Saturday, November 9, 2013

Spiritual traffic between India and Russia

Personally, I found the countryside by the Amur River or the forests in the area a wonderful place to mediate. These are some of the most sparsely populated areas on earth. Besides the fact that the nature is virtually unspoilt, these areas are totally free of the horrors of mass and commercial tourism that has wrecked havoc on many parts of the Himalayas. It is in the marvel of pristine nature, where one can have the greatest amount of concentration and focus.

Read more here

Friday, October 4, 2013

Do completely objective history textbooks exist?

History taught in schools is a subject that is held hostage by the ruling regime of any country. Is there any way to make history books more objective?

I wrote about how a delicate balancing act is needed when writing textbooks for children, so that they are more inclusive. Read more

Friday, September 13, 2013

Russian writers and the autumn

Autumn is my favourite season in Russia. I love the colours of the season and the smell of the forests. Sakhalin had the most glorious autumn days. 

Russia's great writers had mixed feelings towards the season.

Read more here

Sunday, August 25, 2013

The whole society is to blame for the gang rape in Bombay

Bombay is one of the few major international cities that has large slums in the city centre. These slums are useful not just for politicians who want votes, but even for the middle class and upper middle class of the city eager to benefit from cheap labour. The mother of one of the accused lived in a shanty and worked as a maid in many houses in the locality.

No one seems to mind these slums, which are basically illegal encroachments of public land. They are a hotbed of criminal activity and will continue to produce a large number of petty thieves and criminals. All 5 of the accused of the gang rape had criminal records and were still walking free in the city, just like the murderer of Keenan Santos, who had 2 pending murder cases against him.

The whole system in India is rotten and we can expect almost no change.

Friday, August 23, 2013

My take on Sushil Kumar's allegations against Russia

At a time when Russian athletes are the toast of the international sporting community for their excellent performance at the recently-concluded IAAF World Athletics Championships in Moscow, readers in India received a rude shock on Friday morning thanks to Indian wrestling champion Sushil Kumar. The former world champion and London Olympics silver medalist told the Times of India that he was offered a “good few crores” to throw his final against Alan Gogaev in 2010.

Read more here

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Kamchatka: The land of fire and ice

The name Kamchatka conjures up images of bubbling hot springs, a myriad of snow-clad volcanoes and pristine rivers blessed with salmon in the summer and buried in layers of ice and snow in the winter. One of the largest stretches of wilderness in the world, the Kamchatka peninsula borders the international time line and its capital Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Petropavlovsk) is closer to Tokyo and Seattle than it is to Moscow. So wild are most parts of the 1000-kilometre long peninsula that locals fondly say that Kamchatka has no roads, just directions.

Read More Here

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Where have the Indians gone?

This is a question that I don't hear very often when I travel. In many places, Indians are model immigrants and in many others, they tend to lack cultural sensitivity.

As I got into a motor boat, a friendly pensioner in Kuching picked up a conversation with me when he understood that I was a tourist and not a Malaysian Indian.

We left behind the skyscrapers and the modernity of Kuching to cross over to a simple Malay kampung. Farid invited me for a cup of tea tarik and spoke of his wonderful experiences travelling in Uttar Pradesh! He was a senior engineer that was involved in some construction joint venture in India.

"I'm sad that the Indians have left Kuching," he said. Me: "what Indians?" He talked about those who were in Sarawak during the colonial era and then left when they became old. These men came and worked here for 40 years and even longer, Farid said. Their wish was to die in their motherland.

Kuching has a Gurudwara and a small but noisy Sikh community, which celebrated the 50th birthday of a local businessman in the hotel I was staying in. The Bollywood and Bhangra music went on late into the night, making me wonder if I was in Borneo or Karol Bagh!

For Farid, who lives on the other side of the river, the Indians he misses are the colleagues and friends he shared a long bond with.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Traces of Chekhov's visit to Sakhalin

In 1890, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov did not have the luxury of a 8 hour 40 minute flight to far-off Sakhalin Island from Moscow. In his two and a half month journey through Siberia, the great writer used various modes of transport including trains, ferries and horse carriages to get to the island, then a penal colony. Just 7 kilometres separate the westernmost point of Sakhalin from the Russian mainland, but as in Chekhov’s time, there is no bridge that links the island with the mainland.

Read more here

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Malaysian visa and Sarawak

Every time I have entered Malaysia, I have gotten an entry stamp that says I am permitted to stay in Sabah and Western Malaysia. So, before coming to Kuching I was confused as to whether I needed a separate visa or some kind of permission.

Searches on google revealed all sorts of wrong information. Some sites said a Malaysian visa was valid only for peninsular Malaysia and Sabah and that a separate endorsement needed to be obtained before coming to Malaysia.

As it turns out, a separate visa isn't required for Sarawak. There is a separate immigration control at the Kuching airport and you get an exotic extra stamp on the passport, but that's about it.

So, if you're an Indian citizen and have a Malaysian visa then don't worry about visiting Sarawak. Those that don't need visas for Malaysia don't need one for Sarawak either.

KL Marathon 2013 postponed to September

It's June 30 and I should be on the roads of Kuala Lumpur running a marathon. The race, unfortunately, was cancelled over the haze hype. I will admit that the day I arrived in the city  (June 26), the air quality wasn't as good as it usually is in this wonderful city, but it cleared up so much that in a couple of days, the API readings were absolutely fine.

On Saturday, the skies were blue and visibility was perfect. It's a shame that the run was postponed. I think the organizers and the authorities got it wrong. They panicked because of the media hype over the haze.

At least 3600 international runners came to KL for the run and I am one of the disappointed runners who probably won't be able to make in the last week of September for the run.

Some courtesy please

Immigration officers in Bombay were at one time, mean and intrusive. After all, the authorities deputed Maharashtra Police officers, who automatically assumed that all citizens are potential criminals. Things have thankfully changed for the better over the years.

When I recently flew out of the international airport, I was stuck in a queue for about 40 minutes, since a large group of pilgrims were flying out to Saudi Arabia for the Haj. Many of them didn't fill out their immigration forms and the understaffed immigration had to deal with large numbers.

Many of those in the queue were cursing the immigration and calling them incompetent. The man behind me was very early for his flight and I assume many of them cribbing were as well. The stressed officer who checked my passport was not having a nice day, but a simple good morning from my end brought out a smile and how are you.

He told me he was sick of grumpy travellers being mean to him and that it was finally nice to see a smile...

 

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

A perfect summer day in St Petersburg

Take advantage of the spectacular occasion called the ‘White Nights’ and make the most out of a 24-hour day in Russia’s opulent northern capital.   

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Something of use in Sakhalin and Bombay

Given the great disparities in climatic conditions for most of the year between the Russian Far Eastern island of Sakhalin and India’s chaotic metropolis, Mumbai, one would be hard-pressed to find a common item in a shoe-rack in both places. Yet, in the summer months on the Russian island, which coincide with the rainy season in the home of Bollywood, there is something that has universal value: the humble сапоги рыбака (sapogi ribaka or fisherman’s boots).

Read More

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Why I love Moscow

There's so much to see and do in Moscow and it goes way beyond the Red Square and the Kremlin.

Read about a few activities that you can undertake in 1 day in the Russian capital.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Impressions of Sakhalin

Being back home in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk after too long is a surreal feeling, despite the fact that the city is still stuck in a seasonal time-warp. May is usually glorious in the city with temperatures flirting around 20 degrees Celsius, especially in the latter part of the month. I have been told that the last few Mays have been cold here.

I landed here on a sunny day with the temperature at 5 degrees above zero. It warmed up as the day went by but now, I recall those long cold days I spent here. It's raining and there is a chilling breeze blowing south.

After getting used to the crowds in Moscow, it feels odd to see just a handful of people on the streets here. Some of the buildings on Lenin Street have been painted in very colourful combinations, whereas the rest of the city remains brown...The panels in the 1980s buildings are also fading...Dust storms and deplorable roads add to the decay, of which the icing on the bittersweet cake is smog, a completely new phenomenon in this city.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

The month of Vesak

Holy to Hindus and Buddhists, this month usually coincides with the month of May every year. It was in Vesak that the Buddha attained enlightenment. I feel inspired when I think of the great man sitting under the Bodhi tree in Sarnath and using every ounce of mental strength to attain nirvana.

India in the days following the Buddha's attainment of Nirvana, saw its best days. I can't even imagine how simple life must have been in those days or how clean and pure the air and the great rivers of the country would have been then.

May the light of Vesak bring peace and contentment to people around the world

The Great China trip

There were so many impressions from my wonderful trip to the Middle Kingdom that somewhere along the way, I just lost the habit of writing them down.

All I want to write in this post is that I love the wonderful, generous and hospitable Chinese people. They made me feel completely welcome and I loved immersing myself in Beijing life. Chinese society, like Indian society, is open and welcoming of outsiders and it was a pleasure to be a part of it even if only for a short while.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Russia and America vie for influence in Vietnam

Despite the visibly popular pro-American sentiment on the streets, the Vietnamese government tends to be guarded in its approach to relations with Washington. “Russia definitely enjoys excellent political relations with Vietnam especially when compared to the West,” says the diplomat in Ho Chi Minh City.

Read more on RBTH Asia

Friday, April 5, 2013

Russian community in Vung Tau

As a cool breeze from the South China Sea brings much-needed respite on a warm and humid afternoon, a group of Russians patiently queue up at the Gastronom to buy borsch, vinegret, mashed potatoes and a variety of main courses on offer. Welcome to the Vung Tau’s Russian village: a medium-sized gated community that is home to employees of Vietsovpetro, a Russian-Vietnamese oil and gas explorer.....

My article about the Russian community in Vung Tau was published by RBTH Asia

Saturday, March 30, 2013

Ferry ride to Saigon

It was a heavy heart that I left the tranquility of Vung Tau and the wonderful company I had there.

The ferry was jam-packed but my foresight in buying a first class ticket helped me have an even more comfortable ride. The ride, which was less than 2 hours, is scenic particularly after the ferry crosses the mangrove and enters the river.

The serenity of the riverine villages reminded me so much of the backwaters of Kerala. How I envy those with simplier rural lives in places like those villages. Of course, the Vietnamese in these parts have had anything but an easy life.Almost everyone lost a loved one in the war of independence. The Americans used chemical weapons and agent orange, which still causes cancer in the country!

Yet, with over 60 percent of the population being born after the war, those days seem like a distant memory. Vietnam looks forward and ahead and the country is poised to be a major economic regional powerhouse in the years to come.

 

Familiarity breeds contempt in Vietnam

I have been told that it's the novelty of being in the charming boomtown of Vung Tau that has made me like it so much. Yes, it's clean, green and well laid out and the service culture is undoubtedly very good. I can easily tolerate the weather and language barriers have never come in my way.. BUT

My friends who live in Vung Tau have a laundry list of complaints. The locals never show courtesy for women, even pregnant ones... People don't respect queues...They lack civic sense...

My rose-coloured glasses largely prevented me from noticing any of those things, but yes, I do have to admit that I did see similarities between Vietnamese and my compatriots.

For starters, the "airport fair" mentality. To see off or receive relatives, it looks like entire villages make the trip to the airport in Ho Chi Minh. People also neatly lay down their food and have picnics outside the departure gate.

I did notice the littering although it is nothing compared to India.

Since the Communists are particular about cleanliness and the municipal authorities do their job, unlike in India, Vietnamese cities, at least the ones I have seen are very clean. This is exactly why I keep calling the country a "Civilized India." 

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Vung Tau- similarities with Tamil Nadu

The oil and gas boomtown of Vung Tau did remind me a lot of towns in coastal Tamil Nadu. For a large part, the architecture is similar. Even the small shops, tiny restaurants and the barren pre-monsoon hills look the same. There is one big difference and that is the infrastructure and cleanliness.

The pavements are well laid out in Vung Tau. The streets are broad and of course the town is almost spotlessly clean.

This small restaurant (left) could easily be in a small Tamil Nadu town. We had our favourite Pho soup here.

Some argue that the cleanliness is on account of a large expat population. But then with India teeming with foreigners these days, I see no similar stories.

The cool breeze from the South China Sea can easily make the warmest and most humid of days feel pleasant. This town is located at a strategic cross-roads and if Vietnam plays its cards right, it could become the kind of trade and logistics hub that could give Singapore nightmares.                                                       

Thursday, March 21, 2013

My article on China's Russian heritage


On a late-winter morning, the snow flurries fall gently on the giant green onion dome of a Russian Orthodox Church. A voice or two can be heard in Russian but as the city wakes up, the dominant language on the street is Chinese. In terms of architecture and heritage, Harbin, in the north-eastern Heilongjiang province, is probably the most Russian city outside the former Soviet Union.

Read More

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Lost in translation in Vung Tau

Foreign langauges aren't vogue in Vietnam and the beautiful Vietnamese seem to be in no hurry to want to learn any. Vung Tau has a few locals who can speak a smattering of Russian and some who speak fairly good English but the communication gap woth foreigners in Vietnam is much larger than in any country in the ASEAN grouping.

At a so-called French cafe we asked for a cappuccino and a couple of omelettes. My experienced friend asked the waitress to repeat the order and she wrote it down as expresso and baguettes! We ended up eating what we wanted but I was honestly shocked with how this whole situation transpired until the stories started pouring in.

A Russian housewife once ordered french fries for her daughter and was delivered a plate ful of burnt potatoes and chillies. The aggressive waitress said "you Russians don't know what french fries are!!"

I find these Vung Tau situations odd since Vietnam is known for an excellent service culture

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Moscow and Beijing

Here's my take on what the two former communist capitals on Russia Beyond the Headlines' Asia edition.

Powerless in Vung Tau

Once every few months, the authorities in Vung Tau shut down power for an entire day. They put notices in Vietnamese and expect all the foreigners in the buildings to understand. So, off goes the electricity on a warm morning when I have a bucket-load of things to do.

The owner of my favourite cafe asks me to come back the next day. I have deadlines to meet but there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. Calmly I enjoy the cool breeze from the South China Sea. This is a good day to appreciate the serenity and peace of the southern Vietnamese boomtown.

The sea is always blue and life seems even slower than normal with most businesses not having a generator to carry on.




Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Those beloved bikers of Saigon


These people in 2 wheelers seem to be going from bad to worse. In a rush to get to god only knows there, they drive like total maniacs. They don’t stop for old people or pregnant women and often jump on and off sidewalks like they’re riding horses.

Tourists are warned about cowboys on motorbikes who make a grab for bags. The worst I encountered was an idiot who nearly rammed into my pregnant friend.  My gut instinct was to punch him so hard that his teeth would fall off. But then I saw a lady sitting behind him and decided to spare the idiot.

Not all psycho bikers in Saigon are men. Even the ladies tend to use two-wheelers are equally idiotic when driving around the city.

Saigon

The sprawling southern Vietnamese city now known as Ho Chi Minh is definitely visually appealing. Communists like order and cleanliness and the reconstructed city is full of parks and green spaces. The city centre itelf is plush and like I observed on my last trip here, images of Ho Chi Minh and his political ideologies go hand in hand with the Louis Vuitton showroom.

No trip to Saigon is complete without a sampling of Pho Bo, the delicious beef noodle soup. There is a chicken variant for strict and observing Hindus.

People come here from other Southeast Asian countries for the shopping. I figure that the prices for clothes and small non-branded items are much like they are in Thailand, but I could be wrong.  One thing’s for sure. Vietnamese aren’t much into bargaining. They come down a bit on the original price and that’s it. Some of my Indian friends would be disappointed with the fact that they can’t haggle the sellers to death here.

 

Arriving in Vietnam: Pre-approved visas

For those taking a pre-approved Vietnam visa, I have a small piece of advice. Make sure you pay for a VIP clearance at the airport before flying in to the country.

For a small fee, a representative of the agency that handled your visa  will meet you as soon as you get off the aircraft and get your visa attached in a considerably short period of time.  The normal time for a visa is around half an hour, but can be much longer if many flights land at the same time.

It’s no fun waiting a long time for the visa sticker to be attached on your passport just after a potentially long flight.

I was in and out of the modern Saigon airport in less than 10 minutes.

                                              ***

For some reason the prepaid taxi counters insist on payment in dollars or ringitt. They assume that I am a Malaysian since many people from the country visit for a shopping spree; Tamils included.

                                              ***

To check into a hotel in Saigon, you need to hand over your passport. And when I say hand over, I mean for the duration of your stay as they keep the passport until you check out. As long as they take care of it, I see no problem. This is not a city where cops stop visitors for a random document check.

                                             

Friday, February 22, 2013

Psycho drivers in KL

I am used to hearing social service ads against rash driving and road rage in Kuala Lumpur thanks to Lite Fm's webcasts. I took these messages with a pinch of salt thinking they  exaggerate the problem. That was until tonight!

In the few hours I have spent at KL's Low Cost Carrier Terminus, I have lost track of the number of cars speeding like crazy after dropping off passengers. These daredevils do it within the watxhful eye of the airport police. Imagine how they'd drive in a less crowded road or in places where there are few policemen!!

These guys definitely give Bombay's spoilt brats a run for their money.  But then again, we are close to the F1 Sepang circuit. Maybe some of these people are inspired by the world's fastest!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Capital punishment in India and Russia

Boris Yeltsin placed a moratorium on capital punishment in the early 1990s. That was probably the best thing the man ever did for Russia in a decade of misrule. Now, the Russian Interior Minister speaking in a personal capacity said he was for capital punishment.


Here I argue against the death penalty.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Clean Andheri Station!

"Clean Andheri" is an oxymoron. This suburb of Bombay is by far one of the most congested and dirtiest in the city and its railway station is a chaotic mess. Which is why I was surprised to see it looking spotless on a Saturday morning.

It wasn't that the lazy and corrupt railway staff suddenly asked the sweepers to clean it or the savages that usually use the station decided to become cleaner. A group of volunteers in white t-shirts and blue jeans were sweeping the platform and staircase. The college students were probably attached to some NGO and did a wonderful job to clean up the station.

There just may be some hope for this city, which is in a rapid state of decline.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Overheard on the train

7:30 pm on a crowded Andheri local and I am squished between office-goers and a group of teenagers in football jerseys. A heated debate over Messi and Ronaldo is interrupted when a cell phone rings.

"Yes Mom...I'll be home soon. I'm in a train.." The young man disconnects the call and then says to his friends "ma pagal hein," which means my mother is insane! She was screaming at me for being late and wondering what I was doing in a train. He goes on and says that his parents' moods depend on the stock market. "When the value of their shares come down. they take it out on me!"

It can actually be fun to overhear a conversation sometimes  :)

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Stranger on board a first class compartment

It was a Friday morning and rather early for me to be on a crowded first class compartment heading towards Santa Cruz. The wagon was packed with college students who would get off at Vile Parle. Before the train left Andheri, a strange-looking with an unsual turban climbed on board. Through the crowd I saw he had a rope of some kind.

At Parle, the train emptied out and my attention was on the sunrise over the runway of the domestic airport. I then felt a few fingers touch my feet. Was it a beggar or a child? When I looked down, I realised it was a monkey.The turbaned man was a monkey-charmer.

The poor and exploited monkey was so incredibly cute. I was tempted to pet it but alas this was after all a wild animal. I couldn't keep the smile out when I looked at the adorable creature. Fellow passengers couldn't care less. Some people sure don't have a sense of humour!

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Drunken communal thug at Grant Road station

Here's something you thankfully don't see every day in Bombay.

I am waiting for a train at 3:00 pm at Grant Road station on what is a warm and peaceful January day. Since it's not even close to rush hour, there are just a few people on the platform. One of them in a Muslim man in his 60s, sitting peacefully and reading a paper as he waits for the train.

Out of nowhere comes a drunken man in his 50s swinging a plastic scale (ruler) wildy and using the worst Hindi words imaginable! I remind you that it's 3 in the afternoon. He then approaches the Muslim man and starts screaming, "Pakistani, why are you here!!!" The others who witnessed the fracas chose to ignore it, but as far as I was concerned... that sorry SOB had crossed a line.

I snatched that ruler from him and threatened to call the railway police. Then some others also intervened and moved that man away. All the while, he was screaming and cursing. The Muslim man thanked me for standing up for him. I told him that in a decent society there was no room for that kind of behaviour.

I can imagine something like this happening in the Moscow metro at 11:30 pm, but here in Bombay in the afternoon?

Monday, January 14, 2013

Don Sao, nine years later

I first travelled around the Golden Triangle area by the great Mekong River in 2004. Burma, Laos and Thailand meet at this strategic crossroad in southeast Asia, from where China is less than 300 kilometres away.

The first sight that greeted (and still greets) the traveller is the chain of green mountains on the Laos side of the Mekong. The country north of Thailand has not yet jumped on the development bandwagon and still largely serene.

As I was to find out when I took a boat ride on the Mekong, a lot has changed in the farthest outposts of Laos. For starters, Don Sao is now connected by road to the mainland to make it easier for tourists to come by car all the way from China. The island is also a dumping ground for fake designer bags. Back in 2004, there were hardly any tourists in Don Sao. Now, boatloads make the trip daily for bragging rights about having stepped in another country. Another new phenomenon are the young boys begging for 5 and 10 baht.

The real eyesore in the area is an ugly casino that is being built by a Hong Kong-based businessman. He has apparently leased land in Laos for 99 years and the monstrosity of a casino is an eyesore. The casino's main clientele are Thais who cross over to gamble since this "evil" is illegal in the kingdom. It's sad to see the serenity of the Mekong vanishing and getting replaced by capitalistic greed.

They talk of employment for the people of Laos. Sure! The farmers move up in the global value chain by working as cleaners and security staff in a casino. How lucky they are, indeed!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

The worst travellers!

I have to say that hands down, the worst travellers I encountered in Thailand were from Russia, India and China.

Here's an article about them.

http://indrus.in/articles/2013/01/11/the_ugly_ric_traveller_21569.html

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Bangkok: A city on the move

Many large cities rather unfairly have a bad reputation. Bangkok is often judged by the shady areas of Thanon Khao and by the traffic in many of the city's main roads. Fortunately most visitors can avoid both.

The BTS is an excellent way of travelling across the city. It's efficient, clean and has an extensive network, which connects it to the metro at several stations. For those wanting to avoid the traffic to and from both Don Mueang and Suvarnabhoomi airports, pay the toll and take the elevated freeways.
The city also has excellent river transport, which comes in handy for a visit to the Royal Palace and Wat Arun.

Despite the excellent public transport infrastructure already in place, the authorities are not sleeping. Thailand plans to spend over $66 billion to upgrade infrastructure across the country (http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Thailands-location-drives-transport-investment-pl-30197376.html) This plan includes four high-speed rail projects that can be integrated into bigger railway networks across the region.

Bravo Thailand!