Skip to main content
Vacations should always have stories apart from memories.
Having concluded our shopping at Jungseylon, we were rushing back to our hotel. Since language is a problem in most of Thailand we carried the hotel card. A bit of bargaining and card reading later we climbed up the tuktuk and told the driver triumphantly- " Hotel next to the tiger restaurant!"
He smiles, nods and we are off.
I am busy counting the leftover baht when Swarnali exclaims " oi to tiger" And I look up and see the tiger restaurant. By then Swarnali was frantic. She banged the side of the tuktuk like the minibus conductors of our own city and yelled " Stop! Stop!" The confused driver stops, smiles we hand over 200 baht and get off only to realize this isn't the place. Frantically we climb up. By then it is a case of ghente ghaw! The driver takes our hotel slip goes to some security guy, who shakes his head. From the tuktuk we use all kinds of movements to make the driver start the vehicle. He does, we go 50 metres and see another tiger restaurant. Again the banging on the side and "Stop! Stop! Tiger ! Tiger! " The poor guy is now in a state of sorry mess. Two formidable ladies screaming "Tiger, tiger " was too much.
He looks hapless, we look harried and at this point we decide to let him go. Pretty sure that our hotel is close by. But 15 minutes of search and asking around availed no result other than a sing song "Don't know!"
Lamenting 200 baht down the drain and scolding Swarnali for not walking back we decided to trudge back towards Jungseylon.
On the way we asked a guy who looked more reliable. He took out his phone, connected the GPS and confidently told us " Here two tiger hotel, there one tiger hotel!" Of course he gave a left and right and left direction..... And amid so many tiger hotels, the Bengal tigresses were on the verge of saying meowww!
Swarnali : Ebar ki Hobe?
Me: Ki aar Hobe.... Eikhanei dhone pata bechbo !
Abandoning the plan we decided to cool off at Swensen's. Called up Bhaskar and said that we were horribly lost!
Bhaskar's first reaction was probably " Saaachiii?"
Luckily he didn't say so and heard out my Plan B.
And we walked to Swensen's in the hot sun, not finding much humor then.
But the ice cream and cool off later we were picked up by our minivan driver and drove up to big Budhdha.
Bhaskar triumphantly declared
"So you are not as smart as you think!"
And I had to admit that two tigers confused the tigress thoroughly😊

Comments

  1. sounds like you will have enough stories to write a book!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I find stories...but cannot find readers :D

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Being an eagle mum!

I always told this story to my trainees. About being the Eagle mum. An eagle mum prepares the nest in two layers, first downy feathers and below that,the thorns. When it is time to fly she removes the downy feathers so that the fledglings who refuse to fly fall on the thorns and that makes them flap n fly away! Bhaskar always calls is cruelty, the bojjat mommy! But to me its a way to push one out of the comfort zone, for the world waits beyond! My kiddos moved out to their own place today. And despite being an eagle mum, I kind of miss the chatter. I knew in my heart I would miss having them around... But they need to find their wings!

The road may be narrow and dark

This write up came back with a note of regret – for not being able to make to the next round in the competition, to the editor's table. Well, this is the first time I competed , that is if I do not count the House Competition essay writing, where I came second after Champa. Actually I do not why I took part – chance, curiosity or plain gambling …..because writing for me has always been a catharsis – an expression that I can share …..So no regrets , really! The road may be narrow and dark…….. It was 1983 and life with Baba always veered on the unexpected and the adventurous. Like that road trip from Kolkata to Delhi via Agra. We had this faithful Ambassador that took us on this journey with Baba at the helm and our cleaner Kalipada as his first assistant. I was the official navigator and Giri uncle, my father’s friend, in charge of our ummm, let’s say security, since me and my cousin Dimpi, both all of 18,  needed an escort , officially. Baba always liked the un-tr

A holiday with self :)

A long overdue blog about the path that I was seeking , or did the path seek me out ? Over the years the sheen of belief was wearing off and I was beginning to question the master about the magic - about faith becoming commercial, about what Bhaskar stated, "This is all about money".  Packing my bags off and going solo isn't very uncommon in my life, but this time I was not on work per se. Checking-in into the Ashram, was on my bucket-list for ever-since, and it was an amazing experience. Despite the crowd, the ambiance just reverberated with a mix of reverence, energy , faith, hope, prayer - and questions too ! Like I mentioned before meditation was not about spiritual pyrotechnics, but a metaphor connected to life. Like the corner I chose had a vantage view of the stage and despite a stench that started emanating from the corner, I just could not leave that place, for the view that corner offered got me stuck there. Life is like that, we are often stuck in the rut ,