collecting memories --the Lions club health check camp.

It is time I wrote about the real purpose of my trip to Supahnburi. It was to volunteer at the health check camp that the Lions club have been arranging for many years. While it is hard work, the organisers with years of experience have fine tuned the system and the camp runs like a well oiled machine. The camp handles between 3000 to 4000 patients during the day. Actually, the process of organising starts three months prior to the camp and continues for another three months until all the patients in need of medical care are treated. It surely is not a day's work!

While we went sightseeing, the organisers were busy setting up the facilities at the school where the camp was to be held the next day. I learnt from Rikhi later that things went well except that they had to cut down some branches of the trees at the school to enable the tall tourist buses to pass.

I had attended the last year's camp and had written a blog about it. I had no specific tasks to perform then except to take pictures. This year was different as I was assigned to take pictures of all the patients who were diagnosed with problems and needed further treatment.

I was also happy to contribute indirectly through my friend Balaji, Production Consultant of URC, manufacturers of the well known JACK'nJILL brand of Biscuits and sweets. The company donated many boxes of Biscuits to be distributed amongst the patients and volunteers at our request. A very generous gesture on the part of Kuhn Premchai, General Manager and the Marketing Manager Keerati.

I am happy that Balaji came to see the camp and mailed us his impressions.

' Dear Nidhi Sir, Rikhi : Thank you for inviting me to the " Free Medical Camp " last Sunday. This was one of my finest experiences of something of this "magnitude". I was touched by the gratitude shown by the Lion club members to all the Thousands for whom the camp was organized. A very Noble gesture indeed. Thank you Rikhi for being such a wonderful Host. I went back home with a lot of "learnings" from this huge event. Three cheers to THE LIONS CLUB OF ERAWAN. ... BALAJI'.

He also took some pictures for me and I am thankful for his comments and the pictures and thus making my job so much easier!

While it is a great team effort on the part of many, the Lions club members were nice to tell me that they appreciated the fact that Indians were participating. They also said they have great admiration for Rikhi, specially for his efforts in bringing Indians to the camp and also for collecting large sums of money from so many others. They said 'He has the Power'. I can only add: 'more power to him in his efforts to do good and also for creating a very good impression of the Indians living here among Thais'.

The reception!

Dental treatment.

Balaji with the organisers.

Rikhi distributing the Jack 'n Jill Biscuits

Nidhi with Rikhi and Balaji for a well earned veg lunch.

Nidhi at work.

Happy to pose for a picture.

Nidhi, though a senior in age, was actually a junior member of the team!

It was a delight to work with these ever smiling girls. I wish I could have taken a video to show how well the patients were managed and always with a genuine smile. They were quick to react to the needs of the patients with gentle humor and understanding while making sure that the weaker and older ones always had a chair to sit. In fact no patient had to stand and wait for too long. While very methodical, they were also having fun as they worked continuously till the end of the day. They would also joke with the patients, take pictures with some of the older and cuter ones.

It is not just the patients, they took good care of me as well, offering me a drink or a snack periodically. So did the organisers who were constantly taking rounds. It is no wonder I lost track of time on that day!

Truly, this trip was very rewarding for me and is one of the best memories of our stay in Bangkok.

collecting memories --Experiencing a Wat in Suphanburi!

We drove past some very green and fertile land on our way to Suphanburi , basically an exporter of rice. The province is said to have the best roads in Thailand. That is impressive considering that roads in Thailand are generally very good! Kuhn Banharn while he was PM had surely taken care of his constituency well.

We had lunch at a restaurant after visiting samchuck. I noticed a very typical 'Thai style' message on a hoarding advertising the place; 'calories blah blah!' Soon after lunch we checked in at Khum Suphan hotel and after a brief rest we were on our way to see Wat Pa Lelai.

I was lucky to have Jimmy again as my guide. I learnt that the Buddha Idol at the wat is quite old and is 23 metres high; was initially installed in the open and the building came later. Wats in Thailand are different from our South Indian temples. This trip was timely as I was able to take some digital pictures of a typical wat.

Wat Pa Lei is a unique mixture of Thai, Indian and Chinese cultures. While there is no gopuram, we enter a covered quadrangle catering to all the activities considered essential by a devotee. While there are no shops selling coconuts, betel leaves, camphor and various colors of kumkum (Sanskrit कुङ्कुमम्), we do see an outlet where we can buy flowers, incense sticks, candles and something special to Thailand; Gold leaves which then are pasted on to the idols installed within the quadrangle. Devotees do have a routine which they perform, they light candles and incense, sound a huge bell hung in the area and drop coins in small containers as they go round the Buddha Idol and finally buy a Talisman. (Forgot taking these pictures, I suppose I have been here too long!)

While there are no Pujaris or archakas officiating, monks performing many duties are around. Some are busy selling ceramic tiles. Other monks sell 'lucky' talismans special to the place. We also hear a senior monk giving a discourse or a message for the day over the mike.

I am happy that we are left alone to pray the way we want or walk around. I had forgotten to take my cap off as I stepped into the main temple. Polite as ever no one asked me to take it off. There are no priests to invoke the gods on our behalf, it is entirely between you and the almighty.

In fact, WikiAnswers has answered the question I had about Buddhist worship: ‘Although it may look like it, Buddhists don't worship anything or anyone’… While I like this aspect of Buddhism requiring no worship, it appears to be too much of a direct responsibility for some. 'Some followers of Buddhism may worship The Buddha despite the fact that The Buddha denied that he was a god and said that he should NOT be worshipped......'

We hindus differ from the buddhists in that when we visit temples, we normally pay an officiating priest to perform an arhcana in our name, nakshatra and gothra in Sanskrit (some of them are very good and generate a very good feeling), do Aarthi, have Theertha and Prasadam. This is the minimum. We have many more rituals which could keep us, the priest and probably god busy throughout the day.

I often wonder about the need for all this. Even if one needs to pray, can it not be a direct one? Why do we feel the need for someone else to act on our behalf? I suppose it is just how we are made or brought up.

Gilding the Idols with very thin gold leaves.

Donating brown ceramic tiles for the upkeep of the wat. A smart way to maintain the roof of the wat. A devotee also signs on the tile he has paid for and thus creates a connection.

As we crossed over to the main wat. Jimmy explained to me the significance of the sculptures of a monkey and the elephant in front. He said 'The Buddha once retreated into the forest as he was tired of his junior monks having split ideas and was taken care of by a monkey and an elephant'.

A well preserved 800 year old Idol of The Buddha

This is a very important ritual in a wat. Devotees seeking answers, sit in front of the Idol holding a cup with numbered sticks in it and shake one of them out.

They then walk to the board to read what that number predicts. Hope the girl in the picture had a good prediction.

Later at an other shrine we saw this person lifting the brass elephant with his little finger. I learnt from Jimmy that a person would make a wish in front of the idol and if he was able to lift the elephant with his little finger, his wish would be fulfilled! (It is the ring finger for a woman). Jimmy asked me 'Do you want to try'! I said 'No thanks'! Like all humans I do have wishes to be fulfilled, but I am also a realist. Moreover, I was sure that I would not be able to lift the heavy metal elephant and be sorely disappointed.

The usual pavilions with murals around the wat.

This one depicts a story from a well known author from the province.

The Indian influence, I think it is Ram and Laxman depicted

A beautiful teak wood shrine on stilts

The huge vats to collect rain water, a very common in these areas

Also important are the blessings of a monk. The bucket is also a very common sight. They contain all the offerings a devotee makes to the monk


One more Indian motif around the wat complex.

Then we drove to another wat. A very colorful Thai Chinese temple.

The online guidebook says that 'The shrine houses statues of the god Vishnu carved out of green stone'. Indeed a very unique temple! Wish I had better picture!

Devotees intent on their prayers.

Bangkok post beat me to it or otherwise I would have published my blog about Dragon Museum earlier than the paper! You can read about the brand new monument in the article The elephant and the dragon.

Jimmy, Pinky and their two smart sons Anucha and Apichet in front of the dragon museum. A pity about the cars parked in front.

Yours truly. Missed Tara!

collecting memories --Talat Samchuk

You may wonder, what is so special about this place to merit a blog? In fact it is not even mentioned in the 1995 edition of Insight Guides I have on Thailand.

It is special for the reason that I joined Rikhi (Please read 'A story about dedication'.) to participate in the annual health checkup project organised by Lions club of Erawan. This year it was held in Kanchanaburi province on the 18th of Jan. We left for the camp a day earlier and en route to the site and we were taken to a few sightseeing spots, a normal practice of the Lions club, before we checked into a hotel.

We were a convoy of 5 Luxury buses and we stopped after about an hour's drive. As I got off from the bus, I was a little perplexed as I just saw some old buildings across a bridge.

(I did not notice the golden swans at first!)

Seema's brother Jimmy, who also participates regularly in the camp was with me. He knew about the place and gave me the story. It seems that the market was in the verge of being closed as it could not face the competition from the modern hypermarkets, but was saved. The residents formed a co-operative and offered to make it work as a market and a tourist attraction. I quote from an article, “Hundred-year-old Market” revived by villagers: With the villagers’ commendable efforts, a ‘living market and lively museum’ would not be an exaggerated description of Samchuk Market.

Anyway, I have been planning to blog and take pictures of a typical Thai market. Hence this trip was opportune. The story also tells us about the way Thais organise themselves to face problems. You can also see that they are proud of their heritage and are making sincere efforts to retain it and showcase it to others. It was indeed a pleasure to walk around the museum market and was ultimately worth a visit.

Talat in samchuk:
It is a 100 years old market and looks it. It is kept so intentionally.

Obviously the market has many interesting products to offer.

A few of the Lions club office bearers and organisers of the medical camp at the market.

But as Rikhi and I ambled along, we discovered that we were mostly walking in the lanes which specialize in Food.

It seems that the boy was selected for this stall as his face is as smooth as the egg he is selling!

I don't eat meat, but would feel pretty safe with this stall.

The bear is not a toy, it is edible!

I love the presentation skills of Thais

I was drooling when I saw all those colorful Khanoms. But resisted the temptation.



I am sure popcorn would have been delicious, but we passed!

A colorful shopkeeper or a visitor!

Thais as you can see have no hang ups!

In all an interesting visit!

collecting memories --new year's eve 2009

Arun(Sethi) put it nicely when he sent his greetings for the new year ' … and so after this great Farewell Winter that Bangkok has laid out specially for both of you… and knowing that you are carrying back many happy memories of this smiling city .....'.

Very true, we have begun to subconsciously list our wonderful memories now that we are moving back to India in about six months time! Our evening with Viji and Khalid, who hosted a party concluding the year 2008, is high up there in our thoughts. As we are generally not in Bangkok during the New Year eve period, makes it even more unforgettable. Khalid, ever observant, remarked 'Even Nidhi was having a good time!'

I am glad that it showed! We had at first declined the invitation with regret. Later Tara discovered that we could make it and re-invited ourselves. When I attend a dinner at Viji & Khalid's I love the fact that I know most of the invitees and this time it was perfect as I knew all of them.

It really was a family gathering. Equally wonderful was that many of them were there with their children. While I met some of them for the first time, I knew about them and it was a nice feeling to meet them in person. Attending now as young adults, it was heartwarming to see them relaxed and having fun. An evening when parents could justifiably feel proud of their children.

Added to it was that it was the first sit down dinner party for me this year! No juggling of wine glasses and plates while standing! Vivaldi, the Italian restaurant is very popular with Bangkokians and Khalid tells me that even his guests from New York were duly impressed with the place.

I was a little concerned about the etiquette part of the dinner and sure enough I used the side plate which was meant for the person on my right. Luckily it was Surya seated on my right and he was gracious enough to overlook this crossing of borders and used the side plate on his right. It would have caused a chain reaction but luckily the place next to him was not occupied ( Augie?) and nobody knew about my faux pas.

I was not so lucky with the waiter. He asked me whether I wanted some white wine. I said no and asked for red. He then bent down to pick up my wine glass I had carried to the table. I grabbed my glass as soon as I saw him reaching for it. He looked very surprised but gave up and walked away. I am paranoid about Thai waiters who whisk away glasses from under your nose when the glass has still some liquor in it. It is very upsetting and I have now learnt to be quick enough to block them from heisting my drink.

Anyway, there was no sign of my red wine and I was getting a little impatient. I tried to catch the waiters eye but he just did not look at me. Finally, I succeeded catching his eye and asked for my wine again and he politely pointed to a glass of wine to me on the right. That was the problem! I had assumed the wine glass on the right into which he had poured wine belonged to Surya as I still use my left hand to drink while eating!

Apart from this small communication gap about our different practices while eating, the evening was just great. No one spoke about the meltdown, business within my earshot. There were jokes and limericks of various shades and color.

We were served many courses with a lot of flourish and the presentation was as tantalising as the taste of the cuisine itself. The portions were small; I recall that the entree was a small tomato covered with a small decorated white cap (goat cheese) on a large white plate. A delicious sauce was spread in a Rangoli or Mandala design around the tomato. It was a pity I could not take a picture before I scraped it off the plate. Not sure if it was the done thing.

Khalid who had noticed my confusion, as for a moment I had thought that the chef had forgotten to place the main dish on my plate, said 'don't worry they are all small helpings but you will feel full by the time we are done!'

He was right as I felt really full by the end of the many courses, served in different and very artistic plates and the dessert. In fact, I had no stomach for breakfast the next day and was happy with a light lunch. It was a nice gesture to request the chef to appear so that we could deservedly applaud him and thank him for a very delightful gourmet experience.