The Last Moment

People constructing walls in front of their houses as barricade, some were sweating and in hush-hush, another shouting in ununderstandably, and apparently panicked appearing through his severing voice. It was12:15 AM mid-night when we saw everybody still awake, though the milieu was supposed to be calm and halcyon – but, the condition then was something different. Police, Army and volunteers are still  in full-alert 24/7, transport, electricity, irrigation officials are put on duty 24/7, sirens blaring every now and then carrying boats and hurling towards the affected regions of Bangkok. Shopping malls and convenience stores are completely empty – no water, no dry foods, nothing at all, though the convenience stores are open 24/7 – good for nothing in this crisis situation. It is getting even more worse as the water is inching every hour towards Bangkok. This is the usual route for water to finally end up meeting sea.

“The force and the volume of water is so enormous that it takes just couple of hours to reach to a level that can drown 5 feet person”.

Last night we were informed that the water will be approaching to our street by 11 PM – police announced, as we were told 2 days ago, but the only difference between these two preparative information was that the earlier one was just from the locals while this time it I something more serious – its from the police and metropolitan department. People starting getting even more worried and appeared panic though they knew – it is coming! They started constructing more higher wall adding bricks to already existing 1 meter walls – though the height is highly variable in this city depending on the people’s own perception. I could see some have put the plywood walls, while other seems more prudent setting up good, think concrete walls around their house, ATMs, water-dispensers, while other seems they are just teasing water saying, “Okay! Come on, I have been waiting for you so long” with just few sandbags that are hardly bigger than a small kid-size football with even gaps between the bags. I don’t understand how are they supposed to keep water out with that kind of preparation. And, there comes, another one – with wall as high as a normal human height or even higher. I think, they might be thinking that they are more safer and probably will sleep tight at night thinking that whatever happens, water can’t enter their house. But, God save them!, if in case, water will be higher than that – which seems virtually impossible to reach to that level – they will drown in their own house with no way to escape.

The situation is even more dangerous because the water will not come from far away, it will start oozing out from every lids of the sewerage and water canals and channels and the complex network of water system inside the city underground. So, there is apparently no narrow escape anywhere than to holed up in some higher ground or of building tops. The force and the volume of water has appeared so enormous in the already devastated provinces that it takes just couple of hours to reach to a level that can drown 5 feet person.

Last night we left our apartment at around 9 PM in group to have a glimpse of situation near our hospital which stands majestic on the bank of the biggest river – Chao Pharaya river which is in the most vulnerable list. The government announced special holiday from October 27 to 31, 2011, stating even more dire situation  because of sea-tide between October 27 till October 31 which will stop water flowing into the sea leading to continual accumulation of water in the cities uphill. However, our university has announced holiday till November 7, 2011 with all classes already postponed. We were amazed to see the spirit of the volunteers and students working hard without sparing even second while they were filling, tying, putting knots and hurling sand bags from hand-to-hand. Without any moral, gender or nationality division: international students, international exchange students, medical students, nurses, staffs – everyone was toiling, preparing and bracing for the natural disaster inching towards the city every hour – all set to welcome the furious mother nature in form of water determined to sweep everything on her way.

We also helped them as much we could from our side. There were other foreigners as well assisting them in whatever way they could. After 2 hours another bunch of volunteers came to replace the earlier one and the process continued.

It’s very difficult to control or mitigate the devastating effect of natural disaster, but it is commendable to help and be together in times then to just wait-and-watch. Very few people have this spirit, mentality and mindset and we got to learn something from people around the world. It’s time to change our perception! This is high time! And, there is nothing wrong in accepting and confessing our shortcomings and move forward to change. That’s why it is said, “There is always the next time”. And, “It is never too late to start”.

Thanks for stopping by and reading.

Kind regards,

Rajesh Chaudhary

Date: October 26, 2011. Time: 10:46 AM.

“Too much heaven; too much water”

After the clock started tickling 11:00 o’clock with ding-dong sound, I noticed that is almost 11 o’ clock at night. I looked through my door and could see nothing than just the world blanketed with dark night all over. It is complete pin-drop silence, and I could hear nothing but sounds of sporadic vehicles still plying on the main road somewhere far, and few sirens of ambulances in the downtown city. Since, I got a good evening-sleep after returning from my college, I don’t really feel like sleepy, so, I thought of moving my fingers allover my computer keys.

“Too much water; too much heaven” – this is the song when it is beaming in the background while I am writing this short piece of blog. Today is nothing so special to write, but just want to give it a kind of continuation-touch. In fact, the whole Thailand is panicked and hundreds and millions are facing the brunt of the worst flood in half a century this time. Till now, I got to know that more than 300 people have lost their lives, their loved ones, their belonging, and everything that they once care about, though the situation inside Bangkok seems quite normal. More than 15 provinces of Thailand was put under the threat reason, but no one ever had expected that the mother nature will slap us in such a harsh way – for punishing us for what we have done to her.

Nobody cared, when the environmentalist kept on shouting to stop producing CFC and other toxic gases including carbon dioxide and limit the use of fossil fuels. It was rebuffed saying, “Those stupid making clamor of nothing”. The campaigns of “SAVE EARTH” was never taken this serious until people started facing the problem of global warming. And, I guess, I do not need to explain what are the consequences of global warming. In fact, is it not feasible and prudent to include all those things in one single post, and secondly it sounds little bit quirky. But, finally, the D-day has arrived, it’s time for us to just wait and watch for the consequences or better prepare our self for the worse situations to come. And, Thailand flood this time is one of them.

Somebody has ever said, “We just need to be alive, and we will see everything”. And, I guess, we are really seeing everything: Australia’s flood, Thailand flood, China’s flood and many more others which I think will be inane of me to mention all those. This is not just about mentioning; its about being solicitous towards our responsibility as a human beings. If there is something that can differentiate a human beings from animal is our nature of thinking and bearing responsibility. And, all those things seems fairly lacking or subduing by human themselves and bringing the chasm of differentiation between human and animal. Not to mention, the cruelty towards animal in Chinese industry is one such example. If I am not wrong and if I have watched something that believe and claimed to be from the Chinese industry making the bags and purses from the fur and skin of the animal, I had seen such an inhumane act of slaughtering animal that whenever I think about it, I simply go numb and dumb – where the animals are killed by hitting with rods and their skins are being ripped off even when they are alive and some animals are alive even after their skins are being ripped off.

There are uncountable no. of events which takes years to come to mention all those. One such example is the Bosnia war where the women were raped, prisoned, tortured, mutilated and used as a sex-slave and treating them even worse than an animal, and the sad part is that, the UN working in the country to maintain and stabilize the security situation in the country were also involved in it, which later surfaced through a then newly appointed female staff for the mission in Bosnia. If you want to know the more clear picture of it, you should not miss to watch, “Whistle Blower”. This is the one movie, I have been recommending everybody now and then to watch it and learn something from it and recognize and acknowledge where we stand as a human beings.

So, from all these history we can surmise where we really stand as a human and what is our duty and our responsibility. Have we really maintained that gap between being human being and animal, or are we just forcing to erase those gaps and have started our way back to stone age again. It’s the high time to cogitate.

For me there is nothing like a developed nation or developing nation until we keep seeing these events being surfaced now and then.

And, now our earth is no more a heaven and we do not have much water left!!

Think about others; think about Earth, and then boast what you really are!!

Thanks for stopping by and reading.

Regards,

Rajesh Chaudhary

Some Random Thoughts

After whole day of hectic lab work, I am feeling so lethargic that I can barely move my body to and fro. Even when I am writing through my LIVE WRITER, I am dragging my fingers through the keyboard keys striking at the rate of approximately 30 words per minute. I guess, it doesn’t sounds like dragging, but believe me (I am not boasting), I can type at double the speed of this pace. With all those huge number of samples on the table, I thought of changing my mind to work on another day turning all those samples back to my –20⁰C-refrigerator. But, then, suddenly my mind veered to thinking something substantial and logical. It said, “Is this that hard for you to work in a room with your air-condition  turned on with the volume of music to the high pitch giving damn to the backdrops things?” “So, then how about somebody working in a mid-day scourging sun with sultry milieu at the temperature soaring to over 40⁰C?”

I looked back to my appurtenances and started over it again with all those things still in place with my self generated mindful thoughts. Finally, I was able to finish after long-day of lingering with same things over and over again…… Ah!!

One reason for this tiredness and feeling of sapless would possibly be the late night party with one of our renowned professor from our college and his student.

I was insisted a lot for trying to have a taste of wine, but I cordially refused. It’s not because I wanted to do so, but because, I have never had it and I don’t want to have any form of drinks specifically any form of hard drinks which includes: rum, beer, wine, vodka, and many other which I can’t even remember the names. I just wanted to abstain from something that can make me addicted to it – as long as I can. In fact, to confess, I have a very weak will-power or say, I do not have that will-power to keep myself away from something I like. Sometimes, it is good — which is often rare, but in some of the cases its bad. And, I am already suffering from one such kind of addiction – CYBER MANIA! or better say obsession with computer, internet and technological things. And, there is nothing I can do to help myself. My habit of keeping myself promised to abstain myself from the drink things might be offensive or might have put-off people in instances. For, that, I just want to say, “I am really sorry”. 

For the yesterday’s night dinner, I would simply like to thank our professor for taking us all that way to the awesome place. And, he was our sole sponsor – really generous. And, I feel it is good to acknowledge and thank.

These are some of the moments I cherish and I will miss it for ever once I will leave this place.

An Experience with Humor

I know it will sound more awful to identify the post with something like “An Experience with Humor” would not exactly comes out to be true at the end – no more humor. We all know that fact that we have got  very bad habit of skimming some interesting stuffs to find out something boring and sullen just because we enjoy to run after some interesting phrase, word or idioms that appears in the heading/ topic of an article, short notes, communication, opinion or comment section. So, with no much ado, I would just better find it more straight forward to say that better find a way than to getting lost in this post because of its topic. This is just a kind of short personal review about the article in the section called, “The Awesome Column” in Time magazine by Joel Stein titled “Baby on Board”.

Well, its about a new rule being imposed by the Malaysian Airlines to not allow the kids in the first class. That means, they will have much more to offer to those nasty kids who makes people suffer in their surrounding all the way and make them feel the ride of hell through their hellish activities. This has not penalized them, but instead awarded them for being so, as their parents will not have to pay extra to take them to the business class compartment. In simple word, i.e. no more juicing the fat purse!!

The reason why it is funny is because of its contents and the way writer has presented his intellect through sharp stinging words striking like an arrow towards the kids. It feels to me like I am originally surrounded by those nasty kid all around me crying, screaming, making noise and pulling my hairs from behind – which they are very adroit in.

I ever had a similar kind of experience , but I was I more leverage situation and position and place than a hell-locked plane onboard, where you can’t scream along with those nasty kids in frustration, nor you can lull them to silence. We do not really have that leeway to do all those things in a close compartment nutting up everybody around you.

I really feel pity on those parents who are called “kids-parents” in those kinds of situations which is more sarcastic and vitriolic at the same time then to just suffer from those hellish situation.

I guess, I might too have created those kind of scenes and made my parents feel the same, but still with no single words of complaints. Thanks to them!!

Thanks for reading.

Regards,

Rajesh Chaudhary

An OPD — In Middle of Nowhere!

She was standing in the middle of nowhere totally bewildered and lost. I saw her there for a while as I was waiting for my turn. I stayed there for around 2 hours and then I left. When I came back she was still there – it was almost more then three hours by then. After that, I started doubting. I thought there is something wrong, because most of the people who were waiting for their turn had either already got their “jobs” done or got a reply for the next appointment. Anyway, they successfully finished what they came for. But, still, she was there in the same situation. She looked something different – may be from somewhere else, but definitely not from Thailand or some place local. Neither she looked affluent from what she appears, however these days even penurious appears to be affluent – that’s a different story. Donned in red tunic, gaunt and holding a huge file in a hand and a small chit of paper in another.

I was busy with the news about the expiration of the techno icon – Steve Jobs this morning. I was so stunned and shell-shocked that I could not think of anything at the moment than to scrolling down the webpage on my phone in scurry as I was waiting there. One reason was because, when I checked the news while I was en route to college, I didn’t find anything unusual – Just like any other day news, but soon after a while when I was surfing to kill time for time being, I found something really astounding and shell-shocking, and the news in CNN read something like, “Visionary behind Apple dies”.

After a while she came to me and looking at my student’s batch hanging down over my neck asked to me in Nepali language to my utter surprise “Dai, k tapai Nepali ho?” (“Brother, are you a Nepali?”).  I knew she is in some kind of problem, otherwise, no one even knowingly or unknowingly comes to ask you where you are from – its simply awkward. So, I just nodded with a smile on my face. She was relieve to know that. She might be thinking that, finally she got somebody who can help her get her “jobs” done.  I don’t know whether she knows or not, but I guess, she could have probably guessed that I am someone associated with the hospital or the authority or something and can speak Nepali very well mingled with sustainable English.

After becoming conversant with her situation, I came to know that she could not speak nor do she can understand what the nurses and working personals were telling her. So, that was a complete dead-lock conversation for her. She didn’t even ask me whether I am free or occupied with something else – she just accost to ask for my help. Anyway, I do not bother to complain about whether or not she asked me whether I am free or not. Anyway, for me, looking at that situation, it became my moral obligation to help her – at least for a while to make her understand  what she need to do next and where to contact for her checkup or just guide her to the right place at the right time.

“Are you accompanied with someone?”, I asked.

No.

“And, I don’t know what they are telling me”, she replied back.

“Yeah, that’s fine, for now” – follow me, I asked.

After I manage to leave her to the place where she meant to be, I left the OPD. I was thinking and I am still thinking how could a person leave their house for some place without getting much prepared. Though, it was a medical checkup, she should be accompanied with someone. Not understanding a language is just simply like being handicapped. And it becomes even a hard-lock or say dead-lock when there is no communication from either side.

She can’t clearly and understandably speak English nor did she understand Thai language. How was she supposed to be there alone with the sever condition of possible dialysis (which I am not quite sure of) – but definitely something more serious than something laughable.

I know the person who will read this message are not those who are inane or will ever do like that to themselves or to their family member – mean, leaving alone to struggle, or might not had that kind of situation ever or will have ever. And those who are in those kind of situation will not even notice this.

So, in a way, you might be thinking that, “Then why on the earth do you have to write this? – its futile.” But, think in a way, ‘How about you dissipating this message to the one who are unaware of the situations they will be facing in foreign land, to not step in a foreign land being  handicapped verbally, physically or monetarily?”

As I have experienced in my over two years period of time in Thailand, I have felt that, this country is relatively safer than any part of the world, but developed part of Europe (which I am not quite sure of). But, however safer is the country, if you are handicapped in anyway – you are vulnerable to uninvited situations, and specially when it comes to language. At least good grip on English language will suffice in most of the cases!!

P.S. You might have noticed I have mentioned the word “Jobs” in this post within inverted comma. This was just to give a tribute to and mark the last majestic voyage of the genius thinker and inventor who have changed the world how we view it today – a self-made man – “Steve Jobs” (1955 – 2011).

Reading for Pleasure

Reading for pleasure might sound a little bit weird for someone who are not really into it. But, these days, with the increasing no. of technologies and media, I have felt like people are more interested in reading things. People these days are enjoying reading more than they use to in olden days. This is not something that I have researched into. But, I have felt because of the seamless flow of the information, which reflects the fact that people have read it or somehow come across these things and now they are popping out sporadically.

From the days when people have to struggle hard to read papers in candle light (kerosene light) to these days palmtop technologies in hand where they do not have to worry for the backdrop light that will hinder the smooth reading on the monitor – we all are enjoying now these days. But, ironically, we fail to acknowledge and than the technology that has provided us so much with this magnificent platform. So, in a way, this post can be taken as an acknowledgement for what technology has provided us today.

The pictures that appear above in this post is not an excerpt – this is what I have taken personally while visiting one local stationary shopping center. A center with huge collection of local and international books that can satiate the voracious hunger of the bookworms lingering around the center.

These pictures were taken in stationary center in Bangkok called as ‘B2S’ in Central Pinklao – one of my major places to hang out. But the weird thing is that, my hangout is with the books and stationary. Even though sometimes,I do not go there for buying, I like spending time there looking at the books and their reviews. And, for me, ‘BOOKS ARE MY BEST FRIENDS!’

Reading is some kind of influence which gradually develops over time, if we are just willing to look at it.

Thanks for reading.

Regards,

Rajesh Chaudhary

 

P.S. Can you guys share with us what are you major, most notable, and comfortable place to read books?