Comrade Chakra

I am a transit passenger in Bangkok today. The city celebrated Songkran - the Thai new year today. The date on the banner in the picture shows yesterday, but the celebration was really today. Songkran sounds so similar to Sangkranti . Also the new year seems to co-incide very much with the Bengalis' "Nabo Borsho" (meaning new year) as also the Baisakhi in Punjab . I guess some of this can be explained by the ancient influence of Indian culture on Thailand . But here's the funniest part - Bangkok celebrates Songkran on the streets by splashing water mixed with white powder on passersby. Not exactly the same as our Holi , but the resemblance is too close to be just a co-incidence. Should I google this up or leave it to our imagination how the Holi became Songkran in Thailand? is there a massage, sorry message there somewhere (more pictures coming).

Originally intended to publish the following post from the Bangalore Airport itself....but like so many of my intentions this too failed .... +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ For those who do not know, A Quantum of Solace is the name of the new James Bond movie starring Daniel Craig . But this post is not about Mr Bond , nor is it about the pouting, irreverent Mr Craig . This post is about a certain Mr Shivaram (name changed), Customs Inspector at Bangalore International Airport . Yesterday, on my way out of the country, I wanted to declare a laptop and a camera I was carrying (I have never done this declaration bit before and so was pretty excited thinking how I will demolish yet another item from my …heard-of-it-but-do-not-know-what-it-is list). The well situated and prominent Customs Desk behind the immigration counter was... vacant . Looking around, I found no one, but noticed a small piece of paper stuck on the customs board. It gave the na

'Thomas Beatie, a resident of Oregon, told The Advocate that carrying a girl for his wife, Nancy, and himself was an 'incredible' experience. Beatie was born as a woman but later he had a chest reconstruction and testosterone therapy, but decided to keep his female reproductive organs. ' Read full report here. Now I know how irritating it is to hear someone say “I told you so” . I also know how much pleasure one derives given the chance to say the same words. So, without apologies, let me tell you, I told you so. You’ll find several posts in the label “Making life simple” where I did allude to major changes coming ….read here and here and here . Here’s an extract from what I posted earlier… "Think about it, you can morph into the opposite sex, and you can give birth without the act of sex. The possibilities are humongous.With asexual reproduction, the higher reason for sex, that of giving birth, will no longer apply. Now when you consider the risks of sex