AN ENRICHING VOYAGE

As you set out for Ithaka hope the journey is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon – don’t be afraid of them:
you’ll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon – you won’t encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.

Hope the voyage is a long one,
may there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbours seen for the first time;
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind –
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey,
without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean. 

PS: One of the best poem I came across on Career Launcher website.

LIFE @ BANGKOK

Finally I want to write something. Actually I wanted to do so for so long, but I didn’t get any time for it or you can say that I just didn’t want to write because there are so many things to write and actually I couldn’t even begin with all the new experiences because I am afraid that I might end up spoiling the feel. But now I can give you the glimpse of all the many wonderful things and experiences of here. There are so many things to tell. This post just gives the gist of few things of many.
The uniqueness of Bangkok is evident to anyone who has spent even a night in this city. It offers some of the craziest, wild and unforgettable experiences that one can seldom have.  And if you have 2 months instead of few days I bet you will see many other aspects of this city, other than sex and nightlife.

From Delhi to Bangkok
As I entered the Delhi airport, I was like on the top of the world. That was the time I had imagined several times and in several different forms. Ready to go on my first flight ever! A little excited, a lot of ecstasy and not at all scared. For the first time I knew that plane journey can be really boring. The flight was empty and there were not many people. So I got back to one seat behind where this one really cute Bangkok NRI was sitting. I don’t know doing that was odd or not, but the 4 hours journey became fun and the whole time we two were talking. When the plane was about to land, the view of the Bangkok city was really see-worthy. The whole city lit with lights and looked like a jungle of buildings. The landing wasn’t much exiting like take off.
I entered a completely different world as soon as I stepped out of my plane at the Bangkok airport. The airport was very big and it was nice to see completely different people around, mostly white skin, cute and beautiful. The best part was I could see so many uncovered sexy fully waxed white legs right from the thighs to foot. Outside the airport it was humid enough to sweat my whole body. Just outside there was smoking zone where I was standing waiting for taxi and I could feel all the smoke suffocating me. There, I couldn’t even speak to anyone as most of them didn’t know English. So it was a big problem for me there to ask anyone from which exit gate should I leave, where can I get a taxi and more. Even the taxi driver didn’t know English and so I couldn’t even tell him my destination. It was a total chaos. I was in a completely different country, away from my parents, alone, without any phone connection and I had limited cash in my pocket. So I first bought a sim from the airport first and called a Thai friend, who also didn’t know much English but atleast he did help me by talking to the Taxi driver and finally I reached my apartment. The very first night at dinner I got a glimpse of orgasmic meat and fleshy food with every dead animal screaming “Welcome to Bangkok”.

The apartment



My room

 I am living in an apartment which costs me 3000 Bahts per month and it is a spacious apartment with all the facilities like AC, Fridge, Washing Machine, Dining Table, Kitchen, Microwave, Coffee making machine and what not. The whole apartment has wooden floor and it is so clean that we don’t even are supposed to wear slippers inside the apartment. The house is guarded by 6 dogs, sorry 3 dogs and 3 tigers, who roar at me every time I leave or enter the house.

KMUTT University and my lab

First Floor,Library

The university is smaller than IIT, but the buildings are mostly 7-8 floors. The library is really awesome. It has 5 floors, a cafeteria inside, really comfortable couch for studying and sleeping, an entertainment room where you can watch almost any movie by asking them for its DVD, has separate cabins for group studying, or individual studying and what not. Actually I was surprised to see a movie room, a piano and a big chess in the library until I read in someone’s blog that first two floors are entertainment section. In short, the library is supercool and is a good place for hangout and studying both.

My Lab

My lab is like one of the labs of cool guys. Fully Air conditioned with high speed internet connection, and free snacks and coffee anytime. I am not supposed to come lab at any specific time, and so taking its advantage I wake up at 11 or sometimes 12 and reach my lab at around 1-2 after having my lunch to be back by 5-6. Only once my professor comes and sees what I am doing and discuss if he really had anything to.

Thai language
The initial days at the university were one of the memorable moments of my life. We used to hang out with some of the really cool Thai buddies who used to teach us Thai. There I made a bunch of good friends and spent a lot of good moments. Many hangouts, lunches together, bakar sessions, sarcasms, light flirting and the best part was the mixture of people from different countries and we learnt a lot about each other.

Thai Food 

Khaopad gai (Fried rice with chicken)

If you are a vegetarian (like I was before coming here) then I bet you will scream, possibility is that you will even vomit on seeing the food here. Every square inch of the streets and sidewalks is covered by street food chains all offering a variety of meats like pork, chicken, shrimps, fishes, squids, frogs, and others, many kinds of fruits like banana, mango, papaya, different kind of noodles, curries, desserts and many varieties of spicy foods. Khaosan road even offers you some crabs, scorpions, insects, beetles, grasshoppers. And I bet they taste delicious with soya sauce. You can make any food spicy here by adding a little of something in anything. You go anywhere near any food shop your nose will be filled by the aroma of singeing flesh and meat. I generally have every kind of food with meat except pork. The food here may cost you as low as 30 bahts or as more as 400 bahts if you are dining in a big restaurent. Generally my lunch costs me around 40 bahts which includes khaopad kai(fried rice with chicken) with a soft drink or ice tea. Pure vegetarian food is hard to find here. Here they have funny style of drinking anything. They fill a glass with ice, pour water or any soft drink in it and drink it by straw. I have even seen people drinking hot coffee or even beer using a straw.
There are a lot of departmental stores like 7-eleven, Tisco Lotus, etc. there are more than 1000 7-eleven spread throughout the Bangkok where you can buy any general item ranging from your readymade breakfast and milk to alcohol. So you don’t have to walk more than 300 meters from any place.

Transportation
Transportation here is cheap if you don’t consider taxi. Short distance means of transporation are tuk tuks (also known as krapong in thai), motorbikes, vans(mini buses) and buses. You can go anywhere in downtown using the bus and the routes and the bus numbers are clearly mentioned in google maps that too pretty much correct. Most buses are air conditioned but there are also non AC buses but the difference in rate is very small. Some buses have a flat rate of 7 bahts or 12 bahts for going anywhere and some charges on the basis of your destination. The buses have different color like red, green or yellow and actually they have a meaning like which is AC or which charges a flat rate or something. If you want to go within district tuk tuk can take you anywhere for a flat rate of only 5 bahts. Buses, vans and tuk tuks run all the time from 5 am to 11 pm. If you want to travel after 11 pm you have to take a taxi as there is no other alternative. Sky trains is also a good option. It connects major parts of the Bangkok and while travelling in these trains you might get to see a clear view of Bangkok. And from any tall building you can see a panoramic view of the entire Bangkok and it looks like a jungle of buildings.

Thai Culture
Thai people are very peace loving and they have a strong culture, somewhat similar to India. Like they also had similar stories like Ramayana where a demon kidnaps someone’s wife and then he kills him… and blah blah. People here are very nice and kind and far better than Indians(sorry to say that!). They mind their own business and never interfere in other’s life (pretty much opposite then Indians..eh?). People don’t make eye contact with anyone while going on a street or somewhere, especially with the opposite sex, as it is against their culture. Even the college couples never show any physical touch in public like walking hands in hands or kissing. They are very much cultured and sensible. People are really polite and have a habit of saying sorry and thank you every time. Here both men and women work equally hard, you will see more women than men in the shops or any restaurant. Obviously here is no gender bias and women are equally respected. Thailand is also a home for homosexual people and they are treated equally good with no criticism. There are many places in/near Bangkok like Patpong, Pattaya etc where you hear a male voice calling you and you turn up to see a women!

SEMESTER 5 - AN OVERVIEW

On studies

The semester, I finally decided to study. I tried much harder than before but still I don’t understand why I couldn’t score well in my academics and my cgpa is always shy of 7 by few a decimal. Anyways I am keeping my cgpa moaning for the beginning of my next semester.

In this semester I finally felt like I have grown up and left my childhood far behind, only as memoirs. Finally, I became sure about what to do and what not to do related to my career. I joined career launcher for my mba preparations early this semester. I finally got ideas about internships and the companies coming in for placements. Obviously when you are in your 3^rd year of college and you are supersenior you feel a little more grown up and more responsible than your fellow juniors and you have more experience and knowledge about everything starting from your core field to pragmatic skills. We, all civil 3^rd year students were taken to a surveying camp in haridwar where I got the vibes of a real civil engineer. So, overall this semester was very good and hence it should go into my book of life.

On friends

Finally, in this semester I got the friends whom I want to hangout with and who are totally of my type, means who completely matches my taste and can laugh at my jokes. So overall I stayed in a happy friend circle with lot of hangout parties, bakar sessions and chapos! Unfortunately I screwed up with two of my good friends in this semester.

On romance and relationship

Well this was the only semester when I stayed completely single throughout it. I received proposals and I sent proposals. I rejected them and mine was rejected too. Either way, I was staying single. Yeah! And I felt independent, free and happy. I tried to hit on one of my friends. I even had a meltdown for her and have tried everything I could. Unfortunately she wasn’t of that type. Anyways there was a little flirting going on throughout the semester.

On fun and masti

In this semester, I watched a lot of movies. And that means A LOT OF MOVIES. I didn’t find any good season so I missed that. I had a lot of fun in this semester with friends, and even with enemies. I laughed till my stomach bursted and like I have never before. I had enormous hangouts and chapos. I had had drinks in some parties. I had a lot fun at paniit. Everything was so great in this semester. For the first time I lived a semester and so I love this semester.

RANDOM

So long that I have written something about myself. So I am penning down random things that happened since last couple of months.

1.       I lost blogomania event for which I had worked sincerely. Fake voting sucks, I swear.

2.       Last two months had been the fastest months of my college life, so far.

3.       I screwed both my midsems and end sems. I have realized that marks are not raised by sincere efforts but by smart efforts.

4.       The time between January and April were the worst period of my love life.

5.       I haven’t been at home since Holi and I don’t know why I am not feeling nostalgic.

6.       I have not yet decided the summer plans albeit my holidays have begun. I am in awkward quandary between options and I am having strange feelings about ending up at none.

7.       I have made some good friends in IITR in the last month.

8.       I am still confused about my future plans after B.Tech, though I can’t see any other option better than CAT.

9.       Last month has been the best month so far as sophomore.

10.   I have started following phlegmatic approach towards teenage love.

11.   Few people mean a lot to me in my life. Keep loving me.

12.   8^th April was the luckiest day of this semester. In internal room allotment I got the room exactly of my choice whose probability was only 1 in 100.

13.   25^th April was the unluckiest day of this semester. I was caught taking a journal mistakenly, infact two, out of the Central Library. I had to go through a series painful and embarrassing procedure after which they finally agreed to my oblivion.

14.   This month I had eaten dinner outs more than I have eaten in last two years.

15.   Low in cash nowadays.[:(]

16.   I don’t understand how at the end of semester things sort out themselves. From studies to friends to personal problems. But this time it has bring a lot of changes in me.

17.   I am single. God! I love being single. I want to be a quintessential single this time.