Someone on the radio was interviewing a breast cancer survivor today. Amongst the several facile questions, this one took the cake: (incredible wonder in her voice) How did you find the strength to cope with this, how did you muster the strength?
I found the question so ridiculous I burst out laughing. If you have cancer (or any other potentially fatal disease), you do not have the luxury to brood over questions such as how will I muster the strength to cope with this disease? Because that is not a choice – if you do not find that courage, you are dead. Quite plain and simple. You put your faith in your oncologist, your God, you family, your friend, your astrologer, your dog - whoever – and just keep on fighting the goddamn cells and hope that you destroy them faster than they breed in your body.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
More on Thailand
Unfortunately, and unlike most other countries, taxi drives in Thailand are boring. The driver doesn’t speak English, and if he does, all he wants to know is how much you earn, and hence how much he can cheat you.
So the scene for surprise and interest shifted, surprisingly, to my hotel’s elevator.
Giving me company in the elevator one day was an American man and a Chinese-American lady – they were both emerging from the excellent Spa, and the lady was passionately elaborating on spa hygiene and related horrors. As the elevator doors closed, she remarked (shouted is more like it, but I am a polite listener) – I mean, nayl fhunghus is extrehmely diffhiculht to gaid rid auf. As I was leaving the elevator, her subdued male companion remarked – anye fhunghus, for thad madder. Touche'. The brilliance of the conversation left me spell bound. I hope they saw the smile as I left. I wish they understood what it meant.
Another morning. I am heading out to work. A short, slightly plump (healthy looking?) Arab enters the elevator. He gives me a brief, disdainful glance, then settles down to admiring himself from all possible angles in the full length mirror, lingering a wee bit longer on his womanly bottom. No surprise that he got off at the Health Club – there are full length mirrors there all along the wall behind the treadmills. I suspect he didn't get much of running done though.
I guess you need a bit of madness to stay sane in this crazy country.
So the scene for surprise and interest shifted, surprisingly, to my hotel’s elevator.
Giving me company in the elevator one day was an American man and a Chinese-American lady – they were both emerging from the excellent Spa, and the lady was passionately elaborating on spa hygiene and related horrors. As the elevator doors closed, she remarked (shouted is more like it, but I am a polite listener) – I mean, nayl fhunghus is extrehmely diffhiculht to gaid rid auf. As I was leaving the elevator, her subdued male companion remarked – anye fhunghus, for thad madder. Touche'. The brilliance of the conversation left me spell bound. I hope they saw the smile as I left. I wish they understood what it meant.
Another morning. I am heading out to work. A short, slightly plump (healthy looking?) Arab enters the elevator. He gives me a brief, disdainful glance, then settles down to admiring himself from all possible angles in the full length mirror, lingering a wee bit longer on his womanly bottom. No surprise that he got off at the Health Club – there are full length mirrors there all along the wall behind the treadmills. I suspect he didn't get much of running done though.
I guess you need a bit of madness to stay sane in this crazy country.
Holidays in Hell – Doing Business in Thailand
I blame this on PJ O’Rourke. If I hadn’t been reading Holidays in Hell in, appropriately, Thailand, I promise I would not have called out the country by name in this post. But after my third visit to this land, I am in no mood for niceties. And if Mr O-Rourke can describe hell in the beautiful city of Beirut, I don’t see why I shouldn’t spill the beans on the ‘best tourist destination in Asia’.
The stupidity starts with the visa. You can get a visa upon arrival for tourism, but you need a non-immigration visa if you are traveling on business. But that is not enough. You also need to apply for a temporary work permit after you have entered the country – the non-immigration visa is simply for you to get out of Suvarmbhoomi airport and reach your office. But officially, you cannot work at your office till you have the work permit.
No one understands English of course, even the ones who can supposedly speak it. Communication is excruciating – and this is not because of the language alone. The bigger problem is that a Thai’s comprehension level is at least ten times slower than that of an average human – and I am being polite here. Everything needs to be explained, re-explained, re-re-explained…and numerous irrelevant questions need to be patiently answered. A has to be followed by B, and if you jump to C, prepare to spend an extra fortnight to explain the why’s and the what’s.
Have you attended a meeting with over five of these blokes in the same room? It’s like playing Chinese whispers with people who are deaf, but God compensated that with the faculty of speech. First, they will look you over and discuss you loudly with each other in Thai, frequently looking and pointing at you so you know you are the object of attention. After this polite welcome, they will settle down to the bawling in Thai, with frequent looks at you to confirm that you do not comprehend a word, which being the case the decibel levels will keep on rising. The amount of noise and stupidity that goes around is enough to drown an army of Chinese pigs.
The favorite Thai word? It may be a three letter word outside the workplace, but inside, it’s ISSUE. A glow comes into their eyes when you mention this word – and they will have a two hour long meeting every two hours to discuss issues. Don’t forget to send minutes of meeting, else that will be another issue. But don’t expect them to do what you asked them to do – they wont read what you sent. You can bring it up at the next issue meeting, but in the end, it’s all your fault anyway. They are remarkably well organized that way – they will do all the shouting and cribbing while someone else will do the work.
As for Thai men in the workplace, they all appear to be the same with their soft voices and Buddha like countenance, cultivated no doubt after years of training and suffering. The women simply outnumber –and outshout – them.
Next time I hear about going to Thailand (on work), I am jumping from the thirteenth floor of my office.
Created Dec 07
The stupidity starts with the visa. You can get a visa upon arrival for tourism, but you need a non-immigration visa if you are traveling on business. But that is not enough. You also need to apply for a temporary work permit after you have entered the country – the non-immigration visa is simply for you to get out of Suvarmbhoomi airport and reach your office. But officially, you cannot work at your office till you have the work permit.
No one understands English of course, even the ones who can supposedly speak it. Communication is excruciating – and this is not because of the language alone. The bigger problem is that a Thai’s comprehension level is at least ten times slower than that of an average human – and I am being polite here. Everything needs to be explained, re-explained, re-re-explained…and numerous irrelevant questions need to be patiently answered. A has to be followed by B, and if you jump to C, prepare to spend an extra fortnight to explain the why’s and the what’s.
Have you attended a meeting with over five of these blokes in the same room? It’s like playing Chinese whispers with people who are deaf, but God compensated that with the faculty of speech. First, they will look you over and discuss you loudly with each other in Thai, frequently looking and pointing at you so you know you are the object of attention. After this polite welcome, they will settle down to the bawling in Thai, with frequent looks at you to confirm that you do not comprehend a word, which being the case the decibel levels will keep on rising. The amount of noise and stupidity that goes around is enough to drown an army of Chinese pigs.
The favorite Thai word? It may be a three letter word outside the workplace, but inside, it’s ISSUE. A glow comes into their eyes when you mention this word – and they will have a two hour long meeting every two hours to discuss issues. Don’t forget to send minutes of meeting, else that will be another issue. But don’t expect them to do what you asked them to do – they wont read what you sent. You can bring it up at the next issue meeting, but in the end, it’s all your fault anyway. They are remarkably well organized that way – they will do all the shouting and cribbing while someone else will do the work.
As for Thai men in the workplace, they all appear to be the same with their soft voices and Buddha like countenance, cultivated no doubt after years of training and suffering. The women simply outnumber –and outshout – them.
Next time I hear about going to Thailand (on work), I am jumping from the thirteenth floor of my office.
Created Dec 07
Monday, May 05, 2008
Romulus, My Father
Raimond Gaita's father loves to collect beetles* and make them fly in the wind. "For luck", he says. And also for self belief and resilience - words he does not state, but lives his life by. The film adapation of Romulus, My Father, starring 'Hector' Eric Bana, is a touching interpretation of Raimond Gaita's novel by the same name.
At heart a simple tale of survival and kinship, there are several interesting scenes in the movie. The young Raimond once takes eggs for one of his friends - an old, decrepit man who lives in the back of beyond in remote Australia. The old man is delighted, but there is no water - so our man pees into a pan and boils the eggs in them, much to young Raimond's consternation!
Then there is Hora, Romulus' s friend in need and a father figure to young Raimond. An unlettered handyman, Hora loves reading and dispenses several words of wisdom to the eager youngster during their outdoor pursuits. While kayaking with Raimond, he quotes Bertrand Russell and states - If you enjoy wasting your time, then it is not a waste. Later, during a difficult time for the family, he remarks - Things change; watch your thoughts, for they decide what you become in life.
Probably the best part about the movie is that while it is a tribute to Romulus, the audience gets enough time to get to know the other key characters - Raimond, his manic depressive mother Christina, Hora, and Hora's brother Mitru, who falls in love with and marries Christina but is finally driven to take his life by this decision.
Romulus himself is outwardly no hero, just an ordinary man who loves his son and posesses an intense will to survive against all odds. So it is that he recovers from a near fatal accident and a later bout in an asylum after his wife's death, and lives to see his son study at St Joseph, a dream he had cherished and nurtured.
There is an interesting scene when Romulus is beating metal against fire to mould it to his will (he is a handyman - good with his head and hands - which may explain why the locals call him Jack). The beating of the metal fades into the incessant ringing of the bell at St Joseph's, interrupting young Rai's reverie. Thus it is that the lives of the father and the son are entwined.
The ending manages to bring in a bit of suspense. Romulus is back home from the asylum, but has he recovered? He wakes his son in the middle of the night - it is time to move home. On the way, upon Raimond's prompting, he narrates how Mitru was killed: He biked to the top of a tower, and jumped; but before that, he stuck a knife pointing upwards in the ground, "Just to make sure". They stop for the night by a cliff, Raimond sleeps, Romulus is gazing across the rocks. Morning breaks, Rai awakens and looks around - there is no sign of Romulus. He rushes to the cliff and looks down in fear at the sheer drop. The despair on his face echos the question in the viewer's mind - has Romulus abandoned his son too, just like Christina and Mitru did? "Pappi !", screams Raimond. "I am here", comes a gruff voice . Romulus is collecting beetles by the side of the cliff - for luck, and life.
At heart a simple tale of survival and kinship, there are several interesting scenes in the movie. The young Raimond once takes eggs for one of his friends - an old, decrepit man who lives in the back of beyond in remote Australia. The old man is delighted, but there is no water - so our man pees into a pan and boils the eggs in them, much to young Raimond's consternation!
Then there is Hora, Romulus' s friend in need and a father figure to young Raimond. An unlettered handyman, Hora loves reading and dispenses several words of wisdom to the eager youngster during their outdoor pursuits. While kayaking with Raimond, he quotes Bertrand Russell and states - If you enjoy wasting your time, then it is not a waste. Later, during a difficult time for the family, he remarks - Things change; watch your thoughts, for they decide what you become in life.
Probably the best part about the movie is that while it is a tribute to Romulus, the audience gets enough time to get to know the other key characters - Raimond, his manic depressive mother Christina, Hora, and Hora's brother Mitru, who falls in love with and marries Christina but is finally driven to take his life by this decision.
Romulus himself is outwardly no hero, just an ordinary man who loves his son and posesses an intense will to survive against all odds. So it is that he recovers from a near fatal accident and a later bout in an asylum after his wife's death, and lives to see his son study at St Joseph, a dream he had cherished and nurtured.
There is an interesting scene when Romulus is beating metal against fire to mould it to his will (he is a handyman - good with his head and hands - which may explain why the locals call him Jack). The beating of the metal fades into the incessant ringing of the bell at St Joseph's, interrupting young Rai's reverie. Thus it is that the lives of the father and the son are entwined.
The ending manages to bring in a bit of suspense. Romulus is back home from the asylum, but has he recovered? He wakes his son in the middle of the night - it is time to move home. On the way, upon Raimond's prompting, he narrates how Mitru was killed: He biked to the top of a tower, and jumped; but before that, he stuck a knife pointing upwards in the ground, "Just to make sure". They stop for the night by a cliff, Raimond sleeps, Romulus is gazing across the rocks. Morning breaks, Rai awakens and looks around - there is no sign of Romulus. He rushes to the cliff and looks down in fear at the sheer drop. The despair on his face echos the question in the viewer's mind - has Romulus abandoned his son too, just like Christina and Mitru did? "Pappi !", screams Raimond. "I am here", comes a gruff voice . Romulus is collecting beetles by the side of the cliff - for luck, and life.
Seasons in the sun
APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
- T S Eliot, The Wasteland (The Burial of the Dead)
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
- T S Eliot, The Wasteland (The Burial of the Dead)
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