My visits to the far East Asia - Part2 : Australia
 I was on my way back to Singapore and messrs Leo Png and Ian Savage the instructors(they were the trainers for the program conducted by Cisco) from a training company of repute accompanied me. We became really close and spent over five hours together at the airport and were discussing about the effectiveness of training programs in the corporate world and ran into heated discussions at times about the various mode of training methods. I reached Singapore at 01:00 Am and I had a flight to Australia on the next day at 08:30 Am. I had very little time to pack and I left all my winter clothing at Singapore. I picked up a few T -Shirts and shorts and it was a great relief because the temperature in Australia was around 35-38 degrees. I was very about this trip to Australia, because I have a few friends there and the very thought of spending time with my schoolmates after a gap of 4 years was quite exciting. I boarded the flight to Sydney and reached around 8.00 Pm
“Hi Mate, how are you!” that’s how I was greeted at the airport. The Aussies were very warm, friendly and welcoming. The Aussies were very strict in observing the immigration rules. I was waiting to pick up my baggage and suddenly felt something unusual. I heard some puffing noise and somebody smelling my pants. To my surprise, it was a sniffer dog a part of the bomb squad. My friend Venkat was waiting for me outside and was eager to meet him after a long time. I picked up my baggage’s and as I was about to leave, suddenly from nowhere a lady appeared and enquired Whether carrying food stuff or any other article made up of or containing sand. I dint comprehend for a moment and then realized that I was carrying an extra pair of shoes. I was then directed to appear before quarantine counter where my baggage was checked including my pair of shoes. I was then allowed to go. I was wondering at that point of time, how insecure the world has become. Increasing globalization and trans border trade come with the attendant risk of anxiety and safety, what a plight and where are we heading. I then passed through the immigration thereafter without much ado and literally ran dragging my baggage to meet Venkat who was waiting for me for more than two hours. After exchanging pleasantries, we drove home and his wife Vijaya whom I was meeting for the first time was ready with dinner of rice, sambar and potato curry. I heaved a sigh of relief and even before I sat before the dinging table I felt quite heavy a relief from Bipin Bap and Kimchee! Venkat had instructed Vijaya to cook Potato curry as it was my favorite dish. So nice of him to remember and it made me feel that I am blessed and there are people around me who are really loving and caring. While Vijaya retired for the day after dinner and went to sleep, we remained awake the whole night recalling our childhood from the day when we first met about our friends, our deeds and misdeeds. On many occasions both of us were partners in mischief’s and pranks and ran into trouble those days. Venkat stays in a suburb far removed from the city. It was a nice sight to see the row of individual bungalows where the Aussies live. They were built in the English style with lawns in front and garden in the rear and the exterior built with exposed bricks. They were very few apartments in that suburb. As Venkat was staying only in an apartment, I did not have a chance to visit an individual house which attracted me. While we were driving home from the airport, I saw number of hoardings with bold captions – Restrictions level 4, water shortage, do not water lawns or wash cars. It suddenly occurred to me if it were in Chennai, then the caption in the hoarding would have included – Do not bathe! the effort of global warming and the natures sweet revenge of mankind, I was ruminating.
The next day, Venkat took me to Minamura falls, Kiama blow hole. It was a long walk through the forest to the water fall and it was a splendid sight with water flowing down the hill. Singapore does not have any natural spots. Everything there is man made and that showed the difference. It was a 200 Km drive from his apartment and both of us were in our own world, listening to Iliyaraja and Rehaman. Venkat is an ardent music lover, music runs through is family with both his parents being musicians (Carnatic).
I preferred to stay in Venkat’s apartment for my duration in Sydney rather than stay in a five star hotel in the city. During my stay, I traveled in the local train to get to work. I observed certain interesting about the Aussies. Unlike the Koreans who were mostly silent and reserved, the Aussies were very vocal, critical and at time bordering on cynicism. Even though we had conducted the same training across various locations, the Aussies were a difficult lot to convince as they thought differently. The training secessions were very interactive and they were not afraid to shoot the instructor down if they are not convinced. It was also a cultural shock to see them putting their legs on the table while the secessions were on. I have heard about such behavior from my cousins and friends who studied in the US, but this was the first time I had witnessed it.
In the evenings Venkat used to take me around Sydney and I had the opportunity to visit the famous Opera house, Sydney Harbor Bridge and other tourist points of attractions. I was really fascinated by their countryside, the individual row of houses with stables and caravans. I found the Aussies to enjoy water sport the most and motorboats were found in practically every house. The Aussies carry their motor boats to their caravan and go for long hours during weekend.
Work and pleasure seem to co exist in the Aussies nature. They don’t work after 5 Pm in the evening. They have a unique concept 8:8:8 way of living – 8 hours of work, 8 hours entertainment and 8 hours sleep. I wondered whether; back in India we could have such luxury.
After a memorable and exciting week long stay with Venkat, I left Sydney with a heavy heart. From Sydney I boarded a flight to Melbourne to stay for the weekend with my schoolmates Mayur and Shyam. We were classmates during 11th and 12th. They had come to the airport to pick me up; for a moment I could not recognize Mayur: he had put on more than 20 Kgs of weight, since I met him in Chennai 2 years before. Mayur was also staying in a suburb and to my surprise in an individual house. I fell in love with the environment. I had initially planned to stay only for 2 days in Melbourne and after seeing the environment I decided to extend my stay for a week. I immediately called Singapore airlines to reschedule my flight.
We started making plans for the week and all of us were really thrilled. The first in the schedule was a drive to the Great Ocean road. The drive is still etched deep in my memory. The sight of the mighty ocean on one side and mountainous range on the other and to wade between the two is breathtaking. I was lost in thought and wondered, why do we play a spoil sport with nature with construction of so many skyscrapers, malls and theme parks all nothing but a bundle of concrete jungle. Any number of visits to such malls and monuments do not give one the satisfaction that one gets if he is amidst nature.
I was eager to find out about traditional music. It had become an habit to pick up traditional music from the countries that I visited. Korean music was quite different. Their rhythm pattern is different from others. It was quite difficult for me to appreciate at first and after repeated hearing, I was able to comprehend the pattern. I wanted to pick up some Australian traditional music and Mayur and his friends asked me have a try on Dijiradoo the name sounded funny! Bu when I happened to listen to a CD named Earth Rhythms with Dijirado playing a major part it was really musical and was quite different. I bought a miniature of the instrument which in appearance looks similar to out traditional flute, the only difference being there aren’t holes in the dijirado. The sound from the instrument was captivating and even made me dance in a trance.
The Aussies are health conscious beyond the comprehension of an average Indian. They have sand witches for lunch and spend their remaining time of their lunch break at the gymnasium or engaged in jogging. They have their shower and resume back to work. The Aussies are quite friendly and even though racism does prevail in their society they are quite accommodative and make you feel at ease.
Since my friends were away at work, I decided to go on a package tour. I signed up for a one day tour to Philip Island to watch the penguin parade. After a short distance travel by Bus, I was quite enthused to travel in a train powered by steam engine across the mountainous range. During that trip I also had the opportunity to touch the udder of the cow milk and drink the fresh milk, feed Kangaroos, witness shearing of sheep, watch pandas lazing on tree tops and finally gaze at the parade of penguins.
After a two week long stay in Australia, the very thought of getting back to the rig marole of work was sickening and mentally tiring. Would I ever find any Philanthropist who will sponsor my trips and not expect any return on investment? Ah If only wishes were horses, then beggars would ride o n it.
Swami Vivekananda once said “Think of an Idea, make it your dream and let it be you blood, skin and everything that you think of and then let go, it will automatically happen.” I found this statement to be quite true in my case. I had chosen China as my country for project during my CCM class. I always wanted to know more about this sleeping giant, the land of Confucious and Tao and above all the land of the famous dragon. Sadly while countries as small as Timor or Senegal are often found a place in the news, the print media have not cared to use as many column centimeters as required to write about China given its geographical size and population. After my trip to Korea and Australia I was asked to fly to Beijing. I could not believe my dream would become a reality so soon. At Cisco Singapore I had a friend by name Helen Bee who hails from Main land China. She did her graduation in Beijing University and we always used to have regular conversations about the similarities and dissimilarities between the Chinese and Indian societies. I was really amazed to that the Asian giants shared a lot in common. The only difference probably according to me is the means of expression. Helen bi had a lot to talk about the political situation and her opinions about the current Chinese government. She always used to talk about the lack of proper media system which gave unbiased news. It is understandable given the fact that the media is wholly controlled by the communist party/government. She recollected Tinnaman Square Massacre, Cultural Revolution and how people had immense faith on their leader Chairman Mao Tse Tung. Mao was considered a larger than a life figure and he had a huge following during the Cultural Revolution. When ever we used to discuss this topic over lunch, Helen Bi used to get animated and one could see her with her eyes sparkling. She was amazed that as Indians we could remain as a largest democracy with so much of caste and ethnic divide and yet coexist in harmony. She thought me a couple of words in Chinese and in turn I thought her a few in Tamil. It was amusing to see her twist every single muscle in her facet to say Nanri (Thank you in Tamil). Our discussions were mutually beneficial, it was a first hand information about the political divide and the actual scene in main land China and the problems they face. It is hard to get such minute detail even if one tries to browse in the net. I am really indebted to Helen for sparing her time and answering all my questions with utmost patience. I could not claim to be an expert but at least I became confident that I knew something about the Chinese to strike a meaningful conversation in future.
Continued .... ( Part 3: China )
|
