2014 Horoscope - Rat

Rats often appear rather reserved. They tend to hide strong emotions. When upset they can appear nervous, critical, or make cutting remarks.

Rats hate lateness, unnecessary waste, laziness, and people who do not keep their word.

Positives:
Forthright, charismatic, meticulous, intelligent, sociable, quick-witted, popular.

Negatives:
Manipulative, selfish, calculated, secretive, intolerant, greedy, acquisitive.

From The Indian Ocean To The Himalayas

A first person account of the rail and road journey from Mumbai to Kathmandu and back in 1976.
This article is dedicated to my good friend and college mate, Ramesh Manander of Kathmandu. Ramesh died in a tragic plane crash at the young age of 36.
__________________________________________________________

Getting to know India
India has always been a fascinating country. This is because of its long history, size and the varied culture. It is a also a country that is easily accessible by all modes of transport. To the east, west and the south is the Indian Ocean. The mighty Himalayas straddles the north.

As a student of architecture, I paid particular attention to the evolution of Indian architecture. Here, as in many other places of the world, architecture has always been influenced by religion. After all, one's religion is supposed to guide whatever he does.

The majority of Indians are Hindus-85% of the Indian population. Next comes the Muslims and then Christians, Jainism, Buddhists, and Zoroastrianism. The evolution of Indian architecture very closely reflect the various phases of Hinduism, and the faiths of subsequent ruling dynastic kings and Maharajahs.

From the time of the early Indus Valley Civilization to modern India, the trail is evident from such famous sites as Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, the Sun Temple of Konarak, the Taj Mahal at Agra, and the High Court building of Chandigarh, in the State of Punjab. A journey through the heart of India therefore promised to be a walk through its history.

As a student of architecture, I was therefore very much into its history. So, come summer vacation, when the normal year end semester examination was over, I was naturally delighted when invited to visit and stay with my Nepali classmate - Ramesh Manander, in Kathmandu. Ramesh, however, had the luxury of a free air-ticket. I was instead to take a train with Anand, another Nepali friend of mine. We were joined by Prafulla, who also hailed from Kathmandu.

The Journey out of Mumbai
The term 'summer' was used to designate the hot and dry months of February through May. Most parts of India only have two seasons, monsoon and dry period. Summer temperature in Mumbai, whose old name was Bombay, was around 38 deg C

Having completed the last of the fourth year end semester, I was very eager to make the best of this trip. So, I took the first opportunity to rush over to the office of the Indian Council for Cultural Relation (ICCR in short) to get a rail pass for foreign student. This pass entitled me to 50% discount on all train journeys run by the Indian Government. Getting a ticket for the long journey was not a big problem, but getting a berth was.

We were to go by the round about way to Nepal. We shall get into Nepal from its eastern end, because I wanted to see as much of India as possible. Bombay railway was already electrified at that time. The three of us got into a center coach just before it started to pull away at 2.00 PM from the Victoria Terminal (VT station in short ). The VT station https://www.google.com/search?q=victoria+terminus+images&espv=210&es_sm=93&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=hCSGUvPQJMrLrQfJgIGQBg&ved=0CCwQsAQ&biw=1920&bih=954 was a majestic Gothic mega structure, with tinted glass. It was a beauty to behold. The coach was still very hot when we got in, the effect of 8 hours of hot sun bearing down on it through the day. 

Having been traveling in jam-packed train for most of my four years in Mumbai, I was quite used to the heat. Mumbai was a city that was once made up of seven islands. As the train picked up speed, I could hear the frequent whistles, warning trespassers to give way. That reminded me of the large colonies of squatters on both sides of the railway lines. About 25% of Mumbai's population stayed in those sheds they call home. Most had come to the city in search of new opportunity. However, they soon found that getting a decent roof over their head is a real pain.

India is not a welfare state. So, economic migrants just had to fend for themselves. With a population of 7 million in 1976, land in the city was a really scarce commodity. That explained why most of the squatters are found alongside the railway line, a government property.

The express train took about 45 minutes to reach mainland India. The first stop was Thana. Here, it switched to a coal fired engine. After Thana, we started getting a good feel of what is to come. The outside air was otherwise still, if not pushed aside by the advancing train. As it took a bend, I could see there were 13 coaches in all. The front locomotive was belching thick black smoke, its signature of power.

In the same coach, there were five whites, two men and three young ladies. I could see that they were not from English speaking countries. For some reasons, we did not communicate.

The Deccan Plateau
The mid and south section of the Indian sub-continent is a rather flat plateau, weathered into its present shape by alternate dry spells and heavy monsoons. It was like a huge promontory jutting out south into the Indian Ocean. On the western front, the dry period started with the onset of northern winter. Chilly wind, blowing out of the frozen lands of the north, must have done a lot of mopping on their way to the ocean. The onset of summer or dry period is a time of still air, prior to the reversal of the wind direction. Monsoon would start around June of each year for Mumbai, and the western part of India. Moist air crossing into the India continent from the west would then start pouring rain as it came on land.

Thus far, Anand talked little. It's his way of trying to conserve energy. This was not my first long distance travel by Indian Railway. I had made it to Chennai (formerly called Madras) the year before. So, I sort of expected to see the same type of food being hawked to the train. To my surprise, I was approached by a railway attendant, who wanted to know what I wanted for lunch, dinner, and breakfast too. I opted for vegetarian meals, as did Anand and Prafulla. It turned out to be a good choice. The meals consisted of some puri, boiled potato and cabbage with curry powder, sour lassi or yogart, some white rice, dal and mango chatney. I was advised to drink a lot of water, and I should take the lassi. It kept my system in good working order throughout the journey. By nightfall, there was no more feel of the Indian Ocean.

The Hinterland

The western coastal plain is less than 200 M above mean sea level. The land started to climb upward slightly after Ulhasnagar. By and large, it was still quite flat most of the time. A large part of Maharashtra sits on the Deccan Plateau. We passed through Jagaon, Khandwa, and Itarsi before reaching the city of Jabalpur. The landscape in all these interior towns are the same, sub-tropical. Occasionally in the distance, we could see land being ploughed to prepare it for the next cropping. Here, potatoes, onions, and other tuber plants seemed to be the favourite. At Jabalpur, the train stopped to replenish water. It's already in the afternoon the next day. We got our lunch served here.

As we helped ourselves to the meals, we could see a number of people, some very young carrying their packed food on their head, walking here and there, looking for customers. There were very young children also begging for money from outside our window. However, none of us did any charity. These young kids quickly dispersed when they saw guards coming for them. Rural India was dotted with hut-like structure, some of brick and mortar, some of thatch and mud wall. All were low buildings which perhaps were erected by the farmers themselves. The mud and thatched houses must have been ideal for their weather, hot and dry.

Our next destination is Allahabad, a distance of about 450 km to the north east. Allahabad is a very important city due to its central location and close proximity with Varanasi, Hindus' holy city. It is also from here that most passengers from the eastern part of India get onto Delhi, the capital city of India. From Allabahad we were to change train to get to Varanasi and then Katihar, before boarding another train for Jalpaiguri.

At Katihar, we managed to get our light luggage down in time before the train moved on else where. Here, we waited for about 2 hrs before the train for Jalpaiguri arrived. The situation at the Katihar station is a bit more chaotic than previously. Because of the short journey, Anand told us to get into the 2nd class compartment. We noticed that there were quite a lot of off duty soldiers, evident with their military bagages. Then I realized that we were quite near the Chinese borders. After we have got into the compartment, wave after wave of new passengers came on us with their loads and loads of belongings, some climbing through the open windows, throwing their luggage onto us, trying to be the first to get a seat. Anand, with all his experience, managed to get us all seats. As I found out later, getting a seat did help me travel a bit more comfortably. There were some who could barely manage to hang on to the train as it roared off.

Our lunch for that stretch of journey was simple and easy. With people all sitting around us, we could hardly move away from our seats. We bought some local flavours - a chapati with some vegetable - to fill our tummy. The bottle of water we had filled up earlier at Allahabad came in handy. Due to the cramped compartment, the summer atmosphere was made even worse. We hung on, thinking each time the train made a stop, it would be it for us to disembark.

Jalpaiguri is situated at the foothill of the Himalayas. Even then, summer temperature was around 29 deg C. Here, we got down to swallow in gulps of fresh air. The train for Siliguri, our next destination, was a mini replica of the one we had been in all these while. The cute little engine, with its belching smoke, made for a romantic ride to the high mountains of the Himalayas.

The climb to Siliguri was rather slow and tortuous. A number of times the hill was so steep that it had to go in the A fashion. As it kept belching thick smoke, I had to cover my face with my handkerchief, for there were a lot of soot rushing in our direction. But I could begin to feel the air getting cooler and cooler as we climbed up.

The train was so slow at certain bends that people could get in and out at ease without having to make a complete stop. The cool climate was ideal for vegetable planting. Those lady farmers got their produce on the train in rattan baskets, ready to send them up to Darjeeling.

Siliguri was half way up the hill. By the time we reach Siliguri, it was almost 4.00PM. The outside wind was strong and steady. Anand has told me that It would be alright to just wear what I had in Mumbai. But by the time we landed at a hotel door, we just could'nt keep our teeth together. Eventually we had to look for some warm clothing. I bought a sweater for Rp 120. It was a lot of money to me. And because of this I had to be extra careful with any expenses later on.

(to be continued)

e-mail your comment

The Law of Unintended Consequences

We can’t predict the future. 
There are always externalities, and 
It’s impossible to identify all of them in advance.

A more reasonable form of reckoning is to accept that whatever policy we support will have bad effects, as well as good ones, and that we assumed these positions because we believe that the pros outweigh the cons
.

Down Memory Lane - Re-Visiting St Paul's Sec. School

10 July 2008 is another memorable day in my diary.   My wife and I, together with my youngest son,  flew to Kota Kinabalu (KK) for a visit, after leaving the town for 36 years.    It was a trip down memory lane.

After landing at KK, we joined a local tour group to Mt. Kinabalu Park.   It was an eye opener for us, as we went up the mountain trails to check out its array of fauna and flora.   

Kinabalu Park is a UNESCO heritage site.  Development of any sort is restricted to a minimum so that its original state is preserved for posterity.

 

 


 

 

In the 36 years since I departed Beaufort, two of my colleagues had left us, for good.   They are Low Shau Kee (Chinese language teacher) and Lela Nair (domestic science teacher).  May God bless their souls.  The where about of Cikgu Wan Sam and Cikgu Saffian Hamzah were not known.   Jenny Bell had initially followed her family to the UK, but then came back and got married to a local Sabahan.   She is now happily settled down in KK with her own family.

Within the 36 years, many things indeed had taken place.   For one, Beaufort is no longer the one street town, but with a few more streets of shops.  The wet market is longer it used to be and has been converted into a restaurant.  Also gone was the Padas Hotel.  But one thing remains to remind its residents, the pertinent yearly flood.   I heard that the authority, not being able to contain the flood, has given up trying, and is building a satelite town on the higher part of the land.   This is yet to be verified.

When I went to St Paul's Sec. School in 1970 to teach, many of my students were of my age, so I expect those in the higher forms then to be in retirement or nearing retirement by now.   Needless to say, the Principal of that time, Mr Goh Chit Yong, had also retired.

On the third day of my visit this time, I rented a car to drive to Beaufort with my family, with Gerald Voon as my guide.   The journey was to take slightly over an hour.   Before that Voon suggested we get some seafood from the famous but disused Tanjung Aru railaway station.   We bought 2 striped groupa, which Voon said were very good for steaming. 

We informed the vendor that we were buying these fishes to bring home to Kuala Lumpur later in the evening.  So the lady boss helped us packed nicely in several layers of wax paper, with several additional layers of newspaper before putting the whole thing in a carton.   Sure enough, by the time we reach home around 11pm that nite, there was only a slight wetting of the newspaper.  

Due to this detour, when we reached the Beaufort restaurant, it was already past 1.00 PM.   At the table were Mr and Mrs Goh Chit Yong and Mr and Mrs Voo Tet Chung.  It was very nice to be able to meet up with them after so long.   Mr Voo looked very fit and had a very firm handshake.  Mrs Goh appeared to me to be strong and healthy as she would still accompany us to visit St Paul's Sec. School after that lunch.   Its a pity that today she is no longer with us.  

While at St Paul's Sec School as a colleague, like a caring sister, she had been very helpful in offering tips on how to deal with the local conditions.   It made my 2 years' stay in Beaufort less stressful.  May God bless her soul.

After the lunch, we went in two cars to re-visit the St Paul's Secondary School.    After entering the school compound, Mr Goh spoke briefly to the school attendant of our intention.   The school had indeed changed a lot.  for instance, there is the school hall in between the former hostel and the front block of classrooms.   The hostel is now staff room, fully air-conditioned.  

to be continued

Of Social Norms

Nowadays, young couples appear to treat their surrounding as if they are all opaque.  They can kiss (I mean wet kiss) each other any time and any where.

I witness one such incidence today.  The young man in the car in front of mine had just stopped at a traffic light junction.  I saw him bending over to the girl on his left and started holding both her cheeks and started kissing profusely.  Then they engaged in deep kissing, locking their lips for quite a while.  They were oblivious to the people on both sides and behind watching them.  

It took a good 2 minutes for the light to turn green.  Even then, I had to wait for another 15 seconds before alerting the man that it's time to move ahead.   After that the car sped off,  overtaking a few cars via emergency lane.   I believe he was trying not to let me recognise his face....lol

Early Bird Catches The Worm

I was reading an article on Bloomberg this morning about STX, a ship building company from South Korea, suffering huge losses due to the slow down in import of commodities from around the world to China.  STX saw an opportunity to enter the fray due to the continued economic boom in China then, or so they thought.

This brings to my mind Sun Tze's art of war.  When STX entered the race to build ships in China, the China market is already booming for some time.  So, it was a late comer, and naturally what it picked up in business might just be the crumb of the trade.  

In any business, or ventures, be it speculating (not investing) in shares, or starting a new business, all else being equal, the ones who started first will usually be the ones to enjoy success, not late comers.   This is evident especially in MLM (multi-level marketing), where someone else can just introduce several new products to the same market, offering more lucrative reward schemes to induce migration of agents to them.  I have seen this countless number of times, and observe how a flourishing business be reduced to one of merely surviving concern, when a key agent just migrates to their competitor.   This is after all a dog eat dog world.  

The saying goes, in good times, think of the bad.   For, sooner than expected, it might just be at the door step.

醒世十三篇

心静身常动, 健康又长寿;

The Certainty Of Uncertainty

In life we certainly wish that everything happens the way we want it to be.  But we do know that it is simply not that way. 

While there are certain happenings that may appear to be pre-determined, like a stage scene, others are more than scenes that we certainly do not wish to come on.   But like it or not, it is when we least wanted something to occur that way, it simply does so, and may be more frequently too.

So now that begs a question.   Is there such a phenomenon that's certain to happen, at the predetermined time and place? 

We often hear of this phrase:  "change is constant."   Just because this is so does not preclude the scenario that it will not change when the time is ripe.   All of these can be taken to mean that mathematics and science do not have an absolute answer for all things in this world.   Having said that, why is it that there are lots of people believing in geomancy, or prophecy? Is it due to the fear of the unknown? May be!