Though there wasn't enough time for champagne n stuff, but a birthday at home after almost 6 years did compensate for it. Happy birthday to me :)

Next up on the agenda, the summer internship. Way back in November and months leading to that were spent in the yearly ritual called the summer placements. Sitting through company ppts, preparing resumes, praying for Day-zero slots, multiple rounds of interviews - I finally ended up with an internship offer at ING Asia Pacific. I got what I was looking for - Day-zero finance company with foreign location. Can't complain. Subsequently I came to know that I will be working with ING Life Thailand in Bangkok. Like father like son, insurance beckoned me. So I spent the better part of my birthday and Ugadi shopping and packing for my trip to Bangkok.

I landed in Bangkok 5 am in the morning, and there was the ING driver waiting holding a placard that read - "Vamsee Krishna - IIM Ahmedabad". I always used to wonder when someone would do that for me. They had a nice service apartment waiting for me. Saurabh had already arrived the day before, and he was put up in the adjacent apartment. I dumped my bag, changed and off I was for my first day in the corporate world outside India. Lots more on that later.

This being the first time I crossed any of the seven seas, I did expect to see a lot of different things. Had it been the US or UK, things would have been different since the sitcoms and Hollywood movies give one an idea of what to expect. But Bangkok was unchartered territory, we being the first interns ever from IIM A here. Its been almost one week, and some things I have observed about this place.

1. People here are shockingly polite. Am yet to see a heated conversation anywhere in the office or the road. One is always welcomed with smiles everywhere.

2. Traffic is excruciatingly devoid of horns. Drivers have a lot of patience, and I doubt if any of the Toyotas (they are the only cars one would see here) here even have a horn built in.

3. They consider themselves a traditional society, and it shows in the way they interact. People have immense respect for other. They greet each other with the traditional Wai, which is exactly like our Namaste, even in the corporate world. And everyone transaction has to end with a “thank you”. They are also very religious, with beautiful temples in front of almost each and every building.

4. Ironically though, the Thai dress very modern. Specially the female. “Aggressive” is the word one used to describe their dressing sense. They do it pretty smartly though. No wonder fashion brands and cosmetic industry are flourishing here.

5. Thai people eat out A LOT. You find food stalls absolutely everywhere…shopping malls have food sections (that’s plural) on every floor, plus a wholly dedicated floor only for food; the side-walks are full of food vendors selling all sorts of things imaginable. Believe me, within 5 min walking radius of my office, there are more than 150 places where you can eat. And I am not exaggerating.

6. Strikingly though, Thai people are very fit. The average weight of a Thai would be a good 15 kgs less than that of an Indian, if not more. I wonder how.

7. A surprising low number of people are well conversant with English. Communication can be a major struggle, sometimes even inside office. Poor Saurabh has already resorted to dumb charades. It took him a good bit of 20 min to explain the receptionist that the bathtub-plug in his room was missing.

8. Bangkok is a beautiful city, and extremely clean. Case in point, I polished my shoes the first day to office, and till date I haven’t even had to brush it again.

The next two months are going to be really interesting. Meanwhile, am just glad that won the third test match against South Africa. Dada rocks :D