After a two week long stay in Australia, the very thought of getting back to the routine was sickening and mentally tiring. Would I ever find any philanthropist ready to sponsor my trips and not expect any return on investment? Ah! If only wishes were horses, then beggars would ride on it.

Swami Vivekananda once said “Think of an Idea, make it your dream and let it be your 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 that my dream would become a reality so soon. At Cisco Singapore I had a friend by name Helen Bee hailing from mainland 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 know that the Asian giants shared a lot in common. The only difference probably according to me is the means of expression. Helen Bee 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 Bee 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 religious, linguistic and cultural divide and yet coexist in harmony. She taught me a couple of words in Chinese and in turn I taught 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 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.

I was all prepared and eagerly waiting for the ‘D’ day. I bought a map of Beijing at the airport and made a list of all places I wanted to visit. I should confess that I viewed the trip to China not as an official one but as a golden opportunity to know more about the country. Unlike my previous trips to Korea and Australia surprisingly I did not encounter any problems either at the immigration point or at the airport. I took a taxi to the hotel. I was under the impression if I could manage to survive in Korea, China should not be a big problem. However my first hurdle started with the taxi driver. He did not understand even a word in English. Unlike the Korean counterpart who spoke in broken English at least, the Chinese taxi driver looked at me as if I had come form some other planet. I tried al tricks to make him understand, I showed him the address of the hotel with the hope he would recognize but little did I realize that he did not know to read English. If it were some other country I probably could have relied on my sign language skills, but how am I to communicate the name of the hotel even though in English sounding like a tongue twister. Moreover Chine being a language with three different intonations for each syllable and even if a single syllable is pronounced differently the meaning would change. I tried locating the hotel in the map but in vain. Finally I tried various combination of pronouncing the name of the hotel and one among those worked and I saw a smile returning to the taxi driver’s face. The taxi finally halted and I looked out of the window with a sigh of relief that all my communication tricks finally paid of. I did not want to waste even a single minute as son as I checked in at the hotel. From the word go I wanted to venture out. I picked up my camera and tripod and left the room. I was told at the reception that the Forbidden City is only a ten minutes drive from the hotel. The receptionist advised me to take the underground train. The easiest option for me was to take a taxi but I decided against it and wanted to try the public transport. I bought the ticket but as the station had two platforms I did not know to which platform I had to go to board the train. I tried explaining to the ticket collector and she like the taxi driver looked at me as if I had descended from some other planet. I felt for a moment that I should have taken a taxi but I tried to rely on my survival skills. The ticket collector had the presence of mind and took me to the railway network map and then pointed out to the place where I had to alight and she directed me accordingly. It was only then did I realize that mere academic knowledge is of very little use if it could not imbibe survival skills. I looked at the lady and said Shishien – Thank you in Chinese and she smiled at me. By the time I reached the place I found to my dismay that the entrance gate to the Forbidden City remained closed for the public. I was just looking around like a lost kid and felt mentally tired to overcome the language barrier ;two experiences of one with the taxi driver and another with the railway ticket collector were enough for me. I was not prepared for another encounter! Suddenly I felt a hand around my shoulder and the last thing that I wanted was to get hauled up by the police for breach of law. I turned and saw a boy and girl. The greeted and spoke to me in English., introduced themselves as art students and enquired to know which country I belong to and how long I would stay. I was not sure whether I should divulge any information about me to them. I was hesitant and guarded in my initial response .Later I found them to be genuine and harmless. After few exchanges, they invited me to view their painting at the art gallery inside the Forbidden City. They took me around the art gallery and tried to explain each painting with detail. Only later did I realize that it was nothing but a marketing gimmick. The girl told me that the proceeds through the sale of paintings were intended to provide scholarships to poor students. She parted with the information only after bought a piece of their work for150 RMB (900 INR). I came to know later from my colleagues that I was so naïve to have paid double the price for the piece Mankind might be divided and distinguished along geographical, political, ethnical and cultural or on the grounds of religion language etc., but remain the same in their traits and emotions ; compassionate, generous, charitable and empathetic on the one hand, anger, hatred, greedy deceit and cunning on the other are common to everyone in some measure without any exception I set aside my above thoughts after a while. I was comfortable talking to them in English and they provided me with a lot of information of tourist relevance. I expressed my desire to visit the great wall and the girl told, since her uncle is a guide with the government who could speak English could help me visit the place. I gave her my contact details and left the place. I was not sure if I did the right thing by giving her my contact details but luckily everything turned out to be alright. The weather was very cold at -3 deg c and unlike in Korea strong cold winds blowing across was spine chilling. In my excitement I left the hotel without the thermal ware. I was almost frozen and my hands become numb. I realized my folly and decided to return to my room. Strangely, all on a sudden I saw a group of people gathering near a place: I become curious and asked the girl who sold the painting to me the reason for such a movement among the people. I was informed by the girl, that the people had gathered to witness the Change of Guard ceremony and the flag would be brought down everyday at 6.00 Pm. Significance of the event began to sink in me, the moment she mentioned the name of the place as Tinnamen Square, a place of Martyrdom of the Chinese students who rose in revolt against the Communist repressive regime and as a consequence were massacred; the place had now become a tourist point of attraction and as well as for the other foreign nationals. Though the change of guard ceremony by itself was spectacular, what was intriguing was that no one was allowed to stay there within a radius of 3-4 Km and everybody was asked to leave to place.

I did not want to expose myself to the inclement weather any further unprotected. I returned to the hotel and had a Chinese body massage. It was quite relaxing and as I was about to retire, I received a telephone call from Peter. He had called to confirm that he would come and pick me up from the hotel, for my intended visit to the Great Wall of China.

Though completely exhausted I did not go to sleep; instead I began positioning India and China in the balance. Both the countries are comparable in terms of size and population, but are poles apart in the realm of political divide. While we are recognized as the largest democracy in the world, China prides itself as the leader of the Communist world, after the demise and disintegration of the erstwhile Soviet Union. The complex of Sino-India relations that have looked up since 1988, after an era of hostility and mutual distrust since the 1962 war, when the Chinese took over more than 30,000 square Km’s of Indian land along the northern border and the lingering memory of the crushing and humiliating defeat still continue to impact the collective Indian Psyche, and could not be wished away easily, not withstanding the periodical boarder talks. Over the years relations between the two had acquired a new dimension in the eyes of the global society given the two countries’ emergence as the two fastest growing mutually competing economies.
The transformation was quite visible in the case of China in every sphere of its economic activity. I must admit that our progress is quite tardy in comparison As I drove along the highways from the airport to the hotel and during my visits to Forbidden City and Tinaman Square and return I could feel that everyone was seemed to be in a tearing hurry as if there would be no tomorrow to be a part of the reform process..The slew of reforms initiated by the communist government during the last two decades had entirely changed the mindset of every individual .In terms of infrastructure and efficient public transport, Beijing is certainly five to ten years ahead of Delhi or Bombay .In its endeavor to earn market et economy status from the global society the communist regime which sang hosannas all along to the planned economy, realized that linguistic barrier would act as an impediment to their reform process. The Chinese people are therefore encouraged and exhorted to learn English and other foreign languages .In Beijing, the Olympic Games have given the learn English drive added urgency with “Olympic English” classes mushrooming in virtually every neighbourhood .Regular English –speaking classes are held in parks and English song performances are televised. I was lost in such thoughts and as a result I went to sleep very late in the night.
I woke up however early next morning and was eagerly awaiting Peter’s call.
Peter came to my room and escorted me to a mini cab in which there were already four occupants. It was a family of four and had come from Estonia. After a few minutes drive we were joined by three others. They were Portuguese nationals employed in an Investment bank in Shangai. I was initially under the impression that I would be part of a Group of Chinese People or people from other parts of China. Never had I imagined that I would be joined by people from different parts of the globe; an Indian (myself) and Estonian family of four and three Portuguese and guided by a Chinese national, transcending boarders. After exchange of pleasantries we shared our experiences of or visits to other tourist points of attraction and about the people, the culture, the impact of reforms etc.

We visited the tombs of Ming dynasty, the Great wall. The sight of the Great Wall was breathtaking and climbing at -3 degree centigrade was a challenging and exhausting experience. The Chinese imperial palaces and buildings had three different entrances. The middle entrance was for the emperor and the other two were for his subjects. The Chinese architecture was simple and every single color and brick had a reason behind it. The roof painted in red symbolized good fortune. The walls were painted in yellow symbolizing earth. The roof of every palatial building will have symbols of animals. They denoted the ranking of the official who stayed inside the building. The highest was nine animals and found only in palaces were the king lived; the dragon represented the king a fictitious animal with a body of the snake, paws of an eagle, horns of deer and the face of an horse symbolizing power and authority. The symbol for the queen was the peacock.
Ancient Chinese worshiped nature, they had separate temples for the Sun, Moon and other gods. The King prayed at the Tempe of Heaven for bumper crops.

Shopping in China could be real fun. I had been to the silk market where counterfeit products were freely sold.. Every product there is considered to be counterfeit. Any tourist who visits Beijing should not miss the Silk market. I went along with my Canadian friend Mike and enjoyed the shopping experience. The girls at the shop literally lure or drag you into the showroom. The always quote a very high prize initially and we were advised to slash the prize nearly by 70%. The means of bargaining was by using a calculator. The shopkeeper enters a prize and we had to enter ours and that is when the game starts; yes it is literally a game. The shopkeeper tries o reduce the number by a fixed percent and you keep incrementing the number from what you initially quoted and finally land up at a point beyond which not agreeable. Even though negotiations world over happens this way, using a calculator in China in the 21st century was something unique. The quality of the product is generally claimed to be bad, nevertheless a great experience, bargaining and negotiating with the help of a calculator.

I cannot claim by my visits to these countries, for a short duration of not more than 2 weeks, I had gathered enough inputs regarding the culture, living style, economy but I it had definitely helped me change my narrow perspective about our country.

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 eagerly awaiting for my intended visit to Australia from the day I was informed of my travel plans by CISCO, because I have a few friends there and the very thought of spending time with my schoolmates after a gap of four 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 at my pants. To my surprise, it was a sniffer dog, 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 and as I was about to leave, suddenly from nowhere a lady appeared and enquired Whether I was carrying food stuff or any other article made up of or containing sand .I did not comprehend for a moment and then realized that I was carrying an extra pair of shoes. I was then directed to appear before the quarantine counter where my baggage was checked including the pair of shoes. I was then allowed to go. I was wondering at that point of time, how insecure the world had 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 and pranks and ran into trouble those days. Venkat stays in a suburb far removed from the city. A row of individual bungalows of the Aussies lined up on either side of the roads built in the English style with lawns in front and garden in the rear and the exterior exposed bricks t as we drove from the airport presented a picturesque sight. 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 and 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 traits of the Aussies. Unlike the Koreans who were mostly silent and reserved, the Aussies were very vocal, critical and at times 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 sessions were very interactive and they were not afraid to shoot the instructor down if they were not convinced. It was also a cultural shock to see them putting their legs on the table while the sessions 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 two 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 Dijiradoo 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 our traditional flute, the only difference being there aren’t holes in the dijiradoo. 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 their 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

Korea – Seoul: I did not know what to expect when I landed at the Incheon international airport, as I had very little knowledge about the culture and living style of the people of Korea, excepting that it had successfully conducted the Olympics games and a leading player in automobile and electronic sectors.. A couple of websites browsed did not throw much insight save focusing on tourism. Having lived in Chennai all my life, where the temperature is hot and humid throughout the year, my only concern was about the Weather. Prior to my departure from Singapore, I was sufficiently warned that the temperature will go below sub zero during February and I was asked not venture without woolen clothing.

My first encounter with the Korean immigration officer was not really pleasant. I greeted him with a smile as I gave my passport and immigration papers. His response was cold and mechanical; He snatched my papers, looked at me with a frown. I thought that I might have committed some mistake while filling up the forms. I was keeping my fingers crossed. The officer started making changes even without explaining where I went wrong. The last thing that I wanted was to be hauled up by the Korean Immigration officials. If it were so, I was wondering and praying whether I would be able to communicate that I am a pure vegetarian. Eventually, I thanked my stars since the official did not create major problems and I was literally running towards the exit lest the official change his mind and call me again.

I breathed fresh air as I came out of the airport lounge and took a taxi to my hotel. I initially had problems communicating with the taxi driver and later I realized that I was talking at a fast pace and more importantly I was talking to him in English. I reduced my speed and tried to convey to him in broken English and found that the taxi driver not only understood what I said, he seemed to enjoy my conversation. I wondered that, how true it is to say that language is only a tool for effective communication and speaking it in a proper way on certain occasions makes it difficult for many to comprehend. What is more important is to get the message across and not bother about grammatically correct sentences. I suppose this holds good for everyone who is visiting countries where English is not the medium of communication.

It was a long drive of about ninety minutes from the airport. During the drive we were generally talking about the roads, the traffic around and to some extent about the people and their living style. Though I was engaged with the driver, half way I started worrying whether he was trying to act smart by driving down to a long and circuitous route to claim extra money (An Indian Mindset). I relied on my intelligence and started locating my whereabouts from the route map that I picked up in the airport. By the time I could figure out where I was, I realized that I was completely lost. It is not only women who could not read maps (A title of a popular book) there are a few men like me who cannot read them as well when the map is in Korean. I kept asking the driver how long would it take and he neither seemed to bother or understand. At last the taxi halted in front of the Jingua hotel.

I was gasping for breath, struggling to count the number of zeros when the driver presented the bill. He demanded payment of 2,600,000 WON, equivalent of 200 SGD or 6000 INR. I had no other option but to pay him, as I could not argue with him effectively (How I wish it was India). I later came to know that my colleague from Singapore paid only 65000 WON. The staggering difference, I realized later was due to the fact that I traveled in a car in the luxurious sedan.
After this ordeal it was time for lunch and I began to worry of the very thought. My colleague Gavin Luke Tan from Singapore assured me that I could have Bipin Bap without any trouble. I wondered Kiska Bap. Gavin told that Bipin Bap - rice served with vegetables is a traditional Korean dish, and served it with Kimchee. Kimchee is sort of a pickle and it is nothing but radish soaked in Vinegar, oil and traditional spices. After I heard my friend explain the ingredients I was a bit relieved, though sceptical about the oil that is used. The Koreans use a peculiar oil which gives their dishes a strong odour and taste. It was only then did I realize that vegetarian means rice served with vegetables, sometimes boiled and sometimes just raw. I gathered that in this part of the world i.e. in most of the south East Asian countries Vegetarian food includes both fish and chicken and only red meat is considered as nonvegetarian. While I was enjoying my dishes sitting on the floor in the traditional Korean way, my other friends ordered for Cow’s intestine, Octopus and some internal organs of a pig. I somehow chose to ignore the dishes being barbequed in front of me and busy engaged in trying to grab a few pieces of my dish using chopsticks. I was feeling awkward and uncomfortable with the chopsticks and wished if I could use my hands, instead I used fork and felt greatly relieved.

Next day at office I was introduced to a beautiful lady byname was Hwa Jin Kim. She had graduated in Bio technology and was comfortable in conversing in English. She was kind enough to explain more about the Korean culture and their living style.

Hwa Jin told me that the Koreans are more of a patriarchal society and the power and decision making authority rests with the head of the family. The Koreans still prefer a joint family system and they respect rank and power. They prefer to be addressed by their official designation followed by their first name. For example (Director Lee). She also taught me a couple of Korean words; Anion – How are you and Chink Goo – Friend. I tried using them in the market and none of them seem to understand because of my strong Korean accent!.

I found the Korean language quite interesting because the people tend to have more pauses between words and the last word in a sentence is normally stressed which make is quite musical to hear. My one week stay in a land where English is not the basic means of communication and where even ordinary vegetarian dishes are considered as delicacy was really memorable. I wanted to visit the countryside to see how it appeared, because I believe that a country’s true value and wealth remains only in the rural side and not in their cities. All the metros look alike, be it in Singapore or Mumbai or elsewhere, with skyscrapers, highways and shopping malls. I never found them to be anything exciting or interesting. It had never impacted me. I decided that next time if I happen to visit any country I would try to be far away from the cities, to experience the real value and the living style of the people at large.