Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Suk San Wan Songkran!

Isn't that a lovely way to say 'Happy New Year' in Thai? The festivities have begun in Bangkok, and the beautiful ERAWAN shrine is covered with flowers and fruits . The famous water fights that mark this festival in Thailand will start tomorrow. The busy, busy streets of this frenzied city are comparitively empty since most people have gone back to their villages to spend time with their families. I am feeling unusually calm.... perhaps my state of mind has something to do with Khun Noom, an extraordinary Crystal Singing Bowls practitioner I met at the Six Senses resort in Yao Noi. She is a healer, reiki master, yoga teacher, musician and much more. It is said her crystal therapies have cured cancer and other major illnesses. All I know is just 10 minutes with her as she sang softly and chanted, was an uplifting experience. I adore the Thais... they are perhaps the sweetest people in the world - so soft spoken, so obliging and so,so polite - they shame us! The rude and aggressive Indian, forever arguing loudly about any and everything. ************** I watched a bit of the IPL and was so bored out of my skull! Haven't we had an overdose of cricket? Or is there no such condition when it comes to this blessed game? Frankly, I can't tell who is playing for which team, in which city and why. After a few minutes, I no longer trouble my brain trying to figure that out. I'm definitely suffering from cricket fatigue..... it's time to chant, folks..... catch you soon.

3 comments:

obssesor said...

cricket fatigue is catching!

चंद्रमौलेश्वर प्रसाद said...

One of the Hindi writers Vinodini Goenka [Kolkata] in her travelogue has written about an encounter of a farse crystal gayzer who was demanding abnormal amount and the atomosphere so scarry that
they had to pay something to save their skin. It is difficult to judge between genuine and imposter :)

Pixelwords said...

Hi Shobhaa,

I like reading your articles at times. Since I know German, here's an English translation of the Vogue article. Enjoy:

In love with risk
She is, a self-avowed Bollywood fan, “the second biggest religion of the country” is what Shobhaa De calls the colorful, racy, emotional cinema from her hometown Mumbai, which lends a common identity across religious, linguistic, and social barriers. The novels of Shobhaa De also have a similar effect. They are often set in the Bollywood milieu of stars and businessmen, and not rarely imitate the dramatics of the cinema—clearly, however, with much more sex. But whoever dismisses Shobhaa De as the Indian Jackie Collins because of it, misconstrues not just her influence as the country’s most read author, but also how people in a fast changing society, their dreams and wishes, are mirrored in her novels.
She knows the milieus about which she writes, well. The daughter of a high-ranking government officer born in 1947 once studied psychology, but worked alongside as a model from the age of 17. She became a journalist when she was 22, and later founded and led three magazines, Stardust, Society, and Celebrity. Till today, she writes alongside novels, four weekly columns for reputed Indian papers like the Times of India and The Week. She states that she writes at least 2000 words a day. She doesn’t seem to be afraid of carrier changes. “I’m a risk junkie”, she admits “I don’t like safety nets. I truly bloom with challenges. One should get a kick of out the things that one does, and one must be able to enjoy them, as long as they last. I have a go at every project with the enthusiasm of a child, and everything new in life excites me.”
If one reads her autobiography, Selective Memory, and the tenor of her columns, then, however, it’s family that’s the fixed point and the unchanging constant at the centre for her desire for everything new and chaotic—the family in which she was born, and her own, new one. She is married to a shipping magnate Dilip De, the couple has six children and lives in the upper floors of a skyscraper in Cuffe Parade, one of the most expensive addresses in Mumbai.
As for the question if in India she sees the family more of a support than a hindrance for women’s carriers, she answers “The double income family is also taking hold in India—primarily in the cities, where children are proud that their mothers are dedicated to their profession. But even in the countryside, the old role models are now breaking down. As for me, I come from an open, liberal family that supported me. All my career changes were possible only with their help. I find myself in a very privileged situation. Indeed, why shouldn’t one seize such advantages to exploit one’s potential to the fullest?”

Bernd Skupin Vogue Business